The Scotsman Sessions #107: Zoe Graham

Welcome to The Scotsman Sessions. With performing arts activity curtailed for the foreseeable future, we are commissioning a series of short video performances from artists all around the country and releasing them on scotsman.com, with introductions from our critics. Here, Glasgow-based singer-songwriter Zoe Graham performs an acoustic rendition of her latest single Know By Now

Glasgow-based singer-songwriter Zoe Graham is already a seasoned player at the age of 22, having released her first EP aged 16, gigged like a demon and netted a Scottish Alternative Music Award as Best Acoustic artist – though of late, and inspired by the likes of St Vincent and Christine and the Queens, she has moved from alt.folk to electro pop.

She admits to “mixed feelings” about the lockdown period. Graham has Crohn’s Disease and has been shielding over the last few months.

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“Being cooped up in my flat is actually my comfort zone, so I haven't completely hated it. I've been quite productive,” she says. “But sometimes being hyper productive in a world that feels like it's falling apart is much more difficult. So there were plenty days sat on my backside watching Tiger King, Killing Eve and Grayson's Art Club - that was a lockdown highlight.

“If anything, I've found the easing of lockdown more scary. Now, everything feels more uncertain. The minute people get a whiff of normality again it's very difficult to slow down the herd. As a shielder, the reality is a slight feeling of being left behind. While my stronger, fitter pals go on nights out, suddenly the flat I'd been used to being cooped up in feels a lot more boring.”

For her Scotsman Session, she has opted for an acoustic rendition of her latest single Know By Now, filmed live from the Zoe Graham Bingo “studios” in her Partick flat, where she hosted lockdown bingo nights over Instagram Live.

“That was quite a complex feat to pull off,” she says. “However, my girlfriend figured out an algorithm to make sure everyone got a bingo card that was completely unique. I was just the good looks! I very much miss going to the real life bingo so maybe a nationwide tour of the Carltons is on the cards?”

The Gradual Move EP is released on 25 September, see https://zoegrahammusic.com

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