Sadie Jemmett

Message from Sadie

So , where did I last leave you dear readers?

Was it tearing up and down the M1 in a borrowed car trying to make it to sound checks, radio interviews and school plays on time? Or ordering a dodgy looking KFC in a windy rainswept welsh seaside town on tour with the rather wonderful Aled Jones? Or kicking back in the cool streamline Tour bus with The Grand Dame of Folk, Judy Collins, transfixed by her crystalline voice while she regailed us with stories from her past: Bob, Leonard and Stephen. Stories so authenticly wild and funny and free. Simple stories, from a more innocent time... yes I think we were there.

I had first started listening to Judy at around 12 years old. I had just started playing the guitar and was keen to learn as many songs to sing as possible. Somebody in the house, probably my older brother, had left her album ‘Wildflowers’ lying around, and after playing it once it rarely left the record player.

I loved the clarity of her voice, like a blue sky, but always with an edge to it, like you knew that any moment the blue could be penetrated by a clap of thunder and the storm clouds would roll in. The breaks in her clear voice always made me think of that.

I first met Judy when I was lucky enough to land a support gig for her at The Jazz Café in London. I was on stage, soundchecking and watched her entourage bustling her in and up the stairs before I could stammer a hello. A little while later, just as I was finishing up, she appeared at the top of the stairs, rested and with her hair done up for the evening and glittering blue eyes.

She floated up to the stage and addressed me saying, ‘You have a beautiful voice my dear’. I literally couldn’t speak. She helped me down off the stage and took me off to the green room where she questioned me about my singing and writing. It was like being in a wonderful slow-motion film.

I gave her a copy of my album which she had asked me for and she floated back to her dressing room. I didn’t see her again that night , but a year later I had signed with her small NY label Wildflower Records for the release of my debut album The Blacksmith's Girl.

For the next couple of years I saw Judy and the people from her label intermittently. I played a wonderfully packed night with her at the legendary Half Moon in Putney. I went over to NY a couple of times and played the very hip and happening Living Room , falling in love, as everyone does, with that big shiny red apple of a city. Judy was always gracious and kind when we met but it was taking a while for the label to find a time to release the album, the dates kept getting moved back.

Eventually it looked like things were rolling and in the summer of 2011 Judy invited me to come on tour with her, an honour which I still feel very privileged to have had, and an experience that I still hold close to my heart. The tour gained me a lot of good press and radio for the album, but sadly the resources for the release of the album from the label were not there and we parted company.

Don’t get me wrong, I do not for a moment regret the time I spent in the wild gardens of Wildflower, through my connection to them I have gained many new fans, national press, and great reviews for the album.

"Hold on just a minute now!" I hear you cry, dear reader, "Just how do we, your most avid, loyal listeners get a hold of a copy of this elusive album now?"

Well, it's true I have received many emails from listeners just like you who have heard about ‘The Blacksmiths Girl’ on the radio or internet, read about her in interviews or just through word of mouth, who are longing to get hold of a copy to call their own or give to a friend.

Well, dear reader, the long wait is finally over! I are now proud to announce that the long-sought after Blacksmiths Girl is now available for as a limited edition signed CD or download, through my website www.sadiejemmett.com.

Like the girl in the song, The Blacksmiths Girl is at last coming down from her cold lonely mountain top, triumphant, with a rainbow in her hand.

Lots of love,

Sadie.

Listen to The Blacksmith's Girl track-by-track with Sadie