Emily Barker
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Emily Barker (born 2 December 1980) is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician and composer. Her music has featured as the theme to BBC dramas '' Wallander'' and '' The Shadow Line''. With multi-instrumental trio the Red Clay Halo, she recorded four albums: ''Photos.Fires.Fables.'' (2006), ''Despite the Snow'' (2008), ''Almanac'' (2011), ''Dear River'' (2013), before commencing a solo career with ''The Toerag Sessions'' (2015), '' Sweet Kind of Blue'' (2017), ''A Dark Murmuration of Words'' (2020), and ''Flight Path Rhymes'' (2021). Other projects include Vena Portae (with Dom Coyote and Ruben Engzell), Applewood Road (with
Amy Speace Amy Speace is a Nashville-based folk/ Americana American singer-songwriter and essayist from Baltimore, Maryland. National Public Radio described her voice as "velvety and achy" and compared her to Lucinda Williams. She lives in Nashville, Tenn ...
and
Amber Rubarth Amber Rubarth is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She has toured extensively throughout Europe, North America, Japan, South Korea and South Africa . Winner of the NPR Mountain Stage New Song Contest, her eighth album, ‘Wildflower ...
), and ''Room 822'' (2022) with Lukas Drinkwater.


Career


2002–2007

Emily travelled to the UK in 2002, and was first based in
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...
where she collaborated with guitarist Rob Jackson. They formed a band called the-low-country which released two albums, ''Welcome to the-low-country'' (2003) and ''The Dark Road'' (2004), tracks from which enjoyed plays on John Peel's BBC radio show. In October 2005 Emily won Country Song of the Year and Regional Song of the Year awards at the annual West Australian Music Songwriting Awards. Also in 2005, Emily started work on her debut solo album, ''Photos.Fires.Fables.'', released on Emily's own label Everyone Sang. The release of this album saw the birth of ''The Red Clay Halo'', an all-female trio of Anna Jenkins (violin, viola), Jo Silverston (cello, bass, banjo, saw), and Gill Sandell (accordion, piano, flute, guitar).


2007–2010

The band's first album released under the name Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo, ''Despite The Snow'', was recorded in live sessions in a 16th-century barn in Norfolk. Released in November 2008 on Everyone Sang, the album again garnered much praise. In late 2008, the album's opening track "Nostalgia" was discovered by composer
Martin Phipps Martin Phipps (born 1 August 1968) is a British composer, who has worked on numerous film and television projects. Life and career He is the son of Sue Pears and Jack Phipps, an arts administrator who had previously founded a management agen ...
who re-recorded it with Emily for use as the theme tune for the hit television series '' Wallander'' on BBC1 starring Northern Irish actor
Kenneth Branagh Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh (; born 10 December 1960) is a British actor and filmmaker. Branagh trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and has served as its president since 2015. He has won an Academy Award, four BAFTAs (plus ...
. The first series, which attracted over 6 million viewers per episode, won a slew of awards, including several BAFTAs and a Royal Television Society award for its theme tune.


2011

In February 2011, ''Almanac'' was released, once again on Everyone Sang. The release of this album was accompanied by sessions for
Cerys Matthews Cerys Matthews (; born 11 April 1969) is a Welsh singer, songwriter, author, and broadcaster. She was a founding member of Welsh rock band Catatonia and a leading figure in the " Cool Cymru" movement of the late 1990s. Matthews programmes an ...
on
6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available onl ...
and Radio 4's '' Loose Ends'', while the single "Little Deaths" was record of the week on
Nemone Nemone Metaxas (born 3 November 1972 in Chester, Cheshire), often billed simply as Nemone, is an English DJ, radio presenter and television presenter/producer. She is also a trained psychotherapist practising in West and Central London. She is ...
's show on 6 Music. Emily and the band again went on the road in the UK, culminating in a complete performance of ''Almanac'' at
St Giles-in-the-Fields St Giles in the Fields is the Anglican parish church of the St Giles district of London. It stands within the London Borough of Camden and belongs to the Diocese of London. The church, named for St Giles the Hermit, began as a monastery and ...
church in London. ''Almanac'' was jointly funded by spareroom.com, and a fan-funded campaign on
Pledgemusic PledgeMusic was an online direct-to-fan music platform, launched in August 2009. It was started to facilitate musicians looking to pre-sell, market, and distribute projects; such as recordings and concerts. It bore similarities to other artist p ...
.com. The song "Pause" from ''Almanac'' was the theme tune for a major 2011 BBC2 drama serial, '' The Shadow Line'', starring
Chiwetel Ejiofor Chiwetel Umeadi Ejiofor ( ; born 10 July 1977) is a British actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a BAFTA Award, a Laurence Olivier Award, an NAACP Image Award, and nominations for an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awa ...
and Christopher Eccleston. Martin Phipps again adapted the song for the title sequence.


