IT was after a trip to a Byres Road record shop that Kerri Watt found her calling in the music industry.

The Milngavie singer-songwriter grabbed a bunch of bargain priced DVD’s and started her musical education.

It was during time spent watching the likes of The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan, that Kerri, who was then acting in musical theatre, decided to start playing guitar.

Then in her early 20s, Kerri picked up a guitar belonging to one of the band members and began her journey into the music industry.

“I wrote my first three songs and started going to all the open mics in the city at Nice N Sleazys, The Box, random pubs... anywhere that would have me.

“Those open mics turned into small gigs, the small gigs turned into bigger gigs and everything sort of snowballed from there.”

Since then, Kerri’s solo material has taken her across the world, both physically and through the airwaves after being featured on BBC Radio 2’s ‘A list’ and chosen to support Coldplay 65,000 capacity show.

Her singles have been ‘A listed’ on BBC Radio 2, opening her up to an audience of millions.

She explains: “Radio 2 has been the launch pad for so many incredible acts careers, it's an absolute honour to have their support.

“Having a couple of my songs playlisted by the station has massively benefited me on both the inside and outside of the industry.

“It means I've suddenly got this whole new audience of fans online and at gigs but it also really helps get you in the room with some pretty influential people in the music industry.”

Kerri also managed to bag herself a support slot for industry giants Coldplay - an opportunity up and coming musicians can only dream of.

“Stepping out in front of 65,000 people to open for arguably the biggest pop band in the world made me feel like I must be doing something right”, she explains.

“I felt very proud to be representing the Scots up there!

“But I can't talk about those two shows without mentioning the band Embrace who gave me that once in a lifetime opportunity.”

In the years since picking up the guitar, opportunities have come from all over the world giving the Milngavie girl a chance to travel across the UK, Europe and America.

“I've come across so many interesting characters with their own incredible stories to tell while touring across the UK, Europe and the US.

“I'm constantly inspired by the people who are behind the scenes in the music biz - the songwriters, the sound engineers, the music lawyers!

“They usually have the best (and most shocking) stories to tell about their experiences with different acts over the years. Travelling also just shows you other ways of life and I’m always inspired to write about the places I visit.”

After returning to Glasgow for an intimate show, the songwriter wanted to do something to celebrate being back on Scottish soil, in the most Scottish way possible - by recording her own version of Loch Lomond.

“Loch Lomond was the first song I ever learnt on the piano - my Gran taught me", she explains.

“I really think it's one of the most beautiful songs ever written. I grew up about 20 minutes from Loch Lomond and spent many summers there.

“I love folklore and am fascinated about the songs origins and all the different interpretations and versions of the story behind the lyrics.

“Performing it makes me feel very patriotic and proud to come from a place where music and art has thrived for hundreds of years.

“Getting to play and record the song with a band really meant a lot to me. We spent some time talking about how we wanted to interpret it and what style to play it in.

“Ultimately, it was important to me that it stayed true to it's origins.

"I'm excited to share with my home crowd what I’ve been up to the last couple of years and let them in on the journey."

Kerri Watt will play the Glad Cafe tonight.