Josienne Clarke Explained

Josienne Clarke
Birth Date:1982
Occupation:Musician, singer-songwriter, composer
Years Active:2008–present

Josienne Clarke is a British singer-songwriter. From 2009 until 2018 she formed a duo with guitarist Ben Walker, winning a BBC Radio 2 Folk Award for best duo in 2017, and signing with music label Rough Trade Records,[1] [2] with whom she made two duo albums, one record with her band PicaPica and her solo record ‘In All Weather’ in 2019. She also recorded an EP ‘Such A Sky’ with jazz pianist Kit Downes in 2017. She has toured world-wide and has supported folk musician Richard Thompson on one of his tours.[1]

In 2019 she formed a band called PicaPica. The band recorded a studio album called Together & Apart.[1] The Financial Times wrote in 2019 she was "recognised as a rising star of British folk".[1] She subsequently signed with the label Corduroy Punk Records to bring out more solo albums.

Of her 2023 solo album Onliness (which is a re-recording of some previous work), Folkradio wrote: "a graceful melancholy in the melodies and a bird-like fragility to her singing coating an underlayer of grit and menace you would be foolish to ignore".[3]

In 2024 she was interviewed by Neil Steinberg for the Chicago Sun Times regarding her song Chicago.[4]

Discography

Studio albums

Year TitleCredited to
2010One Light Is Gonesolo
2013Fire & FortuneClarke & Walker
2016OvernightClarke & Walker
2017Such a SkyClarke & Walker
2019Together & ApartPicaPica
2019In All Weathersolo
2021A Small Unknowable Thingsolo
2022Now And Thensolo
2023Onliness – Songs of Solitude & Singularitysolo
2024Parenthesis, Isolo

Notes and References

  1. News: Josienne Clarke: between sunshine and solitude. Financial Times. 1 August 2019. Garth. Cartwright. 10 February 2024.
  2. News: Josienne Clarke and Ben Walker – the duo who annoy bearded men called Brian. Jude. Rogers. 16 December 2016. The Guardian. 10 February 2024.
  3. News: Josienne Clarke – Onliness (Album Review). Danny. Neill. 12 April 2023. Folkradio. 10 February 2024.
  4. News: ‘Melancholy is a vocation in itself’. Neil . Steinberg. 9 January 2024. Chicago Sun Times. 10 February 2024.