Artist ResearchGabrielle Aplin

Introduction•Gabrielle Aplin was born on the 10th of

October 1992 and is an English singer-songwriter from Sutton Benger, Wiltshire. She at first gained a fan base online after posting acoustic covers of songs by bands such as Paramore and You Me at Six on her YouTube channel.

•She covers various genres such as folk, pop, indie, and country.

•She sings as well as being able to play guitar, piano, and drums.

Biography• She was brought up in a council house in the small village of

Sutton Benger, Wiltshire; the first of two children. Her parents bought her first guitar at the age of 11, and she says her music is influenced by listening to their Joni Mitchell and Bruce Springsteen collections growing up. She is a fan of singer-songwriters Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen.

• She attended Sheldon School in Chippenham, where she describes her fellow pupils as "upper-middle class and I don't think I fitted in with their lifestyles".

• She went on to study music at City of Bath College, participating in the college's in-house label BA1 Records.

• She developed a fan base by posting performance videos to YouTube. Her most popular videos include her original composition "Home", and covers of "The Liar and the Lighter" by You Me At Six. She has described her music as "very family orientated, very personal".

DiscographyAcoustic EP•Released: 13 September 2010•Label: Never Fade Records•Format: Digital download, limited CD

copies•It reached the top 25 in the UK iTunes

album chart, and features the song "Reverse" which was used on E4 TV show Made in Chelsea.

DiscographyNever Fade EP• Released: 9 May 2011• Label: Never Fade Records• Format: Digital download, limited CD copies• This EP saw an expanded sound, showcasing a more

folk rock sound and playing all instruments herself. It

reached number 14 in the UK album charts, it was in the top 100 in America and top 50 in Australia.

• In April 2011, she was invited to perform for BBC Introducing at Maida Vale Studios, where she played 3 tracks from Never Fade and a cover of the Coldplay song Fix You. Her cover is one of the most viewed videos on the BBC Introducing YouTube channel.

DiscographyHome EP• Released: 9 January 2012• Label: Never Fade Records• Format: Digital download, limited CD copies• Her YouTube channel features her performing the EP

in St Mary's Church, Bath. She described the release as "the most honest thing I've ever written and recorded." The lead track "Home" was featured on the iTunes Store as "single of the week" and was available to download for free as a part of iTunes' New Artists 2012 promotion. It was also played on BBC Radio 1 and was the song near the end of BBC Ones television drama series Prisoners' Wives series 2, episode 4.

DiscographyEnglish Rain• Released: 13 May 2013• Label: Parlophone Records• Format: CD, Digital download, Vinyl• Her first major label single "Please Don't Say You Love Me" was set for

release on 10 February 2013. She was confirmed as the soundtrack to the John Lewis 2012 Christmas television advert, covering Frankie Goes To Hollywood's "The Power of Love".

• She announced live on 17th February Radio 1 Chart Show that her third single would be “Panic Cord”. The song originally featured on her Never Fade EP and it was released on 5 May 2013, charting at number 19.

• On 12 March 2013, She released previews of the songs that would appear on the standard edition of English Rain.

• 'English Rain' charted at number 2 on both the UK and Scottish charts, while charting at number 11 in Ireland.

• “English Rain: (Deluxe Edition)” was also released with bonus songs.

Record Labels• Gabrielle Aplin created her own record label, Never

Fade, to launch her own music from 2010. In 2013, she announced that her record label would now represent other musicians. Her first signings were Welsh folky-jazz singer Hannah Grace, who will join Aplin on a future tour and indie folk artist Saint Raymond.

• On 29 February 2012, she announced that she had signed to Parlophone. Originally founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon, the British arm of the label was formed in 1923 under the name Parlophone Records, which quickly developed an identity as a leading jazz label.

Critical Opinions• Her age has been criticised many times for example in an article in

the Telegraph, Neil McCormick writes, “With her fresh-faced, wide-eyed beauty, Gabrielle Aplin looks younger than her 20 years. Her music videos, which she has been posting online since she was 14, have had over 30 million views; she’s already had a number one single and seven sold-out UK headline tours – yet she still has to show ID to get served.”

• Her style of writing and singing has been criticised as she is said to have only one ‘sound’ as is said in a review of English Rain on theaureview.com, “The songs are all very acoustic-folk-pop which is obviously her signature sound; however having more range would be good. Her vocals are constantly high pitched which comes off very sweet and beautiful; perhaps testing her vocal range would have given something more to the album. It’s just missing something that takes the album from a good album to an amazing album.”