Rising British singer-songwriter Maya Delilah has been discussing what it’s like to be a young female guitarist in the industry, suggesting that she doesn’t always get the respect that she deserves.
Quizzed by Music Week on her experience of the guitar world, Delilah says: “It is still so male-dominated. I was a tomboy and I did see it as a boys’ instrument. I wonder if I was more of a ‘girly girl’, would I have picked it up? That’s a scary thought.”
After attending the BRIT School - “Olivia Dean was in the year above me and Lola Young was in the year below” - Delilah began her career by posting videos on TikTok on Instagram, where her jazz-infused guitar playing skills were there for all to see.
Even today, though, Delilah says that people are surprised to learn that she played the parts on her records.
“People still assume that a female artist is just going to be a singer, and people will listen to my music and ask who I got to do the guitar solos and I’m like, ‘That was me!’” she says. “So I do really want to advocate for more women playing.”
2025 has been Delilah’s biggest year yet. She released The Long Way Round, her debut album, in March, and is preparing to drop a deluxe edition on 9 January.
“Debut albums are for experimenting,” she says of the record. “I still call myself ‘new’ even though I’ve been doing this for six years.”
