“There was always music on in the house” was singer and musician Lisa Redford‘s response to the question as to what were her early musical influences. Certainly that seems to be a common theme amongst the current generation of musicians and possibly explains the upsurge in acoustic based music of recent years.

But unlike many of her peers whose parents appear to have never played anything other than the Beatles or Dusty Springfield, Lisa’s parents obviously had wider tastes. Apparently Neil Young was a favourite and there was a lot of soul music played too. The young Lisa Redford must have been listening closely or have just taken it all in subliminally because the music she produces is characterised strongly by elements from both.

As with Neil Young you would not stamp Lisa as purely a country singer although, also like Young, the country influences are obvious. In Lisa’s case it’s the wonderful tremolo in her voice, well that and the fact that she occasionally sports a Stetson whilst on stage. She does have an American sound but it’s melody which she loves above all else and which distinguishes the music on her albums, lifting them above the usual singer-songwriter fayre into something more remarkable. And so how does a girl from Norwich come to sound so transatlantic?

“Well I was listening to a lot of Americana and alt-country prior to recording my first album; people like Ryan Adams and Gillan Welch and Wilco, and that must have had an influence. Early Sheryl Crowe too. Her first two albums bridged a bit of everything. But when I started playing guitar, and because of the way I sing, it just suited my style. .”

It’s long way from The Smith’s, whom she was listening to as a teenager in her Norwich bedroom, to Ryan Adams although she does still include a Smith’s cover in her set’s occasionally which, it has to be said, she sings a lot better than the daffodil wielding Mancunian ever did. However when she felt it was time for a change of abode it was Ryan Adams’ adopted home of New York rather than Morrissey’s Manchester which she chose. She makes the decision to up sticks and go try her luck in New York sound quite normal, as though it was the sort of decision anyone would come to.

“I just wanted a change of scene really and thought I’d just go to see what was going on.” Yeah, like you do.

“Well the first visit was with a friend and we checked out some open-mics and made a couple of friends and then I went back on my own, got to know it a little better and made arrangements to do a recording next time I went out.”

That recording was her third album, Clouds With Silver, which she undertook with the guidance of Martha Wainwright’s husband, producer Brad Albetta, whose work with Teddy Thompson Lisa admired.

“It was one of Teddy’s album’s in particular which I liked. He has a similar flavour to me, English but with an American style (Teddy is the son of legendary guitarist Richard Thompson) and I liked the production, it’s very melodic.”

Having Brad Albetta at the helm also brought benefits in the form of some great musicians he persuaded to play on Clouds With Silver. Amongst those you can hear on various tracks on the album are Matt Johnson – who has drummed for Jeff Buckley and Rufus Wainwright – Jim Campilongo – guitarist in Norah Jones’ band the Little Willies – and fiddle player Claudia Chopek who has played with Ryan Adams.

As well as producing the album the move to New York paid off in other ways as Lisa also got herself a publishing deal whilst there and a three year artists visa to the USA. But New York is not the cheapest piece of real estate to inhabit and so now Lisa is back and based mainly in the UK. It would be easy to say that this year she has concentrated mainly on local festivals but when you take into account that includes Latitude and Maverick then you realise local has a slightly different look to it.

“I wasn’t initially booked to play Maverick but I was appearing on a panel at the Americana Music UK Conference which they held the day before the festival. I spoke on one of the panels about being a self-promoting artist using social media.”

Lisa, it is probably fair to say, is something of a social media queen. She understands how the mediums work and their importance to the modern artist. She must have impressed at the conference because on the back of that appearance Paul Spencer, the organiser of the Maverick Festival, sorted her a spot at the festival.

And her social media skills have paid off elsewhere too as she has come to the attention of the mainstream media. Bob Harris is a fan, having played a track from her first album, Slipstream, and has continued to play her output ever since. She has also recorded a couple of sessions for Bob’s shows and appeared on his Best of British showcase.

“He’s so easy to talk to,” was Lisa’s response when I asked whether she was a little overawed by the invitation to appear on Bob’s shows. The respect and affection obviously goes both ways as he described her as ‘one of our finest singer/songwriters.’ Given that Bob Harris’ knowledge of the Americana and Country music scene in the UK is second to none that is praise indeed and his support is very important to any UK based artist who is linked with these genres.

But patronage only goes so far and an artist has to get out there and do it for themselves which is why Lisa continues to work hard and keeps gigging. The next stop for her is the Homegrown Festival which takes place on the 31st August and 1st September near Bury St Edmunds where Lisa will be playing on the Saturday evening. East Anglia has never had the musical talent it currently boasts and it seems that the Homegrown Festival would be a good place to catch a lot of it in one place. If you would like to take a listen to some of the music Lisa will be serving up on the 31st then why not take a listen to a selection of the beautiful melodies she serves up here: http://lisaredford.com/?page_id=46.

She is of course also available to follow on twitter @lisaredford and on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/lisaredfordmusic

Steve Hawthorne

Full details of Homegrown Festival at www.homegrownfest.co.uk