Emily Portman

Bio:

Emily Portman is a singer, writer and concertina player based in the North East of England. With a BBC Folk Award nomination for her work with harmony trio The Devil’s Interval, Emily is already an established musician on the UK folk scene, commended by Shirley Collins and annually touring with Waterson:Carthy.Emily has recently appeared at The Southbank Centre as part of their ‘Folk Roots, New Routes’ series and debuted her new songs at The Sage Gateshead. She is also fast making waves beyond the folk scene, being featured as a soloist on the BBC's adaptation of 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles' as well as appearing on alt-folk songwriter Alasdair Roberts’ forthcoming album.
Emily originally hails from Glastonbury, where, raised on a diet of fairytales and deep Somerset folklore she began songwriting at the age of six, starting out with a keyboard, a tape recorder and a thirst for blood-curdling stories. After years immersed in traditional songs, Emily's return to songwriting has already grabbed attention across the BBC, with a live session for radio 6, high praise on radio 2 and with Radio 3’s ‘Words and Music’ broadcasting live performances of songs from the album at their 'Free Thinking' Festival'.
Inspired by folktales and ballads, Emily weaves harmony-rich narratives relaying female experience, accompanied by viola player and singer Lucy Farrell (fresh from touring with The Unthanks) and harpist-singer Rachel Newton of BBC folk Award Nominees The Shee. These visceral visions of a darker Albion conjure landscapes where mythical sirens collide in urban backstreets. Emily’s 2010 debut album ‘The Glamoury’ has been received with overwhelming critical acclaim, with The Observer hailing it ‘A remarkable and original debut.’

For live bookings contact Doug Smith at CODA agency: Doug@codaagency.com ..realeditorbest profile tools

How I made my profile:
I used Dave & Jay's amazing myspace editor.;}..realeditorbest profile tools..

Member Since:

October 21, 2006

Members:

I sing my new songs with Rachel Newton (harp&voice) and Lucy Farrell (viola and voice). My debut solo album The Glamoury features all of the above musicians + David Newey, Christi Andropolis, Hinny Pawsey, Bellowhead's Rachael McShane and Northern Sinfonia's Gabriel Waite.

Influences:

Pop Maynard, Marina Warner,Joni Mitchel, Queen Caroline Hughes, Martin Carthy, Mary-Anne Haynes, Tom Waits, Norma Waterson,Angela Carter, John Pole, Bjork,........

Sounds Like:

'A remarkable and original debut..... Her voice is bright and larkish but her tales are drawn from the darker realms of faerie, where human bones are made into harps and "selkies" shed their seal skins to become human.' Observer
'a lovely tribute to the joy of story-telling' Fiona Talkington, Late Juncton BBC Radio 3
'The raw stuff of the great ballads... ­The tunes are as rooted in the tradition as a hawthorn in an old hedge bank and the writing is masterly' Mike Harding, BBC Radio 2
'A unique and fantastic concept, perfectly executed and realised' Shirley Collins
‘An album, certainly that merits major respect.’ Colin Irwin, fROOTS

Record Label:

Furrow Records - www.furrowrecords.co.uk