Rosie Doonan

'I grew up listening to The Stones, Joni Mitchell and Free,” she explains. “But my roots are in the folk scene, so that’s in there too. But I’d like to think I’ve added something extra. It’s a very personal record, and I mean every word of it. A few people have said ‘it sounds like you’ve been through the mill’, but that’s where the best must comes from. It’s a form of catharsis.'

Growing up in Wakefield, Rosie found herself surrounded by music. Living in a house overflowing with hung over musicians - her dad played uilean pipes in folk luminaries Hedgehog Pie, an ‘uncle’ was in Lindisfarne - she was a free festival veteran by fourteen. 'I guess you could say it wasn’t your average childhood. We would go to every festival going. All the kids would hang around together and then we’d go and see our parents play in bands. It gave me a good grounding in what being a musician is all about.'

'Me and a friend moved to London thinking we’d make it in six months. We ended up living in a flat in Latimer Road, completely broke, playing gigs on the open mic circuit. It was soul destroying, but at the same time, I learnt a lot about playing live.' Salvation from greedy landlords and unscrupulous promoters came in the form of a call from childhood friend and fellow songwriter Ben Murray. Returning to Yorkshire after eighteen months in the smoke, she poured out her experiences into the sublime Mill Lane, which was duly rewarded with a Radio 2 Folk Award Nomination. Inevitably, however, Rosie felt the urge to strike out on her own once more.

'It was difficult, because Ben and I worked well together, and we were accepted on the folk scene. But I’ve always felt deep down that I had to make a record on my own, so I rang a few old friends and luckily things just fell into place.'

Her solo album 'Moving On' was recorded in Cumbria with producer Joss Clap, Had she been in the grip of a major record label she would have been re-imaged and re-invented, luckily for us she isn't, her feet are firmly on the floor, no Joss Stone style lunacy here.

For Rosie herself, Moving On symbolises where she is right now; at the crossroads, hitching a ride to the future. 'I want as many people as possible to hear my music, because it’s got a universal theme' she explains, as night draws in. 'At the moment, I play gigs in Wakefield and there’s a big crowd because people know me. That’s great, but the time has come to get out there and play to people who only know me through my music. I’ve put my heart and soul into the record, and I’d like to think you can hear it in the songs.'

Indeed. Whilst her peers scrabble for to sound contemporary, she’s announced herself as a major talent by turning her sorrow into music as joyous and uplifting as Moving On.
The past is the past. But the future’s Rosie.

Paul Moody, London, December 2007