Polly Paulusma

Does the name Polly Paulusma (you say it pauls-mer) ring a bell? In 2004 her self-produced, home-recorded debut album Scissors in my Pocket (released on One Little Indian, home to Bjork) was everywhere, and so was she.

Buoyed by a BBC Radio 2 playlisting and support from Michael Parkinson and Terry Wogan, she toured up and down the country supporting Jamie Cullum and Gary Jules, all over Europe with Bob Dylan and PJ Harvey; and then across America supporting The Divine Comedy, Joseph Arthur and Coldplay; she went on to play Glastonbury, V Festival, the Cambridge Folk Festival, the Fleadh and Glasgow’s T in the Park.

Not bad for a little album recorded in a shed.

In 2007 she toured the country again to promote a much darker, more electric record, Fingers & Thumbs, travelling from Penzance to Edinburgh in a borrowed caravan named Cynthia with a baby and a husband in tow – literally. It was the most successful headline tour of her career.

Five years (and two kids) on, Paulusma is back in a new (for her) caravan, Ella, to promote ‘Leaves From The Family Tree’, a joyful acoustic album that’s been recorded (mostly) at home in her shed, featuring musical collaborations with Nizlopi’s bassist John Parker, US-based singer-songwriter Erin McKeown, fellow singer-songwriter Harry Harris and acclaimed film composer Michael Price to name but a few. It is eagerly awaited by a loyal fan-base. And now she has two roadies, aged 5 and 3.

Soon Polly is coming to a town near you in Ella, and you don’t want to miss her. She’s touring solo and acoustic with her larger family in tow as she self-releases this, her third album.

“the finest young British female singer-songwriter to emerge over the last 12 months” - UNCUT ****

“the most literate songwriter of her generation” - THE INDEPENDENT