Emma Black learned her craft as a busker in Amsterdam and Berlin, living on the streets of major European cities, she started to describe life in the 'under belly of society' through song. In a career that has spanned some 15 years, the consistent high quality of her songs and emotive live performances have gone from strength to strength. Her enigmatic and passionate presence on stage have gained her performance opportunities alongside aritst's such as The Indigo Girls, Hugh Masekla, Salif Keetah, Sleeper, Oasis, The Zombies and Dr Feelgood. After turning down major record deals with her band The Immigrants in the mid-nineties she continued living on the edges of society, in a two-wheeled catering truck near Manchester, down the Llyn peninsular in Wales growing vegetables and traveling the road. In that time she alternated music as a career with conservation work, playing occasional intimate shows to initiates and converts around Europe rather than pursuing the mainstream. Over the ten or so years that followed she built herself a loyal following who have stuck with the evolving sound and direction that led her to record her debut album in 2007. Produced by Paul Hemming's (of The La’s and The Lightning Seeds), the evocatively titled Where Dark Horses Roam is Black’s first move to consolidate over 15 years of playing and writing, and has proved difficult to categorize. She has been described in the press as melding country, blues, pop, jazz and folk genres and been invited to perform on radio in both the UK and the Netherlands. The BBC review of the album simply described her material as ‘stunningly honest’ and draws a direct line in the Manchester country music scene that also connects the Happy Mondays and the Deadbeats. With plans for further recordings and an extended touring circuit in the UK and further afield, Black will be appearing live in advance of a return to the studio for a new album in 2009.
