BILLIE MARTEN
Genre: Singer-Songwriter, alt-Folk, acoustic
Location: Ripon, North Yorkshire, UK
Discography: Ribbon EP (2014), As Long As EP (2015)
Record Label: Chess Club Records (Sony Music/RCA)
Website: http://www.billiemarten.com/
Our next showcase artist is still only 16, but she is already a very gifted singer-songwriter with a great future ahead of her. We first met Billie Marten when she was just 14 at a wonderful gig organised by Kal Lavelle.
Isabella Sophie Tweddle, who performs under the stage name Billie Marten, is a singer-songwriter and musician from Ripon in North Yorkshire. She first came to prominence at the age of twelve when a video on YouTube of her singing attracted thousands of views. She released her first EP at the age of fifteen in 2014, and her second EP a year later. At the end of 2015 she was nominated for the BBC Sound of 2016 award.
In May 2014, just before her fifteenth birthday, Billie released the single 'Ribbon' via Burberry's curation program. She wrote the single with Fiona Bevan the previous year. According to Billie, one theme of Ribbon' is "the elusiveness of the city, and how quickly you can lose something amongst the people and tube stations." In June 2014 she released her debut EP 'Ribbon'. In August 2014 Billie played the BBC Introducing stage at the Reading Festival. She described her music in December 2014 as "a mix between acoustic and quite folky and a little indie."
In January 2015 Billie Marten signed to Chess Club Records, a division of Sony Music and their RCA Records recording label. She released the single "Heavy Weather" in April 2015 which premiered on Huw Stephens' BBC Radio 1 show. A 7" vinyl version of "Heavy Weather" was released in May with her cover version of Royal Blood's "Out of the Black" on the B-side. She released the single "Bird" in September 2015. She wrote the song with Olivia Broadfield, and according to Billie, the song is about "how words can truly affect people, not always for the right reasons". She toured for the first time in October 2015 as the supporting act for Lucy Rose. Billie released her second EP 'As Long As' in November 2015.
'Milk and Honey' her marvellous new single, was released in April 2016.