I've moved my blog

Hello! Thanks for visiting. I've changed my blog, this should redirect any second. If not, please click here: http://www.ruthbarnes.co.uk

International Women's Day with Mara Carlyle

The Other Woman is celebrating International Women’s Day by featuring a kick-ass musician who takes no crap from the industry and operates independently and on her own terms. Last year it was Little Boots – we talked about her brush with mainstream super-stardom, walking away from it all and starting her own record label.

This year I have Mara Carlyle another extraordinary and inspirational talent in the studio. She recently had her beautiful album Floreat dubbed one of the best albums of the decade by Fact Magazine, she’s worked with Matthew Herbert, Joe Goddard, Plaid, The Invisible and is constantly pushing the boundaries between pop, jazz, classical and beyond.  She also is an expert musical saw player!

You can listen again to the show here:

listen to ‘International Women's Day with Mara Carlyle’ on audioBoom

Guardian Podcast - How to Make It in the Music Industry

I've started a new podcast for The Guardian!

listen to ‘Guardian Small Business Podcast - How to Make It in the Music Industry’ on audioBoom

The UK music industry, fuelled by the success of acts such as Sam Smith and Adele, contributed £3.8bn to the UK economy in 2013, according to UK Music's annual report. However despite this, banks still seem reluctant to invest in independent musicians.

What is it that traditional lenders find so off-putting about the creative industries? If musicians want to grow their businesses, where can they go if they are denied mainstream support? What strategies can they use to grow in a digital world?

Talking to music experts Claire McNeil from Aim Start-Ups, Sarah Thirtle from Creative Industry Finance, Julia Payne from The Hub and Keith Wyatt from record label Indie Kitchen, presenter Ruth Barnes hears how musicians can make moves to increase their bottom line.

Joining the conversation is musician Tom Twyman from Coco and the Butterfields, a band that has self-financed through busking and gigs. The band recorded two tracks in the Guardian studio exclusively for the podcast.

The Other Woman at the Purcell Room

Southbank Centre and Amazing Radio’s Ruth Barnes present new and upcoming artists in the Purcell Room at Queen Elizabeth Hall.

Book Tickets Now

Hannah Lou Clark


 
Hannah's debut EP Silent Type, released in November 2014, marked the first public airing after her previous project Foe disbanded two years ago.
Hannah has since been deservedly lauded by the likes of NME and Clash Magazine, and championed by the likes of Drowned in Sound as an artist to watch in 2015.
'From it's opening drum machine thud and flicker of guitar to its lullaby-like closer 'My Game', Silent Type is more assured and sublime" (NME)

Nat Johnson London date - 5 February

Nat Johnson hails from Sheffield and you'll probably already know her as the former leader and frontwoman of indie stalwarts Monkey Swallows the Universe.

Lately she's been out on her own and her solo material just gets better and better - like this latest album Neighbour of the Year.

The Other Woman presents the London date at The Finsbury - come one, come all! There's support from one woman music making machine Autumnmusic too.

Thursday 5 February - Facebook event here.

One favourite from Nat's album is Not Now, Horse:



Tickets here!

Thanks for reading,

TOW's Ruth Barnes

Amazing Radio acoustic on The Other Woman

We’re celebrating Amazing Radio Acoustic this week on Amazing Radio and so we’ve delved into the Amazing Sessions archive for some of the best female artists who’ve recorded for us. We’re a lucky lot – including British New Yorker Wilsen, Londoner Dear Pariah, angel-voiced Gabby Young and New Zealand’s Tiny Ruins to name a few. Listen again here.

The Other Woman at Radiocity at Tate Britain

Fabulous performance artist, radio presenter and all round showbiz personality Scottee has asked me to host a few days of Towerblock Tracks as part of Tate Britain's Radiocity series. Scottee's idea is that everyone loves Radio 4's Desert Island Discs (don't they?!) so why not have a show for us normals.

Just sign up here at the website for free and book yourself in for an indepth chat about the music that's shaped your life, then it goes up on on the website as a podcast. What could be more fun! I'll be there Mon/Tues 12/13 Jan and Scottee hosts the rest of the week. Come and join us...

Best of 2014

For the last two editions of The Other Woman on Amazing Radio for 2014 it was all about our Best Songs of the year.

It’s a toughie and trust me, blood, sweat and tears have been shed over these. Part one featured some of the bands who also delivered kick ass live shows in 2014, Swedish duo Wildbirds and Peacedrums who, quite frankly, can do no wrong and the inimitable Sharon Van Etten. Both released wonderful albums in 2014 too. From those big hitters we also take in Blood of the Bull, a young Glasgow based musician releasing with tiny indie (and firm TOW favourite) Soft Power Records. It’s early days for her but Bend Over is 1:59 minutes of sheer joy.

