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Michele Stodart
'Album of the Year' - 'Invitation' - UK Americana Awards 2024
'Artist of the Year' - UK Americana Awards 2024
Michele Stodart is a multi-award-winning singer-songwriter, producer, musical director and multi-instrumentalist. She is best known as bassist, vocalist and co-songwriter of Mercury-nominated, double-platinum selling band, The Magic Numbers, who have released five critically acclaimed studio albums with top ten singles, and supported the likes of Neil Young, Radiohead, Brian Wilson, U2, The Who, Flaming Lips and Bright Eyes. She continues to play with the band and tour world-wide, and they are set to release a new album next year.
Born in Trinidad, where she spent her early childhood until she and her family fled a military coup attempt, leading them to Queens, New York, and eventually to London (UK), where she is now based, Michele has always pursued her own writing, nurturing a love for Folk, Country and Americana music, and has released three solo albums of her own songs. Hailed as "remarkable" (Rolling Stone), "breath-taking" (For Folk's Sake) and "a thing of perfection" (Folk Radio UK), Michele's solo music has been described by Uncut Magazine as sitting "...in a rich tradition that encompasses such touchstone female performers as Karen Dalton, Judee Sill... Emmylou Harris or Gillian Welch". Her most recent release, ‘Invitation’ - a confessional, melodic album with an orchestral, cinematic feel - received outstanding critical acclaim and went on to win ‘UK Album of the Year’ at the UK Americana Awards 2024, where Michele also scooped the coveted award for ‘UK Artist of the Year’.
In recent years, Michele divides her time between The Magic Numbers and her solo projects. In between recording and touring, she has been building a name for herself as musical director, collaborator and producer. She has been invited to curate stages at a number of festivals and events, and curates and directs an annual multi-artist show celebrating International Women’s Day, as well as promoting and hosting regular nights at the legendary Green Note in Camden Town, celebrating both established and up-and-coming talent. She has also worked as a tutor and held songwriting masterclasses at a range of different creative workshops and songwriting retreats, for both adults and children.
In 2019, Michele graced our screens in the Danny Boyle / Richard Curtis blockbuster film ‘Yesterday’. She was chosen for her role in the movie due to her melodic bass playing and electric, enigmatic stage presence. Working alongside Boyle, Curtis and musical composer Daniel Pemberton, Michele’s bass and vocals are featured on the Abbey Road Studios movie soundtrack, reinterpreting The Beatles’ most beloved hits.
In 2022, she received public recognition for her musical talent, when she was awarded the AMA-UK 'Instrumentalist Of The Year' Award. The following year, she was invited back as musical director at the UK Americana Awards, where she put together an all-female house band and played with the likes of Mike Scott (of The Waterboys), Allison Russell, and Lifetime Achievement award-winner Judy Collins, who took a moment on stage to compliment Michele on her "incredible" talent. Since then, she has continued in the role of Musical Director at the annual Awards show, where she has collaborated with many different musicians and worked with a range of award-winning artists including Candi Staton, Billy Bragg, Lyle Lovett and many more.
Michele’s diverse skills have also led to many other collaborative projects on stage and in the studio with artists such as Kathryn Williams, David Ford, Bernard Butler, Hannah White, Julian Taylor, Natalie Imbruglia, Charlie Dore, David Kitt, Rachel Sermanni, Bill Fay, Ren Harvieu, Emily Barker, O'Hooley & Tidow amongst many others.
Selected Press Quotes
“To say that Michele’s songs are ‘rich’ is rather an understatement – it has become the norm for the majority of people at her gigs to leave either speechless, or (and more often the case) crying…. Michele’s solo music is truly breath-taking.” - For Folk’s Sake
"Steeped in languid melancholy... [she] sits in a rich tradition that encompasses such touchstone female performers as Karen Dalton, Judee Sill... Emmylou Harris or Gillian Welch..." – Uncut
“bearing traces of folk, country and soul… the music manages to be both tuneful and mournful, jaunty yet sad. What a combo, one that never fails to deliver.” – The Guardian
“…an album about… feeling life and the emotions it brings to their fullest intensity… instantly engaging and evocative melodies and sung with an open and honest conviction… Stodart’s album is a thing of perfection.” – Folk Radio UK
Press & Praise for new album: ‘Invitation’ by Michele Stodart (Released 15th Sept ’23)
"lush" 8/10 - Uncut
"intricately arranged... genuinely moving" – MOJO
"Remarkable" - Rolling Stone
"beautiful... poignant and evocative" - 8/10 Americana-UK
"darkly wonderful" - At The Barrier
"a kind of magic" - RnR Magazine
“… a getting under your skin album” - Fatea
"Michele Stodart's new album 'Invitation' is a thing of perfection.... a highly personal album that emerges as one of strength, acceptance, resilience and ultimately hope"
- Folk Radio UK
"an album that embraces the full spectrum of human emotions" - Entertainment Focus
"captivating... scenic" - Building Our Own Nashville
"beautiful...creates a world that is totally absorbing" - W21 Music
"cinematic" - Parapop
"an Invitation that cannot be refused" - Here Comes The Song
"An Irresistible Ticket to Open-Hearted Americana That’s Soulfully Dark and Bravely Awakening". - Rocking Magpie
'Mesmerising, beautiful, poignant, moving...' - Album of the Month (Oct 23) - Voice of a Woman.
"soulful and emotive... effortlessly channels a timeless quality" - Plastic Magazine