“Since Yesterday: The Unsung Pioneers of Scottish Pop” documentary is nearing completion! An interview with Louise, representing Sunset Gun (her first band with sister Dee), is included in this celebration of Scottish female musicians who have made an important contribution to the Scottish music scene and beyond. A release date will be announced later this year.
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Delighted to be helping with research for the forthcoming display at Riverside Museum: ‘Spinning Around – Glasgow’s Remarkable Record Shops’. Details under wraps for now, but watch this space…
Following a sell-out show at The Admiral, Glasgow on 7 February, I’ll be heading to Brig Below in Leith, where the sun willl shine I hope!! I’ll again be performing songs by some of my favourite female singer-songwriters: Joni Mitchell, Mitski, and Christine and The Queens, alongside songs from my own album, “Diary of a Lost Girl”. It’s an intimate space so book early!
Tickets Scotland
So looking forward to playing at The Admiral, Glasgow! I’ll be performing songs by some of my best-loved female singer-songwriters: Tori Amos, Carole King, Cat Power, Regina Spektor and more, alongside original material.
Tickets on sale now from Tickets Scotland: http://t-s.co/lou12
Delighted to be taking part in “Since Yesterday – The Unsung Women Pioneers of Scottish Pop” at Edinburgh Festival this year!
A live event celebrating the music of female Scottish bands, I will be appearing as part of Sunset Gun, performing two songs. Other artists on the bill include members of Strawberry Switchblade, The Twinsets, and Sophisticated Boom Boom.
The gig also celebrates a new generation of musicians who are challenging the gender balance – The Van T’s, Sacred Paws, and Bossy Love.
For more info:
To buy tickets:
The Pledge Music fundraising campaign to complete “Home” has now closed, and work is underway for its release later this year.
Those who pledged got a sneaky preview of the album and the response has been fantastic.
“…..A treasure!”
“Loving the whole thing – I have songs on repeat constantly”
“Production and arrangements are superb”
To keep up-to-date with the album release progress, sign up to my mailing list.
The fundraising campaign at PledgeMusic for the new album, “Home”, has hit its initial target, and has gone beyond!
Work is now well underway in putting the finishing touches to the follow-up to my first solo album, “Diary of a Lost Girl”.
Even though the campaign has reached its target, you can still contribute. Pledging your support will mean you gain exclusive access to what the album’s all about, a sneaky preview of tracks, and other nerdy interview and fact-type updates that true fans love.
Sign up now and you can immediately get your hands on a free download!
You can simply pre-order the new album, or pledge for more exclusive items, such as handwritten lyrics, your name in the album booklet, or even have a gig by yours truly in your own house!
Click the link on the Home page to find out more.
It’s Thursday night in Edinburgh and I’m heading over to The Voodoo Rooms to see a gig and write a review. Now I’m not sure about this one, my expectations are very high! This is a type/genre of music that I’m not sure is quite as good live as it is played through a top end hi-fi, will I be disappointed … certainly not!
On first entering The Voodoo Room’s Speakeasy it’s immediately noticeable there has been a lot of work, careful work, put into this show. There are 2 screens to the back of the stage, one almost a notice board to tell you it’s Louise Rutkowski playing tonight and the other, full stage width, simply for visuals. Both of these are beautifully managed throughout the night, each song having its own landscape, very very clever! Visuals on the evening were created and operated by Robert Motyka.
So the scene is set and on walks Louise with guitarist Morph and on keyboard and technology Irvin Duguid. All of the songs this evening other than the last 3 on the set list (more on those surprises later) were written by Louise and Irvin.
A few hellos and then the music begins. Almost immediately the quality of the sound and the mix is apparent, lots of words come to mind, clean, crisp, atmospheric, beautifully simple and I begin to relax, disappointment will be nowhere in sight tonight!
The opening track is The Mearns, now sorry but the lyrics for me could be almost anything, it’s the sound that is utterly captivating. Keyboard opens and then the voice …. the voice! I could almost end the review here, I would never have believed this almost cathedral crispness could be achieved in such a small space. Some spaces lend themselves perfectly to simple yet beautiful music, cathedrals and churches have that feeling but here it is tonight in The Voodoo Rooms Speakeasy! Back to the song, It’s mostly vocals and piano but there are layers of wonderful sound that drift in and out, new ones appear, the vocals come back in, the voice soars, a crescendo, a gentle end. Stunning!
