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.

My 2024 Bazaar offering is another single Fairy Lights Twinkling Everywhere and there’s a wee link to that here. Last year’s was a monumental undertaking. This year’s is a little more pared back but no less fabulous imho :-)

The first things to come out of this reimagined Bazaar arrived in December 2023. I released my first ever single “Everything’s Fine But I’m Done This Christmas” - 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” was released soon after - click here for a link to where to find that (and it’s also on Bandcamp).

The latest stage of the journey came after a pretty tricky year. A new puppy arrived in Autumn 2022, then a halfway-between-two-big-numbers birthday in September 2023, 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 one day, 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.

It’s hard being an independent self-recording self-releasing musician! Thanks for all your support and I wish you and your loved ones/chosen family/whoever’s dearest to you a very Merry Christmas.