Ruth Barnes: Recent Episodes
Ruth Barnes
Ruth Barnes is a new music expert and broadcaster, currently presenting The Other Woman on Amazing Radio – the new music network dedicated to emerging and independent artists.
With ten years experience at the BBC from travel news and overnight talk shows to arts and music reporting for BBC 6Music, Radio 2, 5 Live and the World Service she has made a niche for herself as an expert on women in music. Ruth is also a voiceover artist and is one of the voices of BBC 1 and BBC 2 TV continuity.
Named 'Bright (http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/bright-young-things-the-best-new-talent-in-the-arts-for-2014-9035222.html) young thing in the arts' (http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/bright-young-things-the-best-new-talent-in-the-arts-for-2014-9035222.html) by the Independent
Follow her updates here:
Official Site (http://www.ruthbarnes.co.uk/)
Amazing Radio (http://amazingradio.co.uk/shows/ruthbarnes)
Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/ruthbarnesmusic)
Voice Overs (http://www.voiceovers.co.uk/ruth.barnes)
Ruth Barnes delves into the extraordinary story of the musician Judee Sill. The first act signed to David Geffen's Asylum Records in the early 1970s, Judee Sill produced two astonishingly beautiful albums in her lifetime. Seemingly emerging from the Laurel Canyon scene, her music wove a diverse tapestry of influences - from gospel piano to Bach, rhythm and blues to country, forty-part vocal harmonies blending into piano ballads... So why did Judee Sill disappear from view? Ruth Barnes traces Judee's peculiar life story - hearing tales of armed robberies, reform school and addiction, alongside musical invention and heartstopping songs. With contributions from family, friends, lovers and devotees of her music including JD Souther, XTC's Andy Partridge, Jim Pons, Tommy Peltier and 'Whispering' Bob Harris. Producer: Eleanor McDowall A Falling Tree Production for BBC Radio 4.
The Other Woman is celebrating International Women’s Day by featuring a kick-ass musician who takes no crap from the industry and operates independently and on her own terms. This year I have Mara Carlyle an extraordinary and inspirational talent in the studio. She recently had her beautiful album Floreat dubbed one of the best albums of the decade by Fact Magazine, she’s worked with Matthew Herbert, Joe Goddard, Plaid, The Invisible and is constantly pushing the boundaries between pop, jazz, classical and beyond. She also is an expert musical saw player!
The UK music industry, fuelled by the success of acts such as Sam Smith and Adele, contributed £3.8bn to the UK economy in 2013, according to UK Music's annual report. However despite this, banks still seem reluctant to invest in independent musicians. What is it that traditional lenders find so off-putting about the creative industries? If musicians want to grow their businesses, where can they go if they are denied mainstream support? What strategies can they use to grow in a digital world? Talking to music experts Claire McNeil from Aim Start-Ups, Sarah Thirtle from Creative Industry Finance, Julia Payne from The Hub and Keith Wyatt from record label Indie Kitchen, presenter Ruth Barnes hears how musicians can make moves to increase their bottom line.
Talking to John Wilson on Radio 4's Front Row about the 2014 Mercury Music Prize. We tip Young Fathers who go onto win!
I popped into BBC Radio 4's Front Row with Samira Ahmed to discuss the Godfather of Gloom's new album Popular Problems, out 22 September 2014
We have two beautiful songs from Kate’s forthcoming third album due in February 2015. Kate wrote and recorded the album, it’s produced by Aaron Dessner from The National (who HASN’T he worked with lately?) and says of the experience:
‘Aaron was great to work with. Quite a quiet character. Very thoughtful and tactful. He was great at having a vision of what sound the music should have and then somehow finding it. It’s a pleasure and such a privilege to be able to collaborate with people and share the process of making an album.’
In fact they’ve been on tour with The National so you may have already seen This Is The Kit, or perhaps when they supported Sharon Van Etten too. We think 2015 is going to be a great year for the band and it’s a privilege to have a sneak preview.
This Is The Kit is Kate Stables band and she makes fantastic, melodic, folk music which often ends in raucous psych-rock riffing. We have two beautiful songs from Kate’s forthcoming third album due in February 2015. They’ve been on tour with The National so you may have already seen This Is The Kit, or perhaps when they supported Sharon Van Etten too. We think 2015 is going to be a great year for the band and it’s a privilege to have a sneak preview.
This week on the show Malka dropped in for a chat. She's frontwoman of indie stalwarts 6 Day Riot, and also mistress of her own label and varied solo career. Malka, or 'The Queen', is her latest incarnation!
Beautiful Irish musician Brigid Power-Ryce recorded her debut album in a church in Galway whilst the vicar was sleeping, it's haunting, delicate and stunning. She popped in while in London recently and recorded two tracks for The Other Woman on Amazing Radio.
