Hello Folks,

A belated Happy New year to you all.
Spring is definitely in the air which sure does cheer up the soul!
How are you all out there?  In one week I've had a horrible cold, lost my voice for 5 days and been taken to hospital in agony with what was diagnosed as a sprained neck muscle....I wish I had a really impressive story to tell about how I got my injury but it was from simply turning to see what time it was in bed!

Thankfully I think I'm on the mend now and today have been able to have a bit of a sing in preparation for the duo tour Jamie and I have in England from Wed 20th - Fri 29th Feb.  We're looking forward to getting out and about and hope to see some of you along the way.  The details of the tour are listed down the side of the newsletter and as always, on my website.

Too Long Away release date - 7th April
I'm very happy to let you know that my new album has now been set with a release date in the UK for the 7th April 2008 and fingers crossed it'll be available soon after in the USA sometime in May.  The album will be released on a label called Spit&Polish/Cadiz Music whose previous artists include Karine Polwart and Julie Fowlis.

New Website
Jamie has been very busy building a whole new site for me over the last month which is now up and running, it has a few new features which include a blog page and there are tracks from the new album available to hear on a page titled 'Jukebox'.  If you’re more a fan of myspace then my page there has also undergone a makeover.

Looking ahead to March I have a couple of UK dates with the full band before Jamie, Ross and I head off to the States for a six show tour there.

Before all that though Jamie and I are involved in something entirely different to our usual musical roles -
For the past few months we have been busy rehearsing to be part of a cabaret show to raise money for charity.  Our 10 minute spot is part of a three night event in Dumfries where a total of 9 groups each perform a cabaret show and the audience vote for their favourite act.  Jamie and I are part of a team of five people made up of friends and neighbours and we're raising funds for Save The Children. 
We decided to go with a theme called 'Generation Groove' which sees us perform an 'all singing all dancing' programme of songs from the 50s to the 00s...all in just 10 minutes. 

Tonight is our last night and so far we have been placed in second place on Thursday night and third place last night.  All of the groups have strong acts but the winners so far have been an amazing Michael Jackson tribute act called ‘The Boogie Horror Show’.  It has been a whole lot of fun dancing and singing in the show, even with a neck brace on!  I think I’m going to miss dancing around after tonight, maybe we could work a dance routine into some of my own shows….or maybe not.

I’ll say cheerio for now, keep well, and be careful when turning over in bed....
Emily x