Polly Mackey to appear at Next Big Thing festival

Polly Mackey and The Pleasure Principle to appear at London's Borderline

By Nick Bourne

Wrexham band Polly Mackey and the Pleasure Principle are appearing at a new festival, February's Next Big Thing.

It seems there's no let up in the rise of Polly, 17, and the band as they have earned themselves a place in the line-up for the London festival which is showcasing 50 up and coming acts (5-14 February).

Other musicians include BBC Sounds of 2010 poll winner Ellie Goulding, and second in the poll Marina and the Diamonds - another Welsh group.

Marina and the Diamonds: Second in the BBC Sounds 2010 poll

The gigs take place at venues across London such as The Borderline, Heaven and The Jazz Cafe and each will host three acts with Polly and Co performing at Borderline alongside the Plasticines and another band to be confirmed.

Late last year, Polly won the Make it Break it Awards 2009 with a prize including performing in front of music industry bigwigs.

The festival appearance next month is the latest in a string of accolades for Polly and her band, The Pleasure Principle - otherwise known as Adam Valentine, drums; Dan Davies, bass; and Tom Hassall, guitar.

Last July, they beat off competition from 1,700 bands to get themselves a gig at the Spanish festival Benicassim, although it was affected due to severe weather.

In March, Polly and the band performed at the South by South West music and cultural festival in Austin, Texas, playing half a dozen gigs - again after being picked from thousands of hopefuls.

And they also played at the 2009 Liverpool SoundCity Music Festival and MTV Music Week.