Pals and personality - how Amy Macdonald keeps her feet on the ground

Amy Macdonald has been in the public eye for nearly two decades, with a music career filled with best-selling albums, world tours and selling out Scotland's biggest music venue.

Despite those years of fame, the Bishopbriggs singer believes she has kept her feet on the ground - thanks to her pals and her personality.

"People say I seem like someone they could have a pint with, and I love that," she laughs, ahead of a busy spell that includes a high profile slot at the country's biggest music festival TRNSMT.

"I've got the same two best friends as I had at school and I'm really lucky to have good people around me. I think I lack the temper to be a demanding diva."

That isn't to say Macdonald is not prepared to fight her own corner - something she feels she has got better at since her career began in 2007, with first album This Is The Life.

The record topped the charts when she was not far removed from school lessons and playing open mic nights around Glasgow.

"There were so many times when I got talked into doing things that I didn't want to do, or didn't feel right," she recalls of her early days.

"You always question yourself and I probably convinced myself that everyone in the industry must know better then me. Now I know they're all winging it!"

Last year the 38-year-old released her sixth album - Is This What You've Been Waiting For? - reaching the top five in the UK and the likes of Germany. Switzerland and Austria, where Macdonald is a huge star.

This weekend she releases several mixes of a track from the record, Can You Hear Me, for Record Store Day - the yearly celebration of independent record stores.

Having started her career at a time when CDs were still in vogue and streaming was relatively new, she's delighted to be encouraging people to buy physical products again.

"It's so important, even more so now when the industry is caught up so much in making videos go viral," she says.

"I don't think that focus is great for helping you have a lasting career. Being able to go back to physical music, having a rummage through what shops have and finding something you've never listened to before, is really great."

Macdonald's gigs have grown considerably larger since her early days. Last year she sold out two nights at the OVO Hydro, something she says was forced on her by her manager as Macdonald herself doubted she would sell enough tickets.

This year she will be second top on the last day of TRNSMT at Glasgow Green, behind headliner Lewis Capaldi.

In doing so she'll be as close to topping the bill at the summer festival as any female act has been. The event has been regularly criticised for never booking a woman to headline.

Macdonald feels it's more complex than blaming organisers, though.

"It's always targeted at festival organisers and I don't think that's fair, because this is a bigger issue," she says.

"It's all tied to radio support, TV support, streaming support and women artists are still massively disadvantaged in those categories. In the last year there's been a lot of great acts breaking through like Olivia Dean and Lola Young, but we tend to see festival headliners as being more like bands.

"Radio stations that focus on that music can be very male orientated and turn their nose up at female-fronted bands. I've been directly told by certain stations that my music won't get played as 'male artists work better' for them.

"Ultimately, they're looking at stats and listeners though, so it's about making the whole system work better and I think we are getting there - just everything happens at a snail's pace."

Away from radio and TV, many acts use social media to promote themselves.

That is something Macdonald has done, posting on Instagram and TikTok (although joking that nobody needs to see her dance on the latter).

However social clips can take a life of their own, like when she cheerfully posted her celebrations to Scotland reaching the World Cup last year.

"I was in a hotel room in London watching the game and I put a wee message on Instagram afterwards," she said.

"Then I was watching the news and they showed the clip - so there was me on the national news in my pyjamas unexpectedly."

A huge football fan, the singer has gigs clashing with Scotland's first two matches at the tournament - but is hopeful of travelling to Miami for the final group game against Brazil.

That will come against a backdrop of criticism of organisers Fifa and hosts the USA, but while Macdonald says she follows the news, she believes there is a limit to what she can do.

"I get anxious and overwhelmed a lot, and over the past few years I found I was making myself massively stressed about all the things going wrong in the world," she said.

"I would love to have power to sort everything out, but I don't. I'm trying to teach myself not to worry myself about things I cannot control."

Anxiety among pop stars is becoming more common, with Lewis Capaldi among those to speak openly about mental health.

"It's incredibly difficult when everything you do is judged by everyone," says Macdonald.

"It can get overwhelming. One of the most important things is having people who care about you, like my manager - he started as my guitar tech, then became tour manager and is now my manager.

"Having someone who has been with me every step of the way and genuinely cares makes a massive difference."