Hello, I'm Brooke Sharkey, a London based singer songwriter playing poetic folk with gypsy and blues influences, sung in both English and French. 

     Music has always been the most important thing in my life. I wrote my first song when I was 9 years old, and at the age of 16 started playing pub gigs with my father upon returning to England from France in 2005. This was the year that I also started busking as a way of making some pocket money in Norwich. By the time I was 18 I found myself pursuing a career in music, travelling around the UK and throughout Europe selling copies of my 13 track solo album hollow tree.

     In 2008 I moved to London and after a chance encounter busking in Carnaby St. I started working with Mike Connaris from Mcasso and recorded my EP; A Taste of Truth, with the help of Chris Bond's production skills (who is currently working with Ben Howard). This was released in summer 2010.

 In the last few years I've played countless gigs and numerous festivals including Glastonbury, Green man and Secret Garden Party, and supported Ed Sheeran, Natty, and Catherine Feeny. I'm a member of London based collectives; One Taste, Raison d'etre, and Woodburner, and have weekly residencies at The Jamboree and The Vintage Emporium in North East London.

          I now have a band consisting of core members Alastair Caplin (violin) and Adam Beattie (double bass), who both have great experience in the studio and live, working with Alasdair Roberts and The Bonfire Band, respectively. I also work with other guest musicians such as Garance Louis (accordion) and Jez Houghton (French horn). Solo or with the band, I am always playing gigs in and around London, with regular dates in Europe.   We still play Columbia road flower market most Sundays.

 Follow this link to watch a video of us at the flower market

http://vimeo.com/31518169

         In the last 6 months I have decided to spend more time playing with other musicians, and arranging my songs for a band, adding vocal harmonies and utilizing the experience of the all the musicians. We have already done a session at Reservoir Studios  and in 10 hours we managed to record three tracks that we are delighted with.

 Link to May (soundcloud)

 How much is the making of this wonderful album?

The studio is very reasonably priced at 250 per day, which we predict we will need another 4 days recording and 2 days of overdubs, totalling 1500. Plus money to mix and master, and then to copy for those who bought the physical pre-sale album

      I would like the finished album to be finished by march 2012 to be released officially by June 2012.  I really dont think I can do this without your help so it would so very much appreciated if you could be part of this exchange. 

HUGE THANKS 

Brooke xxx