Edwina Hayes Singer-Songwriter, The Sweetest Voice in England - My Luminary Slow Life
Singer-songwriter Edwina Hayes was once declared "the sweetest voice in England" by the late, fellow songstress Nancy Griffith. It's a voice that has captured, transported and charmed audiences over three decades from Nashville to Edinburgh, Birmingham to Ventnor. There is a startling, raw and irresistible poignancy to Edwina Hayes songs as she accompanies herself on her sparkling 1963 Gibson guitar. Highlights include - Leave a Light On For You, I Won't Say Your Name and Season of Love.
Hayes has toured with Van Morrison, Jools Holland, Loudon Wainwright 111 and Griffith herself. Her soaring and accomplished cover of Randy Newman's Feels Like Home was featured in the 2009 film My Sister's Keeper, starring Cameron Diaz, Alec Baldwin and Jason Patric and has garnered 50 millions views on YouTube and 20 million views on Spotify.
See Edwina Hayes at the Ventnor Fringe Festival
This week you can see Edwina Hayes on England's south coast, as she plays the Ventnor Fringe, the south coasts magical, creative hotspot sibling to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, now in its sixteenth year.
Hayes voice feels like a beautiful, intricate, Hermes silk scarf, tangled up with life, love, heartbreak, lived-experience and one more cup of coffee for the road...
As she continues her current tour of the UK, including the Ventnor Fringe Festival later this week, Hayes talks to The Luminaries editor Alison Jane Reid about her passion for life on the road as a folk singer, the songs of Bob Dylan, the eternal buzz and musical camaraderie of Nashville, Gibson guitars, living a simple, un-materialistic life as a musician and her favourite ways to recharge and slow down and the importance of home in Yorkshire as a sanctuary.
The Interview
Q Edwina, your songs are the perfect way to take a moment and be transported to a slower way of life. Is slowness important to you as a singer-songwriter and in life?
A Thank you so much, what a lovely thing to say. Slowing down after a run of gigs is important to me, in order to recharge before heading out on the road again. As an independent singer-songwriter, my working life is very much an even split of either being out on the road, travelling to, from, and performing gigs, or being at home dealing with admin and bookings. Two very different tempos and mindsets.
Q What is your ideal way to jump off the merry-go-round of life and slow down?
A I very much enjoy taking it easy at home in between concert dates. I love nothing more than to make a pot of coffee and potter around my house and garden. I enjoy watching boxsets of programmes that I like and I have a lovely little cat who helps make life at home relaxed and peaceful.
Q When did you first know that you wanted to be a folk singer? Who were you listening to as a teenager? Who made you long to sing and play guitar?
A For me, it was hearing Carole King's song Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow that made me want to be a singer and guitarist. A friend at university gave me a tape of the Tapestry album and I fell in love with it, in particular that song. I set about learning it by working out a rudimentary way of playing it on the guitar and singing along to it and played it over and over. I was eighteen at the time and Ive pretty much had a guitar in my hands ever since.
Q At what age did you start to perform in clubs? What was it like? What is it like to be a woman touring and performing solo?
A I started going along to folk club singers nights when I was twenty-one, and two years later, in 1996, I played my first paid gig in a pub. I've never thought much about being a woman touring and performing solo, I've always simply felt like a musician. My gender has never felt like any kind of issue to me.
Q Did you undertake any formal music training? Or are you self-taught?
A I had some guitar lessons at school when I was about thirteen, and it was those few chords that enabled me to start picking out songs to play on the guitar five years later at university. I'm enormously grateful for those few lessons, as everything I've done since is due to having had them! I've never thought of myself as a guitarist, I like to say I'm a singer who accompanies myself on the guitar! I've never had singing lessons but the early years of playing at folk club singers nights and open mic evenings, followed by my first few years of playing paid gigs in pubs and clubs most definitely gave me a lot training and experience that I think of now as an invaluable foundation for my career.
Q How long does it take to create a new album?
Where do you draw ideas and inspiration for your songs?
A When it comes to making albums, I've honestly only ever made them on request, for people who come along to my gigs. Playing gigs is what I enjoy doing the most, and my albums came along as a result of lovely audience members asking me if I had any albums for sale. It still feels like a real honour anytime somebody buys an album. I haven't made many albums but would like to record more in the future. However its never been a priority for me. When making an album, I generally record a dozen or so songs that people seem to enjoy the most at my gigs, then try to pick out the ones that came out the best! I find it very hard to listen to myself so this can feel quite excruciating and I tend to put off having to listen to my recordings for as long as possible!
Q Have you seen the Bob Dylan film A Complete Unknown?
A I have seen the film and absolutely loved it! I'm a huge fan of Bob Dylan. A friend bought me the soundtrack album CD for my Birthday in June and its currently my car favourite! I highly recommend it.
Q Have you noticed a renewed interest in people wanting to go and listen to live music in clubs, festivals and pubs, especially folk music?
A I haven't noticed a renewed interest in people wanting to go and listen to live music to be honest. The circuit of folk clubs, arts centres and village halls that I play, has always been there and while it's possibly not a mainstream scene, it's certainly been a thriving one ever since I can remember.
Q Is folk music thriving? Do you think Timothee Chalomet might nurture and excite a new generation of singer-songwriters like Dylan and Joan Baez?
