Rosie is a 23 year old independent songstress from the South-West of England. She is one of our heroines here at Remuda. She is a great guitarist, a beautiful lyricist and her voice has a soft power that kinda rips out your heart whilst it kisses your throat. Making music is what she's best at. Travelling is her hidden passion. So, inevitably, she wound up organizing her own European tour, which is no mean feat, and is just another of the many reasons why we love her so. We caught up with Rosie to find out how the tour went….
Hey Hey Rosie May! Tell us about Europe…
Well it all started with me emailing hundreds, and I mean literally hundreds, of venues all over Europe. I heard back from, like, a handful. None in the South of France - so I had this gap in my tour I was trying to organize. Lots of venues in Spain did get back to me - which was great. Thing about Spain is, folk is unheard of…
They don't have folk in Spain…?
No! They have lots of Flamenco, Jazz, Spanish guitar or rock but not really folk.
But they loved me because I was different. It's not like in London, where the audience can be listening to anything anywhere and so they kinda turn up at your shows really wanting to be impressed. In Seville I was mentioned in a local "What's On" publication and literally hundreds of people turned up to see me because I was different. I didn't get paid but the promoters are so nice! They made sure I had everything I needed. One of them even let me share his family home. And I ended up making hundreds of Euros selling CD's. It's much easier to make fans there. In many ways London is the centre of the Universe, but we should go further afield.
After I played one of the shows in Seville, I found out that 3 or 4 of the best Flamenco guitarists in Seville (AKA THE WORLD!) were in the audience. Thankfully it was after the show that I found out else I would have been taken off stage shaking or peed my pants.
Haha - Did you find out what they thought of you?
One of them is my boyfriend's Flamenco teacher. My boyfriend's English, but he lived there for a few years studying Flamenco guitar. So... at the time I didn't know this Flamenco teacher, but we've since become pals. He said he loved "Infatuation" so much he was sure I couldn't have written it... Which is a bit of a back-handed compliment, but he invited me to record with him. I love it when someone has mastered their instrument. He gets paid the big bucks to travel all over Europe playing and teaching Flamenco, sessioning. So I was super-chuffed to record with him.
Did you record anything we'd know?
We did "White Christmas" and another version of "Infatuation".
So is that gonna be a Christmas release do you reckon?
I like the idea of recording Christmas songs throughout the year and releasing an entire album all at once. "Infatuation" may be a free download…
Rumour has it you have a new album coming out around the new year?
I've got a lot of old songs knocking about. When I had a band (I loved having a band so much), it changed the songs so much, invigorated them. We were playing "Never had a plan" and it was EPIC! Oh my god! It was psychedelic! There's a word I never thought I'd use to describe my music. It was SO good! At the beginning of the year I spent 6 months in London toying with this album - recording demos, etc. Ive got 5 or 6 songs that I know I want on it, and the rest I still have to write. I would like to record them all together so that there is some sort of unconscious theme. I'm in no rush though. You sometimes get these blocks when it comes to writing - and they feel terrible if you let them make you feel like you'll never write anything again. The last full song I wrote was Bellissima - the last track on my last EP - Roof over our Heads. The song was an 8 minute epic and I'm still really proud of that.
I'm glad I'm giving this album breathing space. Two years ago I would have had no idea what I wanted to do with it but now I'm ready - and glad to give it the space it needs.
I've had a lot going on at home this past year. I've been travelling the South-West of England - trying to see my country. Since my last EP release last May I've had so many wonderful experiences. I've been getting into REAL traditional folk, you know, like a capella shanties. I hate when people talk about 'getting to know their roots', but I'm getting to know my roots... Real, English, Shanty-folk roots.
I've got a jazzy voice, a folk feel and a Flamenco-playing boyfriend. Plus, when I've got a band it's pretty rocky - I feel pretty inspired right now.
You can get to know Rosie even better here…
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