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Every Monday we will be bringing you interviews with unsigned UK or Ireland artists for Independent Music Monday. Recently we caught up with unsigned Cambridge based singer Anna Hester to find out more…

Where are you from and how did you first get into music?
I was born in Milton Keynes and I grew up there, and I now live in Cambridge. I’ve loved singing as long as I can remember. There was always music in our house. We listened to lots of things including The Beatles, Dolly Parton, and The Supremes, and then I discovered contemporary girl groups like Sugababes and Destiny’s Child and many singer-songwriters including KT Tunstell, Polly Paulusma and Thea Gilmore. I joined a choir at the age of 7 and started learning the piano at 8. I started learning the acoustic guitar at 13. I threw myself into as much music as a could. I think I wrote my first song when I was 11, but I started working more seriously on music when I was 14 or 15 – going to open mic nights, collaborating with friends, and writing and performing with a few different bands.

Who were your musical influences when you were growing up and who are your influences now?
When I was growing up, I was influenced by the music my parents and grandparents listened to: The Beatles, Dolly Parton, Tracy Chapman, The Supremes, The Shangri-Las, The Everly Brothers, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday… As a teenager I was particularly influenced by the female singer-songwriters I was listening to, including Thea Gilmore, Emmy the Great, Polly Paulusma, Laura Marling, KT Tunstall, Corinne Bailey Rae. I was also a huge fan of Bright Eyes AKA Conor Oberst. Many of these influences persist, but more recently I also count Frazey Ford, Courtney Marie Andrews, and Anais Mitchell amongst my influences. Carole King is also a huge inspiration.

How would you describe your sound?
My sound has been described as moving ‘effortlessly between genres, but always with an emotional core’ (Cambridge Music Reviews 2018). I think that my music fits broadly within the genre of folk, but is also influenced by soul, pop, and a range of indie and acoustic music. Singing and melody is at the heart of what I do, and my songs are very lyrically-driven: stories and strong images conjured up by words are important to me.

What is your latest release called and what was the influence behind it?
My debut album Postcard Songs is out 6th August 2021. It is the culmination of five years of creative work and collaboration, including a successful Crowdfunder campaign. The album was recorded and produced by Dan Wilde at Gladeside Recordings. The 10 songs on the album all use postcards as a starting point, and together they tell a range of intertwining stories. The postcard project began in 2016 when I attended an Arvon songwriting retreat. I received guidance from tutors Kathryn Williams and Samantha Parton and guest speaker Boo Hewerdine. Inspired by the course, I set to work writing songs about postcards: about the images, the messages, and the people and places behind them. Two singles from Postcard Songs have been released: A Line, Alone in Glasgow. The third single, Summer is a-Comin’ in, came out 31st May. As well as being influenced by two postcards, it is inspired by several Medieval lyrics, particularly:Sumer is icumen in, Ich am of Irlaunde, and Now goth sonne under Wod.

What’s your local music scene like?
The music scene in Cambridge is fantastic. Prior to the pandemic, I went to Dan Wilde’s open mic night at The Liquor Loft almost every week. I have also been lucky enough to gig at The Flying Pig, The Elm Tree, The Portland Arms, and The Junction. There is a very supportive community of musicians, and I love playing gigs alongside other singer-songwriters such as Mahogany Tales, Chris Fox, Luke James Williams and Annie Dressner. I can’t wait to get back into playing live again.

What do you have planned for the next 12 months?
I am so excited to release my first album on the 6th August 2021. I’m playing it safe and having a modest launch gig (and probably a livestream), but in 2022 I hope to give my album the big launch gig it deserves. I have gigs booked in for this summer and autumn, so I am looking forward to performing live again and sharing my postcard songs with as many people as possible.

Is there anyone you’d love to collaborate with?
There are so many wonderful people out there I would love to collaborate with: Polly Paulusma, Kathryn Wililams, Conor Oberst, The Staves, Courtney Marie Andrews. I also hope to collaborate again with the wonderful singer-songwriter Sadie Pickering. We wrote one song together on a songwriting retreat and it was brilliant.

Any funny stories surrounding your live performances?
The first time I met my producer, Dan Wilde, I was playing at the open mic night he runs in Cambridge. Halfway through my first song, the battery in my guitar died and I had to start the song again using his guitar. I was mortified, but it might have been funny to other people… I was also heckled at an open mic night in Berlin shortly after the EU referendum…

What is the one thing that you want readers to know about you?
I learned to sing, and particularly to harmonise, through being in a choir, and I highly recommend everyone else do the same!

You can find out more about Anna on her website or via Amazon Music, Apple Music, Bandcamp, Deezer, Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, Twitter or YouTube.

You can also read my interviews with Anna about her EP “Towards Today” and album “Postcard Songs“.