On June 21st 2016 I played with Yola Carter at Koko London. Our first gig together was the Colston Hall in 2015.
Yola Carter is a British bluegrass & country singer with a massively powerful voice and emotional, genuine songs.
Yolanda has been big on the Bristol music scene for 15 years, previously fronting country band Phatom Limb. Her superb voice and writing style is highly recognisable and she has written numerous top lines for EDM hits.
Her new solo project (re-branded Yola Carter) showcases her country songs. At the start of the project she picked up acoustic guitar so she could write chords and melody. The guitar now joins her on stage along with her fantastic band.
The Yola Carter band consists of some of Bristol’s finest musicians. At Koko it featured Kit Hawes on guitar, Jon Short on bass, John Blakely on drums and me on piano.
The gig was a support slot for St Paul and the Broken Bones. The venue was packed and the audience very receptive to Yola’s charm.
From her late teens, Yola Carter (born Yolanda Quartey) earned credibility and respect throughout the industry as one of the U.K’s top Singers and a uniquely gifted Songwriter. As a lover of Soul and Country music her influences include The Staple Singers, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, The Band and Otis Redding. Carter found that her soul voice was the first to get attention and graduated quickly to touring internationally straight out of school with critically acclaimed acts such as Bugz in the Attic and later Massive Attack most notably headlining The Glastonbury Festival’s Other Stage Live on the BBC to 60,000 people. Other notable supports and live collaborations include The McCrary Sisters, The Fairfield Four, Willie Watson, Jan Howard, James Brown and The legendary Staxx Band with whom she duetted “Knock on Wood” live with Eddie Floyd.
Keep an eye on Yola’s website if you missed Yola Carter at Koko and would like to experience her live.
