Polly Paulusma
Encyclopedia
Polly Paulusma is an English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

. Her first album, Scissors in my Pocket, was largely recorded and produced by herself at her home. A second album, Cosmic Rosy Spine Kites (a virtual anagram of the title of the first album) features the same tracks, four of which were recorded with a string quartet
String quartet
A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...

 (and without guitars or percussion); the rest at a gig
Gig (musical performance)
Gig is slang for a musical engagement in which musicians are hired. Originally coined in the 1920s by jazz musicians, the term, short for the word "engagement", now refers to any aspect of performing such as assisting with performance and attending musical performance...

 in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, where she supported Jamie Cullum
Jamie Cullum
Jamie Cullum is an English pop and jazz-pop singer-songwriter. Though he is primarily a vocalist/pianist he also accompanies himself on other instruments including guitar and drums. Since April 2010, he has been presenting a weekly jazz show on BBC Radio 2, broadcast on Tuesdays from 19:00.- Early...

. Apart from Jamie Cullum she has also supported other artists on tour including Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Evelyn Faithfull is an award-winning English singer, songwriter and actress whose career has spanned five decades....

 and Coldplay
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...

 and played at the Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...

 in 2005.

As well as using computer-based methods to self-produce her first album, Polly and her management have arguably made good use of the internet and contemporary methods of distribution to reach a larger potential audience: signed to One Little Indian Records
One Little Indian Records
One Little Indian Records is a London-based independent record label that rose from the ashes of punk record company Spiderleg Records. It was set up in 1985 by members of various anarchist punk bands, and managed by ex-Flux of Pink Indians Derek Birkett. The first success came with A.R. Kane and...

, two of Polly's tracks ("Over the Hill" and the live version of "She Moves in Secret Ways") were issued as free downloads
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...

 through Apple's iTunes Store
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...

. This has possibly led to greater exposure for a niche artist on a UK-based independent record label
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...

  than might otherwise have been expected or previously possible. Polly has also used her profile at MySpace.com, her own website, blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...

s on both websites and a link to a forum
Internet forum
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived...

 on the latter to connect with her fans and keep them up-to-date on her touring and recording plans.

Polly announced on her web site that her daughter Valentine Constance Mae was born on 10 November 2006 (coincidentally Polly's own birthday). Paulusma's third album "Fingers and Thumbs" was released in the June 2007. The cover shoot was done when Polly was 38 weeks pregnant.

Polly and her husband, Mike, live in the thinnest home in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. Located in Battersea
Battersea
Battersea is an area of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is an inner-city district of South London, situated on the south side of the River Thames, 2.9 miles south-west of Charing Cross. Battersea spans from Fairfield in the west to Queenstown in the east...

, the 7-foot-7-inch-wide (2.31 m) home is where Paulusma recorded her first album "Scissors in my Pocket," as well as the demos for "fingers & thumbs."

Discography

  • Scissors in My Pocket (2004)
  • Cosmic Rosy Spine Kites (2005, live)
  • fingers & thumbs (2007)
  • fights & numbers (2007, iTunes only)
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