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Adam Holmes and the Embers
2 October, 2014 @ 8:00 pm
£15
Hotly -tipped Edinburgh balladeer Adam Holmes crafts lyrics that resonate like old folk songs, set to melodies rooted in haunting slow airs. John Martyn’s strum and sting, laced with a slice of Paolo Nutini soul and a touch of traditional folk.
The 23-year-old Edinburgh-born singer/songwriter is one of the brightest rising stars on the Scottish folk scene, with influences from either side of the Atlantic, mixing traditional and contemporary folk with his own brand of Americana.
Starting out on fiddle, Holmes switched to guitar at 14, and began writing songs only a year or so later. A finalist in the 2009 Celtic Connections Young Traditional Musician of the Yer competition, he was also nominated as Best Newcomer at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2011 and was further nominated for Best Up and Coming Artist at the 2013 Scots Trad Music Awards.
In 2013 he and his band, The Embers, recorded his debut album Heirs and Graces with legendary producer John Wood (responsible for seminal albums by John Martyn, Nick Drake, Richard Thompson and Sandy Denny amongst many others). It was mastered by Simon Heyworth, co-producer with Mike Oldfield of Tubular Bells, and was launched to great critical acclaim at Celtic Connections in January 2014. In April this year he recorded a live session for the influential BBC Radio 2 Folk Show and on its broadcast Heirs and Graces immediately shot up to its highest position yet in the iTunes chart at number 5. Tracks from the album have enjoyed international airplay from stations as far afield as mainland Europe, the US and Canada.
He and his band are an experienced festival act (including Sidmouth, Hebcelt, Insider, Orkney, Belladrum, Eden, Shetland and Speyfest) and their most recent high profile gigs included the new album launch at Oran Mor, Glasgow and the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall both as part of Celtic Connections 2014.
Heirs and Graces was long-listed for Scottish Album of the year 2014 and the band are playing one of the prestigious showcases slots at this year’s Cambridge Folk Festival.