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2009 is a big year for us here in Scotland – The Scottish Government have named it ‘Homecoming Scotland 2009’ and it’s basically a year to celebrate Scotland’s contributions to the world – why 2009? Well, because it’s the 250th anniversary of Robert Burns’ birth. As well as Burns we’re also celebrating our love of golf, whiskey, great minds and innovations, culture and heritage. So a lot of celebrating going on! There is a humongous programme of events planned to attract visitors to Scotland, especially those who have ancestral links, and also to encourage us Scots to get out and about, holiday near to home and be proud of our roots. For more info on homecoming see: www.homecomingscotland.com

So, Robert Burns is very much on my mind and in the Scottish media at the moment – he's even on our milk cartons! My contribution to the homecoming year is an album of Burns material for release later in 2009, particularly including some of the material he wrote while living in Dumfries & Galloway. I grew up just 10 miles from where Burns had a farm so it’s easy to feel a connection with his music although I've not always appreciated his work - at school we tended to get a bit too much of Rab! However, I'm pleased to say I now see his songs with renewed enthusiasm. This recording is a project that Jamie and I will be doing as a duo and we're looking forward to working on it over the coming months.

Celtic Connections - Seaquins/Emily Smith show/Auld Lang Syne

I had a fantastic time being part of the mighty Celtic Connections festival up in Glasgow this year. My first gig was with the lovely girls I worked with back in August at Tonder Festival in Denmark. Made up of female folkies from Scotland, Denmark, Finland, Canada and Sweden we are collectively known as Seaquins. Our gig at CC was in the Old Fruitmarket and in addition to the material we had prepared for our performance at Tonder Festival last summer we arranged some new songs and tunes for the Glasgow audience. I particularly enjoyed our new Finnish song. Fingers crossed we'll get the opportunity to play together again before too long.
You can listen to some of our tracks at: http://www.myspace.com/seaquins
(these are from a recording made at Tonder last summer)

I also had my own show at Celtic this year in a beautiful old building called St Andrews in the Square. It was great to play a full length show again as the majority of shows in the last few months have been shorter spots at festivals, etc.
I tried out some new songs alongside material from Too Long Away.

A few days later Jamie and I were honoured to be part of a concert called Auld Lang Syne. This was a concert of Robert Burns material and also featured Dougie MacLean, Eddi Reader, Karen Matheson, Karine Polwart, Dick Gaughan, Michael Marra, James Grant and The Cast. We played to a crowd of over 2000 in a sold out main auditorium of Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. The concert was filmed for BBC.
If you're in the UK you can watch tracks online by going here and clicking on Auld Lang Syne (watch out for some dancing and singing with Eddi Reader on Leezie Lindsay...):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/music/celticconnections/2009/
Incidentally, this whole site has some great footage of other artists playing at the festival. I wasn't able to get to many of the gigs so being able to watch the footage here has been a treat.
To go direct to my songs (which will be recorded on the Burns album I mentioned above) go here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/music/celticconnections/2009/artists/emily_smith

If you're out with the UK then some of the tracks are up on You Tube.
http://www.youtube.com
(do a search for auld lang syne celtic connections)

Guest blogger on BBC Radio 2

I was recently guest blogger on the BBC Radio 2 Folk & Acoustic blog. My blogs were mainly about the goings on at Celtic Connections and are still available to view here: www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/folk/

Transatlantic Sessions

Some very exciting news for me is that I have been asked to appear on the new series of Transatlantic Sessions. I don't have any more details on that just yet but I've always been a big fan of the show and in previous years it has featured many of my musical heroes so I'm really looking forward to the filming which takes place in March.

Darwin Song Project

Also in March - I've been asked to take part in a week long residential songwriting week down in Shrewsbury, England. Charles Darwin came from Shrewsbury and the song project has been put together by Shrewsbury Folk Festival. The idea is that the artists involved will come together to write songs that have a resonance and relevance to the life of Darwin. For more info on the song project and artists involved please go to: www.darwinsongproject.com I have 4 tickets to give away to the first performance of the new songs which will take place on Thursday 19th March in the newly built Theatre Severn in Shrewsbury. If you would like one of these tickets then drop me an email and I'll allocate tickets on a first come first served basis.

Spring Tours

So alongside recording and writing projects I'm also heading back out on tour. During February I'll be playing some shows in the UK (details to the side) and March/April brings a return visit to Germany and Denmark. Please keep checking my website for up to date blogs and tour info as some details have recently been updated. www.emilysmith.org

Thanks for reading, do come and say hello if you can make it along to the gigs.

All the best for now Emily x

UPCOMING GIGS

February 2009

Thursday 5th Feb.
Eastgate Theatre
PEEBLES, Scotland
For more info click here:
www.eastgatearts.com

Saturday 7th Feb.
Lochside Theatre
CASTLE DOUGLAS, Scotland
For more info click here:
www.lochsidetheatre.co.uk

Thursday 19th Feb.
The Met
BURY, England
For more info click here:
www.themet.biz

Saturday 21st Feb.
Merlin Theatre
FROME, England
For more info click here:
www.merlintheatre.co.uk

Sunday 22nd Feb.
Hitchin Folk Club
(The Sun Hotel)
HITCHIN, England
For more info click here:
www.hitchinfolkclub.idnet.net

Monday 23rd Feb.
Colchester Arts Centre
COLCHESTER, England
For more info click here:
www.colchesterartscentre.com

Saturday 28th Feb.
Crawfordjohn Village Hall
CRAWFORDJOHN, Scotland
For ticket info click here:
www.emilysmith.org

Visit Emily's Website

www.emilysmith.org

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