Jamie Woon

Jamie Woon (March 29, 1983) is a singer-songwriter from Clapton, North-East London, whose sound lies between the usually distinct genres of alternative rock and soul music. His sound envelopes influences and elements as diverse as those of Jeff Buckley, Jamie Liddell, Sade, Sanatana and Meshell Ndegeocello. The recently enrolled rhythm section of a musically liberated and telepathically connected bass player and drummer both named Dan, are to Jamie Woon what Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchel were to Jimi Hendrix. Jamie is in the 4th generation of a line of professional musicians, which includes Hugh and Ted McKenna from the Sensational Alex Harvey Band and his mother, Mae McKenna, a folk/celtic artist and session singer. "Jamie Woon is a brilliant example of the Electroacoustic [Club] ethos; the 21-year-old talent splices rootsy styles and DIY sample culture, enriching that musical mix with his soulful vocals and poetic observations. Woon has already drawn comparisons to Jamie Lidell but his material so far has sounded more earnest and intimately raw, and less directed at the dance floor. Not that he's avoided club culture entirely; his gospel-tinged version of the traditional folk standard The Wayfaring Stranger received a remix from dubstep don Burial. Elsewhere, numbers such as Spirit twist beatbox rhythmas and multi-layered vocal harmonies into deliciously haunting soundtracks. Woon recently assembled a full band... so even fans familiar with his music are likely to hear different arrangements here..." [METRO] "Jamie Woon is described in his publicity as 'one man, an acoustic guitar and a Line6 DL4'... He began with a series of self-penned songs accompanied by intriguingly textured guitar and delivered in a swooningly lovely voice that at times called the late great Jeff Buckley to mind. It was his use of said Line6 DL4, however, that rendered his gig distinctive; he layers his sung accompaniment carefully on this machine to provide backing, then launches himself into highly emotional, keening vocals on top, producing a mesmerising sound. He also, by visiting 'Wayfaring Stranger' as an encore, gave me another chance (you wait ages with no result, then two come along at once) to mention Jeff's father Tim again; Buckley pere used to weave this wonderful melody into his vocal improvisations, and Woon's version is in no wise inferior to that of the Great Man Himself." [Chris Parker, THE VORTEX] "Jamie Woon's version of 'wayfaring stranger' is a lovely Jamie Lidell-ified update of the Appalachian folk standard... Burial displaces Jamie Woon's vocal from the coffee table to somewhere altogether darker by feeding off the the dramatic melancholy of Woon's vocal with a understated and restrained remix that will serve functions in darkened bedrooms just as well as 3am dancefloors looking for a bit of emotional alleviation... Essential." [BOOMKAT]a folk/celtic artist and session singer.