EMILY Barker will make an in-store appearance at Diverse Music in Newport on May 30 to support the recent release of her album Sweet Kind of Blue.

The album marks a new sound as she returns to the soul and blues influences that first inspired her to become a singer/songwriter. Sweet Kind of Blue was recorded in June 2016, at the legendary Sam Phillips Recording Service in Memphis that holds the legacy of recording artists like Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bob Dylan and Booker T. The set is her first full studio album since Emily Barker & the Red Clay Halo’s Dear River in 2013.

The album includes new single Sunrise, which Barker wrote on a road-trip while touring Sweden, influenced by natural surroundings of lakes, beaches and the long-lasting sunlight of peak Swedish summer. “It’s a song about escaping”, says Barker, “and it seemed very fitting to record it in the USA with the national theme of the road-trip being such a feature in literature, music and popular culture throughout American history”.

Catch Emily Barker at Diverse Music, Newport, at 6pm on May 30. For further details visit facebook.com/diversemusicnewport/