‘Beth is a skinny white girl with the voice of a big black mama,’ raves one fan on Youtube.

And that pretty well sums it up, Beth Rowley, born in Peru, raised in Bristol, is a skinny white girl with a mess of blonde curls who belts it out like the great divas of old school gospel. However, if you think that a blonde with a Bristolian accent singing with a whole lotta soul is ironic, think again. According to Beth Rowley gospel is for everyone.

- Advertisement -

‘Whether you are spiritually minded or not, there is something in gospel music that provokes emotions. I grew up going to church, my dad was a minister, and my brothers and I grew up listening to gospel music and singing Catholic hymns. It’s my background, but lots of my friends who didn’t have that background also love gospel music.’

Beth Rowley’s debut album Little Dreamer captures something raw and live that, like the gospel greats Beth so admires, is sure to move audiences. A large part of the album’s power comes from the way in which it was recorded, which preserves the live essence of Beth’s powerful voice.

‘We went into the album and the studio not knowing what was going to happen – we literally just pressed record and experimented with different styles and recorded quite a lot of stuff and then just picked the ones that best represented where I was… A lot of the time I wasn’t aware we were being recorded. They would record something and then say, “that was it.” I really like recording everything as live as possible and as raw as possible because my background is playing in bars and clubs.’

That style of recording suits Beth’s voice which is without a doubt why she is being flagged as an artist to watch and garnering endless comparisons with Amy Winehouse, Norah Jones, Karen Carpenter, Eva Cassidy and even Olivia Newton-John. Her voice quality and technical skills mean that her recordings do not require a lot of editing and post-production fiddling.

On Little Dreamer, Beth belts out a mix of well-adapted old classics and poetic originals. In covering songs, Beth says the key for her selection process was connecting to the song on a gut-level.

‘If when I hear a song of somebody else’s it stirs up emotion in me, then that is the basis for being able to translate that. Unless you can give yourself to the song, then it’s not really worth doing. For me, there has to be a reason to do a song – I’m moved by it or I can bring something slightly different to it.’

When it came to original songs, Beth says she started with her own poetry and searched for a way to translate it into song.

‘I started writing poetry when I was quite young and that’s been something I find easier because there is no restriction or structure you have to adhere to. It can be a thought process and you can spill it all out. So, it’s just a matter of sitting down and being disciplined to put those poems into songs… I’ve been listening to loads of David Bowie and Joni Mitchell and the way they would observe life – I really love that sort of songwriting.’

From originals to covers, Little Dreamer and Beth Rowley are sure to be preaching to the choir when it comes to gospel.