Rocky Mountain Folks Festival Tour Journal.

Good Afternoon. Happy 2018 to you.

Another Tour Journal is up from my time in the USA, october 2017. Featuring the brilliant memory of Rocky Mountain Folks Festival.

www.rachel-sermanni.tumblr.com

hopefully you are all well and enjoying the new year. Please do take a look at my very few upcoming gigs:

Jan 26th – Edinburgh – Summerhall
Jan 27th – Portmahomack – Village Hall
Feb 8th – Coventry – Big Comfy Bookshop

Photo from Planet Bluegrass times thanks to Ty.

A beautiful year.

A beautiful year has been had. Here is an attempt to sum up such in pictures. Canada with the brother-tour-manager. Ireland with fond forevers. Summer hall, Edinburgh. There is more.

Thank you to all who’ve come along to a gig, listened to a song or few, bought a record, watched a music video, sent a message, made a request, heckled…

2018 is here.

I will be bringing a new album into the world. And also I will become a mother.

Much anticipation. Much gratitude.

Happy New Year to you all.

Back at Summerhall…

Love playing Summerhall. Very glad it has become a bit of a habit. You will see me and a sparse-strong-delicate band this January for a show presented by Nothing Ever Happens Here. Will bring some Burns songs into the set in some sparse-strong-delicate way. It will be nice to see you and all into the new year this way.
Hopefully 2017 has been good to you. x

Tickets and details here: https://www.summerhall.co.uk/…/nehh-presents-rachel-serman…/

A fun photo by the lovely Mike Guest Photography

Surprise single! Lay My Heart…

Available now on BANDCAMP!

In April 2017, with her 21-year-old brother as intern tour manager & two Canadian companions, 25-year-old Rachel Sermanni found herself in Northern British Columbia, driving highways, camping by rivers or lakes, climbing hills and playing gigs. There, for the first time, she saw the Aurora Borealis, a spectacle shared by the locals of Two Mile, a tiny town by the waters of the Skeena River where Rachel was preparing for a gig.

That day unfolded in a succession of activities involving the natural surroundings, observing the local wildlife and quiet contemplation accompanied by a cup of coffee back at the house. Rachel then settled on the wooden floor to tickle her Martin guitar with a recurring refrain before the evening performance revealed its magic. Later that night Brian the house owner informed her that there were ‘…colours in the sky now’. Still swaddled in the warmth of her sleeping bag, Rachel made way, with mat, hat and blankets, to the centre of the garden. They watched the light play, ooze and throb in that ineffable way for most of the night. At some point the phenomenon dissolved back to a clear, cold, star-struck sky. Rachel left Brian in a whisky stupor. She came to the quiet dark of the living room, sat before the soft red heat of the stove and wrote Lay My Heart.

The song was played next night and has become entirely part of Rachel’s repertoire ever since.

Lay My Heart, the single, includes the original Garageband recording from that early morning. The official recording, however, was made back in Scotland with dear friends Jennifer Austin on piano, Laura Wilkie & Siobhan Anderson on fiddle, Toby Shippey on trumpet, Mike Guest and David Jack as studio creators, engineers and all round handy men.

Half of all physical and digital proceeds will go to the BIGproject, an organisation who Rachel has had the honour to work with over the years, based in Broomhouse Primary School, Edinburgh.

‘Lay My Heart’ is available digitally from 10th November on Bandcamp. Physical copies are limited and will be available at upcoming live shows.

Upcoming dates:

4th November: Beacon Arts Centre, Greenock

7th November: SEALL, Skye

9th November: The Drouthy Cobbler, Elgin

10th November: The Drouthy Cobbler, Elgin

11th November: Tolbooth, Stirling

16th November: Lemon Tree, Aberdeen

17th November: Eden Court Theatre, Inverness

18th November: Elm House Concert, Craigrothie

19th November: Carousel Sessions, Chorlton

20th November: The Lantern, Halifax

21st November: Bush Hall, London

22nd November: The Stables, Milton Keynes

23rd November: Chapel Arts Centre, Bath

24th November: Municipal Hall, Biggar

25th November: Pleasance Theatre, Edinburgh

Purchase tickets here!

Live session: Old Lady’s Lament

This was a most remarkable session to take part in. An expedition into a very tall pine stillness.
When Luke (my bro) and I were in Canada, it was Andrew Spindor and his crew, from Habitat Studios in Vancouver, who lead us up and into Cypress Mountain to find this cabin.

And now?

The USA. Seattle has SOLD OUT. So you can’t hear me there anymore. But you could come to any others you are near to: See the list on my website if you feel compelled. http://rachelsermanni.co.uk/live/