Polly Paulusma?
Cross over: Move over boybands, girl groups, Pop Idol runners-up and karaoke soap stars. The singer-songwriters are taking over the charts, and Top of the Pops will soon be awash with acoustic guitars and sensitive, string-plucking types sitting cross-legged on the podium. James Blunt has grabbed the No 1 slot, and Stephen Fretwell, Jonathan Rice and Devendra Banhart aren't far behind. That's if Polly Paulusma doesn't get there first. The young Cambridge graduate releases her debut album on September 9th and, judging from the intense interest this sweet-voiced English rose is stirring up, the sold-out signs will soon be slapped over her concert posters. She's been plying her gentle trade since the beginning of the century, but it's only now, with the sea-change in popular tastes turning the tide in favour of singer-songwriters, that the pretty young guitar-plucker is getting properly noticed.
Scissor sister: So, how did a posh girl like Polly end up playing in pubs, coffee bars and singer-songwriter nights? Well, it all began when she was eight and made a raft out of old bits of fencing from the bottom of her garden. "I nagged my mum to take it down to the river," she recalls. "She eventually gave in but she insisted it had to be attached to a rope and she would hold onto it. So I hid a pair of scissors in my pocket. I was planning to cut the rope and sail off to London." Polly didn't manage to sail away that day, but her wilful, independent streak stayed with her through convent school and, eventually, Cambridge, where her dad is a professor of ecclesiastical studies. She named her debut album Scissors in My Pocket in memory of that little raft.
Paperback writer: Polly wrote her first song at 10, reworking a Paul McCartney ditty with no thought of possible copyright issues. In her teens, she got into the baggy sounds of the Stone Roses et al, but was more fascinated by the folk-tinged styles of Joni Mitchell and Nick Drake. Soon she was umbilically attached to an acoustic guitar, but in college joined a Commitments-style soul ensemble, belting out the classic songs until she became hoarse. A period of indecision followed, during which she dabbled in journalism, doing research for the BBC, and flirted with becoming a novelist, landing a publishing deal but never getting through the first draft. Then Ben & Jason asked her to sing on their 2001 album, Ten Songs About You, and Polly realised that music was her calling.
Shed heaven: By 2003 she had 40 songs ready to record, but with record labels only looking for choreographed copycats, she knew she'd have to do it herself. So she turned the garden shed into a make- shift studio and tinkered away at the tunes until they were ready to release. When the One Little Indian label eventually came a-knocking, the album was ready to go.
