Lightime Music: Beth Rowley

Join Beth Rowley in this new series of relaxed daylight gigs – a chance to hear artists close-up and pared back in an informal setting.

Rowley’s rich, effortless voice and blues-laden songs capture a universe of heartache and yearning. Early influences of gospel spirituals, blues and rock – inherited from her parents – have grown rawer, freer and more hard-edged with experience. But since her 2019 headline tour, she’s taken time out to write, and have kids, resulting in a new project, Pale Jewel Volume I & II – a collection of her most loved childhood songs. Recorded in the round with three to four musicians, often in one take, her voice is intimate and honest, reflecting the experiences of matresence and a deeper sense of self and purpose.

Rowley says: “the songs were left just exactly as they were in the moment, unedited. The sound is exposed and venerable and I had to learn to accept and even love the flaws in my voice. In a world that wants to make everything perfect it was such freedom to just allow one or two takes and own it for what it was. It was all real and untouched. I love recording like that, no frills or fuss, just one or two takes straight into a group mic. We all felt plugged into the source, especially with the hymns, the words are powerful and so needed right now.”