I could go through the whole evening song by song and write much the same about each one. For me this is the return of the album! The set tonight consists of the songs from the album ‘Diary Of A Lost Girl’ plus ‘those surprises’! At the end of the evening I wanted to turn over the 33rpm long playing record, put the needle back into the beginning of the groove and disappear again, to a very happy place! Each track from the album is performed tonight plus one new one, Circle Of Life, which will be on the next album. The songs are not played in the same order as they are on the album though, again a wonderful indication of how much detailed thought has gone into this performance. Maybe the songs flow differently in a live setting than they do on the album!
The last thing I want is for this review to turn into a sales pitch about Louise but in a strange way that is what I am going to do. I’m not going to say much more about the night, or her, or the songs … you should simply listen to this album .. again and again and again and go and see and hear her! Below there is the set list, each song was introduced by Louise and each has a story, there are ‘nods to The Blue Nile’, ‘a happy song’, one about chilling and even one that was wittingly introduced as an homage to Abba!
Now to those surprises! I grew up musically listening to bands such as The Cocteau Twins, The Blue Nile, Japan and This Mortal Coil. These and a few other bands and musicians gave me that relaxed, chilled feeling that is just above melancholy and just below happiness.
I’d had that feeling tonight and as the evening grew to a close there were 2 tracks from that time in my life and from now that show that despite all that has happened, all the change, all the advances in the world, there is still beautiful, powerful music! Yes that’s a strong statement but Song To The Siren by This Mortal Coil and Lies by Chvrches bridge the time gap! The finale was Walk Away and the evening came to a close. Perhaps I’ve lingered too long on the emotional take of the evening but that is what this music is about, yes it was technically superb, yes everything worked wonderfully and yes there was a broad range of content but …. the vibe wins every time!
For more about Louise, her past, her present and her plans please visit her website www.louiserutkowski.co.uk and regardless of whether you like this type of music or not just head along to see her if you get the chance, voices like this are few and far between.
Reviewer: Sandy 7ahead.com
There are times when I think I am lost in music. Caught in a trap, even. Then there are times when I think I might be tripping over musical clichés and times when I wonder how anybody gets through life, or a gig at least, without alcohol. So it was that my now vulnerable consciousness encountered the many wonders of Louise Rutkowski.
When she announced that she was going to sing her album “Diary of a Lost Girl” in its entirety and the backing track kicked in, my spirits prepared for the seemingly inevitable orbital decay over the planet Disappointment for Ms. Rutkowski has a real voice, properly trained and truly entrancing, that needs nowhere to hide and she certainly would have no need of a backing track to keep her on that road to musical redemption.
Sure enough, the first couple of songs were perfunctory replays of the recorded version but, as all sportsmen and women know, everybody needs a warm up. Suitably warmed up and properly ready to go for gold, Ms. Rutkowski steadily built up the drama until she was ready to go large on the emotion and take that well deserved place on the winner’s podium.
That’s the thing, you see. The ability to take mere words and float them upon a cloud is the mark of a great singer. Anything else in the presentation is incidental for that talent is rare and, in the interests of clarity and for the avoidance of doubt, is a talent blessed upon Louise Rutkowski.
I don’t know if you can name the stars in the sky but, if you can, I’m sure I’d name one of them Louise Rutkowski.
Reviewer: Handsome Bluesbunny www.bluesbunny.com
Having made an impact originally in the 1980s as a vocalist with Sunset Gun, and then with 4AD stalwarts, This Mortal Coil, Louise disappeared from the music scene, but has spent almost seven years creating her solo debut. At the age of 49, she steps into the spotlight with a gorgeous and simple album that highlights her powerful voice, thanks to considerate arrangements by collaborator and co-composer Irvin Duguid.
At times, her vocal reminds you of Kate Bush in its confidence, especially on “Mimi”, “Rhoda”, “High” and “Remember”. The release, a very personal journey for the singer, was funded through the direct-to-fan platform PledgeMusic, and deserves to get wider notice.
Reviewer: Dave Esson Daily Express
