By Marc Loison 
Born in Belfast in 1973, Kaz Hawkins is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter based in France. Her powerful, deeply expressive voice blends blues, soul, gospel, jazz, folk and Celtic influences. After twenty years spent singing mainly in cover bands, she began writing her own material and gradually established herself on the European scene. Her personal journey, marked by hardship and resilience, fuels songs of great emotional intensity.
📷 Photo credits: Denis Carpentier
In 2016, she won the UK Blues Challenge, followed by the European Blues Challenge in 2017. She was also a semi-finalist at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis and was named Northern Ireland Blues Artist of the Year in 2018. Her album My Life and I (2022) reveals the full power of her musical world. In 2024, the documentary Kaz Hawkins – My Life and You retraced her story. Her album Coming Home, released in 2025, opened a new musical chapter centred on her Celtic roots. A mental health advocate, Kaz now uses music to convey a message of resilience, hope and healing.
Here is the interview the great Kaz Hawkins gave me the day after the 2026 Brezoi festival ended. Exhausted by all the activity that had been taking place there since the beginning of July, as she had made the town her home for the folk festival and the preparation of the tribute to Gary Moore, she had also spared no effort for her fans throughout this extraordinary week of music.
🎤 Kaz Hawkins interviewed by Marc Loison
Kaz, thank you for joining us. You now live in Normandy, and your latest album, Coming Home, reconnects with your Northern Irish roots. You are also very attached to the Brezoi festival, which you have attended every year since 2022. After such an intense week, how are you feeling?
I’m exhausted… (laughs)
How is that possible? (laughs)
You know, somebody asked me that question last night after the concert. At this stage, we are all very emotional because nobody wants it to end. That’s the Brezoi effect.
Yesterday, somebody said to me: “I don’t know how you do it: you run all over the festival, have a beer with us and, the next moment, you’re on stage.” I was asked why I give so much of myself to the Romanian audience.
I replied: “I grew up in Northern Ireland at a time when I didn’t have access to all these different musical cultures. I didn’t grow up with traditional Irish music, and for a long time I felt that I didn’t really have a home. My life was marked by a great deal of trauma, and I never truly knew that sense of family or those happy childhood memories that so many people carry with them.”
When I moved to France, I found a peace there that I had never known before. Culture has an important place in the country. But because I am constantly on tour, it is still difficult to truly settle in and build friendships.
Then I discovered Brezoi. And something happened. You quickly become addicted to this place because there is a real community here, almost a family. I come back twice a year, including in December, and I see the whole festival team again. It gives me a genuine sense of belonging.
I also understand the hardships the Romanian people have endured. They lived through communism and suffered greatly, just as we suffered in Northern Ireland. I identify with their work ethic, their community spirit and the way they help one another, even during difficult times.
So yes, in the end, the love I feel for them outweighs the tiredness.
Let’s talk about your role as an interviewer. How did the idea of giving the festival’s musicians the opportunity to take part in a live television interview come about?
The format already existed with a previous presenter. But as the festival grows, sponsors want to become more involved and create more interaction with the audience, both children and parents.
When Mihai [Editor’s note: coordinator and programmer of the Open Air Blues Festival Brezoi] spoke to me about it, I said: “If the sponsor wants me to take care of it, it has to be done properly.” The whole idea came from Dragoș, who works beneath the stage and manages the lighting, video and everything shown on the big screens. He was also the one who came up with the idea of holding a live interview just before the artist went on stage.
We couldn’t do it this year because the sponsor’s tent was too far from the stage. It was difficult for me to get there and back in time. We may change its location next year. But it has always been part of the festival. I’m simply trying to take it a little further.
Which interviews stood out most for you this week?
Oh, I would say the Sakis Dovolis trio. They were among the first to appear and they were really lovely guys. They arrived for what was my very first interview. I was quite nervous, but everything happened so naturally that I thought: “OK, so that’s how it works!” They were really great. And then I had the opportunity to interview Sugaray Rayford. He is an absolute dream of a man…
“When you have experienced trauma, you refuse to let life defeat you.”
