Scottish folksinger Emily Smith and New Zealand born Jamie McClennan celebrate 15 years of making music together in 2017.
The pair will be appearing at the Edinburgh Folk Club, Pleasance Cabaret Bar on Wednesday 20 September.
Their anniversary tour showcases a big new sound for the duo, with newly written songs from Smith and McClennan along with some of their favourites from the past 15 years.
Drawing on influences from the folk tradition, Americana and beyond, the couple’s sumptuous harmonies are layered over sizzling double guitars, fiddle and accordion giving the audience the impression of a much larger band.
Having toured the world throughout Europe, Australasia, North America, Japan and Russia they are one of the most vibrant duos on the UK folk scene today.
Smith and McClennan first met in 2002 when Jamie made the move from New Zealand to Scotland. In the same year Emily was named BBC Radio Scotland’s Young Traditional Musician of the Year. Jamie joined Emily’s band initially on fiddle and soon became an integral part of her sound taking on the role of lead guitarist and producing several of her albums.
The accolades continued as Emily won the USA Songwriting Competition in 2005, Scots Singer of the Year at the Scots Trad Music Awards in 2008 & 2014 and two nominations in the 2012 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards (Folksinger of the Year & Best Traditional Track).
McClennan’s musical heritage is an eclectic mix of playing in surf, ceilidh, bluegrass and pipe bands making him the versatile performer he is today. Alongside Emily’s solo career he works with Australian singer and bouzouki player James Fagan in their duo ‘The James Brothers’ performing ‘colonial roots music’ from Australasia.
Under Emily’s name the couple have released seven studio albums. The most recent of which was ‘Songs For Christmas’ (Dec 2016). Emily’s original song ‘Find Hope’ was selected for the official BBC Radio 2 December playlist.
Over the years Smith and McClennan have worked with many musical greats including Barbara Dickson, Richard Thompson, Jerry Douglas, Eddi Reader and Beth Nielsen Chapman. TV appearances include BBC Four’s Transatlantic Sessions, BBC One’s Songs of Praise and BBC Scotland’s Hogmanay Live.
Live radio sessions include BBC Radio 2’s Bob Harris show, Good Morning Sunday, The Folk Show with Mark Radcliffe, BBC Radio Scotland’s Janice Forsyth Show, Take the Floor and Travelling Folk.
September: Fri 8th: Buccleuch Centre, Langholm. www.buccleuchcentre.com
Fri 15th: Beacon Arts Centre, Greenock. www.beaconartscentre.co.uk
Tue 19th: Live at the Star, Glasgow. www.starfolkclub.com
Wed. 20th: Edinburgh Folk Club, Pleasance Cabaret Bar, Edinburgh. www.efc1973.com
Fri 22nd: Eden Court, Inverness. www.eden-court.co.uk
Sat 23rd: The Tolbooth, Stirling. www.culturestirling.org/events/
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
