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With the achingly gorgeous strains of an acoustic guitar ringing in your ears, its clear from the start that Emma Ruggs debut album, ISOLATED IMPRESSION, has a sheen of class and quality to it that's undeniable. The heartbroken sounds of AS YOU GO, sets the tone as Emma's voice is wrung with an emotional warmth that could melt the coldest of hearts while the song is stark and simple, just vocals and a guitar its a masterclass in understated subtlety.
With an added nu-folk bounce to it, GRAND DESIGNS, sounds positively upbeat next to the stark opening. Guitars are strummed with a featherlight jangle, while the grooving drumbeats and simple basslines give you the feeling of classic Lemonheads material. Sounding more akin to the US alt-rock likes of Liz Phair or Laura Veirs here, Emma Rugg strikes a summer drenched chord that bodes extremely well for her forthcoming international success.
PICTURE PERFECT, is a song that heads back into classic singer/songwriter territory with fingerpicked acoustic guitars and more truly sublime vocalising, a trick repeated on READ YOUR MIND, but then when you do it this well then whose complaining.
Maybe its the fault of Dido, but everytime you hear an acoustic guitar joined by vaguely trip hop beats and ambient soundscapes theirs an immediate knee-jerk reaction to reach for that off button with alarming speed. But then, if Dido could write and perform half as well as Emma Rugg does here on, PRELUDE TO LOVE, then maybe the world would be a far better place - with the aforementioned musical landscape here joined by some ferociously catchy melodies and big choruses.
IF WALLS HAD EARS glows with a sense of its own beauty, as multilayered vocals give the impression of Sinead O' Conner dueting with Laura Veirs while Emmylou Harris looks on in approval. Falling somewhere between folk, country and pop while still managing to sound fresh, you can't help but get the impression that this is an artist who has the songwriting skills and sublime vocals to truly be a world class star.
If Emma Rugg sounds this great on her debut record, then what she can achieve in the future is pretty mind-blowing. With a voice that has an emotional warmth and depth to it, and a set of songs that veer from heartbroken intensity to bouncy nu-folk pop ISOLATED IMPRESSION leaves you in no doubt that Emma Rugg has everything it takes to succeed. Standing head and shoulders above much of the current crop of female singer/songwriters like Martha Wainwright and Amy Winehouse, this is an artist who is up their with the likes of Laura Veirs, Emmylou Harris and Aimee Mann singing songs that can move you as well as affect you.

One penny, in tin, if one hundred of those things can amount to something bigger, they’re worth saving, indeed. What started as a few pence turned into something much bigger, the small change added up. Busking on the streets takes guts, especially when the decision entails standing outside for over six months to raise money to record an album, which is what happened next ......
In the summer of 2002 Emma Rugg busked in her hometown in the city centre of Hull. Some of the people who walked through Hepworth Arcade that summer turned into regular passers by, week in, week out, dropping by for conversation, bringing their kids to listen too. Months went by and even more people came back, stopping to listen, bringing their cameras, friends, sounds recorders and CDs as well the more unusual items.
“I started busking because I wanted to be out there all the time, playing, no matter where it was, when I started playing in the city centre more people started to ask if there would be an album they could buy soon, this happened often and a lot of the material that was being written at that time was coming together, sounding like it should be a record so I decided I should do something about it.”
So she did do something about it and six months later after all the change had been counted Emma spent the rest of the year finishing material and recording at Fairview Studios. Bringing together a mixture of emotionally drenched acoustic songs the debut album 'Isolated Impression' is the first in a long line of releases yet to recorded.
On the 31st of January, after recording was finished there was a more and more urgent question arising; Who is going to release the album? Now don’t get us wrong here, looking for a record deal is all important if it’s with the right people, but what would make this album move as fast as it should be doing, without having to wait for someone to come along to move things on a step or two?
Instead of looking for a record deal Emma set up Indreams Records, her own record label and lots has changed since then. Organising all press, launch events, PR and radio play, resulting in numerous reviews and features in national magazines such as Rock Sound, The Big Issue, sessions on BBC Radio, press and interviews on BBC Regional News TV, the sale of the album in HMV and Virgin stores and a placement at number nine on UK Fusions Top Ten Recommended Albums in July, the album ‘Isolated Impression’ hasn’t threatened to budge ever since and still continues to be documented frequently as the editor’s pick. Articles have appeared more recently in The Times newspaper, worldwide publications, US and European press.
At the beginning of July 2003, listening to the BBC Raw Talent radio show, a song was played on air that night from a US musician who had sent in material, Emma decided to email Henry Doss and comment on the track, a few days later Henry had got in touch with the BBC and asked Emma to fly to Traverse City, Michigan to record vocals on his material. The two struck up a creative alliance and have gone on to record new material in a second collaboration in 2004 with legendary producer John Beland who amongst others has worked with the likes of The Flying Burrito Brothers, Ricky Nelson and Johnny Cash to name but a few.
“She’s got talent, she’s got a work ethic, she’s stubborn and very independent. She does everything, plays everything. I’m in awe, being able to work with someone like her.” – Henry Doss In the same year Emma played at James Gandolfini’s (Tony from The Sopranos) Vines Restaurant in Oneonta, New York, came home to support The Bluetones and continued to write new material. Presenters at Radio One then selected the record from thousands for the BBC TV show ‘Fame Academy – The Next Generation’ and Emma went down to the BBC in London to be filmed for the show which was broadcasted nationally on BBC One and BBC Three. Soon after Emma also appeared on ITV ‘s ‘Late Attitude’ show and flew back to Michigan for a second collaboration with Henry Doss.
April 2004, returning home more time was spent playing a piano which had been bought previously for £50 from an ad in the paper, writing, working on new material and playing live. Currently a second album is being written which includes material with a darker more edgier feel, as well as songs such as the upbeat and quirky ‘Oceans’. There is a stark contrast between the two and a different sound developing that lends itself more to experimentation and the feelings that both a guitar and a piano can give to the music in their separate ways.
Emma taught herself to play guitar in 1998, appearing frequently at musicians nights, she became the vocalist of a band, playing over 250 gigs as she took her GCSEs whilst performing every night at sixteen. She also sang and played trumpet in a ska band before going solo supporting artists such as Africademba and Hazel O'Connor.

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