2012

Early in 2012, Emily began a working relationship with producer Calum Malcolm, having been introduced to him by Gilad Tiefenbrun of
Linn Products Linn Products is an engineering company that manufactures hi-fi and audio equipment. Founded by Ivor Tiefenbrun in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1973, the company is best known as the manufacturer of the Linn Sondek LP12 turntable. From 2007 Linn was ...
. Emily and The Red Clay Halo went into Gorbals Sound studios in Glasgow and recorded four songs, including a new version of Emily's murder ballad duet, "Fields of June", which had first appeared on ''Photos.Fires.Fables.''; on this version, the male vocal part was sung by
Frank Turner Francis Edward Turner (born 28 December 1981), is an English punk and folk singer-songwriter from Meonstoke, Hampshire. He began his career as the vocalist of post-hardcore band Million Dead, then embarked upon a primarily acoustic-based sol ...
and was released as a limited 7" white vinyl on
Xtra Mile Recordings Xtra Mile Recordings are a British independent record label based in London, England. The label was founded in 2003 by Charlie Caplowe and they release an eclectic mix of genres with a focus on rock and folk. History The label first signed th ...
. The band then went back in to Gorbals Sound with Calum Malcolm in June 2012 to record their next album, ''Dear River''. Shortly after completing the recordings, Emily, Anna, Gill and Jo were invited by Frank Turner to perform with him at the Olympics Opening Ceremony. In the autumn of 2012, Emily toured Europe alongside
Chuck Ragan Charles Allen Ragan (born October 30, 1974) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is the guitarist and vocalist of the band Hot Water Music. Ragan has also released a variety of solo material, including a series of 7-inches on ...
,
Cory Branan Cory Branan (born December 15, 1974) is an American singer-songwriter from Mississippi. Early life Branan was born in Memphis, Tennessee, to parents Dallas Lee Branan, a jet mechanic at FedEx, and Peggy Branan (née Rhodes). He grew up in ...
,
Rocky Votolato Rocky Votolato (born March 8, 1977 in Dallas, Texas, United States), is an American singer-songwriter. Biography He was raised in Frost, Texas, roughly 50 miles south of Dallas, until the age of 13. After his parents were divorced, his moth ...
, and
Jay Malinowski Jay Malinowski (born 1982) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, visual artist and writer. He was born in Montreal, Quebec, and grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia. He is best known as the vocalist and guitarist for reggae group Bedouin Soundcl ...
as part of The Revival Tour., and the day after the last date on that tour, on 21 November 2012, Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo played a sold out headline show at London's Union Chapel.


2013

''Dear River'' was released on 8 July 2013, charting at 99 in the official UK album charts, 23 in the Independent Albums chart, and 7 in the Record Store Albums chart, spending 4 weeks in the top 20. Reviews were very favourable in both mainstream and specialist press:
Will Hodgkinson Will Hodgkinson is a journalist and author from London (born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne), England. He is the chief rock and pop critic for ''The Times'' newspaper and contributes to ''Mojo'' magazine. He has written for ''The Guardian'', ''The Indepen ...
in ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'' gave the album a four star lead review, saying it contained "heartfelt songwriting... bridging the gap between folk, country and Fleetwood Mac".


2014

Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo released a special limited edition 10" vinyl EP for
Record Store Day Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...
on 19 April 2014. They celebrated the release by doing a tour of independent record stores, performing at seven stores over the holiday weekend Working once again with Martin Phipps, Emily composed music for ''
The Keeping Room ''The Keeping Room'' is a 2014 American Western film directed by Daniel Barber and written by Julia Hart. The film stars Brit Marling, Hailee Steinfeld, Muna Otaru, Sam Worthington, Amy Nuttall, and Ned Dennehy. It was screened in the Special ...
'' starring
Sam Worthington Samuel Henry John Worthington (born 2 August 1976) is an Australian actor. He is best known for playing Jake Sully in ''Avatar'' and its sequel, ''Avatar: The Way of Water''; Marcus Wright in ''Terminator Salvation'', and Perseus in '' Clash o ...
and Brit Marling. She then went on to compose her first feature-length soundtrack for the UK movie ''
Hector In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...
'' ( 2015) starring
Peter Mullan Peter Mullan (; born 2 November 1959) is a Scottish actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his role in Ken Loach's ''My Name Is Joe'' (1998), for which he won Best Actor Award at 1998 Cannes Film Festival, 2000's '' The Claim'' and all th ...
, released in December 2015.


