Emily Portman, an esteemed musician known for her enchanting storytelling and mesmerising melodies, recently sat down with 1st 3 Magazine to discuss her journey into the world of folk music.
Her path, marked by a deep appreciation for narrative and traditional ballads, began in her childhood, enriched by the eclectic musical tastes of her parents and the influence of inspirational teachers. With a degree in Folk Music from Newcastle University and a celebrated career that includes a decade with The Furrow Collective, Portman’s insights offer a profound look into the creative process behind her music.
Join us as we explore her inspirations, the evolution of her song writing, and the unique experiences that have shaped her as an artist.
1st 3 Magazine – How did you find folk music, or did it find you?
Emily Portman – I didn’t knowingly grow up with folk music although looking back, my mum played a lot of Joni Mitchelle, Carole King and reggae (mum and dad both), and we did have a Steeleye Span record called “Now we are Six” and I loved it! I loved the stories of folk rock ballads. I didn’t know that those were kinds of traditional ballads- I didn’t have that concept- and then I went to college (I did a BTEC in Music,) in Taunton.
My teacher, Howard Harrison, was such a wonderful teacher. He studied at Dartington and had a really eclectic taste. He introduced me to minimalism, Indian music and I ended up going to India to study singing; the energy he gave me was incredible. He also gave me the Penguin book of English Folk Songs and introduced me to singer like Mark and Eliza Carthy and The Watersons. I spent a lot of time in the local library getting out all the folk records. I’d always been into faerie tales, into writing songs and mythology. I was writing songs then, inspired by Greek myths, and so for me, finding that there were stories and songs that had been collected in England was really exciting.
1st 3 – Why do you love it?
E – Story. I love a good story and also there are some of the most beautiful melodies. Sometimes they are really surprising and this has influenced my own way of writing. All those interesting modes! It’s easy to just play and write in major and minor, so I was listening to all these different songs. I went through a stage of mot really writing much, just absorbing.
1st 3 – You did a degree in Folk Music, didn’t you? At Newcastle University? How did you find it?
E – There are more now, there’s one in Leeds, but it was new at the time- the Sage Gateshead was being built and the innovator behind that was part of the degree. Newcastle had a big folk scene and the music was flourishing there. There was a real sense of the new and the exciting. I welcomed the difference- I loved it.
1st 3 – I wonder how your academic knowledge of music and folk has steered your composition. Has it made you more or less creative?
E – I don’t see it as a hindrance at all. I think that when you love something and get to spend all day doing it, it can only be a creative thing. There was lots of crossover with the main music department and World music was also a specialism. There was lots of practical playing. I think as I was absorbing all of the degree, as I was learning about song writing (my teacher was Sandra Kerr who amongst many things write the theme tune to Bagpuss!) and the feeling at the beginning, when I was discovering all those ways of song writing, combined with her strong sense of social conscience in folk music was incredibly powerful. There was a patch of absorption and then I think I found myself returning to those links with folk tales and ballads. I could then take elements out of those that I found inspiring and feed them consciously into my writing.
I particularly love teaching singing and helping people with their own songs, developing their song writing. It’s one of my most favourite things to do."
1st 3 – How do you find the songs? How much of what you write starts with the germ of an idea from an original song?
E- The songs I have written are all slightly different in their origin. The traditional songs that I song have come from a lot of different sources (where I find the songs) and I would say that now is a really good time to be a folk singer and to get into folk songs. So many archives have been digitised, whereas when I first started I remember travelling up to Cecil Park House (just up the road from here in Camden) and looking at their archives which are now online. There’s also the Roud index; Steve Roud is a librarian and author who has catalogued a lot of songs- all the different versions. There’s a big set of book called The Child Ballads- Professor Francis James Child catalogued these.
1st 3 – Are they just words or has any notation been recorded?
E – Child was interested only in the poetry so he took them just to be great poems and just recorded the text. Since then, Bronson (an American scholar) took the Child ballads and pit traditional tunes to them. His view was, “What’s a ballad without a tune?” So, those are two kinds of seminal collections – but there are loads of other books- and amazing array of archives! My personal favourite source is Field recordings. In the 60s and 70s there was a big Folk revival and a lot were collected then. Topic records and Mustrad are also really good places to look for inspiration.
1st 3 – And how does it work? Do you pick a poem and go from there or are some ideas completely new?
