About Me
The journey began for Emma Tricca with that face on the album sleeve when
she was nine years old. Her father was home from somewhere and he took her out to buy her a record. She was stopped short by that stark monochrome image of the young Bob Dylan on The Times They Are A Changin cover; the non-descript shirt, the short hair, the soft fresh face slightly inclined downwards and to the right, with the tantalising eyes, almost visible. Captured on the cusp of what; a frown, a smile, or a new world?
Her upbringing had been peripatetic, split between Italy and the UK, with excursions through Africa - Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Eritrea and Libya as well up and down the Italian peninsula. She came from a family of scientists and artists. A grandfather worked for Siemens making discoveries in sound waves and communications while his brother, her great-uncle, painted. Her mother researched poetry, while her cousin wrote it. With her mother and uncle she listened to classical music as well as Elvis and his Italian copyists.But that face had drawn her ineluctably to folk and country music and her fascination with the American 60s folk scene grew. From Dylan to Baez, then Joni Mitchell, Carolyn Hester, Phil Ochs, and Dave Van Ronk. Her cousin got a guitar on his 14th birthday. He wouldnt play it, but he wouldnt lend it to her either. So when Emma was 16 her scientist grandfather gave her the money and she bought that guitar off the cousin.She was in Milan with her mother when she finished school, but then she headed to Rome and began hanging out with the folk musicians. She acquired a finger-picking boyfriend. He wouldnt teach her so she listened to recordings and stole what I could with my eyes. John Renbourn came to town and she met him after the show. He liked the song she played as the guitar went round and this got reported to the club owner who encouraged her and thus she started gigging. The writing was there already and continued.What changed her life was meeting Odetta, the mysterious and legendary singer whod turned Bob Dylan onto acoustic music in the late 50s. Despite Odettas reputation for reticence and silence they were to have a long, long conversation over dinner, and Odetta urged her to do what shed been considering doing, to go to England and study the craft there.Within the year she was based in England initially in Marlow, learning traditional songs and playing in the clubs of Oxford. She was noticed by eminences like Roy Harper and Phil Guy, and found herself on bills with the likes of Eric Anderson. Relocating to London she made straight for Denmark Street and the 12 Bar Club. The next New Years Day found her playing there with the South London songwriter Jason McNiff. Meanwhile she honed her material at open mics all over the city.When musicians were wanted musicians were found, in that serendipitous manner that characterises the folk scene. Percussionist Sean Quinn was spotted playing with Martha Tilston, while Sharon Forbes came on board Scarlet Rivera-style, intercepted carrying a violin case at Bromley Station. With another percussionist, a cellist, and a guest appearance from McNiff, they made Gypsies And Red Chairs issued in 2001 on her own Fairylands imprint.It was a debut album of certainty and character creating atmospheres ethereal and mesmerising. Her playing was assured and precise, and her singing entrancing and magical garnering comparisons with Judy Collins and June Tabor. Percussion and strings predominated in the fresh and exciting arrangements. The songwriting showed a poets precision with language but often times allowed ambiguity and opacity their heads. Her first hero is twice invoked, through a quote and a misquote in Martin And Me and then in her revisiting of the Appalachian murder ballad Lily Of The West.Following this she continued to play gigs both in Italy and around London, gaining herself a loyal following. Aside from the 12 Bar she was appearing at the Kashmir, the Windmill, the Borderline and at Camdens legendary Come Down And Meet The Folks. The Gypsies And Red Chairs band played with her for a while, along with virtuoso guitarist Martin Brown.Inevitably she made the pilgrimage to New York and there fell in with Riley McMahon, brother of Amy Rigby, and they cut some songs together. Later she made it down to Austin, Texas where she hung out with the exiled Californian Eric Blakely. Together they wrote a song, Step By Step, and recorded it the same day at Blakelys Folk Reels Studios.Back in London there were yet other collaborators. Pat McGarvey of the Coal Porters did some shows with her and she took to performing his exquisite Morning Song. Former Cotton Mather drummer Dana Myzer blew in from Texas and he too was recruited for a while. A whole series of new songs coming out of her collaborations and her travels were aired on various stages; some stayed the course, some disappeared.The Riley McMahon tapes came back to London and went with her to a Greenwich recording studio in the summer of 2006. Everything was substantially reworked. Renowned London session players like B J Cole came in to help because they loved the songs. Martin Brown was a rock. It was hard for her to sign off a record shed been close to for so long, but in early November she let go and said it was finished. Of course, as those of us whove heard it know, it isnt; the truth is, its life has only just begun.I edited my profile with
