Josephine
Josephine releases a new single, ‘What A Day’ on the 20th August 2012 through Ark Recordings. It precedes the release of her debut album, ‘Portrait’, released on the 8th October 2012.
Manchester’s soulful chanteuse Josephine has a voice that recalls ‘the Queen of gospel’, Mahalia Jackson’s distinctive contralto, and yet behind its powerful delivery is a husky undercurrent making every replaying of her songs seem like a personal performance. ‘What A Day’ is the clearest indication that Josephine is a gifted musician with a huge future.
Born to a Liberian mother and Jamaican father who came to the UK before her birth, she’s enjoyed the advantages of a colourful West African culture as well as feeling intrinsically British.
Born in the Manchester suburb of Hulme before soon moving to nearby Cheetham Hill, she soaked up the musical heritage of the city and that of the household, like a sponge.
"I always knew I’d be musical," she admits. "In the house I’d hear lots of old records, such as Fela Kuti, and King Sunny Ade were played by my mum quite a lot. She’s got really great music from all over the world."
Her mother proved to be the catalyst for a future career in music, buying the twelve year old Josephine a guitar - clearly on the right path; the first gig was just three years later upon finishing high-school.
During College the precocious performer developed further by avidly listening to Sister Rosetta Tharpe Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, and Bob Marley. These early influences really impacted heavily and seeped into the song-writing.
"I learned a lot from their story-telling techniques and the more complex rhythmical style they used," she remembers. "Reggae taught me to feel the music and that writing a song could be different to the way I imagined before."
"When I was writing some of my first songs I was literally waking up, going to work, then to a gig, and getting back at midnight only to do it all again in the morning."
It was this obsessive impulse to make music which soon saw her support big names including Jimmy Cliff while still in her teens. Last year she shared stages with both Scottish success story Paolo Nutini and BBC Sound Of 2012 winner, Michael Kiwanuka.
‘What A Day’ gives a tantalizing glimpse of what to expect from Josephine’s debut album later this year. A startlingly unique and expressive Northern talent.