Emily Smith

Multi award winning Scottish singer and songwriter Emily Smith has firmly established herself as one of Scotland’s leading lights in folk music. Since becoming BBC Young Traditional Musician of the Year in 2002 Smith has gone on to tour world wide with her band gaining accolades of ‘Up and Coming Artist of the Year’ nominee (Scots Trad music Awards, 2003) and ‘Scots singer of the Year’ nominee (Scots Trad Music Awards 2005) along the way. She has an Honours degree in Scottish Music from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and is now not only a respected interpreter of traditional songs but is fast also gathering interest with her own compelling songwriting. Smith became the first ever winner from Scotland in the USA Songwriting Competition in 2005 after winning the folk section with her song ‘Edward of Morton’, another of her songs ‘Always a Smile’ was short listed in the final ten. To date she has released three studio albums 'Too Long Away' (Spit&Polish/Cadiz Music, 2008), ‘A Different Life’ (White Fall Records, 2005) and ‘A Day Like Today’ (Footstompin’ Records, 2002), all to critical acclaim. Raised in rural Dumfriesshire in the South West of Scotland, Smith has always held a passion for local history and a keen sense of belonging, which shines through in her music and the enthusiasm she displays when talking of her home region. “Dumfries and Galloway is often a forgotten part of Scotland and through my material, whether traditional or my own songs, I try to portray the beauty and diversity of where I come from. I love being able to sing a song and picture the exact setting of where the event took place, or to sing some of Robert Burns’ material and know that he travelled the same roads and admired the same landscapes as I do today.”