Karine
POLWART
BIOGRAPHY:
Banknock born Karine Polwart first picked up a guitar before she reached double
figures. It may have taken another 20 years before she became a professional
musician, but a long and varied apprenticeship has allowed her to develop her
own style, and at her own pace. Studying Politics at Dundee, followed by more
studies in Canada led to a degree in Philosophy. Returning to Scotland, Polwart
formed Edinburgh folk act Malinky,
and was a member of The Battlefield
Band between 2001 and 2002.
Her debut solo album, "Faultlines" was released in January 2004, and
featured her brother (and ex-member of Why
Bradley) Stephen Polwart on guitar. Despite an increasingly busy touring
and recording diary, Polwart still works as a music tutor in community projects
across Scotland.
2005 saw Polwart visit Oman for some dates. She then went on to collect three
prizes at the BBC Folk Awards (best album, best song, best emerging artist)
and play a long string of dates around the UK, with a backing band containing
Mattie Foulds (drums), Corrina Hewat (harp / vocals), Kevin McGuire (bass /
vocals), Aiden O'Rourke (violin), Steven Polwart (guitar / vocals, ex-Why
Bradley) & Inge Thomson (accordion / vocals). Sessions were completed
for BBC Radio Two and BBC Radio Four at about this time as well, and Polwart
sang on some (as yet) unreleased Future Pilot AKA tracks. May 2005 saw her marry
drummer Mattie Foulds, and the end of the year saw the release of a limited
edition EP
entitled "Pulling Through". The five track CD was on sale at her
gigs throughout November, and was the first recording that she had made for
her own imprint "Hegri Music" ("Hegri" is the Shetland word
for heron - her favourite creature). The EP featured her regular band, as well
as violin from Greg Lawson and her younger sister Kerry Polwart (later of The
Poems) on glockenspiel.
A successful year was rounded off with a couple of nominations at the Scots
Trad Music Awards 2005
for "Best Folk Band" and "Best Composer".
2006 saw her begin with some dates at Glasgow's Celtic Connections festival
in January, followed by a short English tour and a nomination for Folk Singer
Of The Year at the BBC2 Folk Awards. This was quickly followed by Polwarts second
album, "Scibbled In Chalk" in April, which was licensed to Glasgow
label Shoeshine Records. The album saw her raise her profile further, with live
sessions on prime time BBC Radio. This was followed by an extensive UK tour
throughout May, June & July, and a feature on BBC2's "Culture Show".
July saw the band supporting Joe Jackson on his European tour, around the same
time as Polwart guested on the debut solo album by Roddy Woomble. In August,
Polwart played a couple of dates supporting The Beautiful South.
In October Cockburnspath Primary School in Berwickshire and Castlefield Primary
School In East Kilbride adopted her song "I'm Gonna Do It All" as
their new school anthem!
2007 began with some dates at the Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow, as
well as at the European Parliament in Brussels.
The band then received another BBC Folk Awards nomination for the song "Daisy",
which was also playlisted on Radio 2. After a couple of months doing preparation
work for her third album, Polwart took most of the year off to have her first
child, who was born in May.
Polwart was back on the road again for an acoustic UK tour in November / December,
and she released a quiet acoustic album of Scottish traditional songs called
"Fairest Floo'er" at this time.
2008 started busy, with an extensive UK tour in March / April, to promote her
next album, "This Earthly Spell".
RELEASES:
"Faultlines"
(CD album, Neon Records, 2004)
"Pulling Through" (CD EP,Hegri Music, 2005)
"Scribbled In Chalk" (CD album, Shoeshine Records, 2006)
"I'm Gonna' Do It All" (CD single, Shoeshine
Records, 2006)
"Fairest Floo-er" (CD album, 2007)
"This Earthly Spell" (CD album, 2008)
GUEST APPEARANCES:
Cathy Ryan, "Somewhere On The Road" (CD album, Seannachie Records,
2001)
Corrina Hewat, "My Favourite Place" (CD album, Foot Stompin' Records,
2003)
Dean Owens, "My Town" (CD album, Vertical Records, 2004)
Roddy Woomble, "Silence Is My Secret" (CD album, Pure Records, 2006)
"The
Ballad Of The Books" (CD album, various artists featuring Polwart, 2007)
WEBSITES:
http://www.karinepolwart.com
http://www.myspace.com/karinepolwart