Jackie Oates
20th Jun 2010@ 15:45 Big Top
The release of the album ‘The Violet Hour’ in early 2008 marked the start of what has been a remarkable two years for Jackie Oates.
Her decision to leave the Mercury-nominated Rachel Unthank & The Winterset to pursue a solo career looked like a brave decision at the time but has proved to be inspired. Jackie was soon after nominated for as best newcomer in the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. A swathe of glowing national reviews came with the release of ‘The Violet Hour’ soon after with the album going on to be one of Mojo’s top ten folk albums of the year in 2008. The new year saw Jackie walking away with a remarkable two BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards including the Horizon Award for best newcomer, the award which had alluded her the year before. Jackie Oates, solo artist, had arrived.
Newly signed to One Little Indian Records, on September 7th 2009 Jackie released the highly anticipated follow-up to ‘The Violet Hour’ in the UK.
‘Hyperboreans’ is the coming-of-age album for Jackie Oates. Produced by her brother Jim Moray and featuring a title track written for her by Alasdair Roberts, it sizzles with a new confidence and maturity. Her uniquely beautiful vocal comes to the fore throughout the album adding a new freshness to traditional songs including ‘The Pleasant Month Of May’ and ‘Young Leonard’. There is a show-stopping and deeply moving rendition of Past Caring based on a poem by Australian Henry Lawson as well as a joyfully breezy cover of Birthday by The Sugarcubes. The album concludes with an unforgettable performance of May The Kindness by little-known Devon songwriter Dave Wood.
The first single from the album, a cover of the tantalisingly weird song ‘Birthday’ by The Sugarcubes, has garnered a splash of mainstream radio play since it’s release including repeated plays on John Kennedy’s X-Posure on XFM, daytime play on Cerys Matthews 6Music show and late night Radio 2 play on Steve Lamacq’s show.
With ‘Hyperboreans’, Jackie Oates has established herself as one of the leading young artists in Britain today.
The release of Hyperboreans in the UK was followed by a national tour of England in October/November 2009 with support from Arts Council England.
The end of 2009 has seen the album receive a nomination for the fRoots Critics’ Poll Album of the Year and reach number 5 on the Mojo Folk Album of the Year Chart. The album has also been released across Europe, Australia, Japan and South Africa in November 2009.
Nominations for the 2010 Folk Awards were announced on December 2nd 2009. Jackie Oates has received three nominations for Folk Singer of The Year, Album of the Year and Best Traditional Track for ‘Isle Of France’. The Award winners will be announced on 1st February 2010 at a ceremony in London.
Related weblinks
http://www.jackieoates.co.uk
http://www.myspace.com/jackieoates
