Karine Polwart
(born 1971) is a Scottish singer-songwriter. She writes and performs music with a strong folk and roots feel, her songs dealing with a variety of issues from alcoholism to genocide. She has been most recognised for her solo career, winning three awards at the BBC Folk Awards in 2005, and was previously a member of Malinky and Battlefield Band.
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KARINE POLWART TICKETS
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Biography
Polwart grew up in the small
Stirlingshire town of
Banknock and had an interest in music from an early age. She has described her whole family as being interested in music and one of her brothers, Steven, is also a professional musician who plays guitar in the Karine Polwart band, whilst her sister Kerry is developing her own musical career with the group The Poems.
Despite an active musical career from a young age, including forming her own band KP and the Minichips at age 10, Karine was discouraged from studying music at school and ended up studying politics and philosophy at the
University of Dundee. After graduating with a First Class Degree in
Philosophy Karine moved to
Glasgow to study for a Masters in Philosophical Inquiry.
Her first job after her studies was as a philosophy tutor in a primary school, a job she describes as giving her a 'massive buzz'.
[1] After this she spent six years working for the Scottish Women's Aid movement on issues such as domestic and child abuse and young people's rights and these experiences have influenced her songwriting.
Polwart initially gained prominence as lead singer of the group
Malinky. With the release of their debut album
Last Leaves
in January 2000, Polwart left her job to concentrate on her musical career. After successful stints with
Malinky,
macAlias and
Battlefield Band, and several contributions to
Linn Records'
Complete Songs of Robert Burns
project, she decided to embark on a solo career. In 2003 she released her first solo album,
Faultlines
. Written and recorded with assistance from the
Scottish Arts Council,
Faultlines
won the Best Album award at the 2005
BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. This award, along with 2 others at the same ceremony, increased Karine's profile not just in the folk community but also in the wider musical arena.
The songs on
Faultlines
cover a variety of topics, and although she has claimed at live performances that they are all quite depressing, many have an uplifting aspect. This is particularly notable in "The Sun's Comin' Over The Hill" (which won Best Original Song at the BBC Folk Awards 2005) which tells the story of woman who reacts to the death of her partner through a period of depression, drink and drugs, but has a more optimistic chorus, with the narrator foreseeing an end to this period. There are exceptions to this: "Waterlily" — the tale of a man whose lover is killed during the war in Yugoslavia — offers no such comfort. "Only One Way", on the other hand, is an upbeat song with a strong political theme and some biting humour.
In April 2006 Karine released her second solo album
Scribbled in Chalk
. This album was heralded with much critical acclaim receiving impressive reviews from amongst others,
The Scotsman,
The Sunday Times,
The Independent on Sunday,
Time Out and
BBC Music online. A UK wide tour followed as well as appearances on BBC 2's Culture Show, Simon Mayo's Album show on Radio 2, Mike Harding's folk show on Radio 2, BBC Radio Scotland on the Janice Forsyth show and the Janice Long Late show on Radio 2. Karine's music also reached a wider audience when her songs were used during the opening sequence of a
Hollyoaks episode in July 2006 and for the final programme of
The Hairy Bikers' Cookbook.
Like
Faultlines
,
Scribbled in Chalk
often looks at the darker side of life with tales of sex trafficking ("Maybe there's a Road"), the holocaust ("Baleerie Baloo", which is about the missionary
Jane Haining) and the uncertainties of life ("Hole in the Heart"). But these stories of despair are balanced by others that describe the joy of a slower life ("Take Its Own Time"), of hope triumphing over cynicism ("Where the Smoke Blows") and the wonder of the universe ("Terminal Star").
According to her official website, she believes that songs should stand up by themselves. However, for the sake of those interested in the backstory behind the songs, the website provides information about each of them on the basis that even if a song does work by itself, sometimes the story behind it can make it more meaningful. She has also made guitar tablature available for several of her songs through her website, including notes on tuning and style.
As well as her solo work, Karine spent much of 2006 collaborating with other artists on a variety of projects;
Roddy Woomble, the lead singer of
Idlewild, asked Karine to help co-write and provide backing vocals for his solo album,
My Secret is My Silence, whilst Karine provided several original songs for the BBC Radio 2 music/social documentary series
The Radio Ballads
. Two of these songs, "Can't Weld A Body" and "Firethief", would later appear on her albums
Fairest Floo'er
and
This Earthly Spell
respectively. Karine also supported
The Beautiful South on their tour and she guested with
David Knopfler at The Globe Theatre for a charity benefit for
Reprieve.
