Young veteran of the local music scene

Emma Lawrence duo at ACE Space gig

Sharp-eyed readers of N2 arts and ents, in this week's Newbury Weekly News, may have spotted a photo of Emma Lawrence and Sam Gould wrongly captioned as Lewis and Leigh - sorry Emma...

Goldlaw is a new duo who will be supporting Lewis and Leigh at ACE Space on March 18. The name comes from tweaking the names of the members of the duo Sam Gould and Emma Lawrence.

Emma may only be 19 years old but she is a seasoned veteran of the local music scene. She started honing her performance skills at ACE Space’s monthly open mic night Unplugged from the age of 16. When asked whether performing to the 100+ audience at ACE Space was daunting, Emma said: “I sometimes get a little nervous but the atmosphere is so good there. Everyone makes me feel at home”. Although she has played at several festivals, including Glastonbury, and was the awarded Best Female Artist at the Basingstoke Music Awards 2016, she picks out a performance in Newbury her most memorable. That was headlining at the Newbury Christmas lights switch on, which she described as “an incredible experience”.

Focussed on making a career in music Emma is now studying music at University in Bristol. It was there that she teamed up with Sam Gould. Both of them are singers, songwriters and guitarists and describe their music “ambient guitar complementing close harmonies to give a relaxed, ambient pop sound”. Their performance at December’s Unplugged was so well received that the ACE Space gig organisers immediately invited them to come back to play a support slot at one of the monthly gigs.

Goldlaw will be supporting Lewis & Leigh on Saturday, March 18, at ACE Space. Tickets are £10 from Hogan Music, www.WeGotTickets.com, events@acespace.org.uk and 078911 76940