Emma Swift

Emma Swift (born 15 December 1981) is an Australian singer-songwriter.[1] Before becoming a musician, she was a radio broadcaster, hosting Americana music show In the Pines on FBi Radio[2] and Revelator on Double J at Australian Broadcasting Corporation in Sydney, Australia.[3]

Emma Swift
Swift singing into a microphone
At WOMADelaide music festival in 2015
Background information
Born (1981-12-15) 15 December 1981
OriginSydney, New South Wales, Australia
GenresIndie, folk

Career

Originally from Sydney, Australia, Swift moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 2013, to pursue a career in music.[4] Swift recorded her self-titled debut EP in Nashville with producer Anne McCue. It was released in 2014 and was nominated for the ARIA Award for Best Country Album at the ARIA Music Awards of 2014.[5] Jeff Glorfeld from Sydney Morning Herald said "Recorded in Nashville with a top-notch crew of session players, the mellow-voiced Sydney singer avoids the usual pitfalls and excesses by enlisting fellow Aussie expat Anne McCue, a fine singer in her own right, as producer. What they deliver is set of songs free of artifice, just heartfelt music."[6]

Swift has toured the US, Australia, UK, and Europe with Robyn Hitchcock, and they have released two 7" vinyl singles together, "Follow Your Money" in 2015 and "Love Is a Drag" in 2016, produced by Norman Blake of Teenage Fanclub.[7] Swift also performed backing vocals along with Gillian Welch and Pat Sansone of Wilco on Hitchcock's 2017 self-titled album.

Swift opened for Ryan Adams in Australia in 2016.[8]

In 2018, Swift released a split 7-inch single with Pony Boy (the recording pseudonym of Los Angeles singer-songwriter Marchelle Bradanini). Both musicians covered songs by Neil Young; Swift covered "Mellow My Mind," from Young's 1975 album Tonight's the Night, while Pony Boy covered "Like a Hurricane" from 1977's American Stars 'n Bars.[9]

In 2020, Swift released an album of Bob Dylan covers, Blonde on the Tracks.[10] Swift said "The idea for the album came about during a long depressive phase, the kind where it's hard to get out of bed and get dressed and present to the world as a high-functioning human. I was lost on all fronts no doubt, but especially creatively. I've never been a prolific writer, but this period was especially wordless. Sad, listless and desperate, I began singing Bob Dylan songs as a way to have something to wake up for. Interpreting other people's emotions is how I learned to sing and I've always enjoyed hearing Dylan's songs from a female perspective. You can learn a lot about melody and feeling by the way a singer chooses to interpret someone else's song."[11]

In October 2020, Swift released the original single "The Soft Apocalypse" with Swift saying "It's very much about this year and this moment in time: my attempt to document what it is like to live in Trump's America in the COVID era. It's one part confession, one part pantheism and one part protest."[12]

In 2021 she as a solo artist was inter alia part of the Newport Folk Festival in July.[13]

Personal life

Swift lives in East Nashville with her partner Robyn Hitchcock and their cats.[14]

In September of 2023, Swift revealed that she had been struggling with mental-health issues via a GoFundMe post.

Discography

Studio albums
List of studio albums, with release date and label shown
Title Details Peak chart positions
AUS
[15]
Blonde on the Tracks
  • Released: 14 August 2020[16][10]
  • Label: Tiny Ghost Records (TG-03)
  • Format: CD, LP, digital download, streaming
 9

Extended plays
Title Details
Emma Swift
  • Released: July 2014[17][18][19]
  • Label: Laughing Outlaw (LOR167CD)
  • Format: CD, digital download

Singles
Year Title Album
2015 "Follow Your Money" b/w "Motion Pictures" (with Robyn Hitchcock)[20]
2016 "Love Is a Drag" b/w "Life Is Change" (with Robyn Hitchcock)[21]
2018 "Mellow My Mind" b/w Pony Boy, "Like a Hurricane"[22]
2020 "I Contain Multitudes"[23][24] Blonde on the Tracks
"Queen Jane Approximately"[25][26]
"You're a Big Girl Now"[27][28]
"The Soft Apocalypse"[12] TBA
"Simple Twist of Fate"[29] Blonde on the Tracks
"One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)"[30][31]

Awards and nominations

AIR Awards

The Australian Independent Record Awards (known colloquially as the AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector.

Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref.
2021 Blonde on the Tracks Best Independent Blues and Roots Album or EP Nominated [32][33]

ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. Swift has been nominated for one award.

Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref.
ARIA Music Awards of 2014 Emma Swift ARIA Award for Best Country Album Nominated [34]

References
  2. "Emma Swift". in the pines.
  3. "bio".
  4. Valdés López, Sam J. (29 October 2014), "Interview: Emma Swift", Sloucher
  5. Zuel, Bernard (7 October 2014), "Chet Faker and his beard are set to rule ARIAs", The Sydney Morning Herald
  6. "Emma Swift, CD review". Sydney Morning Herald. 31 July 2014. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  7. Lepidus, Harold (15 November 2016), "Emma Swift on her New Record with Robyn Hitchcock", No Depression
  8. Hallsworth, Nick (8 December 2016), "Ryan Adams' one night in Sydney was a many splendoured thing", Faster Louder Junkee, archived from the original on 14 September 2017
  9. Trageser, Stephen (22 February 2018). "Cream Premiere: Hear Emma Swift and Pony Boy Cover Neil Young on Their Split 7-Inch". Nashville Scene. Nashville, Tennessee. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  10. "Emma Swift: Blonde on the Tracks review - illuminating, intimate Bob Dylan covers". The Guardian. 14 August 2020. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  11. "Emma Swift Drops Mystic Cover of Bob Dylan's "Queen Jane Approximately"". Rolling Stone. 8 July 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  12. "Emma Swift Follows Dylan Covers Album With "The Soft Apocalypse" Single". Broadway World. 19 October 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  13. "Newport Folk Festival stage schedule 2021". newportfolk.org. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
  14. TRAGESER, STEPHEN (19 March 2020). "Robyn Hitchcock and Emma Swift Settle In at Home". Nashville Scene. Nashville, TN. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  15. "Blonde on the Tracks". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  16. "Blonde on the Tracks". Apple Music. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  17. Zuel, Bernard (18 July 2014), "Country twang from across the globe", The Sydney Morning Herald
  18. Glorfeld, Jeff (31 July 2014), "Emma Swift, CD review", The Sydney Morning Herald
  19. Costello, David (9 August 2014), "Emma Swift", Courier Mail
  20. "Robyn Hitchcock & Emma Swift Follow Your Money RSD vinyl 7"". discrepancy-records. April 2015. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  21. "NEW MUSIC: Robyn Hitchcock & Emma Swift – Love Is A Drag". Post to Wire. 12 October 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  22. "Neil Young split single by Emma Swift & Pony Boy (Mellow My Mind / Like A Hurricane)". Cosmic Thug Records. February 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  23. "I Contain Multitudes". YouTube. May 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  24. "Emma Swift shares a surreal and elegant cover of Bob Dylan's "I Contain Multitudes"". Happy Mag TV. 16 June 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  25. "Emma Swift - Queen Jane Approximately - A film by Hugh Hales-Tooke". YouTube. 8 July 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  26. "Emma Swift Drops Mystic Cover of Bob Dylan's "Queen Jane Approximately"". Rolling Stone. 8 July 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  27. "Emma Swift - You're A Big Girl Now". YouTube. 11 August 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  28. "Video of the Week #165: Emma Swift – You're a Big Girl Now". God is in the TV Zine. 19 August 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  29. "The fourth animated single from Emma's critically acclaimed collection of Bob Dylan songs Blonde on the Tracks". YouTube. 22 October 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  30. "Emma Swift - One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)". YouTube. 8 December 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  31. "Fresh Tracks Emma Swift "One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)"". No Depression. 14 December 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  32. "Details confirmed for 2021 AIR Awards as nominees announced". The Music. 2 June 2021. Archived from the original on 2 June 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  33. "2021 AIR Awards Winners". Scenstr.com.au. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  34. "2014 ARIA Awards Connected By Telstra | Nominated artists revealed". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). 8 October 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
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