Let’s talk about the contact you have with people during the festival: you go out into the crowd with a microphone in your hand, sign albums and hand out goodies… What does this closeness give you?
When you have experienced trauma like I have, you refuse to let life defeat you. That energy gives something back to my soul.
Usually, I don’t really get the chance to meet people. I arrive, I perform, and the only time I see the fans is at the merchandise stand. There isn’t enough time simply to be “human”. After a while, I sometimes feel as though I am on a treadmill, and that isn’t who I am.
That is why I could never be Beth Hart or Joe Bonamassa. I couldn’t cope physically or emotionally with that level of fame.
I love people. I love meeting them, making them laugh and seeing them smile. And I think that this year we managed to give the festival an even more human face, beyond the music. There wasn’t necessarily a gap before, but this created an even stronger community between the festival and its audience.
You worked extensively with Mihai Răzvan Mugescu ahead of the festival. What is it like working together?
It isn’t just Mihai. His wife, Christina, also plays an essential role in running the festival, even though she prefers to stay out of the spotlight.
I spoke to both of them a great deal, but in very different ways. Christina really is the backbone of the organisation. We talk about the festival’s visibility, what happens behind the scenes and how to improve the way artists are welcomed. As an artist, I can offer my perspective on what works and what doesn’t. Because, as you know, Marc, a festival can quickly become chaotic, particularly when contracts have to be upheld. Christina is the rock everyone can rely on.
Mihai, meanwhile, has a vision that sometimes borders on madness! He has an idea and, an hour later, he already wants to see it happen. We talk about it, then he says to me: “Do it, Kaz.” And I reply: “All right.” It’s a wonderful kind of madness!
I thrive in that environment because I have ADHD, but I’m also very methodical in the way I organise things. So I’m often the one reminding everyone: “We need to do this, we need to do that, don’t forget this.”
That is partly my role between Mihai and Christina: helping them take their vision even further.
Let’s return to the tribute to Gary Moore. Mihai told me the idea came from a conversation in Brezoi last year. Why did you choose Gary Moore?
The conversation took place at around five in the morning, when we were starting to pack everything away. The technical crews were already there to dismantle the stage and, of course, we had enjoyed a few drinks after the blues jam session.
Every year, Mihai would ask me: “So, Kaz, are you coming back next year?” And I would reply: “Yes, but you can’t keep bringing me back with the same show.”
He then suggested doing something different. I don’t think we immediately discussed a specific tribute, but I said: “What if we paid tribute to some of the great names of guitar?”
And my guitar hero, even though I don’t play myself, comes from Belfast: Gary Moore.
You do play!
A little, yes. But Gary Moore is a Belfast hero.
Could it have been Rory?
Not for me. I think Rory is already celebrated as he deserves. That isn’t the case for Gary Moore. And for me, in Belfast, there is Rory Gallagher… I have nothing against him. It isn’t that I don’t like him, but I simply prefer Gary Moore. And then there is the question of where they come from: Rory isn’t Northern Irish. He isn’t from Belfast.
“Nothing has yet been done to honour Gary Moore”
It isn’t very far away, though.
Yes, but when you live in Northern Ireland, it is considered very far away! You know, last year, a statue of Rory Gallagher was erected in Belfast [Editor’s note: it was unveiled outside the Ulster Hall on 4 January 2025]. He was, of course, one of the few artists who came to perform during the height of the Troubles.
And yet, nothing has been done to honour Gary in that way. A statue is currently being made. It really annoys me because he inspired and taught an entire generation of guitarists in Belfast.
So I wanted to pay tribute to him in my own way, the slightly crazy Kaz way… And I managed to contact Jack Moore, who immediately agreed to take part.
