Musician wins five festival spots in competition

An indie rock musician said he felt "incredible" after winning a competition that will see him play in a string of summer festivals.

Matt Hennessy from Portsmouth, Hampshire, has been crowned the winner of this year's Road to Victorious after a performance final at The Wedgewood Rooms.

In July and August, Hennessy will play at Truck in Oxfordshire, Tramlines in Sheffield, Kendal Calling in Cumbria and Y Not Festival in Derbyshire before finishing at Victorious Festival in his home city.

The 21-year-old said his win was a "kind of culmination of everything that we've been working towards for such a long time".

The musician told the BBC he started going to The Wedgewood Rooms when he was a boy.

"The first gig I ever saw was Johnny Marr and I think I went to see him again a couple years later and got backstage," he said.

"I got to meet him and play his guitar, he's one of my biggest influences, so I think that was like a life memory for me."

Hennessy, who describes his style as "shoehorned between 2000s indie rock and old school funk and soul", said he was also influenced by Vintage Trouble and Stevie Wonder.

First picking up a guitar aged four, he said he started proper lessons at eight and is now studying for a degree at WaterBear Music College in Brighton.

He said winning Road to Victorious had felt "incredible".

"I think that's the biggest gig we've ever played, [there were] 400 to 450 people in there.

"And the fact that so many of them actually knew the words to my songs as well, that really made it feel great to be there."

As the winner, Hennessy will also travel to the festivals with a full tour crew and receive one-to-one sessions with industry experts.

Other shortlisted finalists Rosewater, Eloise Carter & Rosie Hollins will also play at Victorious.

Hennessy said they were all "a close-knit group" and he had been "really honoured to be a part of that".

"It's going to be a really good summer," he said, adding that in "some of the quieter bits" he might spend time on song writing and recording before potentially releasing more music in the autumn.

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