Edinburgh singer-songwriter, Laura Silverstone, is performing at Celtic Connections this month for the second year in a row.
The festival invited Laura back to play at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall where she will take part in the Danny Kyle Open Stage line-up on 27 January.
Last year judges praised her for a “barnstorming acoustic performance”. This year she will take to the stage just four days after she releases her latest single, Raven on a Tree. The single is already on the playlists on several radio stations and is the follow up to Dream On, described by Phoebe IH on BBC Introducing as a “gorgeous piece of uplifting folk”. Morning Pink, the most recent release has attracted 33,000 views on YouTube.
Laura has been hard at work in Cologne, Germany, laying down tracks for the new album at Lipaka Studios. Raven on a Tree is a return to the standout style of flourishing guitar instrumental that she has become known for – particularly during the Edinburgh Festival.
The Edinburgh singer says the track, which will be out on 23 January, invites listeners to imagine lying in a tree at the height of summer, bathed in nature, gazing at the stars, feeling loved. Imagine just enjoying that the world is still for one moment, and life somehow makes complete sense. That’s the feeling she hopes to have captured in memory forever with the single. Raven on a Tree fuses stretching calm emotion with yoga-like ease, as the ambient acoustic guitar solo speaks to a renewed year, looking ahead to longer, warmer days ahead.
Laura said: “The song came to me when I was hanging out with some friends in the middle of the summer and it was a beautiful, warm summer night.
“We decided to climb a tree, and each one of us lay in on a different branch, and we just looked at the stars and chit-chat. And I knew that life doesn’t get much better than that.
“Those are little pockets of magic where everything fits together into one big jigsaw, and for a few moments, for a few minutes, for a few hours, everything feels perfect.
“I felt it worthy of having its own song that would also continue to remind me of that moment, which got to bring me and others to that beautiful place, mentally and emotionally. It’s a song about, yeah, love for life, love for nature, and summer and longer days to come.
“The return of the light. The spring, and the return of the light and the sun, the return of the trees, bringing out their leaves again, birds starting to sing, birds coming back.
“Ultimately, Raven on a Tree for me is about feeling that you are in the right place, and the right time, with the right people. It’s about feeling loved, and feeling you can love, about friendship, nature. Something we can all treasure.”
Earlier this month The Edinburgh Reporter explained that Laura partnered with local artist Aila Clarke – aka New Age Granny Boutique – on a limited edition sustainable merch range.
Alongside Celtic Connections, Laura is also supporting the legendary Willie Nile for his 20th anniversary tour in March, and is performing on the World of Song tour with Irish-Sierra Leonean singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, Loah.
She will join the main stage line-up for Sound of Iona Festival with the likes of the inspirational Newton Faulkner, followed by Back Doune the Rabbit Hole in July.
Laura, has around 43,000 people following her music adventure on Instagram, and is also looking to book more gigs in Edinburgh and Glasgow in the coming months.
