Multi award winning Scottish folk singer Emily Smith and New Zealand born multi-instrumentalist Jamie McClennan return to tour NZ in Feb 2015 with their inspiring blend of traditional and original folk songs and instrumentals.
Emily’s beautiful voice eases tired ears and lifts souls with its simple beauty. She also plays accordion and piano. Performing with long time musical partner Jamie McClennan on guitar, fiddle and backing vocals, they are a highly talented duo presenting the best of Scottish folk music.
Emily was named BBC Radio Scotland’s Young Traditional Musician of the Year back in 2002. The accolades continued as she won the USA Songwriting Competition in 2005, Scots Singer of the Year at the Scots Trad Music Awards in 2008, and she received two nominations in the 2012 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards (Folk Singer of the Year & Best Traditional Track). Kiwi born Jamie moved to Scotland in 2000 and having worked with Emily since the start of her career has established himself as a respected session musician and producer on the Scottish music scene.
Having now worked together for over a decade Smith and McClennan have toured all over the world, from Cambridge Folk Festival all the way down to the National Folk Festival in Australia, via Europe, Russia, Canada and New Zealand.
TV appearances include BBC Four’s Transatlantic Sessions, BBC One’s Songs of Praise, Scotland’s Hogmanay Live, NZ’s Good Morning Show and an exclusive performance for Sky Arts Channel.
In 2014 Emily released her much-anticipated new album ‘Echoes’, produced by Jamie. On this, her fifth studio album, Emily continues to draw on her talent as one of the finest interpreters of traditional song in the UK. Unshakeably Scottish but with farther, wider horizons, their new material sees time worn texts weave beautifully alongside contemporary covers blurring the borders of old and new to create her finest album yet.
Emily Smith
