Borkertas, Kelly - Great singer, it's in her Soul

Kelly Borkertas (b1981)

Born in Taunton, Somerset, the family moved to South Witham when Kelly was two years old and has lived in and around Grantham since.

She attended Allington Primary School then moved to National Junior when her family moved into Grantham.

Passing the 11+ exam, she went onto KGGS – Studied 10 GCSEs including Business Studies which was one of her favourite subjects.

Kelly always loved to sing but didn’t actually study music, drama, or performing arts.

She then went on to study A Level Psychology, Human Biology and Business Studies at Stamford College but did not complete them due to family circumstances and went into factory work.

Kelly entered various talent competitions and won a variety of certificates and cash prizes then joined Grantham-based band – The Funkin’ Afros.

They performed in local pubs and RAF bases.

Kelly loved the dressing up for stage and singing was what she always wanted to do.

She found a training/work opportunity and did NVQs Level 2 & 3 in IT, Administration and Key Skills while working at Yale Edison on Spittlegate Level where she gained a lot of logistic, administration and IT systems experience.

She moved on to her last ’employed’ position in sales and business administration roles at TLIP on Swingbridge Road, which later was taken over and moved to Corby, Northants.

Kelly joined another local covers band Countdown where she met Chris, who became her partner from September 1999. They didn’t really get on at all when they first met but that soon changed and they have been together ever since.

After leaving Countdown, Kelly and Chris have been involved in a number of different bands/projects and began their own Duo – Project X back in 2002 which took them over to Japan for 4 months during the World Cup, hosted there.

They returned to Japan the following summer and did various pub/club gigs in the UK the rest of the year.

They began working on a Disco/Soul/Motown act – ‘The Funk Project’ which saw them tour Germany at various Military bases and around the UK while still working with their general pop covers duo around the UK and covering for resident Duos beginning and end of season out in Corfu and Spain for Thomson Gold.

They went under management 2005-2008 with Ian Davis running their time travel theme show ‘The Quantum Project’. This show took them back to Germany for the military summer balls, Christmas parties. This saw them touring the UK Holiday Park circuit and various clubs and events.

Kelly and Chris have done some writing on their own and with other songwriters and musicians over the years and really it’s all started to come together for them since around 2008 when they decided to go it alone and set up three awesome shows –

J’amy Winehouse – Kelly falls into character with the wig, tattoo transfers, dress… takes on the mannerisms and replicates the amazing vocals of the late Amy Winehouse. This tribute act has taken Kelly on a tour of Turkey and Cyprus, over to Qatar, University Balls, festivals and Tribute nights. And to note, quite recently on the same bill as Ella Eyre at Bangor University Summer Ball.
The Motowners – Kelly sings all the classic Soul and Motown tunes from the 60s and 70s with a few modern twists, supported by Chris on Bass Guitar or Keyboards and a full live band including horn section and backing vocalists on occasion.
Ultra 90s – probably their most successful and ‘in demand’ show, so much so, that they have created a replica – so a 2nd team (Ultra 90s Fresh) can be out performing the same show on the same night! Ultra 90s has performed for Katie Price & Kieran Hayler at their Wedding in 2013, then again early 2015 when they renewed their wedding vows. They’ve travelled far and wide and supported the likes of Chesney Hawkes, D:Ream, Livin’ Joy, East 17…. and enjoyed playing to crowds in their thousands.

Kelly and Chris are supporters of local charities and community events, performing for free or heavily discounted rates for the likes of the Grantham Carnival, Knipfest (Cancer Research), Back to the 90s (Cancer Research), TESS, G Fest, Christmas on the Green, St George on the Green.

They share their experiences and work ethic with lots of musicians all over the UK, Kelly enjoys being able to do the business side of things and be a performer. Learning all the time and sharing knowledge and information is always high on her priority list so the more people they get to work with, the better!