Band of the Week: Leighann Esslemont

This week on shmuFM, our featured artist is Leighann Esslemont - you can her live on the Band Of The Week Show on Monday the 18th of August from 8-10pm, where you'll get to know Leighann, what she's up to, her tunes and maybe even live ones too!

Leighann Esslemont is a local singer-songwriter, who writes a mix of country, blues and folk. She writes about all manner of things, like fairytales, songs inspired by others, and she also grabs inspiration from her surroundings, travels and experiences. Every song tells a story: some true, some not.

She’s been writing songs “since she was old enough to speak - usually about her dog.” She used to sing them to the cows and sheep on walk home from school, as she lived on a farm - they were always a captive audience. She started playing guitar at 8, and later joined another band called the Juke Joint Rollers, who have been our Band of the Week, in which she played rhythm guitar and backing vocals. 

Recently, she has been promoting her charity song Axel’s Song of Hope which reached number 6 in the Official Itunes Country Charts. She teaches music and started a Musical Parties business about a year ago called Music on the Move. She is now focusing on writing and recording new material – some of which you’ll hear right here, first, on shmuFM.

As well as the Band of the Week Show, you can hear Leighann Esslemont's tracks on any of our live shows by getting in contact with the studio on 01224 483413, by texting 60300 (type SHMU, leave a space and then your message) or by emailing studio@shmu.org.uk.

The Band Of The Week Show is repeated every Friday at midnight until 2am on 99.8FM, and you can listen to the show here on our website using the live stream or Listen Again feature. 

Leighann played a couple of live tracks during her appearance on the show - you can hear these here: