‘a purely euphoric voice’ - The Informer
‘her voice encapsulates beauty with a raw edge and brutal honesty. Her dynamic range takes hold of all your senses’ – Ann the Poet.
What you hear on this page is the work of Louise Mary Martin and Jay Rollins. We could never decide on a name for ourselves collectively and I was doing a lot of solo shows too so we stuck with mine.
Now, however, we think it would make more sense to us and others to share nominal ownership of the music...but... we still can't think of anything! Suggestions are invited, from the sublime to the ridiculous if for nothing other than inspiration, distillation or elimination.
Jay and I performing live on air at Abbey FM. Filmed by presenter Bill Clark.
I've been writing fairly steadily since I was a love-struck primary school kid.
I think my main motivations have always been expression, communication and understanding.
My tastes are varied in terms of genre but most of the artists I love share a certain integrity. I aspire to the same quality. I’m into art for arts sake in that I love beautiful things but it’s obvious to me when something sits at the shallow end of the spectrum. I like to be wrapped up in emotion or enlightened with a new truth or perspective, to find intimacy in what other human beings are sharing, to be challenged as well as comforted.
I always wrote and performed either a’cappella for harmony groups or with bands until I picked up a guitar when I was 19. My drama degree took all my attention for a while until I went busking and soul-searching (well-disguised as dossing) in Spain for most of 2005. Whilst there I started playing the ukulele and writing songs again. I was about to go completely mental trying to decide what to do with my life when I strung together all the things people had been saying about my music. I had forgotten both how important music was to our lives and how natural it felt for me to create it.
I met Jay when I returned to the UK at the end of 2005 ready to start my new (yet old) mission. We’ve written a lot of songs since then and our live performance is now at the standard we always wanted it to be. At the moment we are working towards new live arrangements and recordings as well as scouting for friendly venues and events across the country. Our aim is to keep evolving, keep it interesting and keep sharing.