And the Hi everyone this is Simon here as always with Brian welcoming you to another edition of Soda Jerker on

songwriting. We hope you're all doing okay and staying safe. Joining us for this

episode is a Brit Award-winning Grammy-nominated English singer-songwriter and musician who emerged from the UK new

folk scene in the late Noughties and soon found crossover success thanks to her expressive

voice, nimble guitar playing and emotionally insightful lyrics.

She recently released her seventh album, The Excellent Song for Our Daughter, co-produced by her longtime collaborator,

Ethan Johns. The record was originally due in August, but she opted to bring forward its digital release due to the pandemic situation.

We're thrilled to welcome the wonderful Laura Marling to the show.

It was really nice to get Laura on the podcast during lockdown wasn't it right?

Absolutely she's an oft requested guest and not without good reason.

She's an artist of unquestionable authenticity and it remarkably prolific too isn't she?

She is yeah I mean given the amount of work she's produced it's easy to forget that she's only just turned 30.

It's pretty crazy.

Laura was born in 1990 and grew up on a farm in Eversley in Hampshire in the southeast of England.

Her mom was a gardener while her dad ran a recording studio and was also an amateur singer-songwriter.

He started teaching Laura the guitar from the age of three and

later introduced there to the likes of Joan Byers, Joni Mitchell, and Bob Dylan,

while through her mother she discovered the world of poetry.

Our guest started writing her own songs in her early teens, influenced by the likes of Bonnie Prince Billy and Diane Cluck.

She left school after finishing their GCSEs and moved to London, gravitating towards the new folks seen at the Boatsons Locker,

which also included Noah in the Whale and

future members of Mumford and Sons.

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