Rebsie Fairholm profile picture

Rebsie Fairholm

I sing about dead people ... all the time

About Me

I sing mostly dark and soulful songs, generally involving ghosts or dead people, though that isn't a conscious policy decision.I also play various instruments including 12-string guitar, celtic harp, keyboards, bass and occasionally mandolin.My debut album Mind The Gap was released in August 2007, featuring special guest appearances by Phideaux and Steafan Hannigan . Available to order now with PayPal (ships from UK). £9 plus £2 p+p.Also available in the US from The Lost Records and CD Baby , and as a £5 download from Woven Wheat Whispers I've dipped heavily into the well of ancestral and faery inspiration with my arrangements of British trad songs and I also write songs of my own which are rooted in tradition but branch out into something else. I tend towards the dark and ethereal side of folk music with a slightly psychedelic edge.About the songs: The first three are brand new. I'm very proud to present Dick Langford's stunning arrangement of the Lyke Wake Dirge, while Our Captain Cried is a traditional song in a very different vein. The Cursing Song was written in 1975 by R J Stewart (recorded with permission) and is another collaboration with Dick Langford. The other two songs are from my debut album. Round Window is one of my own songs which seems to be about the first world war. Blackbirds and Thrushes is a bit of English traddy psychedelia. Hope you like 'em!I don't strive for perfection in my music ... I take the music into my soul and then let it all splurge out however it wants.On a completely unrelated note, I'm an expert on heritage vegetables and plant breeding, so if you've ever wondered how to hand-pollinate tomatoes or grow weird-coloured peas feel free to check out my Daughter of the Soil site.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 8/4/2006
Band Website: rebsiefairholm.co.uk
Band Members: Rebsie Fairholm vocals, guitar, celtic harp, bass, whistle, mandolin, anything lying around the house I can bash a tune out of. Currently working with Dick Langford.On my debut album I'm joined by Martyn Kember-Smith (Komrade K), Steve Lang, William Shaw, Jason Gazda, Phideaux Xavier and Steafan Hannigan.
Influences: Singers who have inspired me include Kate Bush, Sandy Denny, Julianne Regan, Jeff Buckley, Kirsty MacColl, Jacqui McShee, Lal Waterson, Anne Briggs, Celia Humphris and Shirley Collins. I love Trees, Jethro Tull, Malicorne, David Bowie, Jah Wobble, early Steeleye Span, Eliza Carthy and Phideaux.
Sounds Like: A sea nymph doing a turn at a witches' tea party.
Record Label: The Lost Records
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

The Cursing Song

Let me introduce another brand new track, The Cursing Song, created with the assistance of my collaborator Dick Langford.It does exactly what it says on the tin.The Cursing Song was written by Scottis...
Posted by Rebsie Fairholm on Mon, 25 Feb 2008 04:28:00 PST

New song: Our Captain Cried

A couple of new songs have just gone up on the player.This one is called Our Captain Cried, a sad song from the English tradition about a sailor's parting from his sweetheart. There are dozens of Engl...
Posted by Rebsie Fairholm on Mon, 25 Feb 2008 04:21:00 PST

Fantastic review in Organ Magazine

Issue 234 of Organ Magazine, December 13th, has this lovely review of my album. Sean Organ also played Julia Dream on his show on Resonance FM this week. Thanks very much Organ!REBSIE FAIRHOLM  Mind ...
Posted by Rebsie Fairholm on Sun, 16 Dec 2007 03:17:00 PST

I’m with Woven Wheat Whispers

As of today, my album Mind The Gap is available in high quality digital form from specialist folk music download site Woven Wheat Whispers.If you haven't been to Woven Wheat Whispers, it's well worth ...
Posted by Rebsie Fairholm on Sun, 09 Dec 2007 10:03:00 PST

Lyke Wake Dirge

Lyke Wake Dirge is the latest of two new tracks, and also heralds a new direction which I hope will become a feature of my next album. It's a collaboration with Dick Langford, guitarist with folk-punk...
Posted by Rebsie Fairholm on Thu, 08 Nov 2007 03:13:00 PST

Molotov Spongecake

Molotov Spongecake is one of two new songs posted on my profile.If I say I've written a song about an English socialist politician it doesn't sound very appealing, does it?Even so, since Parliament is...
Posted by Rebsie Fairholm on Thu, 08 Nov 2007 03:11:00 PST

Radio interviews and guitar lust

Another busy week spent promoting the album. I did a live interview last Monday with Tim Moon on his Folk Us show on BCB Radio. He said on air that he was "knocked out" by my album, which I'd sent to ...
Posted by Rebsie Fairholm on Mon, 17 Sep 2007 06:19:00 PST

Gig at the Night Owl ... what a hoot

Well here we go, I played my first proper gig on Monday August 27th at the Night Owl rock club in Cheltenham, supporting Tinkerscuss at an event organised by Hearth of Freya. It was just me and my ele...
Posted by Rebsie Fairholm on Fri, 07 Sep 2007 11:57:00 PST

Mornington Crescent

Well, I have to do something exciting to mark the release of "Mind The Gap" so I'm hosting a celebratory game of Mornington Crescent. Feel free to join in. Everyone knows the standard rules of course....
Posted by Rebsie Fairholm on Sun, 12 Aug 2007 04:05:00 PST

When a folk song is not a folk song

I've been tussling with MCPS over song copyrights this week. What's MCPS? Well, it's a music copyright licensing agency and all new CDs released in the UK are supposed to be registered with them. You ...
Posted by Rebsie Fairholm on Tue, 07 Aug 2007 05:35:00 PST