Catch up on The Other Woman

Catch up on all the latest news and playlists from The Other Woman on Amazing Radio here. In the build up to The End Festival at the end of the month I've been playing The Drink who are sure to be a highlight of the weekend’s festivities in north London. The band are readying the release of their debut and it’s been quietly and stealthily receiving rave reviews from all corners. We’re huge fans and had them for a very loud session last year.

The End Festival: Eliza Shaddad, Caitlin Park, De'Borah

I'm curating a night at The End Festival on 21 November. This is very exciting for a number of reasons - firstly that I've been a fan of said festival in Crouch End for years, secondly it's another co-promotion with The Local who do fantastic things for new music... and thirdly, the line up: I've managed to snag Shoreditch busker turned hot new talent Eliza Shaddad, Australian folktronica songstress Caitlin Park and the equally skilled Londoner De'Borah all on the same bill at the lovely ex-British Legion social club Earl Haig Hall.

Eliza Shaddad - Waters







Some other Other Woman favourites are also performing across all four nights of the festival including Bridie Jackson and the Arbour, Evelinn Trouble, Mishaped Pearls, The Drink, Leaf Library and Malka. There's also going to be a mini-conference with guest speakers, panelists from The Local and international industry delegates. Ooh ee! Check out the website for more details, and tickets (weekend pass only £25!) here.

Curator of The End, Howard Monk says: “Crouch End is an area full of creative and media types yet only really well known for decent restaurants. However, there are a number of excellent events if you scratch the surface, and this is a fresh one for the calendar, perhaps a little more ambitious in scale. We’re keen to bring excellent touring bands out of the usual epicenters of Shoreditch, Camden, Central London up to Crouch End for a couple of nights. Not just celebrating local acts (although there are a number on the bill), but mixing those with touring acts makes a great event.”

Catch up on The Other Woman

Last week on The Other Woman on Amazing Radio (available to listen again now!) there was so much great new music we hardly knew where to start! Trash Kit are back with a brand new album out in December on brilliant indie Upset the Rhythm. We’ve got a track from Nat Johnson’s new album due out mid-November and trust us, every song we hear just gets better and better! Dear Pariah has launched her stunning EP Engulf on the world too and we’ll be playing the title track from that too.
There’s also Sharon Van Etten, Auclair, Wildbirds & Peacedrums and Hunter As A Horse.

The Other Woman at The Vortex - 16 October

 

You Are Wolf

Excellent east London live music venue The Vortex and The Other Woman have joined forces for this show, bringing together three very different but equally intriguing performers.

Roshi
Roshi featuring Pars Radio is the project created around the beautiful voice, original songs and individual interpretations of Iranian material by Roshi Nasehi. Featuring the electronic soundscapes, beats and production of Graham Dids aka Pars Radio (Gagarin, Nico, John Cale, Pere Ubu), her albums have piqued the interest of an enviable range of the music press, from The Quietus and The Wire, to Q Magazine, The Independent and DJ Magazine. And Mixmag twice voted them experimental record of the month and described Roshi as “one of the most singular voices working at the moment”.
Roshi has received commissions from BBC Radio 3, So & So Circus Theatre and a live score for Birds Eye View for the Southbank 2012 WOW festival. Her most recent commission, from the British Council, was to create and present public sound art in Kuwait in May 2014.



You Are Wolf
You Are Wolf (aka Kerry Andrew) fuses traditional English and American folk with leftfield pop, gentle touches of electronica and a hint of spoken word, all melded with an array of wild vocal techniques. Debut album ‘Hawk to the Hunting Gone’ (produced by MaJiKer) explores the folklore of British birds. She has been played on BBC6Music and has performed commissioned songs and stories for BBC Radio 3 and Radio 4.
‘English avant-folk at its finest’ The Observer
‘imagine Bjork working her magic on the English countryside’ Uncut



Amy Kohn
Amy Kohn is lauded by some of the top composer/producers in modern song: Van Dyke Parks says she’s “Brimming with such talent!” and the late, legendary producer Arif Mardin dubbed Amy a “Musical Devil in a Red Dress” and featured her on his final recording, All My Friends Are Here, along with performers such as Norah Jones, Chaka Khan, and Carly Simon. Amy always seeks sounds she’s never heard, and it comes through in the “oddly structured beauty” (Scottish Herald) of her highly arranged, effervescent music.
Her lushly orchestrated third album PlexiLusso is released on September 16.

