A HAMPSHIRE singer will be rubbing shoulders with blues legends after she got through nationwide auditions to sing at a prestigious festival.

Anjelika “Jelly” Cleaver from Southampton will sing at the Great British Rhythm and Blues Festival on August 28 to 31.

Jelly, 20, is one of only seven of the UK’s best unsigned artistes to have been selected to play at the festival in Colne, Lancashire.

It is expected that more than 26,000 people will gather for the four day festival when the town is transformed into the “Blues Basin” of Britain and will see the likes of Courtney Pine, Avery Sunshine, Coco Montoya, Davina & the Vagabonds and The Revolutionaires all performing.

Jelly, who is currently studying history at Durham University, has been singing since the age of 10, and was taught guitar by her father.

She got her first breaks at open mic sessions around Southampton and has been recording songs since the age of 17 and has also already released one album.

She got the chance to play at the festival as part of the Jessica Foxley Unsigned initiative, established in memory of the talented young musician who tragically died in a car crash at the age of just 21.

At the time of the accident in 2009, Jessica was on the cusp of a music career.

Her parents Paul and Margaret set up the project as a lasting legacy of their daughter. It was aimed at giving unsigned musicians the chance to perform live alongside established music stars.

Jelly, said:“I was looking around for singer/songwriter events, came across the R & B Festival, and decided to enter. I didn’t even expect to get a reply but now I’ve been chosen.

“I’m really excited and it’s massively encouraging for me.

“This is the best blues festival in Europe so who knows where it might lead.”

Pendle Leisure Trust, who stage the festival, were inundated with musicians wanting to audition for the longest-running town-based festival in the country.

Organiser Alison Goode said: “The standard of the musicians who applied this year was remarkable.”

She added: “Once again we have found some really talented young people who can showcase themselves and their music at this fantastic event which draws in national and international lovers of blues music.”