Rachel Sermanni speaks to Tim Hughes about why she prefers the intimacy of smaller venues that are more open to her ideas

If there’s one word which sums up Rachel Sermanni’s haunting songs, it’s probably ‘melancholy’.

But while there’s a sadness to her beautiful folk tales, that doesn’t make them depressing. Far from it.

Her voice has a beguiling, uplifting quality which gives her songs a fragile poetic beauty and sense of drama.

They’re still a bit sad, though.

“Melancholy is definitely a good definition,” the self-styled ‘folk-noir’ artist chirps in a very un-melancholic way. “But it reflects other feelings too.

“And if it does get too ‘dirgey’ I’ll add a bit of humour and self-mockery. You’ve got to make fun of yourself, after all.”

Clearly Rachel, an endearingly chatty 23-year-old, bears little resemblance to her serious stage persona. She agrees. “Maybe being sad on stage is a way of releasing it all,” she says.

“It’s much easier to write about sad things; they are far more inspiring.”

She is talking to me while sheltering from the rain in the west of Ireland, where she has been touring out-of-the-way village halls.

She admits to feeling at home out in the sticks, it reminding her of her old home in the Scottish Highlands.

“I do love that,” she says. “You can create intimacy in bigger venues, but it’s much easier in these small places where people are open to what you’re doing.”

She should feel right at home when she comes to Oxford, then. On Tuesday she plays the cosy surrounds of Art Jericho, in a gig supported by Oxford’s Tigmus (This Is Good Music) pledge-based booking site. The site was jointly set up by Stornoway’s Oli Steadman – Rachel supported the Oxford band when they toured the Scottish Highlands.

“I love Oxford,” she says. “I’ve done everything from student balls and the Truck music store, to the O2 Academy. It’s always interesting.”

The show follows tours as far afield as Canada and Iceland, the Celtic Connection festival and support slots for Mumford and Sons, Michael Kiwanuka, Ron Sexsmith and Elvis Costello. It precedes the launch of her new album Tied To The Moon.

She will be joined by Canadian Tom Terell whose blend of traditional and modern styles is influenced by everyone from Tom Waits and John Prine to Oscar Peterson and Beethoven.

Rachel has sung since her schooldays in Speyside, her songs drawing on images of childhood, womanhood, everyday observations and all human emotion. Since then she hasn’t stopped – touring with her guitar and a bandolim she calls Sue.

“Inspiration comes from all over,” she says. “A lot of it is rooted in the Scottish countryside, though my new album is less so, as it was written in other places. There’s definitely a folk element though. I sing story-like songs with an acoustic guitar, and you can’t get too far from folk with that. But, I hate to say, I am now trying a grungier, dirtier feel to my songs.”

So expect to see her rocking out with a Fender Stratocaster soon?

“That would be fun!” she giggles.

“But for now you should just expect a nice evening and some wallowing in sad songs.

“It’s good to have a weep!”

CHECK IT OUT
Rachel Sermanni plays Art Jericho, King Street, Oxford, on Tuesday
Go to tigmus.com to pledge for tickets. Select the show-tile and pledge!

Pictured: Rachel Sermanni live (by Paul Campbell)

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