emily portman

Emily Portman selects ten objects from her home: her grandpa’s Mexican pottery owl, the mask she wore to become Blodeuwedd on the “Dominion of Spells” photoshoot, and a wedding ring cut in half by a spade and returned twenty years after it was lost. The stories behind them are quite magical.

Emily Portman shares a live video of “Fox’s Song”, a track from her album “Dominion of Spells”, filmed at Moonko in Sheffield. Inspired by a Siberian folk tale, it casts its narrator as a shape-shifting woman-fox, exploring feminism, midlife change and the pull towards a wilder form of life. Portman (voice, banjo) is joined by Louis Campbell and Lucy Revis.

On Emily Portman’s fourth solo album, she weaves a tapestry of complex lyrical themes and intricate musical arrangements. Of all the singers and songwriters in British folk music, few have the ability to encapsulate what it means to be human in the way that Portman does. “Dominion of Spells” is a real and vital piece of work, something to be cherished.

Acclaimed folk artist Emily Portman returns with “Turn Again,” a luminous new single from her upcoming album Dominion of Spells. Inspired by motherhood and the ballad Tam Lin, the track weaves intimate storytelling with atmospheric instrumentation. To celebrate her first solo release in a decade, Portman has launched a Kickstarter campaign for the album, along with a beautifully crafted vinyl edition and a beautifully illustrated companion book.

After the release of Sea Song Sessions on Topic Records and a mini tour by ship last year, Jon Boden, Seth Lakeman, Ben Nicholls, Emily Portman & Jack Rutter will be reunited once more for a short run of live dates in September 2023.

On ‘Time Was Away’, the perfectly matched Emily Portman and Rob Harbron have delivered an elegant and understated gem that’s beautifully atmospheric and gently beguiling. Take time to savour this treat; you’ll be much rewarded.

Sea Song Sessions is a glorious album, showcasing some of the best of the current crop of British folk artists – Jon Boden, Seth Lakeman, Ben Nicholls, Emily Portman, Jack Rutter – delivering some of the best music you’re likely to hear this year.

Watch Sea Song Sessions (Jon Boden, Seth Lakeman, Ben Nicholls, Emily Portman & Jack Rutter) performing ‘The Dreadnought’. Catch them live at three, one-off harbourside and onboard performances as they sail by Tallship ’Anny of Charlestown’ along the Cornish coastline this month.

Topic Records announce ‘Sea Song Sessions’, a collection of British maritime folk songs and sea shanties, featuring some of British folk music’s leading lights: Jon Boden, Seth Lakeman, Ben Nicholls, Emily Portman & Jack Rutter. Listen to the first single ‘The Rambling Sailor’.

Folk In The Fall offers a long-awaited day of live music ft. Leveret, Martin Simpson, Kathryn Tickell & Amy Thatcher, Jimmy Aldridge & Sid Goldsmith and Emily Portman & Rob Harbron.

Taken from their 2018 album Fathoms, our Song of the Day is ‘Down By The Greenwoodside’ by The Furrow Collective. Watch the accompanying new video by Maud Hewlings and catch them on tour during September.

We talk to Emily Portman about how she developed her distinctive sound, the role of traditional folk in her music, working with others including the Furrow Collective and helping others to develop similar skills.