Emily Barker (born 2 December 1980) is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician and composer. Her music has featured as the theme to BBC dramas Wallander and The Shadow Line. With multi-instrumental trio the Red Clay Halo, she recorded four albums: Photos.Fires.Fables. (2006), Despite the Snow (2008), Almanac (2011), Dear River (2013), before commencing a solo career with The Toerag Sessions (2015), Sweet Kind of Blue (2017), A Dark Murmuration of Words (2020), and Flight Path Rhymes (2021). Other projects include Vena Portae (with Dom Coyote and Ruben Engzell), Applewood Road (with Amy Speace and Amber Rubarth), and Room 822 (2022) with Lukas Drinkwater.
Career 2002–2005: The Low Country Emily travelled to the UK in 2002, and was first based in Cambridge where she collaborated with guitarist Rob Jackson. They formed a band called The Low Country which released two albums, Welcome to the-low-country (2003) and The Dark Road (2004), tracks from which enjoyed plays on John Peel's BBC radio show.
In 2005 Emily won Country Song of the Year and Regional Song of the Year awards at the annual West Australian Music Songwriting Awards.
2006–2013: Emily Barker & the Red Clay Halo In 2006, Barker released her first solo album, Photos. Fires. Fables. before releasing albums under the alias Emily Barker & the Red Clay Halo.
The song "Pause - The Shadow Line" from Almanac was the theme tune for a major 2011 BBC2 drama serial, The Shadow Line and received a physical release. Martin Phipps again adapted the song for the title sequence.
In 2012, Barker recorded a new version of "Fields of June", which had first appeared on Photos.Fires.Fables. and was released as a limited 7-inch white vinyl on Xtra Mile Recordings.
In July 2013, Dear River was released, charting at 99 in the official UK Albums chart. Will Hodgkinson from The Times gave the album a four out of five star review, saying it contained "heartfelt songwriting... bridging the gap between folk, country and Fleetwood Mac".
2014-present: Solo success In 2014, Barker worked with Dom Coyote and Ruben Engzell and created Vena Portae.
In 2015, release the EP Anywhere Away which was the soundtrack to the UK movie Hector, released in December 2015.
In May 2017, Barker released Sweet Kind of Blue which peaked at number 88 on the UK Albums Chart.
In 2020, Barker released A Dark Murmuration of Words. This album was inspired by a concern with the impact of climate change on the natural world. Barker explained, "Last year the climate crisis was very much at the forefront of all of our conversations and thoughts, wondering what we can do to adapt, and feeling helpless and guilty and angry and upset and all these things."
In an interview with Bernard Zuel, Emily Barker elaborated saying, "It was really a response to a lot of what was going on in 2019 with the collective awakening of the environmental crisis. And it was terrifying. It's something that I'd been aware of before, and I was brought up by parents who were very conscious of that anyway, but I think a lot of people really looked at the personal impact in a big way and started realising the scale of this emergency. It's so hard to compute but for me, writing songs helps me to make sense of things that I can't process."
In 2020, Barker covered the Billy Bragg song "Can't Be There Today" as part of a campaign to save musical venues during the COVID-19 crisis.
In 2021, Barker released an alternative version of A Dark Murmuration of Words in 2021 – called Flight Path Rhymes. She discussed the reworking of the album saying "Recording A Dark Murmuration of Words was a wonderful immersive experience that involved my live band and multiple conversations with producer Greg Freeman. It was only as the album was coming together that I realised how all the songs intertwined...how, despite their different subjects, there was an underlying theme that tied them all together."
In January 2022, Emily Barker and Lukas Drinkwater released an album of covers called Room 822.
