Penny Broadhurst
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| Penny Broadhurst | |
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 Penny Broadhurst 2007
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| Background information | |
| Born | 1980 |
| Origin | Harrogate UK |
| Genre(s) | Pop Rock Spoken word |
| Years active | 1998 - present |
| Label(s) | Killer Question |
| Website | www.pennybroadhurst.com |
Penny Broadhurst (born October 21, 1980 in Harrogate, Yorkshire), is a British pop singer, songwriter, poet and spoken word artist from the north of England. She lists Popjustice, Doctor Who, Billy Bragg, Alan Bennett, Eminem, Take That and Britney Spears and people on buses among her many influences.
She was one of three winners in the "BBC Look North Band Search" competition and was chosen to appear at the 2007 O2 Wireless Festival on June, 17 2007 (with Daft Punk, Klaxons, Mark Ronson etc.) at Harewood House, Leeds. She was longlisted in the BBC's "Next Big Thing" talent search in November 2007.[1]
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[edit] Career
Penny Broadhurst first started performing her own material when she was a student in Norwich in 1998. A self-confessed pop music fan, her performances of acerbic and witty vocal narratives, delivered in a broad Yorkshire accent and often accompanied by pop and rock music, were frequently compared to that of a pop star rather than a poet. Her first album of spoken word with music got radio play on BBC 6 Music, and the NME declared "...You can't mosh to poetry, but if you could, then you'd mosh to this."
Forsaking the poetry circuit for gigs supporting bands and comedians, she gradually moved away from using just the spoken word, and began to write and sing her own pop songs in a wide variety of musical styles, working with producers Ed Heaton and Si McGrath of Hightone Productions. Clint Boon of Radio Xfm Manchester said of her songs : "She's unsigned, but she sounds like an established act to me. I can see why she calls herself the Queen of Pop."
She has worked alongside many other artists including: Patrick Wolf, Damo Suzuki, Melt Banana, The Vichy Government, Help She Can't Swim, DARTZ!, Stephen K Amos, Curtis Walker, Robin Ince, Das Wanderlust, Frank Turner and The Seven Inches. She has also appeared at Ladyfests around the UK and literary festivals including Off The Shelf and Ilkley Literature Festival. She is a member of the Yorkshire young writers' initiative The Writing Squad, funded by the Arts Council. In Summer 2005 she played at Glastonbury and in 2005 and 2006 at the Truck festival. She has also recently appeared at other festivals including Latitude Festival (2006 and 2007) and Solfest (2007) and made a television appearance on BBC Look North.
As well as having radio play on BBC 6 Music, and Radio Magnetic in the UK (on their B playlist), Penny Broadhurst's work has been broadcast on FM4 in Austria and other local and international stations. Her more recent songs have also been featured on Xfm and BBC Radio 1.
Penny Broadhurst is based in Leeds, but regularly performs at venues throughout the UK.
[edit] Recordings
Penny Broadhurst released her debut album Blue Bank in 2005 on her own independent label, Killer Question. Based on her live act, it mixed studio-enhanced readings with voice and music. Some tracks were straight poetry, others had sound fx or music in the background. One track, Rhythm Rebel, was a hip hop track, reminiscent of The Streets.
In January 2006 she released the first pop single "LJaded", from her forthcoming second album A Little More Sonic.The song was described by The Guardian as "a tribute to the Myspace and blogging generation". It was made available as a free download for a limited period, together with another track 'London (Jeff Lynne Superstar)' which is very reminiscent of ELO .It was accompanied by the following instructions:Download the MP3s, burn a CD, download the artwork, print it out, stick it in a jewel case and hey presto! A Penny Broadhurst single.
Her latest EP, "Allons-y!", which features more tracks from her second album, was released on Killer Disc Records on 24th September 2007. in a limited edition of 100 copies, which are numbered and signed. This includes a different mix of London from the mix on the free single, which is now no longer available for download. The title, "Allons-y!" is the French for "Let's go!", which reflects the tone of the EP and is also a common utterance by the Tenth Doctor as played by David Tennant in Doctor Who.
[edit] Track List
Album
Blue Bank Released (March 1, 2005) (Killer Question)
- 8 Mile High
- Autoroute
- Music I
- Verb
- New Mills
- Hands
- Scabby Queen
- Legs
- Bus Park
- Dirty Pop
- Etiam Dissiecti Membra Poetae
- Ustitled
- Crosshatch
- Hymns Ancient & Modern (Revised)
- Rhythm Rebel
Single
London (download only) Released January 2007 by Killer Disc Records, Leeds .
- 'London (Jeff Lynne Superstar)'
- 'LJaded'
Lyrics by Penny Broadhurst, music by Broadhurst/Heaton/Mcgrath.
EP Released 24th September 2007 by Killer Disc Records, Leeds
Allons-y!
- Give It Up
- Chemist Goods
- LJaded
- London (Klar Mix)
[edit] Published works
That Way Out
Penny Broadhurst's first printed collection of poetry and lyrics, That Way Out (ISBN 0-9549684-1-7), was published on August 25 2006 by Killer Question with photography by Danny North. This brings together previously unpublished material as well as some of the lyrics recorded for the album Blue Bank and other words and lyrics originally published in X magazine, Parameter, Brittle Star, Citizen 32 and Leeds Guide.
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ Staff writer. "Longlist chosen for BBC talent search", BBC News Online, 2007-11-27. Retrieved on 2007-11-27.
