Earl Gray

Assuming the title of “the Earl” is Graeme’s way of saluting many of his musical heroes, (such as blues pioneers Howlin Wolf and Taj Mahal, jazz legend Duke Ellington, dub master King Tubby, soul superstar Prince and hip hop legend Grandmaster Flash) all of whom truly exemplified the notion of musicians as performance ‘artists’ by using a persona to help transcend the boundaries of themselves and their art form.

Challenging musical boundaries is essential to what Graeme is trying to achieve as Earl Gray. In the songs that will make up his first release, Graeme has drawn on his bluesy roots, but has not been afraid to blend the sound of modern soul with Beatle-esque melodies and the sincerity of the singer-songwriter tradition. The result? An artist who would not sound out of place in a line up of roots stars Ben Harper or Ryan Adams yet would happily bed soul acts such as Erykah Badu or Alicia Keys.