2020

Emily Barker release
''A Dark Murmuration of Words''
in 2020. This album was inspired by a concern with the impact of climate change on the natural world. Emily Barker explained: "Last year the climate crisis was very much at the forefront of all of our conversations and thoughts, wondering what we can do to adapt, and feeling helpless and guilty and angry and upset and all these things" Emily Barker commented: ""Environment and equality are very important to me, and it’s finding the right perspective to write that from and being respectful of the people in society who are suffering". In an interview with Bernard Zuel, Emily Barker elaborated upon her intentions, with the album: “''It was really a response to a lot of what was going on in 2019 with the collective awakening of the environmental crisis. And it was terrifying. It’s something that I’d been aware of before, and I was brought up by parents who were very conscious of that anyway, but I think a lot of people really looked at the personal impact in a big way and started realising the scale of this emergency. It’s so hard to compute but for me, writing songs helps me to make sense of things that I can’t process".'' Emily Barker commented that the album involves a "lots of processing the emotional response to the environmental crisis". Emily Barker also covered a Billy Bragg song, 'Can't Be There Today', in 2020 as part of a campaign to save musical venues during the COVID-19 crisis.


2021

Emily Barker released an alternative version of ''A Dark Murmuration of Words'' in 2021 – calle
''Flight Path Rhymes''
She discussed the reworking of the album: ''Recording A Dark Murmuration of Words was a wonderful immersive experience that involved my live band and multiple conversations with producer Greg Freeman. It was only as the album was coming together that I realised how all the songs intertwined...how, despite their different subjects, there was an underlying theme that tied them all together.'' ''That realisation found an outlet not only in the album itself, but also in a poem I wrote soon after the recording sessions were over. I've always been a fan of poetry, but until a couple of years ago, I'd never written any myself. I took the plunge by signing up to an online course, and began to share my new work with some Stroud-based poet friends. I found it an exciting new outlet for conveying thoughts and ideas that wouldn't necessarily fit within the confines of a song."''


2022

Emily Barker and Lukas Drinkwater released an album of covers calle
''Room 822''
in 2022, which were recorded during quarantine isolation during the COVID-19 crisis. Emily Barker explained her choices of covers: ''I found myself gravitating towards songs that meant a lot to me in my late teens growing up in WA – songs I would put on the tape deck of my yellow VW Beetle while driving to the coast with the windows down, singing at the top of my lungs. From that period we chose 'Black the Sun' by Alex Lloyd, 'Mr. Milk' by You Am I, 'Tomorrow' by Silverchair and 'The Captain' by Kasey Chambers. I also listened to anything and everything by The Waifs, and for obvious reasons, we chose 'London Still'. The Church's 'Under the Milky Way' and Deborah Conway's 'Will You Miss Me When You're Sober' were staples as I was growing up. It was great to share these songs and artists with Lukas, and get his thoughts on them – turns out that he was also a big Silverchair fan as a teenager.'' ''To complete the album we chose some more contemporary songs which we both knew. 'Boys Will be Boys' by Stella Donnelly we discovered when visiting a record shop in Fremantle a couple of years ago when we asked the retailer if he could recommend anything new. He was glowing about Stella’s EP 'Thrush Metal' which we bought on the spot. We then had the pleasure of sharing a stage with Stella at Billy Bragg’s 'Songwriters in the Round' at Glastonbury Festival in 2019. We couldn't not choose a Nick Cave song – after much discussion we landed on 'Push the Sky Away' – nor could we miss Paul Kelly, but rather than delving into his illustrious past, we chose one of his most recent songs, 'Sleep, Australia, Sleep', which shows he has lost none of his urgency and relevance as a songwriter.'' Fanny Lumsden appears on the version of 'Under the Milky Way', and Jack Carty appears on 'Black the Sun'.


Discography


Emily Barker

*''Photos.Fires.Fables.'' (2006) *''The Toerag Sessions'' (2015) *'' Sweet Kind of Blue'' (2017) *
A Dark Murmuration of Words
' (2020) *
Flight Path Rhymes
' (2021)


Emily Barker & Lukas Drinkwater


Room 822
(2022)


Marry Waterson & Emily Barker

*''A Window to Other Ways'' (2019)


Applewood Road

*''Applewood Road'' (2016)


Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo

*''Despite The Snow'' (2008) *''Almanac'' (2011) *''Dear River'' (2013) *''Songs Beneath the River'' EP (2014)


Vena Portae

*''Vena Portae'' (2014)


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barker, Emily 1980 births Living people Australian folk singers Australian folk musicians English folk musicians English folk singers 21st-century Australian women singers 21st-century Australian singers English women singer-songwriters People from Bridgetown, Western Australia 21st-century English women singers 21st-century English singers Australian women singer-songwriters