Bio:Emma Skipp

Emma Skipp “A one woman Gospel Choir” - Jo Whiley BBC Radio 1

Emma is one of the UK's most talked about female singer/song writers, hailing from Birmingham, ENGLAND, and is currently working on new material for her solo album, to be released in June 2011

In 2009, after sessions began for her debut album, Emma was asked to sing backing vocals on The Enemy’s “No Time for Tears”. The song entered the UK singles chart at #16 and became the bands fastest selling single.  This resulted in Emma being asked to tour with them during that year, and found herself supporting Kasabian and Oasis at Wembley Stadium, as well as stadiums across the whole of the UK.  She also featured in TV appearances on The Jonathan Ross Show, The Album Chart Show, and Radio 1’s Live Lounge with Jo Wiley.

Speaking in late 2009 to the BBC:  The whole experience has just been incredible, at the beginning of the year I found myself writing songs at home to take into the studio with me for the album, then all of a sudden, my whole life was turned upside down and I found myself on tour with on the Country's most talked about and exciting bands!  It was a real shame to put my own album on hold, but it was an opportunity that I couldn't pass up on,  I did manage to spend some time writing on the tour so I can't wait to present these to my band and get back get back in to the studio with my own material.

In 2010, Emma found herself once again in a once in a lifetime situation, and was asked by Ocean Colour Scene to sing backing vocals on their brand new album 'Saturday'.  Emma grew up as a huge fan of the band, and it was their hit single 'It's A Beautiful thing', a song they recorded with legend PP Arnold that was a huge inspiration to Emma early on in her career.  After giving some of her best vocal work to date on the album, Emma once again found herself being offered the chance to tour with the band across the UK, and 2010 has found Emma performing at The Royal Albert Hall, London, and a return to the UK Charts after the album went straight in to the top 40 in its debut week.

So here we are in, in 2011, and Emma has teamed up with producer Gavin Monaghan (The Editors, The Twang, Nizlopi, Ocean Colour Scene) to work with on her eagerly awaited debut album 'All things Red'.  "It seems such a long time ago now that I first presented these songs to my band, but the time that I’ve spent between then and now, working with such amazing artists, has given me such inspiration to get into the studio, and Gavin who I've worked with on a number of projects is the perfect man for the job.  After performing in front of thousands of people over the past two years, it has brought on a higher expectancy then I've ever felt before, but I can't wait to rise to the challenge!"

 Meet The Band

We see a striking resemblance to Emma on backing vocals, her sister Sophie Skipp also a graduate of Stratford – Upon - Avon College of performing arts. Sophie has performed on several occasions at the National Rock and Pop festival, and has also sang solo at both Birmingham’s NIA and the prestigious Symphony hall.

Peter Butler, a graduate of Dartington College of arts is on the keys/brass and acoustic guitar, and owns his own recording studio “A435 Records” Which all of Emma and the bands Demo’s are recorded in. Emma and Pete have known each other since studying together at Stratford College. Pete has travelled all over Europe, India, and Philadelphia joining brass bands for various festivals and concerts on the cornet.

Chris Booth provides Drums and percussion for vertigo slide .A former student of Steve Palmer of Emerson Lake Palmer fame Chris has been drumming in bands since 1988.

He has played as a session musician at BBC's Pebble Mill Studios, played support slots for Ocean Colour Scene and headlined at the Budstock festival in Devon where he was supported by Muse. Chris has played with Mauve Explosion, Mark Lemon, Mike Stanley, The Indigo Blues Band and The Father Ted’s. He has also appeared on Radio W.M. and Kerry Radio.

Mark Webb plays both acoustic and Electric guitar for Emma depending on the line up. He is an electronic Music graduate and is currently a peripatetic guitar teacher for the Solihull Music Service. With over 12 years of experience, playing with pro function bands Mark has performed at some top London venues including The Ritz, The Hilton, The Mayfair, and Café Royal. Mark has performed for Tony Blair, Terry Wogan, Jim Marshall and worked along side artists such as Faith Brown, Les Dennis, Baron Knights and Tom O’Connor.