Ahead of Dornoch Music & Beer Festival, Harleymoon Kemp talks Nashville, personal songwriting, Race Across the World and why her live show is built around joy.

Harleymoon Kemp brings sharp storytelling, big-hearted country-pop and plenty of personality to everything she does. Ahead of her appearance at Dornoch Music & Beer Festival, she talks about writing from real life, finding her own sound and why her live show is all about joy.

You’re heading north for Dornoch Music & Beer Festival this summer. What was it about the festival that made you want to be part of it?

I have wanted to visit Dornoch and the Highlands for so long! The chance to get to play with my band is the cherry on top. I am going to stick around after the show and make sure I take in the sights!

There’s a sharpness to your songwriting where the funny lines and the brutal ones usually sit side by side. Do those songs tend to come from very real moments, or do characters and stories creep in along the way?

I am always writing from personal experience. My soul needs to express how I feel, and it comes out in lyrics… then melodies… When I’m writing a song, I’m usually watching the movie version of it in my head. When I wrote ‘What Good Looks Like’, it’s because everyone was asking why I hadn’t settled down, and that was my reply: I knew what good looked like. I’d grown up in a family full of love… I just hadn’t found that yet.

You’ve spent time writing and recording in Nashville, but there’s still something very British in the way your songs land, especially the humour and self-awareness. Is keeping that balance important to you?

Being a British girl doing country does confuse people, but the reason I love country music is because it’s so playful with its storytelling. I have done a lot of trips to Nashville, so I’m ever inspired by the sound, but I don’t know any other genre of music where you can make people laugh and get into the details of the story like you can with country. I also just fall in love when I hear slide guitars and stacked harmonies. I don’t know what my style is defined as, but it was never trying to be country… it feels authentic to how I hear my thoughts.

A lot of artists try to write “relatable” songs, but yours often feel more like specific stories people happen to recognise themselves in afterwards. Was that always natural for you as a writer?

My songs are usually written a week or so after something has happened, like the realisation after a girls’ trip that your best friends have loved you endlessly more than any man has ever done… Then suddenly, I was writing a list of everything my girls do to support me and ended up turning that into my best song yet (I think!). The fact everyone can see themselves in it with their best friends just fills my heart to the brim! My intention was never to ‘try’ to write a pop song… it was just my truth, and when I look out on stage and all the girls are dancing arm in arm with their bestie, singing the lyrics, that’s when I realise it’s their truth too.

Looking at the live set just now, which song do you think best captures where Harleymoon Kemp is at creatively in 2026?

‘Back in Tennessee’ and ‘My Girls (Love Me Better)’ honestly still smack at the live show… full band, tambourine, dancing! My show is a party! I have a new song which is coming out very soon… another one for the girls ;)

Some people first came across you through Race Across the World before discovering the music afterwards. Have you noticed that bringing a different energy or audience into the gigs?

After ‘Race Across the World’, I have noticed a lot of younger kids and parents in the audience with cowboy hats, which I love! I always try to do as many meet and greets as possible to give everyone hugs. My show is all about feeling happy and positivity. I really do just love to entertain and make people laugh.

Between the touring, the EP and the newer singles, it feels like things have grown quite quickly over the last couple of years. What are you enjoying most about this stage of it all right now?

I am enjoying the ride! I never like to put too much pressure on myself to ‘achieve greatness’. Music is a fun, happy place to be, and I just want to bring joy and good memories to everyone who’s up for coming along for the journey with me! I’m soaking it all up with a smile on my face!

There is no mystery about what Harleymoon wants people to take from her music. The songs come from real life, the shows are built to feel like a party and the aim is simple: send people home smiling.With her full band alongside her, new music on the way and a long-awaited first visit to Dornoch, her festival set should bring plenty of warmth, humour and country-pop energy to the Highlands.

Harleymoon Kemp plays Dornoch Music & Beer Festival in July 17th 2026. Tickets available here.