'The Red Clay Halo' are the musicians who have appeared on 'Photos.Fires.Fables.' and with whom she also performs. They are: Gill Sandell on bvox, accordian and flute; Jo Silverston and Anna Jenkins on violin.
The new album due out at the end of summer will feature Drummer Dan See and Double bassist Tom Mason.
Influences
In no particular order apart from the first two...Neil Young, Lal Waterson, Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings, The Band, Josh Ritter, The Arlenes, Mary Gauthier, The Be Good Tanyas, The Waifs, Joni Mitchell, Laura Veirs, Martin Carthy, Smog, Nick Drake, Low, Martha Wainwright, Les Chauffers a Pied, Leonard Cohen, Calexico, Jolie Holland, PJ Harvey, Cat Power, Pentangle, Nina Nastasia, Johnny Cash, June Carter, Gene Clark, Odetta, Bob Dylan, The Broken Family Band, Crazy Horse, Ruth Brown, Doug Sahm, Steeleye Span, Sandy Denny, Anita Carter, Shirley Collins, Fairport Convention, Rikki Lee Jones, Bjork, Emmylou Harris, Nicolette Larson, Hank Williams, Lucinda Williams, Guy Clark, Steve Earle, Incredible String Band, Townes Van Zandt, The Watersons, Cath and Phil Tyler, Oliver Knight, Aretha Franklin, Nic Jones,etc etc.
Sounds Like
"...a willowy, plaintive voice with more than a touch of Gillian Welch and Neko Case… sharply observed, original songs.” UNCUT.
"...an authentic heartache that anchors all the best country music, and places her in the same ballpark as Gillian Welch or Canada's The Be Good Tanyas ..."
Q Magazine.
"Putting a painting of yourself, replete with black eye, on the cover of your debut solo outing can't fail to grab people's attention. Barker's voice could easily do that on its own mind; with echoes of Lucinda William's rasp and Martha Wainright's breathy purr.”
Word.
“…this debut solo effort displays her intuitive grasp of both mood and medium…an engaging set of songs.”
The Times.
"The West Australian songbird has a rare and enriching talent which shines on original songs…”
The Daily Mirror.
"...a gorgeous, sincere voice that grabs you and won’t let go."
The Sun.
"...this is a winning snapshot of a fledgling talent."
The Information (The Independent)
“Lovely, lovely, lovely.”
The ABC (The Independent Magazine)
"…a treasure of an album.”
Maverick Magazine.
"...allow her glorious music to infect you with its bliss and poetry...a superb debut."
RoomThirteen.
"…a terrific voice and a nice way with a world-weary lyric…A lovely little record.”
TNT
"the incredible voice of Emily Barker, the light, shade and effortless power of which defies and surpasses any critical superlative."
Americana UK live review
"She is one of those talents that comes along once in a lifetime, if you're lucky."
Maverick magazine Pickin and Grinnin review
Brief biog:
Emily Barker is a singer-songwriter hailing from the quiet town of Bridgetown, Western Australia.
Emily first entered the UK music scene via the Cambridge Folk Festival in 2002 where she appeared with guitarist Rob Jackson (Boo Hewerdine’s guitarist). The success of this performance, lead them to form a band called the-low-country of which Emily was the songwriter and front person. They released 2 albums, played numerous Alt-country venues and festivals, and enjoyed several plays on John Peel’s show.
Please visit: www.the-low-country.com for more information or to order a cd.
In October 2005, Emily won both Country song of the year and Regional song of the year at the prestigious Annual West Australian Music Song writing Awards. This year she also toured and sang in place of Stephanie Arlene with UK Americana heroes ‘The Arlenes’ on their UK tour.
In 2006 Emily again appeared at the Cambridge Folk Festival, this time accompanied by The Red Clay Halo -a female trio comprising of Violin, Cello and Accordion/ Flute. She also sang a duet with Steve Adams of The Broken Family Band.
In January 2007, Emily released a limited edition of her debut solo album ‘Photos.Fires.Fables.’ which received numerous positive reviews in UNCUT, Q, The Word, The Times, The Independent and many more. (Please see some of the quotes to your left...)
Off the back of this success, Emily got to tour as support for Mary Gauthier and play Glastonbury Festival with The Red Clay Halo- just to mention a couple of the year's highlights...
2008 got off to a stonking start when Emily completed a tour of major cities in Australia opening shows for Jose Gonzalez where she performed in front of crowds of up to 2500 solo. She went down a storm!
May 2008 has seen her support her West Australian idols The Waifs on their UK tour. Emily she saw The Waifs play at her high school in the gazebo during the Bridgetown Blues Festival when she was just 14 years old. On seeing them play, Emily was inspired to pick up a guitar and start singing and songwriting.
The tour culminated with a performance accompanied by The Red Clay Halo at a sold-out Shepherd's Bush Empire!
The Current Album:
Regarding the album, the initial run of 1,000 copies, sold out completely at gigs in 2007 alone!
A re-mastered version of her the album ‘Photos.Fires.Fables’ is now available in the UK at gigs and at retail outlets across the country thanks to Proper distribution. This version of the album features a revised track listing, one new song and refreshed artwork and now comes to you via Emily’s own independently-managed label Everyone Sang.
Here is a brief description:
Emily Barker's debut solo album "Photos. Fires.Fables." (Everyone Sang) is a journey through 12 sharply observed songs that delicately distort the boundaries between Americana and English folk, and display her intuitive grasp of both mood and medium. The album features the earthy, acoustic acompaniment of 'The Red Clay Halo.'
The album is also available online at:
Over the snowy Easter weekend this year, the band spent their time at 'The Granary' (a 16th-century barn studio located in Norfolk) and recorded live in 4 days the eagerly awaited second album. It's a gorgeous, upclose and very intimate sound that beautifully captures the quartet of The Red Clay Halo. This will be made available in shops via Proper distribution in August and available to download in July. Stay tuned for for information.
An aside:
Emily and the girls are currently trying to raise funds for the release of this second album and are doing so by setting up a series of house concerts. If you would like the gals to play in your front room please contact the bookings email below or write to Emily on myspace. They will sing and play for you and your friends for a very reasonable fee indeed and in return, list your name on the album's artwork. Please don't be shy, get in touch! Thank you kindly.
Contact details:
Management: Phil Nicholas @ Rainbow Street Touring
Email: phil@rainbowstreet.co.uk
Bookings: Everyone Sang
Email: bookings@everyonesang.fastmail.fm
Saw you in Shepherd's Bush a few weeks back with the Waifs. Can't stop listening to the CD, especially the Suitcase and the Photo; can't wait for the new one...
hey Emily! you are a truly gifted lady...excellent songs...im in love with 'the suitcase' at the moment. have a great show tonight my friend. x bdboozE
HI thnx for the friendship and it’s nice to know you! Think it’s nice to be connected with musicians all over the world. In music we are all alike and speak the same language!!! I think you have very nice music, I enjoyed listening to it…… really sounds GREAT ….love it !! Greets from D E E Z E L (Belgium) and lots of luck in every thing you do!! If you can find the time check out my music too (thnx)
