21f 12 shots from the fRoots Rocket Launcher a dozen leading questions to fire at Emily Portman
If you were given the funds to organise a concert bill, who would the artists be?
Could I go back in time to organise it, and could it be a series? I’d love to see Joseph Taylor alongside Alasdair Roberts, The Dirty Projectors alongside Sam Amidon and Nick Drake followed by Joni in her Blue phase.
Which totally obscure record do you most treasure and would like more people to know about?
Once, on a Waterson:Carthy Christmas tour we ended up in a market and I found a record of the Irish balladeer Robert Cin- namond, which is pretty special.
What was the best live gig you ever saw?
One gig that really stands out is my first folk gig at the age of 17, seeing Wood: Wilson: Carthy at a village hall in Somerset. It was like nothing I’d ever seen before and it ignited my love affair with folk songs that changed the course of my life. I was struck by how approachable and humble they seemed – no standoffish airs and graces, just the songs and their stories at the centre.
And what was the worst? I couldn’t possibly say – it’d get me in
trouble! What was your own best ever gig?
Playing at the Queen Elizabeth Hall this year was very exciting, although some- times the small ones are the best and a lit- tle village hall gig in Leigh, Devon was per- fect. Right by the sea with lovely acoustics, the whole village turned up and the ses- sion in the pub after was brilliant too, we met the poshest people ever on their weekend yachting break, who sang The Wild Rover off their iPads!
And what was your worst?
It involved being made to move my car minutes before the concert was due to start, and getting stuck in a one-way sys- tem. We played on a bandstand to a cou- ple of waifs and strays who hadn’t been driven away by the gale-force winds, only to be interrupted by a wedding party parade, along with their highland piper!
What’s the professional achievement you’re most proud of?
That, despite being rejected and dis- heartened by labels and agents, I didn’t give up on music (though I was very tempt- ed) and instead started my own label. I’m learning as I go along, but I’m proud that I produce and own my music and it just goes to show that it really is possible to do be a DIY artist – you don’t need a big business machine behind you, just a bit of imagina- tion and a lot of patience for stuffing envelopes!
What’s the most embarrassing thing you ever did in public?
Getting the giggles on stage is horri- ble… Also once, at the tender age of 17, an elderly lady came up to me after a con- cert and said that she could see my knick- ers – pretty hideous.
Which song or piece of music would you most like to have written yourself?
Countless folk songs – perhaps the
ballad of the Two Sisters. I love the way these ballads have been so well worn as singers have passed them on, so that the lan- guage has crystallised into something sparing and elegantly crafted. I’m not sure it’s some- thing that just one per- son is capable of.
Who was the first musician or singer you were inspired to emulate?
There was a singer called Naomi who I idolised at Monkton Wylde, the community I spent some of my early childhood in. She had a Mohican and changed its colour every week, which I thought was pretty cool. At the age of three I didn’t have the means to copy the Mohi- cans but I do remember thinking that singing was an exciting thing to do. Then after the age of three it was probably Joni, as my mum often had her playing round the house.
Who was the last-but- one musician or singer you lusted after?
Definitely Harry Cox! I will say though, that as I teenager it was John Lennon – yes I know that’s a bit strange considering how he was dead, but teenage lust knows no such bounds.
If you had a rocket launcher, who or what would be the target, and why?
Apart from all those corrupt business tycoons with more cash than they know what to do
with and no notion of sharing it, it’d per- haps be those events organisers who say at the start of a gig ‘stick to the jolly songs’. For them I will sing ballads of murder with particular relish.
Emily has just released a vinyl and download-only EP Hinge Of The Year (Fur- row Records) and is currently recording the follow-up to her highly acclaimed album The Glamoury with her regular trio featuring Lucy Farrell and Rachel Newton. F
www.emilyportman.co.uk
root salad
Photo: Judith Burrows
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