Emma Pollock
Future Pilot AKA
(Photo: Matt Cairns)
Karine Polwart
Kim Edgar
MC Soom T
Michael Johnston
Kenny Anderson, King Creosote
Tours: Burnsong
For full details on Burnsong, please visit http://www.burnsong.com.
Emma Pollock
A founding member of dreamy Scotland alternative rock group the Delgados, singer/songwriter/guitarist Emma Pollock signed to 4AD Records in 2005 after the band's amicable dissolution. Pollock utilized the formidable talents of former Delgados drummer and husband Paul Savage, keyboardist Jamie Savage, and Aereogramme bass player Campbell McNeil for her solo debut, Watch the Fireworks which was released in September 2007.
Future Pilot AKA
New Future Pilot AKA album released on 5th February 2007
'Secrets From the Clockhouse' will be available on Creeping Bent Records on February 5th 2007.The album will be available as a download via Bleep, Rough Trade and various sites. The long player features collaborations and contributions from members of The Go-Betweens (Robert Forster and the late great Grant McLennan) , Sonic Youth (Thurston Moore/Kim Gordon) , Belle & Sebastian (Stuart Murdoch/Sarah Martin), The Fire Engines (Davy Henderson), Can (Damo Suzuki) , The Minutemen/Stooges (Mike Watt) & Unkle Bob as well as featuring Scottish illustrator/novelist Alasdair Gray, early music group Concerto Caledonia, and folk singer Karine Polwart. Liner notes are written by musician and composer Gavin Bryars.
Karine Polwart
Karine Polwart's songs and voice creep up on you in quite unexpected ways. Her deceptively jaunty wee trucking song "Maybe There's A Road" opened a recent edition of UK soap Hollyoaks and she closed the final programme of The Hairy Bikers' Cookbook. She's a co-writer and guest vocalist on Idlewild frontman Roddy Woomble's new album "My Secret is My Silence" and will feature, alongside Belle and Sebastian, on the forthcoming album release by Glasgow indie collective Future Pilot AKA. And she contributed some of the most vivid and starkly affecting songs to the acclaimed music-social documentary series The Radio Ballads, aired on Radio 2 earlier this year. Word is getting out.
Filmed recently for a feature on BBC 2's "Culture Show", Karine has also been chalking up a considerable national radio presence over the past few months with live sessions for BBC Radio 2, 3, 5 and 6, including Drivetime, Janice Long, Andy Kershaw, Simon Mayo and Tom Robinson, not to mention regular plays by Bob Harris and others and sustained support from local radio networks. She's also picked up some fans over at RTE1 in Ireland.
But then Karine's sophomore album "Scribbled in Chalk" is a far from careless affair. The Scottish Borders based singer-songwriter combines the economy and universality of the storytelling tradition with a probing intellect, compassionate lyricism and a canny knack for memorable melodies. She's unafraid of tricky subjects: her quietly disturbing tales of human cruelty and loss - twentieth century genocide, TV executions and sex trafficking - betray her background as an anti-violence and children's rights activist. But this dark streak is offset by wistful musings upon the age and beauty of the night sky, comic tales of lovelorn gas installers and wry observations on the links between cosmetic dentistry and global domination. Her pervasive sense of hope and possibility prove she's a musician who understands both the best and the worst that the world has to offer.
Building upon the success of her debut album "Faultlines", which picked up Best Album at the 2005 BBC Folk Awards, alongside awards for Best Original Song and The Horizon Award for Best Newcomer, "Scribbled in Chalk" resonates with roots influences but has a resolutely contemporary sensibility. At 35, Karine is no novice, however, and her apprenticeship on the international folk-roots scene with traditional Scots groups Battlefield Band and Malinky make her a vibrant on stage communicator. Her refreshingly direct stage presence, the emotional depth of her writing and the quality of her live performances are backed up by a dedicated and personal web presence, which, together have won her a loyal and ever expanding audience.
With a Masters degree in philosophy (don't try to win a debate with her!), Karine delivers her profoundly personal and quietly political messages without posturing and with plenty of room for individual interpretation. Her humanity and sense of justice, as well as her warmth and wit, shine through. She says,
"The thing I love most of all about writing songs is the meanings they take on for the people who hear them. I'm really humbled by the stories they tell me about their lives and experiences as a result."
Kim Edgar
Edinburgh based singer-songwriter Kim Edgar is currently recording her debut album, for release in 2008, which owes much to Scotland's national bard, Robert Burns.
Not only was Burns influential in Kim's formative years (along with Joni Mitchell, Tori Amos and Suzanne Vega), but also, a Scottish search for new songwriting talent inspired by Burns brought Kim's songwriting ability and musicianship to national attention.
Burnsong, a project by Dumfries & Galloway Arts Association, supported by the Scottish Arts Council, aims to celebrate Robert Burns by nurturing and encouraging songwriting within Scotland.
