IT’S been a whirlwind few months for Jade Bird.

She has seen her long-awaited debut album going top 10, she has completed a tour of the USA and has a summer packed with festival dates.

But the 21-year-old is taking it all in her stride.

As she prepares to play the Lytham Festival on Thursday supporting the Stereophonics her level-headedness is impressive.

“If you think about it I suppose it is incredible,” she said. “But then it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do since I was a kid. Travelling around and playing shows in different places and have an audience discover me is just a great thing.”

Jade certainly appeared destined for stardom from an early age - she first started gigging aged just 13 playing in local pubs around Bridgend where she was living with her mum. She graduated from the famous Brit School in 2016 and her EP Something American whetted fans’ appetites for her self-titled debut album. The album’s mixture of styles - Jade’s influences range from Dolly Parton to Patti Smith - make her hard to pigeon hole and that’s something she likes.

“What I’m really thrilled about is that people can understand who I am a little bit more because of the album,” she said. “There are the piano ballads and the rock songs but when you hear it all together it makes sense.

“I think it’s a very honest record; it’s very much about me and I hope that an audience can get that.”

Broadly tagged with the Americana label, Jade has enjoyed surprising fans at festivals this summer who may not have been familiar with her work.

“I have really grown to like festivals,” she said. “Initially it was quite a daunting thing, I’d worry ‘oh I don’t know if they’re going to like me’ but the more we have done it, the more confident I have become.

“I love to see what the band are doing and I just hope that people will join in and start to be part of this family that we are building.

“We have had such a great run already in the UK – a lot of people are discovering us for the first time and seeming to like it.”

For the festivals, Jade has had to change her live shows slightly.

“There are some bits of a ‘regular show which I have to miss out,” she said. “Me playing piano is a moment that festivals don’t necessarily get to see. I don’t think a festival crowd necessarily wants to hear a few sad songs all together. I’m looking forward to later in the year when I get to do that again on tour but festivals are fun.

“We get to move around a lot more, we’re playing on bigger stages and we can really go for it. My guitarist gets to turn his amp up for once - I’ll just have to get him to turn it down again when we’re back on our own tour later in the year!”

Having had a hectic schedule in the run up to this summer’s open air shows, you could forgive Jade for taking it easy but she’ll soon be flying back across the Atlantic for a string of US dates in August, returning to the UK for more festival shows and then heading back to America and Canada for September and October then rounding off the year with a 12-date UK tour.

“If you do a lot of shows and then come home and do nothing that can mentally be a very strange thing,” she said. “For me, having a massively busy schedule until the end of the year is kind of what I’m all about. It puts a stop on my anxiety at least anyway!”

Although spending much of the year on the road, Jade will still be working on new material.

“Writing can be difficult when in a new hotel every day but you have to treat it like it is your job,” she said. “I’m looking at a smaller project coming out before the end of the year and then next year looking at building to the next album.”

Before then it’s a date in Lytham with the Stereophonics.

“I lived in South Wales for seven years so I know all about them” she said. “I’m thrilled to be part of that bill at Lytham.”

Jade Bird, Lytham Festival, Thursday, July 11. The festival runs from Wednesday, July 10 to Sunday, July 14 with performances by Rod Stewart, Kylie Minogue and the Human League. Details from www.lythamfestival.com