Emily Barker hails from a tiny rural backwater in the remote south west of Western Australia. Set among majestic jarrah forests, surrounded by timber towns and cattle farms, Emily’s close-knit family has long been part of Bridgetown's vibrant mix of mill workers, farmers, artists and escapees from the big smoke.

"As a young child my mother used to sit the 4 of us kids in a circle" says Barker. "She'd play her nylon string guitar and give us each a part to do and we'd sing 4-part harmonies to old traditional tunes and church songs. And my father had a very extensive LP collection that became the soundtrack to my childhood. He loves folk, country and blues music, artists such as Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Rikki-Lee Jones, Sandy Denny and Steeleye Span. I just soaked 'em all up, but it was Neil Young that seeped into my soul the most, and he's still my biggest musical hero".

At 19, Emily donned a backpack and head out to travel the world, she visited and lived in numerous countries collecting stories and inspiration for songs as she went, but her travels slowed down somewhat when landing in the UK.

In 2002 Emily found herself in Cambridge where she used to perform regularly at various singer-songwriter nights. It was at one of these nights that Emily first met local guitar extraordinaire Rob Jackson (Boo Hewerdine/Broken Family Band/Eddie Reader.) They teamed up for a few songs at The Cambridge Folk Festival that year and went down a storm. Off the back of this success, they formed a band called ‘the-low-country’ who went on to release 2 albums (‘Welcome to the-low-country…’ and ‘The Dark Road’), played numerous alt-country venues and festivals, and enjoyed several plays on John Peel’s show.

In October 2005, Emily won both Country song of the year and Regional song of the year at the prestigious Annual West Australian Music Song writing Awards. This year she also toured and sang in place of Stephanie Arlene with UK Americana heroes ‘The Arlenes’ on their UK tour, as well as commenced work on her debut solo album: ‘Photos.Fires.Fables.’

The album is an eclectic tapestry of old- timey narratives weaving gothic stories of fire, tragedy, love and hard lessons. It received much critical acclaim when it was released in 2007…

‘sharply observed, original songs …adventurously embellished by gypsy flourishes and haunting desert echoes that’d be at home on a Calexico album’ – Uncut

‘echoes of Lucinda Williams’ rasp and Martha Wainwright’s cutesy purr’ – Word

‘one of those talents that comes along once in a lifetime, if you're lucky.’ - Maverick

‘a gorgeous, sincere voice that grabs you and won’t let go’ – The Sun

Following on from the release of ‘Photos.Fires.Fables.’, Emily gathered some of the album’s musicians together to accompany her songs for live performances. ‘The Red Clay Halo,’ an all-female trio consisting of Anna Jenkins, Jo Silverston and Gill Sandell who play violin, cello, accordion and flute respectively. They also all do backing vocals creating mesmerising 4-part harmonies.

The girls have enjoyed many successes such as playing Glastonbury (Avalon Stage), Cambridge Folk Festival and the Big Session, and supporting the likes of Jose Gonzalez on his Australian tour, The Waifs, Mary Gauthier, Billy Joe Shaver, Tony Joe White, Frank Turner and Elvis Perkins.

The most recent album, Despite The Snow, was recorded over a snowy Easter weekend of 2008 in a 16th century barn in Norfolk. It was recorded completely live in just 4 days. The sound is therefore incredibly intimate and serves to beautifully capture the virtuosity and charisma of The Red Clay Halo quartet.

Released in November 2008, the album gained much praise…

‘stripped free of studio frippery and all the better for its carefree simplicity’ **** - Q

‘a masterpiece that will not fade in time.’ **** Maverick

‘strong melodies that at times evoke images of Richard and Linda Thompson… as strong a collection of acoustic folk songs that I have heard for a long time’ 8/10 – Americana-uk.com

‘There’s that haunted folksy sound to Emily’s vocals which recalls Natalie Merchant’s expressive voice… a superb album’ – Pennyblackmusic.co.uk

‘stunningly beautiful’ – Electric Ghost

Shortly after it’s release the album’s opening track ‘Nostaglia’ was discovered by composer Martin Phipps and then re-recorded for use as title and end credits for ‘Wallander,’ a major new drama adaptation for BBC One starring the revered British actor Kenneth Branagh. The series, which attracted over 6 million viewers per episode, has won BAFTA awards 5 categories including best Drama Series and best Original Music.

In March 2009 the band embarked on an 18-date UK headline tour peppered with sold out shows, BBC local radio sessions and a five star live review in The Times…

‘Anyone new to Barker’s oeuvre would have been forgiven for thinking that the song that followed, Fields of June — an instantly familiar love-gone-wrong double-hander — had been kicking around since Cecil Sharp was in short trousers. Not so. The hills have yet to be emptied of gold if you know where to look.’ – Pete Paphides, The Times

Going forward, the band are due to play various summer music festivals culminating in a slot at End Of The Road in September and a UK headline tour in October 2009. They are currently working on new material in preparation for a 3rd album.

Visit http://www.myspace.com/emilybarker for gig listings and more info.

Also http://www.the-low-country.com

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