PRS Women Make Music funding

I love this picture of Tanya Auclair rocking out. The west London singer and multi-instrumentalist, is one of the many recipients of the PRS for Music Foundation Women Make Music fund.

Are you a woman making music? Have you applied yet? No? Then WHY NOT?! The PRS have up to £5000 to award your project if it ticks their boxes. Applications are wide ranging and varying artists have been awarded money in the past, so it’s clear that the initiative is aimed at all musical styles and genres.

Electro artist Tara Busch, experimental instrumentalist You Are Wolf, alt-choir Gaggle, classical artist Ana Silvera and singer-songwriter Victoria Hume are just some of The Other Woman favourites who have been given a much needed financial boost in the past and this year it could be you!

The deadline for applications is the 29th September and you can find out how to apply here.

Session: This Is The Kit

This Is The Kit is Kate Stables band and she makes fantastic, melodic, folk music which often ends in raucous psych-rock riffing.



We have two beautiful songs from Kate’s forthcoming third album due in February 2015. Kate wrote and recorded the album, it’s produced by Aaron Dessner from The National (who HASN’T he worked with lately?) and says of the experience:

‘Aaron was great to work with. Quite a quiet character. Very thoughtful and tactful. He was great at having a vision of what sound the music should have and then somehow finding it. It’s a pleasure and such a privilege to be able to collaborate with people and share the process of making an album.’

In fact they’ve been on tour with The National so you may have already seen This Is The Kit, or perhaps when they supported Sharon Van Etten too. We think 2015 is going to be a great year for the band and it’s a privilege to have a sneak preview.

The Other Woman latest

I thought I'd retrospectively post about some of the recent shows that went out and that you might have missed whilst on holiday in August. They are all available to listen to at The Other Woman show page on the Amazing Radio website.

The latest show features multi talented Scottish folkee and former TOW guest Jo Mango who has remixed her beautiful second album Murmuration, Transmuration is out in October. We've got a track from the young London artist everyone's talking about, FKA Twigs, also Roxanne De Bastion got in touch about her new EP and it's really very good - standard! There's also some Irish traditional music courtesy of Cork's Polly Barrett. 

The week before (30 Aug) we featured the new single from Swedish husband and wife duo Wildbirds & Peacedrums, The Offbeat. It was also a the perfect excuse for us to post this picture of them looking cool on even cooler bikes. They can do no wrong!

Interview: Malka

This week on The Other Woman on Amazing Radio the show Malka dropped in for a chat. The London based Scottish musician is frontwoman of indie stalwarts 6 Day Riot, and also mistress of her own label, Tantrum Records, and varied solo career. Malka, or 'The Queen', is her latest incarnation and foray into electronic music!

listen to ‘Malka interview - The Other Woman’ on Audioboo

The Other Woman latest listen again

This week on The Other Woman on Amazing Radio we’re celebrating the return of extraordinary east London MC Shystie – she seemed to vanish a while back after a signing with Universal, that seemingly went nowhere. She teamed up with Azealia Banks back in 2012 so she’s ticking all of our boxes. Her new single Stop is a fantastic return to music! We also hear from newcomers Box of Light, Madrid duo Deers and Finland’s Have You Ever Seen The Jane Fonda VHS? You can listen again here.

Session video - Fiona Bevan & Kal Lavelle

Suffolk singer and songwriter Fiona Bevan has already scored a number 1 hit with Little Things that she co-wrote for One Direction. Now life is sweet, recording her own album Talk To Strangers in LA and making it sound exactly how she wants it too. She's currently touring with Irish singer-songwriter Kal Lavelle, a youtube sensation in her own right, on the Song Sisters Tour - where they hold songwriting workshops for women before each show. These two are a force of nature individually, catching them performing together is a treat!

Session video - Eliza Shaddad

The delightful Eliza Shaddad was a recent guest on The Other Woman on Amazing Radio. The Londoner born of Scottish and Sudanese cut her teeth busking on the streets of east London and has a quiet confidence and self-assuredness that imbues all she does. It's emotional, cerebral and very beautiful.

Session video - Brigid Power-Ryce

Photo by Laura Sheeran

Brigid Power-Ryce is an Irish musician and songwriter from Galway. She makes wonderfully eerie folk music which veers to the experimental. She recorded her album in a local church complete with background noises and an obliging vicar. Brigid joined us in session and interview on The Other Woman on Amazing Radio: