Emma Langford is a household name on the Irish folk and songwriter scene. An award-winning, globe-trotting troubadour, Langford calls Limerick City in the West of Ireland home. Storytelling and wit sit at the heart of everything she does; interweaving her live performances, and shining through her works. Hers is an inimitable, dreamy voice on the frontline of a new wave of Irish folk.

Langford released her debut album Quiet Giant in 2017, gaining her a prestigious RTÉ Folk Award and an Irish Post Music Award nomination for best Irish folk act. In the following years she was twice nominated for Best Folk Singer at the RTÉ Folk Awards. 

She received the inaugural Dolores O’Riordan bursary, the Music Network RESONATE residency, and an Arts Council Agility Award, to support continuing research and explorations around women in Irish history. 

In late 2021 Emma wrote and independently released her stunning second album, Sowing Acorns, which paved the way for a bright and busy career. The bold choice to release this record at the height of a global pandemic paid dividends, and her sophomore record received huge international praise. 

With this record, the artist solidified her place in the hearts and minds of the nation as she climbed the charts with epic folk ballad Birdsong, collaborated numerous times with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, and was selected to perform on RTÉ’s Ireland In Music which has been broadcast on TV’s across the world to a huge global audience. She also joined the ranks of pandemic-inspired musical supergroup, Irish Women In Harmony. 

In March this year, after showcasing at the world-famous Folk Alliance International in Kansas City, Langford premiered new works inspired by pirate queen Gráinne Mhaol on the stage of the National Concert Hall with the National Symphony Orchestra. 

She is currently on the road around Ireland, Germany and the US, collaborating with various international communities, and continuing her Arts Council-supported research around Irish women in myth and history. 

Her latest, much-loved single, “Abigail (Tomhas Ghobnatan)” is the first release from a new suite of work based around the lore and history of Ballyvourney, a village in the Muskerry Gaeltacht of County Cork. 

“One of the more exciting and radical Irish talents of the moment”  – Irish Music Magazine 

“Langford delivers a baker’s dozen of warm but crunchy folk/pop songs, each one bristling with insight and truth.” – Irish Times (four stars) 

Please check back for upcoming tour information.

Responses to Sowing Acorns (Album, 2020)

Donal Scannell – “Emma has unlocked the power of voice in a way that will resonate for aeons”

Janis Ian – “I absolutely love her music, and the way she thinks… She’s someone I hope to workwith myself one day… I wish I’d discovered Emma Langford sooner; now I have all this catching
up to do!” https://www.bettertimeswillcome.com/song_page/emma-langford/

Aidan Butler – “the album is everything I was hoping for – beautiful songs, great variety for radio, and brilliant musicians bringing them to life”

Irish Independent – “an impressive, eclectic offering… arresting and defiant”

Stuart Clarke / Pat Kenny – https://www.newstalk.com/podcasts/highlights-from-the-pat-kenny-show/stuart-clark-new-music-flaming-lips

Arena – “one of the best female voices I’ve heard in years” – Brian Boyd https://www.rte.ie/radio/radioplayer/html5/#/radio1/11234714

Louise O’Neill (best-selling author of “Asking For It” in her column for the Irish Examiner – “The second album from Emma Langford showcases her prodigious song-writing talent and beautiful voice”

Irish Times: https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/emma-langford-sowing-acorns-review-limerick-folk-singer-growing-in-stature-1.4354469

Journal of Music: https://journalofmusic.com/criticism/there-s-strength-song

Headstuff: https://headstuff.org/entertainment/music/review-emma-langford-sowing-acorns/

Folk Radio UK: https://www.folkradio.co.uk/2020/10/emma-langford-sowing-acorns/

Golden Plec: https://www.goldenplec.com/album-reviews/emma-langford-sowing-acorns/

The Last Mixed Tape: https://thelastmixedtape.com/2020/09/13/review-its-the-meaning-and-message-that-is-most-essential-emma-langford-sowing-acorns/

Hot Press: https://www.hotpress.com/culture/album-review-emma-langfords-enthralling-second-offering-sowing-acorns-22830517

Folk Phenomena: http://folk-phenomena.co.uk/2021/08/04/emma-langford-sowing-acorns-review/

Live Reviews:

https://thethinair.net/2019/06/emma-langford-the-duncairn-belfast/

https://www.hotpress.com/culture/live-report-emma-langford-on-the-hot-press-lockdown-sessions-ye-series-22833003

General Press:

The Panti Bliss Podcast “Pantisocracy” http://pantisocracy.ie/s5e3/

International Women’s Day 2021, 100 Women: https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/people/arid-40238822.html

RTÉ Concert Orchestra Presents…:https://www.rte.ie/culture/2021/0308/1202765-sing-it-out-the-rte-co-celebrate-international-womens-day/

Interview for Golden Plec: https://www.goldenplec.com/featured/emma-langford-under-the-influence/

Dolores O’Riordan Bursary: https://www.limerick.ie/ga/node/35730

Grammy Longlist: https://www.limerickleader.ie/news/home/685444/limerick-artist-emma-langford-makes-grammys-longlist.html

Q&A for the Irish Examiner: https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/arid-31002017.html

Q&A for RTÉ: https://www.rte.ie/entertainment/2020/0623/1149125-behind-the-music-emma-langford/

RTÉ Folk Awards Nomination 2020: https://www.limerickpost.ie/2020/11/13/emma-langford-shortlisted-for-rte-folk-award-and-playing-a-live-show-this-saturday/

The Independent covers my RTÉ Late Late Show appearance: https://www.independent.ie/videos/emma-langford-performs-the-winding-way-down-to-kells-bay-the-late-late-show-rte-one-41242660.html

Q&A for The Business Post:https://www.businesspost.ie/music/rhythm-nation-emma-langford-f83fa75a

Echo Live Interview ahead of Live Show: https://www.echolive.ie/entertainment/whatson/arid-40359065.html

Q&A re. Artists and Covid19: http://limerickvoice.com/news/still-in-the-mires-of-the-emotional-hangover-emma-langford-on-covid-19-and-returning-to-the-stage-oct-28/

Q&A re. Artists and Covid19: https://www.theirishworld.com/best-laid-plans/

Review for single “Birdsong”: https://cluckoldhen.org/discover/watch-irish-folk-singer-emma-langford-releases-new-single-birdsong-with-accompanying-music-video/

Interview for University of Limerick “LINKS” magazine: https://www.ul.ie/ullinks/section/alumni/emma-langford-musical-journey

Hot Press Van Morisson Tribute: https://www.hotpress.com/music/watch-emma-langford-performs-brand-new-day-for-rave-on-van-morrison-22827133

Irish Women In Harmony profile with Hot Press: https://www.hotpress.com/culture/irish-women-in-harmony-for-safe-ireland-emma-langford-talks-life-in-limerick-dolores-oriordan-22820659