Rachel's treble chance at Celtic Connections
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AT the age of 22, Carrbridge singer-songwriter Rachel Sermanni is already something of a Celtic Connections veteran.
This year sees Rachel, fresh from a tour of Australia, make three appearances at the Glasgow festival, including a headline show to launch her latest EP, Everything Changes.
You're no stranger to Celtic Connections. What are your favourite memories of the festival as both performer and fan?
The Danny Kyle Open Stage (for new talent) is a fond memory. I did that with some friends from school, age 16. We experienced the festival club for the first time.
My New Voices commission was another incredible opportunity. I had a choir and an instrumental to perform.
I have seen so so so many incredible people play at CC. It's an honour to be part.
As well as your own headline show you are appearing at the Burns Birthday Party show and the In The Tradition Concert, yet you are known for playing your own songs. In what ways have traditional music and the work of Robert Burns influenced your own writing?
I have gone through a Burns phase and remember thinking he creates the same romantic feelings as Keats does. Not sickly sweet, just a beautiful resonance.
He is very very good with words.
You've already been acknowledged as one of the hardest gigging artists out there. What are your own survival strategies for surviving life on the road,?
I like to feel healthy. Lots of nice food and yoga and stuff. Jamming and busking. Sleeping is very important.
I'm also a sucker for a nice cafe. Coffee and cake is a good treat. Best I ever had was courgette and lime cake in a teashop in Galway.
Which countries and places have you found the most enjoyable to play?
I have loved visiting Canada last year for the people and the scenery. The Yukon is like a magnified version of my home and I've made many musician friends. I'm in Oz just now and it has had a similar feeling, audience wise.
I hope I get to come back.
The new EP was recorded in New York with Alex Newport (Bloc Party, Frank Turner). What was it like working with Alex and why did you decide to revisit older songs from the Boatshed Sessions on the new recording?
They aren't really older songs. They're still babies. Hence my decision to keep working with them. The Boatshed songs are very different to the NYC recordings. It's cool how drastically a song can change just with a change in environment.
Alex was wonderful. A perfectionist in some ways. A perfect ear for imperfection. Grit and polish live as brothers in this EP.
What are your plans/hopes for 2014?
I hope to continue touring places where my music works. Wonderful festivals like Woodford, Dawson City, Calgary, Loopallu...I hope there are more of those. Gigs where people have given a community effort and spin.
I hope to continue wiring and recording.
Hopefully print some poetry.
And hopefully print some pictures..
Who do you think are the acts to watch out for at Celtic Connections this year?
I haven't had time to look at the bill, but it's going to be incredible.
Rachel Sermanni can be seen at Glasgow’s Celtic Connections Festival on Tuesday 21st January with Olivia Chaney and Bernadette Morris, on Saturday 25th as part of the Robert Burns Birthday Show at the SSE Hydro and in her own headline show on Friday 31st January at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.
New EP Everything Changes is released on Monday 27th January, but to here it and watch the video, go to
