Emma Langford

Emma Langford is an Irish singer-songwriter from Caherdavin, a northern suburb of Limerick City. She is best known for singing folk music.[1]

She released her debut album, Quiet Giant, in 2017[2] – for which she received the Best Emerging Artist award at the inaugural RTE Radio 1 Folk Awards.[3][4] In 2019 she embarked on an international tour, making her US debut at the Milwaukee Irish Fests.[5]

In 2019, she became the first ever recipient of the Dolores O'Riordan Bursary – an award created in memory of the late singer from Limerick to promote creative arts projects in the city.[6]

Langford released her second album, Sowing Acorns, in 2020.[7] All of the proceeds from the first single from this album, ‘Mariana’ were donated to Safe Ireland, a charity focused on protecting women and children from domestic violence.[8] Langford collaborated with Belfast poet and actor Vanessa Ifediora on her single Sowing Acorns.[9]

She has been nominated for Best Folk Singer at the RTE Radio 1 Folk Awards 2020.[10][11]

Langford also curates the Limerick Lady Festival, an initiative which aims to promote female musicians to tackle the issue of gender imbalance in the music industry.[12] The Festival has also inspired a podcast called The Limerick Lady Podcast, which Langford presents alongside Ann Blake, where they discuss issues around gender, art and representation.[13][14]

She holds a BA in voice and dance from the University of Limerick, and has also completed an MA at the same institution.[15][16]

In October 2021, it was announced that Langford has been included on the longlist for the 64th Annual Grammy Awards in two categories; Album of the Year and Song of the Year.[17][18]