Beautiful Irish musician Brigid Power-Ryce recorded her debut album in a church in Galway whilst the vicar was sleeping, it's haunting, delicate and stunning. She popped in while in London recently and recorded two tracks for The Other Woman on Amazing Radio.
Eliza Shaddad has gone from busking on the streets of east London to releasing her own debut EP Waters, a beautifully crafted and thoughtful offering. She popped into record some session tracks for The Other Woman on Amazing Radio.
The wonderfully talented Londoner Eliza Shaddad took a break from promoting her debut EP Waters to pop into the studio at Amazing Radio to record a couple of tracks for The Other Woman.
Smoke Fairies perform their latest single We've Seen Birds on Amazing Radio's The Other Woman
Smoke Fairies perform Waiting For Something To Begin from their latest album in session for The Other Woman on Amazing Radio
The Smoke Fairies have been on my radar for years, ever since their early releases and when they wow'ed Jack White enough to have him release their music. Their latest album simply called Smoke Fairies comes out of a near break up, and sees them make the most of the individuality of their voices, over traditional harmonies. Fascinating as always!
For the final show in the series we ran a competition for bands to play at How The Light Gets In at Hay on Wye. We took Seftel and Dear Pariah to the rain soaked festival for pies, beer and a good time had by all. Howard Monk and I reflect on what we learned from the series and chat to our winners.
It’s always a joy to welcome Gabby Young to the studio, this time without all the Other Animals, but just one – Milly McGregor, who plays violin and sings, and what a duo they make! I could listen to Gabby Young for hours, her voice is one of the best in the business and stripped down the songs are utterly beguiling. Her new album One Foot In Front Of The Other is out in June and we’re treated to three songs on the show.
It’s always a joy to welcome Gabby Young to the studio, this time without all the Other Animals, but just one – Milly McGregor, who plays violin and sings, and what a duo they make! I could listen to Gabby Young for hours, her voice is one of the best in the business and stripped down the songs are utterly beguiling. Her new album One Foot In Front Of The Other is out in June and we’re treated to three songs on the show.
It’s always a joy to welcome Gabby Young to the studio, this time without all the Other Animals, but just one – Milly McGregor, who plays violin and sings, and what a duo they make! I could listen to Gabby Young for hours, her voice is one of the best in the business and stripped down the songs are utterly beguiling. Her new album One Foot In Front Of The Other is out in June and we’re treated to three songs on the show.
It’s always a joy to welcome Gabby Young to the studio, this time without all the Other Animals, but just one – Milly McGregor, who plays violin and sings, and what a duo they make! I could listen to Gabby Young for hours, her voice is one of the best in the business and stripped down the songs are utterly beguiling. Her new album One Foot In Front Of The Other is out in June and we’re treated to three songs on the show.
Beautiful session track recorded by the talented Danish singer songwriter and pianist Broken Twin
We had two session tracks from Broken Twin recently, the singer and pianist from Denmark has been casting her spell over critics in 2014 and her show at The Great Escape was a knock out. Prepare to be amazed!
Juanita Stein is frontwoman, songwriter and rockin' guitarist for Australian indie darlings Howling Bells. They've made the UK their home for ten years now, with various label homes along the way including Independiente, Cooking Vinyl and Bella Union. New album Heartstrings, their fourth, comes out on Birthday Records on 2 June. We caught up with Juanita about female producers, making London her home and becoming a mother.
Juanita Stein is frontwoman, songwriter and rockin' guitarist for Australian indie darlings Howling Bells. They've made the UK their home for ten years now, with various label homes along the way including Independiente, Cooking Vinyl and Bella Union. New album Heartstrings, their fourth, comes out on Birthday Records on 2 June. We caught up with Juanita about female producers, making London her home and becoming a mother.
Part conference with industry speakers, part awesome live music festival, The Great Escape is an opportunity for bands in the UK and further afield to leave their immediate areas and grow their popularity with new audiences, essentially preparing them for their own 'great escape', as the name suggests. Chris Cooke from Complete Music Update shares his experiences and knowledge of the event and previews some wonderful talks and gigs that are definitely not to be missed.
Josh Sanger, festival organiser, joins Ruth and Howard for an extended chat about the origins of the festival, what’s it’s like booking all of your favourite bands and what it takes to create an outdoor event. We play a range of music from the line up which is already looking pretty strong with names like Dan Croll, Chloe Howl, Josh Record, Catfish And The Bottlemen, Luke Sital – Singh and Saint Raymond.
Ruth Barnes and Howard Monk are focusing their attention on two of London’s finest festivals in Meltdown at the Southbank Centre and Field Day in Victoria Park on Festival Pass. We welcome Jane Beese and Tom Baker to the show with tickets to giveaway to both and we ask them, how do you GET ON THE BILL?
