Americana stars Lauren Housley and Nigel Wearne head To The Edge for Southsea date

Lauren Housley, from Rotherham in South Yorkshire, and Nigel Wearne, from Gunditjmara country in South-West Victoria, Australia, met in early 2019 at the Folk Alliance International conference in Montreal, Canada.

They struck up a friendship and the first musical fruits of the relationship have surfaced in the shape of the recently released single, To The Edge, a brooding slice of Americana-noir. And now they are about to embark on their first UK co-headline tour.

The tour stops at The Edge of The Wedge in Southsea on Sunday, January 15, as the first of Square Roots Promotions’ Americana Series. They are followed at the same venue by The Jigantics on January 22 and The Lonesome Ace Stringband on January 29.

Lauren recalls their first meeting. ‘We'd been invited out to his thing called Folk Alliance, which is the biggest folk music community gathering in the world.

‘The guy who invited us out said: “Look, go with no expectations and see what happens. Some of the contacts you make now might not come into play for another five years. It's just about meeting people and having a good time and connecting with people through music”, so that's what we did.’

Lauren’s backing band, The Northern Cowboys, which comprises of Lauren’s partner Thomas Dibb and Mark Lewis, also have a film production company. They were making a documentary about Folk Alliance while in Montreal, and one of their subjects was Nigel.

‘Nigel had been to Folk Alliance quite a few times, so he was very seasoned and knew a lot of people. We just ran into him one day, got chatting and said, “Do you fancy doing this interview?” We ended up meeting up with him in this beautiful little café in Montreal and really just clicked. We filmed him doing a little performance and were blown away by his songs and his playing, and from there we stayed in touch.’

Since then Lauren’s star has been in the ascendant – her Girl From The North album was released to wide acclaim in 2021, and last January she won the prestigious Bob Harris Emerging Artist Award at the Americana Music Association UK Awards.

A few months ago Nigel asked if Lauren wanted to collaborate on a track. Oh, and how about a tour in the new year?

‘Because I've had a bit of time off having babies,’ Lauren and Tom have two children – seven months and two-and-a-half years old, ‘it was perfect timing for me – I've got new music coming, which is going to be ready not long after the tour, so it's a really good chance to get out and play and do some collaborations – just to do something a bit different...’

And as is so often the way, the single was recorded without the pair meeting via the wonders of technology. ‘We were in touch through the pandemic and Zoom was a big thing there, so we're so used to doing that now, it's become normal. But if it had been pre-pandemic, it would have been weird!’

Both acts will be performing an acoustic set, before teaming up for a final joint set. And Lauren is looking forward to seeing her touring partner perform properly for the first time too.

‘He's a great guy and he's got some great stories to tell, so I'm looking forward to seeing his show as well. ‘I saw him do some of his showcase, and I've watched a lot of his stuff online, but I've not actually seen a proper gig of his!’

The tour packs in 11 stops in just two weeks, plus Nigel is due to perform in the middle of it at the Americana UK Festival in London.

However, Lauren hopes the two can actually collaborate at some point in the studio, even if it’s not on this trip.

‘I'm sure we'll collaborate on something else at some point. I know Nigel's got plans to come back quite soon after this tour. It would be great to do something in the studio with him. We've got a studio in Sheffield, which is where I record all my music, it would be cool to get him in there.

‘We want to try and fit something in, but the schedule on this tour is really tight, and in the middle we've got the Americana UK showcases. Who knows?’

As to her own material, Lauren is working hard on the follow up to Girl From The North.

‘At the minute, it's looking like it will be an EP. I thought it was going to be an album, but the songs are sounding like an EP. Who knows? Maybe it will develop into an album later in the year.

‘It's going to be a big band, so we've got horns and everything – it's an eight piece band. It's leaning more towards a big soul sound.’

Lauren’s last visit to Hampshire was over at The Brook in Southampton, supporting scene stars The Wandering Hearts. And it’s gig she has particularly fond memories of: ‘‘It's possibly my favourite venue I've ever played. The audience were great and the sound was incredible. When you hear it's going to be a pub venue, sometimes it's great, sometimes it's not so great, but that was amazing. I'm hoping there’s a few people who saw us there can come along to Portsmouth.’

Tickets are £15. Go to wedgewood-rooms.co.uk.