THE STORYTELLING SONGWRITER SHARES HIS DEBUT SINGLE ‘BACK AT 25’
LISTEN HERE / WATCH A LIVE PERFORMANCE HERE
UPCOMING DEBUT EP FOLLOWS SOON
SEPTEMBER HEADLINE TOUR ALSO ANNOUNCED
After a few early career highs at institutions including King Tut’s, Barrowlands and TRNSMT, Scottish singer-songwriter Jamie Rafferty is set to take his first wave of discovery to a much wider audience. Today he releases his debut single ‘Back At 25’ ahead of his upcoming debut EP. The release introduces a bold and authentic new artist whose unique sound is about to make huge waves in the UK music scene.
Jamie’s authenticity is presented for all to see on ‘Back At 25’, as jangly guitars and urgent percussion drives the song forwards in a style that puts his own spin on the lineage of Bruce Springsteen and Sam Fender. Yet his voice is defiantly his and its yearning, nostalgic lyrics celebrates community, and the older generations who have guided and championed him, sharing their wisdom.
Jamie says, “There’s nostalgia to this song, along with a lot of pride about where I’m from. There are people who, whenever they talk about growing up here, they’ll only ever tell you about the good times. And you know their lives were hard – that their parents struggled with addiction, or they’ve gone without work for years at a time. But they never complain.”
Throughout the EP, Jamie writes what he knows: of small towns, of humble, hard-working people, of the love and compassion he finds there – all set to songs which veer from rollicking rock ‘n’ roll to anthemic moments built for bigger stages and introspective Americana. It included collaborators such as the in-demand songwriter and guitarist Seton Daunt, and producer, mixer, engineer Owen Lewis (Leonard Cohen, Paolo Nutini, Matt Maeson), producer & co-writer Elliott Blaufuss (Noah Kahan, Goldford, Phillip Phillips) and artist & producer Luke Sital-Singh . The EP was recorded at sessions in Nashville and London, and Bath..
Jamie Rafferty was raised in the small village of Croy in North Lanarkshire, a close-knit mining village that he can’t imagine ever leaving. He was surrounded by music from a young age, and his first step into music came when he was given a drumkit for Christmas when he was just 5-years-old, before later taking up guitar as a teenager after seeing a Noel Gallagher gig.
Despite his passion, the idea of becoming a professional musician himself seemed unachievable for someone from his background. So his first original songs were recorded in secret, made with money he earned working with his dad on building sites, the standard of which astounded his family when he finally shared them. He then started honing his craft on the live stage at the village hall, playing in front of the neighbours and family who’d known him since he was born before spreading his wings to Glasgow and beyond.
The buzz he gets from performing can be seen with his solo live performance of ‘Back To 25’, which was filmed at Glasgow’s Òran Mor and is available to watch HERE. It provides a taste of what to expect as he heads out on a headline tour this September. Tickets for the dates, listed below, are now available HERE.
SEPTEMBER
10th – London, The Waiting Room
11th – Manchester, YES
12th – Glasgow, The Garage – Attic
Follow Jamie Rafferty:
Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube | Instagram | TikTok