A new series on Amazing Radio features the great and the good of the festival year and Ruth Barnes and Howard Monk dissect the what's, why's and how's. Also crucially - how do new bands get on the bill? With ticket giveaways too our first features Bestival's Rob Da Bank
The extraordinary Bethia Beadman was my guest on Amazing Radio recently – she’s poised to release album number three and having heard it, we’re excited! Bethia is from the West Country and having spent many years as a wandering soul, traveling around the world, she’s now settled in east London. She's also played keyboards with Courtney Love and toured in Hole - she's flippin' rock 'n roll!
Our guest on The Other Woman to celebrate International Women’s Day was Victoria Hesketh aka Little Boots. The electronic musician and On Repeat Records founder has been on a whirlwind trajectory from Brit’s Critics Choice nominee (and major label deal) to true independence. Little Boots has railed against the misogyny she experienced in the industry and is now fiercely independent and outspoken about what women in the great grinding mainstream machine go through. With an excellent ear for an electro-pop hit, she’s playing us some of her latest favourites and we’re getting to the bottom of it all…
The gorgeous Sephine Llo is in session on this week's The Other Woman on Amazing Radio – the sound engineer turned awesome songwriter and musician is facing 2014 full steam ahead with her new EP Flame, out on Tape Club Records, and has an album set for later this summer. With an interest in weird and wonderful instruments which aid the song writing process, her songs are intricate and very beautiful.
The gorgeous Sephine Llo is in session on this week's The Other Woman on Amazing Radio – the sound engineer turned awesome songwriter and musician is facing 2014 full steam ahead with her new EP Flame, out on Tape Club Records, and has an album set for later this summer. With an interest in weird and wonderful instruments which aid the song writing process, her songs are intricate and very beautiful.
The gorgeous Sephine Llo is in session this week – the sound engineer turned awesome songwriter and musician is facing 2014 full steam ahead with her new EP Flame, and has an album set for later this summer. With an interest in weird and wonderful instruments which aid the songwriting process, her songs are intricate and very beautiful.
Feminist Times in association with awesome all-girl online telly show The Fox Problem put on a panel discussion in London this week: "Is same sex marriage just a distraction?"
I chaired and you'll hear me babble on as I was star struck by LGBT campaigner and legend Peter Tatchell (anyone who has attempted a citizen's arrest on Robert Mugabe deserves a knighthood in my book), trans woman, poet and activist Roz Kaveney, hot lesbian couple Gemma Rolls-Bentley & Danielle Wilde who are blogging their impending nuptials for Stylist Magazine, feminist blogger and polyamorist Zoe Stavri, and The Fox Problem's very own Georgie Okell on the line from New York via Skype.
The debate swung from, "why should there be one rule for some and another for others" to "same sex marriage discriminates against those who aren't in two person relationships and make them even more 'abnormal'" to "marriage is outdated and should be outdated altogether and replaced with a modern contract that covers everything for everyone" with Peter and Roz providing incredible facts about when the subject was put on the LGBT agenda and why, historically, it's a huge achievement. With comments also from our brilliant audience, you can hear it all here:
Mad About the Boy is a programme for BBC Radio 4 presented by Jude Rogers and Ruth Barnes, produced by Falling Tree Productions. The thesis was this: obsessive teen girl fan culture is given a bad rap in the press and in society as a whole, going back generations. We look at the flip side, we celebrate it and conclude that it's a vital rite of passage for young women as they reach puberty. With contributions from author and David Cassidy fan Allison Pearson, One Direction songwriter Fiona Bevan, One Direction fans, E17's Tony Mortimer and Jude's mother-in-law and Beatlemaniac Lillian Adams.
Prepare for something rather stunning. Remember Joana and the Wolf? Well they’ve been rather quiet for the past few years and that’s because their front woman Johanna Glaza has become, well, Johanna Glaza. The Lithuanian turned Londoner has struck out on her own via a stint of writing and playing in New York. The result is the stunning Shall I Be A Saint E.P. and here she is performing Mama in session on The Other Woman.
The half-Pakistani Geordie created waves in 2013 with her album Love Your Dum and Mad. Full of brooding dramatic gothy stormers, completely at odds with her hilarious personality. There's a lot going on with this girl and I can't wait to see where it takes her.
Wilsen is responsible for a stunner of an album, Sirens, and has been building a following and a band in New York (she's British). It's the voice and the effortless whistling which grabs you initially. The album floats easily between intricate folk melodies to sudden bursts of folk rock which such ease, it was a joy to catch the band live at CMJ Music Marathon in New York.
Becky Jones aka Saint Saviour has an already impressive track record having written and performed with international hit-mongers Groove Armada, but it's solo where her stunning voice really comes into it's own.
Stripped down like this Nashville's Caitlin Rose's already crystal clear and immediately recognisable voice is fore fronted beautifully. This single from her album The Stand In was a highlight of 2013.