"Emma Scarr is a singer-songwriter from Leytonstone, East London, writing folk music with an Americana flavour.
Americana from Leytonstone?
We’re not sure how that works either!
Emma has been active on London’s live scene for approaching two decades. A proficient performer on guitar, fiddle and banjo, in recent years she has concentrated on song craft.
Her pedigree includes a long association with the hugely popular Northern Celts, widely celebrated for their upbeat, feel-good performances at pubs, festivals, sessions and ceilidhs in and around London. The Celts’ stock in trade is a mixture of folk music, bluegrass and country, both traditional and contemporary. Increasingly, Emma’s songs have worked their way into Northern Celts sets. Sometimes even with their permission - with enough drinks bought…
Emma is also a regular solo performer at Folk in the Cellar in Camden Town, a long-time residency in The Constitution pub. Organised by The Northern Celts, this well-loved club night has hosted many talented musicians from home and abroad.
Emma’s songwriting is influenced by the ‘Alt-Country’ trailblazers - Steve Earle, Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt. More recent Americana artists like Mary Gauthier and Gillian Welch are also touchstone references. Closer to home, writers such as Steve Knightly of Show of Hands have been an inspiration, as well as the music and performers she has encountered in pubs and folk clubs over the past 20 years.
Emma’s debut album, "Angel Way" features material drawn from a live repertoire developed over the last five years. Character and place driven, the songs are grounded in first-hand experience and observation of the banalities and triumphs of the every day. These understated narratives, forgiving and non-judgemental, manage to evoke a sense of resignation while remaining ultimately resolute and undefeated. Beneath that measured surface raw emotion flits in and out of view. The texture of the songs relies on Emma’s subtle exploration of the heartbreak lurking in the shadows of busy, functional, but sometimes too empty lives."
Alex Ogg (Mojo award-winning author of
"No More Heroes"
"Radiohead:Standing at the Edge"
"The Hip Hop Years")
"Angel Way" will be available from January 2009, from myspace.com/emmascarr.
She can also be contacted through that website.
6 April (Monday) - THE BELFRIES, EMMA SCARR, ANDY LLOYD
