Woodpecker Wooliams

From: Brighton via Crawley and Devon

Profile: A bee-keeper, qualified shaman, former midwife and lover of Russian dolls, Woodpecker Wooliams, aka Gemma Williams, is not your ordinary singer-songwriter.

Her music employs harp, bells, chimes, whistles and electronic beats to support her sweet tremolo voice.

With independent label Robot Elephant Records releasing her debut album The Bird School Of Being Human on Monday, she has already received positive critical notices from Uncut, The Sunday Times and BBC 6 Music DJs Tom Robinson, Steve Lamacq and Tom Ravenscroft.

This week saw the release of electronic driven single Sparrow, one of seven bird-themed songs on the album.

Woodpecker Wooliams was born after a sudden severe illness forced Gemma to give up nursing. On leaving hospital, the Crawley-born musician decamped to Devon where she worked as a waitress and hired a harp, investigating folky sounds and then combining them with electronica and distorted noise.

The results earned her slots on tours and at festivals across Europe, including The Big Chill and Brighton’s own Alternative Escape with the Willkommen Collective.

Now a Brighton resident, tickets for Gemma’s album launch include a free shot of homemade honey mead from her bees.

Crow (right click on the track to download, left click to stream)

Website: www.woodpeckerwooliams.com

Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/woodpecker-wooliams

Facebook: facebook.com/woodpeckerwooliamsmusic

Email: sw@robotelephant.co.uk