I am absolutely over the moon to announce that my BRAND NEW SINGLE “Make my Day” will receive its first ever play on Wogan this Sunday 20th… Make sure you tune in between 11 and 1 to hear the exclusive!
LISTEN HERE!! http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b049xgxg
Richard Madeley will be sitting in for Wogan this weekend, but here are a couple of pics of Terry and I from last years radio session at BBC Radio 2 and live in Hyde Park!
Thanks so so much to Brian Cadge – my wonderful “Enchanted” tour poster designer for putting together this awesome video of 2013 best bits taken by the amazing Sparklers…
What a year it’s been!! WOW!! So excited about 2014!!!
Hello to all those who have heard my single of the week “Riptide” in UK, Ireland, Russia and India!! Welcome to my world!! I hope you like the single. If you do, please don’t forget to check out my album too! I have no label and every copy of the album that’s sold helps keep me afloat. If you like the album, please let your friends know! It is SO EXCITING for me to know that I’m reaching places in the world like India and Russia.. I’d love your feedback, especially if you’re from there. Don’t forget, the single is FREE ALL THIS WEEK so please ask everyone you know to download it!! You’ve got nothing to lose!!
I recently did a photoshoot with the AMAZING Rosie Hardy and I’m blown away by the lovely comments on Facebook. Thank you everyone so much. It was a great day!! I would particularly like to thank Sandy Grayson from Diamond Nights who lent me the dresses I used in the shoo and Kathy Anderson for organising it. More pictures to follow, but if anyone is interested in buying the dress of their dreams, the website address is: http://www.diamondnights.net
She also has another store called Diamond Days both equally amazing!!
I was so flattered and honoured to receive such a love review that I had to share it…
http://musosguide.com/festival-coverage-bbc-radio-2-live-in-hyde-park/31188
And so from the main stage back to BBC Introducing where the lovely Emma Stevens was headlining. Championed by Terry Wogan and Chris Evans, Stevens’s brand of seemingly bright and breezy indie-country-folk is lyrically astute, musically mesmeric and utterly charming. From the first note, this was a performance of a singer-songwriter destined for mainstream success and critical acclaim.The three EPs that Stevens has released feature multi-layered harmonised vocal tracks and there was a brief thought that this might not translate well a capella (so to speak) but at no point was any intensity lost and Stevens’s megawatt smile would have more than compensated if there was. Even the usually stoic sound engineer couldn’t resist nodding along to a couple of tracks, especially the beautiful ‘How to Write a Love Song’ which was introduced as a riposte to a an old boyfriend that ended their relationship on her seventeenth birthday. A real joy also was her signature track ‘A Place Called You’, which needed just a couple more people in the crowd whistling along. A more personal track, ‘Sunflower’ was also passionately performed and Stevens’s preamble was particularly affecting. It’s on her new EP and well worth seeking out. Stevens and her band sounded amazingly tight and exuded genuine sincerity towards the huddled crowd. She was by far the most professional act on the BBC Introducing bill – presenting her band by name, cheekily setting up a guitar solo and she was also the only performer to take a bow. After the set, she came out front to chat to the audience, which was a simple but telling gesture of how grounded yet grateful she surely is. She truly deserves all the success that comes her way.
By Stuart Anderson
A lot of you have been in touch asking about what makes BBC Introducing so great and why it helped me so much. I thought I’d do a little blog and let you know about my journey with them.
First of all I uploaded one of my songs to the BBC Introducing website. Shortly after that I was contacted by Phil Jackson at BBC Introducing South, who told me that my song was going to be presented to the demo panel, where three industry experts would give me feedback about the song I had submitted. I received three thumbs up (YAY!) and was consequently invited into the BBC South Studio to perform a live session on air.
It received such great feedback from listeners that it came to the attention of BBC Radio 2. Sir Terry Wogan discovered the music and gave my first single a play on his show. This then resulted in my single being playlisted on BBC Radio 2. For this to happen to an unsigned artist is unprecedented. When I then got the invitation to go and play live for Sir Terry with my good friend Jenn Bostic, I had to pinch myself!
Then my second single was playlisted and I was invited to perform live on Claire Balding’s show and on Chris Evan’s breakfast show..! It just totally blows me away and I still cannot believe it! (Below is a picture of me during the interview with Chris Evans and David Walliams!)
The next thing I knew I was headlining the BBC Introducing Stage at Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park.
BBC Introducing is an amazing initiative to allow new music and new talent to have a platform. It gives DIY artists the same opportunities as artists who are signed to major labels. It is SO refreshing that the BBC are championing new british talent and new songs and I’m so grateful, honoured and delighted that they felt that I fell in to that category.
