Born in England, raised in and around the rugged coasts of southern Ireland, Emily Mae Winters’ haunting folk songs are quickly permeating the folk and song writing scene. Her formative years were spent living in Clonakilty, Co. Cork where she immersed herself in a local music scene. Influenced by the sounds of folk, Celtic and Americana music, she learned to play the guitar and piano and began playing local music festivals .
Emily Mae moved to London in 2009 to pursue a History degree. Whilst at university, she began writing her own songs and in 2010 was a finalist in the UK Live and Unsigned competition. In 2012, she was offered a place to study music and theatre at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. After graduating she performed in numerous theatre productions whilst continuing to enter song writing competitions – at the same time, gigging in and around the heart of the acoustic / roots scene in London, quickly establishing herself as a writer and performer to be reckoned with.
A poetry enthusiast, Winters worked at the Poetry Cafe in Covent Garden and at Keats House Museum, Hampstead Heath where she ran ‘Playing Poetry’ events for fellow poets and musicians. She also ran poetry and music workshops for children at libraries and schools. As she became more involved in the London folk scene and began performing her own headline shows, she met Radio 2 Folk award winner and musical partner to Josienne Clark, Ben Walker.
Influenced by the likes of Nancy Kerr, The Unthanks, The Staves Kate Rusby and Sarah Jarosz, Emily teamed up with Ben Walker to produce her first commercial release, Foreign Waters. Walker plays steel guitar and mandolin on the EP. Of the four songs on the EP, two are already award winning with ‘Miles To Go’ in the UK Song writing contest Folk Category and ‘Anchor’ winning the folk category in the Guardian Song writing Competition.
Artist’s website: www.emilymaewinters.com
‘Anchor’ – a first look:
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