So what did you do on your gapyear?
The early part of Sunday afternoon was the only time the rain hit Guilfest, and plenty sought dryness in one of the tents which hosted the likes of the Rock Sound Cave and Surrey Advertiser Stage. Those who stopped by the latter were well rewarded for their dislike of getting soaked, as they saw unsigned singer-songwriter Natasha Storm give an impressive performance.
Her MySpace site lists the likes of Annie Lennox, Bjork, Jack Johnson, KT Tunstall, Tracy Chapman and The White Stripes as influences, and her acoustic folk rock showed plenty of signs of the quality of those artists rubbing off on her. All listed are also great vocalists, and Natasha Storm has a belting good voice too.
Currently she's on a gap year, and her lyrics reflect the pressures of growing up, getting dumped and finding a way through those teenage years. The powerful 'Teenage Terror', one of the stand out songs from this half hour set, looks at becoming adult whilst still at school.
It's fair to say that some of the tunes on offer here didn't stay in the mind for long, and initially it seemed that Storm might be a touch one dimensional in her style, but as the set wore on, any doubters would find it hard to argue that the girl doesn't have talent.
Covers can be risky territory when you're an unknown artist, especially when they're of the status of 'Jolene' and 'Son of a Preacher Man', but both were performed with natural ease and to say they were the set highlights is a reflection on the way she performed them, and not to be dismissive of her own material.
She got the Guilfest gig after an open mic performance. Her MySpace site has no up-coming gigs listed but if you do come across the name, she's one worth a look.