AMA UK ARTIST OF THE YEAR YOLA CARTER
ANNOUNCES EUROPEAN FESTIVAL DATES
Tipped by NPR, Stereogum, No Depression and more as ‘one to watch’, the Bristol Americana songwriter won the UK Americana Music Association (AMA UK) vote as UK Artist of the Year 2017 and has now announced a run of festivals in the summer following her recent headline tour.
Following a year that saw the release of her debut solo EP ‘Orphan
Offering’; acclaimed live performances in London and Nashville and in
between; and worldwide coverage in publications like The Guardian, NPR, The
Times and No Depression, British country-soul singer and songwriter Yola Carter
has announced a run of UK & European festival dates over the coming months:
8th April 2017 - Ramblin’ Roots Revue, High
Wycombe UK
29th - 30th April 2017 - Kilkenny Roots
Festival, Ireland
14th May 2017 - Dart Music Festival, Dartmouth
UK
24th - 27th August 2017 - Tønder
Festival, Denmark
Carter was named ‘UK Artist
of the Year’ in the UK Americana
Music Association (AMA UK) Awards in February, and was presented with her
award by Al Booth, Editor of
Specialist Music at BBC Radio 2. She also performed twice at the prestigious
award ceremony in London, opening the night and later as part of a finale
singing ‘Will The Circle Be Unbroken’ alongside all the evening’s performers
and nominees. In her own words: "We did it! This might be a solo
project but it has taken a team to get things done. I'll be heading back into
the Studio to record from next week so keep an eye out new recordings and clips
in the spring!"
Flashback to #americanafestuk #AMAUK17 Thanks @dAlbiac for the awesome showreel. Feat.'Fly Away' by @iamyolacarter https://t.co/85BQl1BJF6— Americana Music UK (@TheAMAUK) 15 February 2017
ABOUT YOLA CARTER:
Yola Carter is a rising country-soul singer/songwriter from Bristol, UK,
whose recent successes include being voted ‘UK Artist of the Year’ at the AMA UK Awards, a much-hyped performance
at AmericanaFest in Nashville and embarking on her first headline UK tour,
described by The Times as “spectacular”.
Towards the end of 2016 Carter was noted as an ‘artist to watch’ by
publications ranging from The Guardian
and NPR to Stereogum and No
Depression.
Heavily influenced from an early age by Sixties country, Stax-era soul
and gospel ranging from The Staple Singers to Otis Redding, Yola was raised in
a small seaside town in the South West of the England and “always wanted to be
a country music artist”. Unafraid to address difficult issues in her lyrics,
Yola’s real-life story - both heartbreaking and inspirational - naturally finds
its way into her songs. Coming from a poor, broken home and a parent suffering
from mental illness who ‘banned’ her from making any music, Yola’s experience
of growing up was one of truly living below the breadline. In a working class
community in denial of its status where discrimination and even violence fuelled
by racism were not unusual, writing music quickly became an outlet and a means
of expression, and touring a means of escape.
From her late teens, Yola Carter (born Yolanda Quartey) worked hard to
earn credibility and respect throughout the industry as one of the UK's top
singers and a uniquely gifted songwriter. Realising that her soul voice was
soon getting attention, Yola graduated to touring internationally straight out
of school with critically acclaimed acts such as Bugz in the Attic on their
world tour, and later Massive Attack, most notably headlining Glastonbury
Festival's Other Stage to 60,000 people and broadcasting live on the BBC. Other
notable supports and live collaborations since have included The McCrary
Sisters, The Fairfield Four, Willie Watson, Jan Howard, James Brown, Elizabeth
Cook and the legendary Stax Band.
She began her journey into Americana
music performing with her band Phantom Limb, based in her hometown of Bristol.
The band self-released the eponymous debut album and the later more
country-leaning effort of ‘The Pines’ produced by Marc Ford of
The Black Crowes, taking to the road with acts such as Dr John, Solomon Burke
and Candi Staton. Despite this success, Phantom Limb eventually disbanded,
leaving Yola to focus on her own projects.
Yola Carter has since combined her two skillsets of singer-writer and
writer/producer to write, record and produce her debut solo EP ORPHAN OFFERING which was released in
November 2016, and gets its physical US release on March 10th 2017.
Label: Ear Trumpet Music
6 Tracks/ Time: 27:32 Genres: Country
Country Music People February 2017
Review 2 STARS out of 5 (Duncan Warwick)
A set of songs that manage to be autobiographical and intensely personal
while speaking to wider socio-political issues, the EP is a living example of
an artist building something from nothing: In ‘Dead and Gone’ Carter sings “there
was a time when my people were product to you; if we can’t supersede that now,
where on Earth am I heading to?” - an explicit reference to assumptions
about the role of black female singers in the modern music industry.
Following a year sharing stages with artists like St Paul and
The Broken Bones, Sam Outlaw and Imelda Mae, and extensive
media coverage around her debut release, Yola Carter is now working on her
full-length debut and will be performing at a number of festivals throughout
the summer.
CONNECT with Yola Carter:
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