Folk from London Part 4 Claudia Heidegger

I know, I know, this was going to be three-parter on the London folk scene or rather a pick from the wide range of artists that thrive there. But of course there is a good reason to extend this mini-series and her name is Claudia Heidegger. When she contacted me and elaborated how she likes to tackle heavy subjects and above all religion and spirituality, I was, I confess, a little, overwhelmed. But this is no evangelist, far from it.

Claudia Heidegger actually had a problem with institutionalised religion and apart from her private experiences, she recognises correctly how much grief religion and faith can cause in this world and yet there could be a place for spirituality.

This and other subjects she would like to discuss without prejudices, without aggression and to be true to the meaning of folk music, what better medium is there? Was folk music not the simple (and by that I do not mean simple-minded) people’s newspaper, detailing, commenting on and passing on, everything that went on in a locality?

Claudia Heidegger writes a good-looking and interesting blog, too, which makes me a wee bit ashamed to mention her in such a short post. Find it on her website https://claudiaheidegger.wordpress.com. Also find her on Bandcamp, Twitter, Soundcloud etc.

I dare not go into knowledgeable detail about her musical side. Here’s a woman that knows her stuff! She played several instruments at an early age, was classically trained in Austria (where she is originally from), travelled with her band which broke up in Ireland and has lived in London since.

The music is fragile, delicate, a beautiful voice hovering above it and for me represents another side of folk music which is why this became a four-parter and there you have it.

Well, not quite, there are some songs to listen to, of course. Her EP The Other Side was released in 2013 and Claudia is currently working on a full-length album.

I find this very beautiful: The Other Side

This is one of her latest haunting songs – What I am to you

I will be off to a gig tomorrow, but I will update you on that on Saturday and even might bring you a little interview with “All We Are”. See you then!