You have just mentioned Jack, Gary Moore’s son, who immediately agreed to take part. Alongside him, you brought together Romanian musicians as well as Ben Poole, Danny Bryant and Louis King. How did you assemble this line-up and prepare a concert on such a scale?
When we decided to organise this tribute, it was meant to be a one-off event. I told Mihai: “I can do it, but it’s going to be expensive,” because I wanted to bring in some very good guitarists.
Ben Poole was an obvious choice because he is already well known in Brezoi. Dom Martin was also due to take part, but in the end he couldn’t make it. And in any case, he is more of a Rory Gallagher fan. So I called on Danny Bryant.
Among the Romanian guitarists, Rareș Totu was my first choice. He is a true legend of the Romanian blues scene. There was also Andrei Cerbu. During the five years I have been coming to Romania, I have watched him develop from the time when he was still just a kid playing rock. He had even covered one of my songs, Because You Love Me. I knew that Gary Moore was his idol. Taking part in this tribute was therefore a dream for him.
And then there was Louis King, who is a very dear friend. He was already due to come from Australia to perform here before playing a series of shows in Romania. He said to me: “Oh, Kaz, I’m not a lead guitarist!” I replied: “Neither am I! But you’re going to play rhythm guitar and help me manage all these guitars.”
He is also an excellent singer…
He is brilliant. And he is so funny, a real showman. That’s how it all came together…
“What really makes the difference is the people”
The Brezoi Blues Festival has become an essential event for European blues fans. In your opinion, what makes this festival so special compared with others?
There are so many things. First, the setting is spectacular. We are in the heart of the Carpathians, beside the river and surrounded by mountains.
There are also three stages with very different atmospheres. The Forest Stage, among the trees, is much quieter and ideal for relaxing. This year, there were also many craft stalls where people could simply sit down, have a coffee and enjoy the afternoon.
And then, of course, there is the late-night jam, the Brezoi Juke Joint, which begins after the concerts on the main stage.
But what really makes the difference is the people. Romanians are among the most generous people I have ever met.
They are so welcoming!
Absolutely. You know, they place a great deal of importance on the simplest things. At first, when I began getting to know everyone, they were quite reserved. I’m Kaz; I’m fairly direct and quite exuberant…
But now we kiss and hug one another. This year, I stayed there for a month and, every week, the kitchen team brought me flowers, a vase filled with flowers. I think it is because I am a normal person, like them, you see, while also being this artist, this “diva” who goes on stage…
Kaz, which artists at the 2026 edition made you think, “That was a fabulous concert, I was completely blown away”?
Kaz Hawkins: Sugaray Rayford is always there – this was his second year – and Toby Lee… I have been friends with Toby Lee since he was 10 or 11. I know his parents and I have watched him grow up, so his performance at the festival really blew me away. It is wonderful to watch him develop: he is now exploring songwriting, his songs are becoming more mature and he is approaching a new side of the blues.
And now his guitar is the right size! (laughs)
Yes, absolutely! Pure joy! Those are my two favourites…
Can you give us and our listeners five reasons to come to Brezoi next year?
Oh yes! My mission here is precisely to make the festival known beyond Romania and reach an international audience.
And for 2027, two huge headliners have already been announced: Joe Bonamassa, who will be coming to Brezoi for the first time, and Beth Hart, who will return for two concerts.
Beth is really the person who helped take the festival to another level. She first came in 2019 and, in 2021, during the Covid pandemic, she played five concerts in ten days in Brezoi as part of High Five Romania.
That was when something very powerful developed between her, Brezoi and the audience.
And then there is the hospitality. Romanians may not have much, but they are ready to give everything. This small town is about to welcome two of the biggest stars in the blues world. And everyone will make sure that visitors have somewhere to sleep and enough to eat and drink.
But for me, what matters most is the festival team. It is quite simply the best team I have ever worked with.
Thank you very much for all of this, Kaz.
You’re welcome. Thank you, Marc.