Laura Marling - Fortune (Live at Home on Later... with Jools Holland)

It feels very apt to conclude the first of my Fantasy Festivals for 2020 with a live performance from home by Laura Marling. It very much reflects the mood and mode of performance of the times. If you'd like to watch Laura's full set at Boiler Room as part of David Lynch's Festival of Disruption in 2018, you can do so here.

Emmy the Great - Mahal Kita (HD Live at Roode Bioscoop Amsterdam, 23 Mar...

Finding decent quality live clips of Emmy The Great on YouTube proved a bit elusive, alas, but here is Emmy performing the impeccable 'Mahal Kita' in Amsterdam. While there are no full live sets available to view on YouTube, you can, with patience and perseverance, reconstruct her 2011 End of the Road festival set from 2011, one song at a time, if you search YouTube.

First Aid Kit - My Silver Lining (Live At Life is Beautiful Festival Las...

Swedish sisters First Aid Kit are no strangers to the festival circuit, as this clip taken from their set at Life is Beautiful fest attests. Similarly, if you'd like to watch the bands full live set from the Palace Theater in the US in 2018, you can do so here.

Honeyblood - She's A Nightmare (6 Music Live Room)

A typically intense performance by Honeyblood, this live performance for 6Music acted as a taster for last years In Plain Sight album. While I haven't been able to locate a full live festival set recording on YouTube, I have found this Paste Studio NYC live session from last year, which is well worth a watch.

Emma Pollock - 'Confessions' @ The SAY Award: Live at the Longlist 2018...

Performing at the the Scottish Album of the Year longlist ceremony back in 2018, this is a typically easygoing performance by Emma Pollock. I haven't been able to find a full live stream of her on YouTube, but she did recently feature in an episode of Stay At Home Festival, which you can watch here.

Siobhan Wilson performs Whatever Helps live at Paisley Arts Centre (The ...

This spellbinding performance of 'Whatever Helps' by Siobhan is indicative of her charisma as a live performer. While I couldn't find a full live set by her on YouTube, I did find a recent at-home cover of Tim Buckley's 'Song to the siren', which is well worth a watch.

Maple Bee - No Ropes on Me

Despite a lengthy musical career, both as a solo artist and as a member of Tabitha Zu, Zu, Mediaeveal  Baebes and Queen Adreena, there's not that much footage of Maple Bee on YouTube. What few live clips there are are poor quality phone videos, so there isn't really any live work to point you to at the moment. A shame. If you would like to watch another video after watching 'No Ropes on Me', you could do much worse than to listen to 'This Face This Name'.

Helen McCookerybook - Songs from the kitchen: Don't be Silly, He Said

Helen McCookerybook's intimate songs from the kitchen performances pre-date lockdown, and I've always enjoyed the relaxed, easygoing tone of them. During lockdown, despite missing the live scene, Helen has been an enthusiastic adopter of the online gig. She performed an online gig for Loud Women back in March, which does unfortunately include a bit of screen freezing, but if you'd like to give it a watch, you can do so here.

Katy Carr on Trojka Radio - Wojtek

An intimate, easygoing and bilingual performance by Katy Carr, this performance was filmed for Trojka Radio in Poland. I haven't been able to find a decent quality full set stream of Kay on YouTube, but if you'd like to see more she has recorded a lockdown performance for Merseyside Polonia and Polish Heritage day, which you can watch here.

Zoe Graham performs Hacket & Knackered live | Quay Sessions

This recording of Zoe Graham performing her single 'Hacket & Knackered' for BBC Scotland was broadcast as part of her adoption by BBC Introducing, the BBC new musical talent scheme. Because Zoe is such a new performer, there doesn't appear to be a full live set available to view on YouTube but you can watch an interview with Zoe in which she also performs her song 'Anniesland Lights'.

Fantasy Festival number 1: The lineup

Zoe Graham: Newly relocated to Glasgow, Zoe Graham is a young Scottish singer/songwriter with three singles under her belt. She's also a Scottish Alternative Music Award winner. You can find her on Facebook here. 

Katy Carr: Polish-British singer/songwriter Katy Carr performs ukulele and electronic piano led folk and baroque narrative history music. She featured in my 2017 Fantasy Festival lineup, and it seemed only right to include her here. You can find out more about Katy over on her website. 

Helen McCookerybook: Frequent readers of the blog will know that Helen is a regular here, both as one of my punk women interviewees, but also in her capacity as a highly innovative solo singer/songwriter. Helen began her career on bass in Brighton punk band Joby and the Hooligans, was a founding member of The Chefs, and then went on to form Helen and the Horns. Helen's 7" album Pea Soup was recently reviewed here, and her album Green is out now. You can find out more about Helen over on her website. 

Maple Bee: Like Helen, Melanie Garside has a long musical history. Beginning as a multi braided front woman in Tabitha Zu in the 1990s (later just 'Zu'), she was one of Katherine Blake's Mediaeval Baebes for a while, served bass duties in sister Katie-Jane's band Queen Adreena before embarking on a solo career under the name Maple Bee. Her most recent album is Little Victories. Future releases are awaited with interest and you can check out her website here. 

Siobhan Wilson: Born in Elgin, Morayshire, classically trained composer and singer/songwriter Siobhan is two albums into a career of rigorous reinvention and experimentation. Based in Edinburgh these days, 2019's The Departure featured a more abrasive guitar sound and included a duet with Honeyblood's Stina Tweeddale. You can find out more about Siobhan over on her website. 

Emma Pollock: Former Delgado Emma Pollock and co-founder of Chemical Underground records has been carving out a solo career for fifteen years now. Her albums are regularly nominated for Scottish album of the year and she featured in the Scottish scene reunion film Lost In France. You can find out more about Emma over on her website. 

Honeyblood: Currently operating as a solo adventure, Honeyblood is the project of singer/songwriter and noise merchant Stina Tweeddale. Formerly of Edinburgh, these days resident in Glasgow, Tweeddale has been composing perfectly executed riff driven punk pop and grunge anthems since 2012. The critically acclaimed In Plain Sight, Honeyblood's third album, was released last year.  You can find out more here. 

First Aid Kit: Swedish folk duo First Aid Kit are comprised of sisters Klara and Johanna Söderberg. They are four albums into a phenomenally successful career, and their gorgeous melodies 

and harmonies have allowed them to climb the live music ladder to larger venues at the same time as 

they have been garnered with multiple industry awards and nominations. You can find out more here. 

Emmy The Great: Understated, wry, quiet and well crafted songs always impeccably performed, musician, writer and composer Emmy The Great has been building up a body of work for over ten years now. She has released three albums, has collaborated on a number of film and TV soundtracks, and has an impressive body of work as a journalist. You can find out more here. 

Laura Marling: The great Laura Marling is seven albums into a long and prodigious career that while rooted in folk has become increasingly experimental over the years. 2017's Semper Femina exemplified this approach while 2020's Song For Our Daughter signals a return to her roots, and was a most welcome unexpected lockdown release. You can find out more about Laura over on her website. 

Fantasy Festival Number 1