Discography Studio albums + List of studio albums, with selected chart positions Title Details Peak chart positions UK UKIndieCredited as The Low Country (with Rob W. Jackson) Welcome To... Released: 2003 Label: Now Recordings (NOW2003CD) Formats: CD — — The Dark Road Released: 2004 Label: the-low-country (LOW-CO-02) Formats: CD — —Credited as Emily Barker Photos. Fires. Fables. Released: 2006 Label: Iguana Productions (IP006) / Everyone Sang (ES2007) Formats: CD, digital download — —Credited as Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo Despite the Snow Released: 2008 Label: Walking Horse (WALK002) / Everyone Sang (ES2008) Formats: CD, digital download, LP (2016) — — Almanac Released: 2011 Label: Walking Horse (WALK015) / Everyone Sang (ES2011) Formats: CD, LP, digital download — 37 Dear River Released: July 2013 Label: Linn Records (AKD 505) Formats: 2xCD, LP, digital download 99 23Credited as Vena Portae (with Dom Coyote and Ruben Engzell) Vena Portae Released: August 2014 Label: Humble Soul Records (HS418CD) Formats: 2xCD, LP, digital download — 26Credited as Emily Barker The Toerag Sessions Released: April 2015 Label: Everyone Sang (ES143) Formats: CD, CD+DVD, digital download — 25Credited as Applewood Road (with Amber Rubarth and Amy Speace) Applewood Road Released: February 2016 Label: Gearbox (GB1531CD) Formats: CD, LP, digital download — 19Credited as Emily Barker Sweet Kind of Blue Released: May 2017 Label: Everyone Sang (ES153) Formats: CD, 2xCD, LP, digital download 83 11 A Window to Other Ways (with Marry Waterson) Released: April 2019 Label: One Little Indian (TPLP1482) Formats: CD, LP, digital download — — A Dark Murmuration of Words Released: September 2020 Label: Everyone Sang (ES158) Formats: CD, LP, digital download — 7 Flight Path Rhymes Released: 2021 Label: Everyone Sang (ES159) Formats: CD, digital download Note: an alternative version of A Dark Murmuration of Words — — Room 822 (with Lukas Drinkwater) Released: January 2022 Label: Emily Barker and Lukas Drinkwater Formats: digital download Recorded during hotel quarantine in Room 822 at The Westin, Perth. — — Fragile As Humans Released: May 2024 Label: Everyone Sang (ES163) Formats: CD, LP, digital download — 13
Live albums + List of live albums, with selected chart positions Title DetailsCredited as Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo Live At Swindon Arts Centre Released: 2014 Label: Emily Barker Formats: digital download Recorded November 2011Credited as Emily Barker Live At Brunel Goods Shed Released: October 2022 Label: Everyone Sang (ES160) Formats: CD, digital download Recorded November 2020
Compilations + List of compilation albums, with selected chart positions Title Details Peak chart positions UK UKIndieCredited as Emily Barker Shadow Box Released: November 2019 Label: Everyone Sang (ES157CD) Formats: CD, digital download Compiles Songs Beneath The River, 5x tracks Live At Union Chapel and 7x tracks Pebbles, Shells And Other Memories — 32
Extended Plays + List of EPs, with selected chart positions Title Details Peak chart positions UKIndi Four Songs Released: 2005 Label: digital download Formats: CD Note: UK Promotional release — Credited as Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo Despite the Snow Released: July 2012 Label: Everyone Sang (ES141) Formats: CDr, digital download, 10" LP (2014 RSD exclusive) 38Credited as Emily Barker Coffee Released: February 2013 Label: Everyone Sang Formats: digital download Note: Originally recorded to accompany the Square Mile-roasted Dear River coffee beans sold on the Dear River UK tour. — Credited as Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo Songs Beneath the River Released: 2014 Label: Everyone Sang (ES141V) Formats: 10″ Vinyl (limited edition) — Credited as Emily Barker Anywhere Away Released: 2015 Label: Everyone Sang Formats: CD, digital download Note: Recorded as soundtrack to Hector —
Charted singles +List of singles, with selected chart positions Title Year Chart positions Album UKPhysicalCredited as Emily Barker and The Red Clay Halo "Pause - The Shadow Line" 2011 AlmanacCredited as Emily Barker and The Red Clay "Fields of June" 2012 24
Notes
Awards and nominations Environmental Music Prize The Environmental Music Prize is a quest to find a theme song to inspire action on climate and conservation. It commenced in 2022.
! |- | 2025 | "Feathered Thing" | Environmental Music Prize
WAM Song of the Year The WAM Song of the Year was formed by the Western Australian Rock Music Industry Association Inc. (WARMIA) in 1985, with its main aim to develop and run annual awards recognising achievements within the music industry in Western Australia.
(wins only) |- | rowspan=2| 2005 | "Lord I Want an Exit" | Country Song of the Year
| "Lord I Want an Exit" | Regional Song of the Year
References
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