At the 2006
Hogmanay Live celebrations on
BBC Scotland, Karine played several of her songs and also dueted with new sensation
Paolo Nutini. Toward the end of the year, she became one of the founder members of a genre-crossing musical collective called The Burns Unit, which has since performed at festivals and is expected to release an album in 2009. The other members are
Sushil K Dade,
Emma Pollock,
Chris Difford,
Kenny Anderson, singer Kim Edgar, pianist Michael Johnston and rap artist MC Soom T.
2007 saw Karine playing once again at
Celtic Connections both with her band and collaborating with other artists including
Dick Gaughan and
Roddy Woomble. She took time off from live performance during 2007 as she was pregnant with her first child. During this time she recorded two albums:
Fairest Floo'er
comprising mostly traditional songs, and
This Earthly Spell
, containing only original compositions.
Karine also sings with Corrina Hewat and Annie Grace in, what they describe as, a 'girly trio'.
[2].
In July 2009, Polwart announced that from August, she would be presenting a monthly folk music podcast,
The Wee Bit on the Side
, hosted by the Garden Sessions website. The first appeared on 4 August to tie in with the site's relaunch.
In March 2009 Karine took part in the
Darwin Song Project, a multi-artist songrwriting retreat organised by the
Shrewsbury Folk Festival to create songs that had a 'resonance and relevance' to Darwin. A CD was released in August 2009
Polwart releases music through her own Hegri Music imprint, named from the Gaelic word for
heron. Polwart describes the heron as her favourite animal and her song "Follow the Heron", which she has recorded both solo and with Malinky, has been much covered by artists including
The McCalmans and
Cathie Ryan. The CD booklet for Polwart's
Scribbled in Chalk
includes a heron hidden in one of Sarah Roberts' illustrations.
Band Members
- Karine Polwart - vocals, guitar
- Mattie Foulds - drums, percussion
- Kevin McGuire - double bass, backing vocals
- Steven Polwart - acoustic and electric guitars, backing vocals
- Inge Thomson - accordion, backing vocals, percussion
Occasional guest members include: Martin Green, Corrina Hewat and Aidan O'Rourke.
Awards
2003 Scots Trad Music Awards:
voted Best Scots Singer.
2003 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards:
nominated for Best Original Song ("Thaney").
2004 Scots Trad Music Awards:
nominated for Songwriter of the Year.
2005 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards:
awarded Best Album for
Faultlines
, Best Original Song and The Horizon Award for Best Newcomer. Karine was also nominated for Best Singer.
2006 Scots Trad Music Awards:
nominated for Album of the Year (
Scribbled in Chalk
) and for Composer of the Year.
2007 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards:
awarded for Best Original Song ("Daisy").
Discography
Solo work
Albums
- Faultlines
(2003) UK peak pos: 163
- Scribbled in Chalk
(2006) UK peak pos: 111
- Fairest Floo'er
(2007)
- This Earthly Spell
(2008) UK chart pos: 94 (22 March 2008)
Singles
- Pulling Through EP
- lead track "Holy Moses" (2005)
- "Daisy" (2006)
- "I'm Gonna Do It All" (2006)
Sheet Music
Collaborations & Guest appearances
- Various Artists: The Complete Songs of Robert Burns, Volume 7
(2000)
- macAlias: highwired
(2000)
- Various Artists: The Complete Songs of Robert Burns, Volume 8
(2000)
- Various Artists: The Complete Songs of Robert Burns, Volume 9
(2000)
- Various Artists: Scots Women
(2002)
- Corrina Hewat: My Favourite Place
(2003)
- Various Artists: Fishing Music
(2003)
- Dean Owens: My Town
(2004)
- Various Artists: Cold Blow these Winter Winds
(Fairytale of New York) (2004)
- Various Artists: Scottish Women
(2004)
- Corrina Hewat: The Ballad of Eppie Moray
(2005)
- Various Artists: The Wildlife Album 2
(2005)
- Future Pilot AKA: Eyes of Love / Lights of the City / Changes
(2006)
- Roddy Woomble: My Secret is My Silence
(2006)
- Various Artists: Ballads of the Book
(2007)
- Lau: Arc Light
(2009)
Malinky
- Last Leaves
(2000)
- 3 Ravens
(2002)
Battlefield Band