E – I think there are no rules about it. I would often be looking out for particular themes or different kinds of songs, so it depends on the project. I will start to listen, and if I like something, if it needs a little bit of updating I will do that, because otherwise it might mean the song will be left and not sung anymore at all.
It can be part of the fun, slightly changing the words, finding a version that you like and then finding a tune for it. The possibilities are limitless!
1st 3 – We can tell that you absolutely love it! I was thinking that some of the themes are dark and wonder if the songs you record are a reflection of what has happened to you in your life. For example, did becoming a mother affect your song writing or your performance?
E – I think I was too busy to notice! I think my song writing was really affected by the whole process, by being pregnant. It’s a big life event that ended up weaving its way into the songs I was writing, and continues to do so. Although I don’t have this big desire to write songs about myself, I do want to tell stories. I’ve never felt the need for those stories to be autobiographical but I think I’ve continued to write songs, my own experiences do tend to find a way in, unconsciously. It’s a cathartic thing to process things that have happened to you through song writing.
1st 3 – There has been a bit of a gap between song recordings- is that when you were having your babies?
E – So, ‘Coracle’ came out a decade ago and that was just after the birth of my daughter. A lot of those songs came from her being born, from processing that and also from my stepmother who died just around the same time. In the meantime, I had my son and it was then that I did take a conscious decision to step back from solo work.
1st 3 – Why was that?
Emily- I thought that perhaps there might be a natural pause but I did keep playing and singing with The Furrow Collective. We’ve recorded and released 3 albums. I’ve also recorded work with Rob Harbron, so although I paused my solo work, I did carry on performing and also lecturing at Newcastle University.
1st 3 – So teaching is important to you; has it become more so over the years?
E – I spent about two and a half years as a lecturer from about 2018 onwards. I started lecturing and I absolutely loved being able to share my love of folk music. It was brilliant. I was living in Liverpool and it became too much; I took my son with me and it was all quite intense. So as soon as lockdown came, I think I realised that I had felt torn, spinning…I didn’t know where my compass was. I needed to find a more sustainable way of living. So I’m not lecturing at the moment although I am continuing to be a voice teacher. I particularly love teaching singing and helping people with their own songs, developing their song writing. It’s one of my most favourite things to do.
1st 3- All these different ways of performing: quartet, duet, solo- what do you prefer and is it time to return to solo work now?
E – I am writing again now. I’ve just relocated to Sheffield and there’s been a lot of ‘life admin’- but I am writing and I have a plan to release a solo record that will be an album of my song writing.
1st 3 – Do you use your own voice as the part singer and record over it?
E – I haven’t in the past but maybe I will for this record. I sing with Rachel Newton, Lucy Farrell and we sing in The Furrow Collective together; we’ve been singing together for a few decades now. We have a sisterly sense among us. For this record, I might use my own voice; I’m still working thigs out- how I’m going to record it. I’ve just done something where I did my own backing vocals and I absolutely loved it.
1st 3 – What has been a performance highlight so far?
E – There’s loads! Which makes me realise how lucky I am. I think back to Topic Records’ 80th anniversary party at the Barbican. I was asked to be part of their compilation for the celebration, and I contributed a song by one of my heroines, Norma Waterson, called “The Bay of Biscay”. When the moment came to perform it, I was lucky enough that Martin and Eliza Carthy (Norma’s husband and daughter) and Saul Rose – the original Waterson-Carthy singers-offered to back me on it! It was a total dream.
But you know, there are so many… I absolutely love playing with The Furrow Collective and I feel most gigs with them are special; especially as we didn’t have the chance to sing together during Covid; I love to sing in harmony!
If I can have one more highlight, I love playing with Rob Harmran as well. It’s funny how these special moments strike; you can’t pinpoint particularly how or why it is, but it was the final gig just before lockdown in the February 2020. We had a duo gig at the Liverpool Phil and we played with Emma Reed who’s a wonderful violinist. She accompanied me and Rob in a song called “Meeting Point” (a poem by Louis MacNeice). It was just euphoric! You know those moments, when it just feels like time stands still- I felt such a sense of elation in that minute. A magic moment. Performance itself is why I do it. For moments like that- this is why. It’s a privilege.
Emily Portman played Green Note, Camden on June 23rd 2024
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