Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo have shot to fame with their classic blend of folk rock with 29-year-old front woman Emily Barker bringing a breath of fresh air to Manchester.
The songstress has certainly made a name for herself in the music industry. Four albums and a myriad of festivals and tours later, Baker has brought classic folk rock to new heights.
Barker first came over to the UK as a backpacker, a common adventure for an Australian to endeavour as they often have family ties in Europe.
She enrolled at university but wasn’t ready to start and instead used England to travel the world while trying to find a solution to life’s difficult questions; where am I going and what am I doing? It appears music was the only answer.
As soon as Barker’s feet touched British soil, the musical journey began. Her first job was working at Andy’s Records in Cambridge and after a move to London she worked at another record shop affectionately known as ‘Brill’.
She collaborated with guitarist Rob Jackson to form the band The Low Country, producing two albums and providing a successful and promising start.
This collective experience provided a transition, a bit like a student jumping from college to university, to give her direction. Her work at the record shops ultimately acted as an inspiration for one of her most innovative and ground-breaking tours to date, the Record Store Tour, earlier this year.
Performing from Edinburgh down to Plymouth, Barker played at 21 venues across the country in what was an informal, close knit gathering of customers and shop owners in record stores. Barker went ‘back to basics’ for this tour and was really pleased with the support.
“It was brilliant, I really loved it. I did it solo, just me, my car and my acoustic guitar. It was great meeting people and seeing the shop owners,” she said.
Looking at the age of digital downloads, Barker certainly noticed a difference between the stores in terms of what they offered
She said: “Stores seem to be doing a lot more vinyl now. They are also diversifying like having a cafe or including retro clothing. I liked the store in Portsmouth. It was called ‘Pie & Vinyl’ and they literally sold pies and vinyl. It was a quirky place.”
Barker has such an impressive vocal range, reminiscent of a cross between Joni Mitchell and Eva Cassidy.
As with most music these days, you would be hard pressed to be able to define or categorise with confidence, much to Barker’s annoyance as she explained:
“It is quite annoying really when trying to categorise. I would say my music has an Americana style to it and also gives off a bit of a folk vibe. I tend to call it folk, pop, rock.”
This can certainly be identified on her first three albums, Photos.Fires.Fables (2005), Despite The Snow (2008) and Almanac (2011).
From listening to this warm blend of country and folk music, it was distinguishable to be able to pick out a harmonica and accordion, the latter being influenced by Leonard Cohen, and Barker was intending to ‘reflect that inspiration’ whilst the instruments blended into a backdrop of a miniature string quartet.
She also cites her influences as Neil Young, Gillian Welch and Aretha Franklin, who is her favourite female vocalist.
It appears every album tells a different story, a story which defines a significant part of her life. Even when you look at the lyrical impact, in particular on songs such as Reckless and Billowing Sea, which feature on her Almanac album, you can almost connect to her way of thinking.
With such powerful meaning in this bed of poetry, the lyrical content is such a standout feature and should of course remain such an integral part of song writing, as it does to Barker:
She said: “Often I write lots of ideas as I go through life. When it comes to writing I have this collection of thoughts that I can use. I’m meticulous with lyrics, it needs to be right.”
Barker takes her lyrical thought processing from Paul Kelly, an Australian singer who talks about how writing a song is like a jigsaw puzzle. There are different pieces to fit together.
Barker’s new album Dear River is quite different from her other three and offers something which is more of a challenge to categorise:
“This album has more of a rock vibe, it’s less folky and more Americana. There is more of a lush sound. We recorded it on Linn Records at an amazing studio in Glasgow called Gorbals Sound. They really care about the quality of the sound,” she said.
So what’s next for the up and coming singer?
“I’m going to Nashville next week as part of the Americana Festival,” she replied. I’m going with Bob Harris as well. In October and November I am doing a UK tour of my new album Dear River which will last a couple of months. The tour will essentially focus on the new album but I’ll be covering old stuff as well.”
Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo will be appearing at Manchester St. Philips on Thursday November 7 at 7:30pm.
Image courtesy of David Wilson Clarke via Flickr, with thanks.
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