A Folk music was most probably coolest back in the sixties, when many UK folk clubs were formed by groups of like-minded friends. Some of those early clubs are still going today, over fifty years later, such as Hitchin Folk Club, The Bradford's Topic Folk Club and The Red Lion Folk Club in Birmingham. Whether considered cool or not, folk music has always been there, flowing along under the mainstream music scene, consistent and thriving with little advertising or fanfare and hopefully always will be.
Have you covered any of Dylan's songs?
A I have! I play about ten of Bob's songs and hope to learn more.
Q What's your favourite Dylan song?
A My favourite Bob Dylan song isn't actually a song. It's a reading, called Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie. You can find it on Youtube and its absolutely amazing! Its about five or six minutes long and it is well worth a listen!
Q What has been a highlight of your career so far?
A When it comes to career highlights, anything on top of singing and playing for a living is a highlight to me, as doing my favourite thing for a living this past thirty years is already such a joy. Supporting some of my favourite artists on tour would be among my highlights, along with other people recording my songs. Being asked to perform at private events is also incredibly lovely. I have been invited to sing at so many lovely events and occasions this past three decades by people who like my music, ranging from marriage proposals to charity concerts at the Royal Albert Hall.
Can you make a living from being a singer-songwriter, or do you have a second string to supplement your income?
A When I first started playing gigs in the 90s I had part-time jobs on the side, such as office temping and cleaning work, and was eventually able to give all of them up to do music full-time. There have been very lean times money-wise over the years but I've never minded as I've always loved doing what I do. As a result, I've learned to live on very little when needed, and take a lot of joy from small things. I'm very low maintenance as a person, and very happy without material things. A good cup of coffee, my guitar, my cat and my car are about all I need in this life!
Q What do you always take on tour, apart from your guitar?
A As well as my guitar, I often take my little PA system, my CD box and a clean pair of boots to wear on stage!
Q What is it like to play in Nashville?
A It's lovely to play in Nashville as its a town full of music and musicians. There are writer in-the-round gigs running all day and night, seven days a week and its great fun and very inspiring. I was lucky enough to live in Nashville for 2 years and play lots of local songwriter nights and gigs and it was wonderful.
Q Where do you go to escape the modern world and live like a sloth hanging out in the canopy?
A My home is my sanctuary really. I love being at home in pyjamas, drinking coffee, smoking and pottering!
Q The songs you sing often explore heartbreak, longing, loneliness and the struggles of life. Can a happy song be as affecting as a sad song?
A Ooh yes, songs are such a personal thing, it really is quite magical to me how certain ones can really grab you. I can get obsessed with a song and play it over and over, and its such a joy!
Q Who do you love to listen to when you are not performing?
A I enjoy listening to my faves such as Bob Dylan, Carole King, Nanci Griffith and Shawn Colvin, and also love listening to music by friends and fellow musicians such as David Ward Maclean, Mindy Smith and Emily Slade. My music collection is a fifty-fifty split of classic great artists, and the amazing musicians and friends I've been lucky enough to meet over the years.
Q You have covered some of Leonard Cohen's greatest songs. Is he an inspiration?
A Len himself isn't a favourite artist of mine, wonderful as he is. I covered his Famous Blue Raincoat song after hearing the Joan Baez version and falling in love with it. I also love Hallelujah! and plan to learn it someday!
Q Who are your favourite female singer-songwriters of any age and genre?
A My favourite female singer-songwriters include Nanci Griffith, Gillian Welch, Carole King, Janis Ian and Mindy Smith.
Q Your cover of the Randy Newman Song was used in the film, My Sister's Keeper, starring Cameron Diaz. Did that open doors and create new opportunities for you?
A The film My Sister's Keeper really did open doors, it was an incredibly lucky break. The film came out in June 2009 and 17 years later, I'm still being invited to sing Feels Like Home at events and weddings, which is really lovely.
What guitar do you play?
A I have two guitars, a 25 year old Tanglewood TW58 guitar that I bought in 2000 from Andy's Guitars on Denmark Street in London, and a 62 year old 1963 Gibson B-25 guitar, that I bought from my friend Stacy in Carolina in 2009. I take the Gibson on the road with me, and the Tanglewood is on a stand in my lounge to play at home.
Q There is a wonderful tradition of song and spoken word in pubs, art centres and small music venues across the UK. Is the music scene thriving, despite the problems facing some of our cities and high streets?
A In my experience, the music scene is thriving. People still seem to enjoy going out to concerts and music or poetry nights.
Q Is there a song you are burning to cover and sing that you haven't done yet?
A Ooo yes, Hallelujah! I hadn't actually realised that until this interview, so thank you very much! I will try to learn it asap now!
For more information about Edwina Hayes and to Book tickets to gigs, visit Edwina's website - Edwina Hayes
Watch or buy the Bob Dylan Film A Complete Unknown Starring Timothee Chalamet, Edward Norton, Elle Fanning and Monica Barbaro. Watch My Sister's Keeper on Amazon Prime.
Edwina Hayes plays The Ventnor Fringe Festival on July 27th. For tickets and further info visit the Ventnor Fringe Festival Website.
Edwina Hayes was talking to journalist Alison Jane Reid.
Copyright Alison Jane Reid/ The Luminaries Magazine July 2025. All Rights Reserved. No copying In Any Format Or Medium Without the Permission of the Editor. Images Courtesy of Edwina Hayes and Film Stills from a Complete Unknown for Editorial Use Only.
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