Penny Broadhurst

Penny Broadhurst
Penny Broadhurst 2007
Background information
Born	(1980-10-21) 21 October 1980 (age 36)
Origin	Harrogate, Yorkshire, England
Genres	Pop Rock Indie
Years active	2006–2009
Labels	None

Penny Broadhurst (born 21 October 1980 in Harrogate, Yorkshire), was a British pop singer, songwriter, writer and former spoken word artist from the north of England. She listed Kate Bush, Doctor Who, Prefab Sprout, Lloyd Cole, Belle & Sebastian, Kirsty MacColl and The Smiths among her many influences. She ceased all use of this name for creative work in late 2009 and has changed her name in private life.

Penny Broadhurst first started performing her own material as a spoken word performer when she was a student in Norwich in 1998. A self-confessed pop music fan and karaoke queen, her performances of acerbic and witty vocal narratives and Steps songs, delivered in a broad Yorkshire accent and often accompanied by pop and rock music, were frequently compared to that of a pop star rather than a poet. Her first album of spoken word with music, Blue Bank got radio play on BBC 6 Music, and the NME declared "...You can't mosh to poetry, but if you could, then you'd mosh to this."

Forsaking the poetry circuit for gigs supporting bands and comedians, she gradually moved away from using just the spoken word, and began to write and sing her own pop songs and dance routines, working with producers Ed Heaton, and Si McGrath of Hightone Productions. Clint Boon of Radio Xfm Manchester said of her songs : "She's unsigned, but she sounds like an established act to me. I can see why she calls herself the Queen of Pop."

She has appeared at Ladyfest around the UK and literary festivals including Off The Shelf and Ilkley Literature Festival. She was a member of the Yorkshire young writers' initiative The Writing Squad, funded by the Arts Council. In Summer 2005 she played at Glastonbury and in 2005 and 2006 at the Truck festival. She has also recently appeared at other festivals including Latitude Festival (2006 and 2007), Wireless Festival (2007), Solfest (2007) and Indietracks (2008) and made a television appearance on BBC Look North.