Congratulations to Emily Smith who has been nominated in Album of the Year sponsored by Birnam CD, and the Citty Finlayson Scots Singer of the Year sponsored by TMSA in the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards 2014. Vote now!
We asked Emily Smith the following questions.
Tell us about yourself
Having celebrated a decade as one of Scottish music’s most distinctively sublime voices, the multi-award winning singer, songwriter and instrumentalist Emily Smith begins a fresh chapter in her illustrious career, drawing on her acclaimed performances on the Transatlantic Sessions 2013 tour where she performed alongside top-notch Scottish and American musicians.
On Echoes, Emily’s fifth studio album, she weaves new settings of time-worn texts alongside contemporary covers blurring the borders of old and new, making what’s being described as “a new Scottish sound”, created with one foot planted firmly in her home of Dumfries and Galloway and the other in Nashville’s left field.
Emily and her musicians – multi-instrumentalists Jamie McClennan and Matheu Watson, bassist Ross Hamilton and percussionist Signy Jakobsdottir – are joined by guests Jerry Douglas, Aoife O’Donovan, Kris Drever, Tim Edey, Natalie Haas and Rory Butler.
Echoes is at once unshakeably Scottish but also with farther, wider horizons. From remembered ballads like the murdery Twa Sisters and the mythical King Orfeo to contemporary but no less timeless songs such as Bill Caddick’s gorgeous John O’Dreams and Darrell Scott’s The Open Door, Emily’s voice eases tired ears with its simple beauty.
Time has passed very fast since Emily was named BBC Radio Scotland’s Young Traditional Musician of the Year back in 2002. The accolades continued as she won the USA Songwriting Competition in 2005, Scots Singer of the Year at the Scots Trad Music Awards in 2008, and two nominations in the 2012 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.
In that time she’s toured the world, thrilling audiences from Cambridge Folk Festival all the way down to the National Folk Festival in Australia, via Europe, Russia, Canada and New Zealand. Her face has been all over the television thanks to BBC Four’s Transatlantic Sessions, BBC One’s Songs of Praise, Scotland’s Hogmanay Live, BBC Ulster’s Santer and an exclusive performance for Sky Arts Channel. In 2013 Emily toured as part of the Transatlantic Sessions extended family, singing with the likes of Mary Chapin Carpenter, Aoife O’Donovan, Eric Bibb and Teddy Thompson – adding to an impressive list of onstage collaborators which also includes Richard Thompson, Eddi Reader and Beth Neilson Chapman.
Her albums A Day Like Today, A Different Life, Too Long Away, Traiveller’s Joy and 2009’s sparkling take on lesser known Robert Burns compositions Adoon Winding Nith (released as a duo with husband Jamie McClennan) established Emily as both an adroit interpreter of old songs and a dazzlingly accomplished crafter of original material. In 2013 Emily released her best-of collection Ten Years.
Why are you involved in Scottish music?
I have a passion for the musical heritage of Scotland, I love looking back on the history of Scottish music, Scots song in particular. I love the fact that songs written hundreds of years ago can still be relevant and accessible to us today.
Any particular career highlights?
Winning BBC Radio Scotland Young Trad award in 2002. Touring the world especially tours in New Zealand, Russia and Japan. Being part of Transatlantic Sessions TV series and live tour. Working with some very talented musicians over the years.
What are your plans for the future?
To continue touring, recording and working on new music. I’m also enjoying being part of two new collaborative projects ‘Footprints’ (recent performances include The Fringe in Edinburgh, 2014) and The McMath Project (debuting at Dumfries & Galloway Arts Festival in May 2015).
Read more about Emily Smith
http://www.emilysmith.org
Buy a ticket for the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards on Saturday 13th December in Inverness Leisure, start time 7pm. You’ll have a great time!