After selecting Kim as one of 17 winning unsigned songwriters from over 800 submissions, Burnsong subsequently invited Kim to participate in a week-long Songhouse in December 2006, giving her the opportunity to collaborate with seven established, high quality songwriters.
Karine Polwart performed "One, Two, Three, Four, Five" (which she co-wrote with Kim during the Songhouse) on the Hogmanay Show 2006 for BBC Scotland, as a duet with Paolo Nutini, and invited Kim to record piano arrangements for this song and two Scots ballads for two forthcoming albums.
Mattie Foulds, Karine's producer, offered to produce Kim's own album, and the Scottish Arts Council supported the project with a creative development grant towards the costs of recording. The album, which will be launched in early 2008, will include songwriting collaborations with Sushil K Dade, Chris Difford and Emma Pollock, as well as musical contributions from other "house mates".
Kim's songs are now reaching wider audiences, with live performances at UK music festivals including Celtic Connections (supporting Maria McKee), The Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Big In Falkirk, The Two Rivers Folk Festival and Buxton Fringe, and live sessions on BBC Radio Scotland, including Travelling Folk. Her recordings have also been broadcast by Iain Anderson and Janice Forsyth on BBC Radio Scotland, and other Scottish stations including Real Radio, Leith FM and ETC FM.
Kim's self released EP, Wee Dote, and her live performances (solo and with a full band) have attracted positive press attention, and recently she was awarded a "Best of the Fest 07!" in recognition of excellence from Buxton Fringe. A distinction in Popular Music & Sound Technology from the Liverpool Institute For Performing Arts (2002), along with a distinction in Grade 8 Piano (1996) are further testament to her commitment to, and passion for, quality songwriting and performance.
Kim is relishing the challenge of creating a debut album that connects emotionally with listeners, and that acknowledges her debt to Robert Burns:
"I'm delighted to bring Robert Burns' words and my music together on The Bonnie Lad. I'm trying to write in a way that people today can relate to, as Burns did in his day. This is a song about loving the wrong person, despite the disapproval of your family and friends. There's a timelessness about the stories Burns tells, and I hope that The Bonnie Lad, and the other songs on the album, will tell stories that move people in the way that Burns did."
The album will be launched in early 2008, and promoted by a UK Tour, with a Scottish Tune Up Songhouse Tour with her fellow Burnsong collaborators in May 2008.
MC Soom T
MC Soom T is the 4th child of 7 children. She has 5 sisters and 1 brother. She started mcing at a young age and was brought up in a family where music was a way of life. She spent her 6 school years with nothing but her headphones for company during which time she collected 2 binbags of used Duracell and was educated by Public Enemy, Rage Against the Machine, Ella Fitzgerald, Lata Mangheskar, BodyCount, Cypress Hillblah blah blah. Having been brought up on the rough streets of Glasgows Maryhill she encountered many unfair occurrences and unjust happenings which had a direct impact on the lives of herself, her family and community.
At 15 Soom T was the only ethnic minority member and one of the founding members of a youth group called the Y Network which was a political group set up by youths from all areas of Glasgow to act as a direct link of communication to local councillors and MPs. She represented the Whiteinch area. Their aim was to take their grievances about their communities to the politicians in an attempt to affect political change to improve the citys education, health, benefits, environment and prospects for the inner city youths.
Years of dedication proved fruitless. Feeling helpless to change anything through conventional political or social routes and angry at the local councils immunity to positive change, Soom T turned to music.
From 1997 to 2000 Soom T became a regular vocal resident at underground raves, soundsystems and clubnights throughout Scotland with her own brand of political poetry and musical activism. As demand for her unique vocals grew, Soom T joined several bands, ensuring that each crew supported her different style from rap and reggae toasting to techno robotic and gospel. Soom t wanted to do it all and use her voice as a variable instrument with one goal in mind. To Relay a real message via as many different genres as possible while making listeners dance.
From 2000 to 2006 Soom Ts politically motivated, soul driven, unique and powerful rap toasting and song vocals appeared on over 50 commercial and independent releases on compilations, mixtapes, albums, singles and videos released worldwide on over 20 major and indie labels including Mute (USA/Worldwide), Universal (USA, Worldwide), Ghostly International (Detroit, USA), ~Scape (Germany), Cooking Vinyl (USA, Worldwide), Sanctuary (UK, Worldwide), Jazz Echo (Germany), Kitty Yo (Germany), Resist (UK), MG77 (Switzerland), Meteosound (Germany), Sinedin (Spain), PIAS (Belgium), Boutique - Universal Jazz (Germany), Virgin 2 (USA, Worldwide), Marginal (Japan), Unity Trax (Belgium) and various others.
