Polly Paulusma

All Music Guide:

British singer/songwriter Polly Paulusma began her musical career -- with reluctance -- by way of childhood piano lessons. By the age of ten, she had co-opted the melody of a Paul McCartney song and substituted her own lyrics. Though it was Paulusma's first songwriting effort, it would not be her last. Inspired by the "baggy" music scene of the early '90s, as well as artists Joni Mitchell and Nick Drake, a now teenaged Paulusma learned guitar and began performing for friends at school. She began writing her own songs, but put this activity on hold while attending college. (She did continue to perform as a member of a soul-funk cover band.) After graduation, Paulusma resumed performing her own material, but only as a hobby -- convinced that she could not make a career with her music, she tried a number of different ventures, including returning to school to earn a Ph.D. (she dropped out after one term), working as a researcher at the BBC World Service, and placing a novel manuscript with a literary agent. However, none of these activities were as fulfilling as her music; by the time she was invited to sing backing vocals for the Ben & Jason album Ten Songs About You, she had decided to return to music full-time. After two years of playing solo acoustic gigs, she released her first album, Scissors in My Pocket, in 2004. Sadly, her excitement over her debut would be cut short a mere two weeks after its release -- while touring in support of the album, Paulusma suffered the first of two miscarriages. The losses brought her close to abandoning music altogether, but instead she channeled her sorrow into songwriting. While recording her second album, Paulusma discovered that she was pregnant once again, and in November 2006 she gave birth to a daughter. Fingers & Thumbs was released in 2007.

Wikipedia:

Polly Paulusma ( /ˈɔːə/) is an English singer-songwriter. Her first album, Scissors in my Pocket, was largely recorded and produced by herself at her home. A second album, Cosmic Rosy Spine Kites (a virtual anagram of the title of the first album) features the same tracks, four of which were recorded with a string quartet (and without guitars or percussion); the rest at a gig in Manchester, England, where she supported Jamie Cullum. Apart from Jamie Cullum she has also supported other artists on tour including Marianne Faithfull and Coldplay and played at the Glastonbury Festival in 2005.

As well as using computer-based methods to self-produce her first album, Polly and her management have arguably made good use of the internet and contemporary methods of distribution to reach a larger potential audience: signed to One Little Indian Records, two of Polly's tracks ("Over the Hill" and the live version of "She Moves in Secret Ways") were issued as free downloads through Apple's iTunes Store. This has possibly led to greater exposure for a niche artist on a UK-based independent record label than might otherwise have been expected or previously possible. Polly has also used her profile at MySpace.com, her own website, blogs on both websites and a link to a forum on the latter to connect with her fans and keep them up-to-date on her touring and recording plans.

Polly announced on her web site that her daughter Valentine Constance Mae was born on 10 November 2006 (coincidentally Polly's own birthday). Paulusma's third album "Fingers and Thumbs" was released in the June 2007. The cover shoot was done when Polly was 38 weeks pregnant.

Polly and her husband, Mike, live in the thinnest home in London. Located in Battersea, the 7-foot-7-inch-wide (2.31 m) home is where Paulusma recorded her first album "Scissors in my Pocket," as well as the demos for "fingers & thumbs."