About Me
BIOGRAPHY
If you don’t know the name Florence Rawlings yet, then you won’t have heard her voice. The latest signing to Mike Batt’s Dramatico Records (Katie Melua, Marianne Faithfull, Carla Bruni), this 20 year-old Londoner is set to become a household name with this impressive debut of authentic soul, raw grooves and rhythm & blues. Equally at home in the studio or in concert, Florence is a natural performer – as will be evident when she takes to the stage at this year’s Isle of Wight Festival and O2 Wireless Festival in Hyde Park.Florence first impressed Mike Batt at the age of just thirteen where she performed at his house after hearing he was looking for female singers to sign to his label Dramatico. Two of the young singing applicants stood out to Batt immediately, one being a certain Katie Melua and the other Florence Rawlings. With Florence still so young, it was agreed that she should concentrate on school and finish her studies. Even then, whilst the majority of young teenagers were just being introduced to the real world, Florence sang with a heart and core that suggested she knew it inside out.Attending music camps and studying the art of singing since childhood, (“I’d sing for whoever was willing to listen…at school, in clubs and bars…anywhere I couldâ€), whilst getting wrapped up in old soul records, the only thing as big as Florence’s love of music was her voice. With a remarkably fresh but mature delivery Florence’s enormous voice swoops and soars through an impressive vocal range taking inspiration and style from legendary vocalists such as Aretha Franklin, Eva Cassidy and Martha Reeves.For her debut album, ‘A Fool In Love’, expect gritty arrangements, soulful melodies and vibrant brass work complemented by gospel vocals and addictive rhythms culminating in a blend of raw soul that has been off the airwaves for far too long.Florence’s first single, ‘The Only Woman in the World’, is a rolling bluesy romp of a song, that blends elements of country and Memphis soul with buoyant horns, rollicking keys, romantic yet raunchy lyrics and even a harmonica bridge that could easily have graced a Motown classic.