She has over 500 songs in her back catalogue and has collaborated with The Orb, T.Raumschmiere, Senser, Asian Dub Foundation, The Bug, Miss Kitten, Bus, Bruno Bellumini, Hagos, Paris of Detroit Grand Pubahs, Jamie Lidell, DJ Maxximus, Jahcoozi, Puppetmastaz, Rufus G Pointdexter, Monkeytribe, Mungos Hifi, Stefan Rogall, Tigerstyle, Trans world Orchestra, Fatjon of Five Deez and many others. She has performed at Europes most respected festivals such as Sonar in Barcelona, Roskilde in Denmark, Marsatac France, Popkomm Germany, Arhous and Gent in Belgium amongst many others. In 2005 she won a BBC Fame Academy Music Bursary for her groundbreaking music work and was also awarded the UK wide PRS Fopp Award with her homegrown dance hiphop crew Monketyribe. In Novemeber 2006 she was nominated for and awarded a PRS Atom Award.
Soom T has supported Aphex Twin, Basement Jaxx, Ty, Miss Kitten, and many other international artists. She has recorded live sessions for BBC and European equivalent Radio including a John Peel session and several live sessions. Her singles continue to sell worldwide and demand for her recognisable voice grows by the day. Soom has sold over 100,000 records and achieved all of this without ever being exclusively signed leaving her to forge her own path on the worlds musical underground.
In 2006 Soom T set up the label Spinning Records and also decided that her production ability was ready to take her to the next level and after 5 years of music production practice felt the time was right. Soom t has created her first solo project known as the NO STEP Project finally giving Soom T full creative control with her own electronic productions influenced by a vast array of artists. Some of these artists have helped to guide, teach and influence Soom T on her long journey through the world of underground music over the years finally giving birth to Soom Ts own brand of electro no step dance hop music and Damien Omen.
Michael Johnston
"...purely Canadian in all the best ways. Michael Johnston has finally succeeded in uniting our great land - at least musically."
- CHART
"Delicately beautiful..."
- the Toronto Sun
"Unabashedly entertaining"
- the Peterborough Examiner
"**** a treasure trove of time-defying tunes"
- Metro
"The illegimate son of Burt Bacharach and Randy Newman...sweet, uplifting, fresh and original."
- En Route
A passionate performer, gifted songwriter, and dynamic keyboardist, Toronto, Ontario-based Johnston is blossoming into a major talent on the Canadian scene, gaining tremendous acclaim from critics and his growing fanbase.
A musician's musician, Johnston has most recently been busy co-writing with the likes of Dave Clark (Rheostatics), Chris Difford (Squeeze), BBC-award winning songwriters Emily Smith and Karine Polwart, as well as renown Scottish musicians King Creosote and Emma Pollock (The Delgados).
As well, since 2006, Michael has joined legendary Canadian group Skydiggers as their keyboardist and background vocalist. Michael has also accompanied and/or collaborated with Juno winners and nominees Lynn Miles, The Wailin' Jennys, Keri Latimer (Nathan) and Oh Susanna.
Johnston's 2005 full-length solo debut - Curious Heart - was produced with drummer Don Kerr (Ron Sexsmith). Built around the piano, the album's 14 songs are a mix of exquisite melodies, rootsy ballads, and spirited vocal harmonies. Johnstons soulful, intricate and quintessentially Canadian songs create engaging moods and enduring images. A cast of dream musicians including Maury Lafoy (Sarah Harmer), Lewis Melville (Cowboy Junkies), Reid Jamieson ("The Vinyl Cafe"), and Don Rooke (Mary Margaret O'Hara) embroider Curious Heart with class and soul.
Written with a lead female vocalist in mind, Johnston invited Oh Susanna to perform his original ballads 'Apology' and 'Sunday Afternoon'. Johnston also welcomed the powerful lead vocals of Andy Maize (Skydiggers) on The Country North of Peterborough and Jamieson on Three Days.
Johnston grew up an only child in Peterborough, Ontario. After studying Music and English at the University of Guelph, he moved to Toronto in 1999, where he became certified as an English as a second language teacher. He took three months off performing, taught ESL in Bratislava, Slovakia and traveled throughout Europe. He returned to Canada with a suitcase full of new songs, and moved to Winnipeg on Valentines Day of 2003.
In 2005, Johnston was the buzz act at the Mariposa, Stewart Park and Hillside Festivals, both solo, and with his band The Gentlemen Collars (featuring Dave Clark, along with Lafoy and Melville). His song Katie was shortlisted for the National Campus Radio Assocations 2005 Roots compilation. He also showcased at the 2004 OCFF and 2005 NXNE conferences, and was among the official showcase artists at the 2006 NAFA conference in Austin, Texas.
After spending one year in Montreal, Johnston returned to Toronto in 2006 and continues to write and perform, as well as teach piano, songwriting, singing and accordion out of his home studio. Most recently, he was the only North American to participate in "Burnsong" held in December 2006 in rural Scotland - Johnston co-wrote 9 songs over 4 days with some of the UK's most respected songwriters.
Kenny Anderson
Note: Kenny Anderson will only appear on selected Burnsong dates. Please check the tour date listing for full details.
Biography coming soon.
