MyMusic Podcast – Graham Coath Talks To Kelli Blanchett

In this deeply honest and thoughtful episode of MyMusic, Graham Coath sits down with singer-songwriter Kelli Blanchett for a conversation that moves far beyond music itself.

From singing karaoke in her grandparents’ pub as a child to becoming part of Self Esteem’s live and recording world, Kelli shares the winding, emotional and often unpredictable journey that shaped her as both a musician and a person.

The conversation explores creativity, neurodiversity, emotional processing, chronic illness, touring, songwriting and the changing realities of trying to build a music career in 2026.

Kelli talks candidly about:

• Growing up in a musical family
• Learning guitar and discovering her own voice
• Why singing and playing guitar came naturally to her
• The emotional intensity of her twenties
• How ADHD and emotional processing influence the way she experiences life and writes songs
• Becoming part of Self Esteem’s musical world
• Living with chronic illness and how it changed her relationship with music
• Creating her melancholic, folk-tinged new EP
• The realities of algorithms, streaming and modern music promotion
• Why building genuine community matters more than shouting into the void online
• The difference between London audiences and audiences in smaller towns and coastal venues
• Her love of artists like Laura Marling, Waxahatchee, Gillian Welch and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

There are also brilliant side conversations about:

• Tiny Desk sessions
• Why harmony singing creates goosebumps
• Why emotional people often cope calmly in crises
• Folk venues by the sea
• The death of grassroots venues
• Why music discovery feels so strange in the streaming era

At the heart of the episode is a bigger discussion about connection.

Not just how artists find audiences, but how people find meaning, belonging and spaces where their work actually lands with people who genuinely care.

Kelli’s warmth, humour and openness make this one of the most emotionally rich MyMusic conversations to date.

Listeners can also hear tracks from Kelli’s latest EP directly through Spotify alongside the episode.

A conversation about music, vulnerability, community and finding your place creatively in a noisy world.