Lucy Rose sells jam at her gigs but not in Manila
Lucy Rose, aka Lucy Rose Parton, seems, at first glance, a throwback to the folkie singer-songwriters of the sixties.
Think Joni Mitchell, perhaps.
Plus, she sells homemade jam at her gigs.
Substitute
Well, the 24-year-old from Warwickshire, England, whose voice critics have said “could melt the stoniest of hearts,” won’t be lugging jars of the stuff when she plays the 2014 Wanderland Music & Arts Festival at the Globe Circuit Grounds in Makati tomorrow.
“I struggle to bring any abroad because it normally smashes and I have jam all over my clothes,” she tells Yahoo Philippines in an exclusive email interview.
Instead, she says, “I'll try to bring some tea.”
‘Sweet but not sickly’
Whether she does or doesn’t, the bigger treat is having her around to play live and cool down the scorching Manila heat.
“Her songs are sweet, but not sickly, and her personality is charmingly demure,” said the UK music site NME.
And a lot of folks have cottoned on to her.
The numbers
In 2012, she released her debut album titled “Like I Used To,” which went to number 18 in the UK pop charts and reached number 8 in the Billboard charts.
She’s had 2 million views for the video of her first single “Middle of the Bed.”
And her most popular songs on Spotify have been played from 1 million to nearly 2.5 million times.
Writing songs made her happy
Lucy Rose started writing songs at age 15 because “like everybody else, it made me happy,” she tells Yahoo.
She had just finished high school when she left home at 18.
“My parents were pretty cool with it all. I moved out and found a whole new life of independence and new music.”
The interview
Here’s the rest of what she told us:
Her kind of music: “It's hard to describe at the moment because I'm currently recording my second album and it's very different sounding. I suppose the one thing that stays the same is that I write about feelings, about real things. My lyrics are pretty simple so you kind of know what I'm going on about most the time.”
Her influences: “I wasn't that good at computers and programming so all the music that I make comes from an organic sound, guitar or piano and the rest follows. My big inspirations are Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Carole King and Tom Waits.”
On being a ‘nu-folk’ pioneer: “I have no idea I’m part of the so-called ‘second wave of British nu-folk pioneers’ though I do love to discover music. The best recommendations normally come from friends. Just feels good to be on a wave.”
Her next move: “I have no idea, I’m just concentrating on the now and just hoping it'll go somewhere.”
Lucy Rose is joining a coterie of foreign and homegrown musical interests at Wanderland Music & Arts Festival on Saturday, May 17, at the Globe Circuit Events Ground in Makati.
Also in the roster are American indie pop stars The Drums, Australian folkies The Paper Kites, Aussie indie rockers Last Dinosaurs, Swedish alt-rockers The Royal Concept, Australian indie five piece Architecture in Helsinki and Aussie singer songwriter Woody Pitney plus Pinoy indie acts Franco, Techy Romantics, The Ransom Collective, Brisom, and Chocolate Grass. Band schedule here.
