Polly’s Bazaar was a household goods shop in Gatley, a small village on the outskirts of Manchester where my Mum’s family lived. I spent summers with my grandparents as a young child when my little brother was ill. I could never understand how one shop could stock so many different things, and I dragged my poor Granny in almost every day to see what was new in the Bazaar. I loved it so much it even got a mention at my Granny’s funeral.

When I was looking for a new name for my latest project, I rattled my brains to think of places I’d been, things I loved, words I loved and this is what I chose.

My harp journey has been pretty varied to date (look under the Listen & Watch tab to see just a few things I’ve got up to) and I loved the idea of having something that celebrated that variation.

The first things to come out of this reimagined Bazaar are almost with us.

My first ever single “Everything’s Fine But I’m Done This Christmas” will be released on Friday November 24th. Click here for a link to where to find it on most of the usual platforms, and here for my Bandcamp page.

My debut 4-track EP “This Christmas (Everything’s Fine But I’m Done” will be released a week later, on Friday December 1st. Click here for a link to where to find that (and it will also be on Bandcamp).

The latest stage of the journey came after a pretty tricky year. A new puppy last autumn, a halfway-between-two-big-numbers birthday, post-pandemic general bewilderment and a growing sense of time slipping by as a result.

Shortcut to….. I just decided to go for it. I’m planning to resume live performances once again in the new year, but I couldn’t let another Christmas go by without taking the opportunity to share some of my music. I’d always wanted to write a Christmas song, and over the years I’ve been doing a bit of songwriting so here we are. The EP also features a New Year song, if such a thing exists (spoiler - it does now!)

To commemorate the release of the EP (and to help fund some of the costs of making it), you can buy a wee pack featuring a CD-style case (no CD because reasons!), a code to download the EP, and a fabulous handmade glittery harp Christmas decoration commissioned from Jo at Tiny Scenic. I had loved Jo’s products since I found them while looking for a friend’s 40th birthday, and when I first had the idea for this piece, I was thrilled to find she takes commissions! Harp-related accessories are hard to find, and nice tasteful ones even harder so I hope people really enjoy these.

You can buy one here - they really are absolutely beautiful.

Last of all - I also re-started a blog to write about all my latest adventures (here) and the advent calendar will be making another appearance next week.

Thanks for all your support!