Phamie is featured regularly on Europe’s largest commercial Classical music radio station, Classic FM

 

“Number 1 most played artist.”

-Caffe Nero

 

“One of the country’s most musically gifted artists.”

“Quickly becoming a household name.”

-Entertainment Focus

 

“a star of the highest order”

-Nigel Gayler

 

“Scotland’s most unique talents”

-Ian Smith, Creative Scotland

 

“a GENIUS composer”

-Peter Seivewright. International concert pianist.

 

2016

 

Reviews & Articles

Networking trip to US and Canada is success for musician

 

She has already played for the Queen and the Dalai Lama – now harpist Phamie Gow has been invited to meet musical royalty Stevie Wonder.

 

Gow, 31, who lives in Bruntsfield, has just returned from a whirlwind two-month trip to New York and Canada, which she spent networking, performing for music industry high-fliers, and marking St Andrew’s Day with a gig at the Canadian Parliament.

The harpist, who is also a pianist, singer and composer, travelled to New York at the end of September, just after releasing her sixth album, Road of the Loving Heart.

She made the trip to build contacts, and said: “Honestly, it was a life-changing experience for me on so many levels.”

Gow even crossed the path of music supremo Simon Cowell, who she said appeared to have worked like a lucky charm. She said: “I almost bumped into him on Madison Avenue, literally. He was just jumping out to get into his limousine. Ten minutes later I found a 20 dollar note on the ground on that spot and from that moment on my luck was abundant.”

She said the trip opened countless doors – including the promise of a rendezvous with Stevie Wonder, after she met his friend, the jazz flautist Bobbi Humphrey, at a glittering event organised by DEX, aka designer make-up artist Dexter Phillip.

She said: “The room was full of millionaires and a TV crew were filming footage. DEX is keen to do my make-up for my next music video.

“I then met Bobbi for lunch as we discovered we were neighbours. As we were lunching, one of Stevie Wonder’s songs came on that he wrote sitting next to Bobbi years ago.”

During her trip, she was also invited by the American Scottish Foundation to play at an awards ceremony at the beginning of November, and there she was spotted by Scottish cultural ambassador Robin Naysmith, who invited her to play in Canada.

After a gig in Toronto she went to the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa, where culture secretary Fiona Hyslop introduced her to an audience of politicians and guests to mark St Andrew’s Day.

She said: “I performed at Parliament Hill, the big parliament building, and I was being driven around in a big black limousine everywhere, it was just amazing. Everywhere I go, I’m very aware of my Scottish roots and heritage and I see myself as an ambassador.”

She is now back in Edinburgh, writing and being the musical director of the forthcoming performance of The Infamous Brothers Davenport at the Royal Lyceum, but she hopes to head back to the US in the future.

During her trip she was also signed up to take part in next year’s Tartan Week in New York, and says she has a number of other projects “bubbling away”.

One thing she won’t be needing, however, is to bump into Simon Cowell again. She said: “I actually thought, ‘It’s nice to see Simon, but I don’t want anything from him because I’ve got my own recording label and my own artistic freedom’.”

Download PDF of the article.

Source: http://www.scotsman.com/news/scottish-news/edinburgh-east-fife/networking_trip_to_us_and_canada_is_success_for_musician_1_2000785

 

 

She’s cool, sharp, and plays the harp (from Edinburgh Evening News)

 

Slightly windswept, a leather bomber jacket shielding her from the elements, Phamie Gow rushes through the hotel’s revolving doors, removes her Ray-Bans and explains how she had to make a mad dash from a meeting with her publicist where they were finalising the art work for her forthcoming album. Click image to read page 1, 2 and 3 of this article

 

Pipes call for Phamie (from Dumfries & Galloway Standard)

 

A FORMER Moffat musician and composer has hit another high note in her career.

Phamie Gow has recently completed writing and recording a major commissioned work, The Edinburgh Suite, for the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards and the London Metropolitan Orchestra…. Click image to read more

 

 

 

Life is just Suite for Phamie (from Berwickshire News)

Published on Tuesday 23 August 2011 07:40

 

It’s been a busy summer for Westruther musician Phamie Gow.

Not content with composing, recording and co-producing a new album she has also performed at the opening of this year’s Edinburgh Military Tattoo and at an open air concert in Italy.

Phamie’s latest body of work, rather aptly called ‘The Edinburgh Suite’, features the talents of The Royal Scot Dragoon Guards, who’ve had two hit albums in the last three years, one of them winning a Classical Brit Award for Album of the Year…. Click image to read more

 

 

Tattoo guests get chance to hear Phamie’s suite sound (from The Southern Reporter)

 

WESTRUTHER multi-instrumentalist Phamie Gow helped open this year’s Edinburgh Tattoo from inside the city’s castle.

She performed an extract from The Edinburgh Suite – recently composed by her for the Classical Brit award-winners the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards – to invited guests in the castle’s Great Hall…. Click image to read more

 

 

Road of the Loving Heart Review (From The Sun)

Scots piano and harp composer Phamie – her War Song has become a Classic FM favourite – is pioneering a Celtic-crossover musical scene, with traditional Scottish echoes embedded in restful, lyrical melodies.

This smooth piano collection is calming and hypnotic –  easy listening, yes, but with much more depth than the genre usually serves up.

Phamie has already performed with US composer Philip Glass.  Good to see an original artist breaking out on her own, and she’s a name for the future.

 

 

Phamie All Set For Royal Performance (From The Evening Times)

 

City Harpist Phamie Gow will play the clarsach as part of the programme of events when the Queen opens the fourth session of parliament tomorrow.

She has been invited to perform a mixture of traditional and original work in the Holyrood building’s main hall during the parliament’s opening afternoon.

She said: “I hope that my music will help to add to the special atmosphere on the day.”

 

 

Album review: Phamie Gow, Road Of The Loving Heart

Multi talented composer and musician Phamie Gow has led a rather successful musical life as she approaches the release of her new record, Road Of A Loving Heart, which sees the light of day on Monday. Standing strong as Gow’s sixth record Road Of The Loving Heart combines Gow’s talents behind a piano with some delightfully crafted self penned numbers of gentle instrumentation.

Starting her career in music at an early age Gow released her first record at the age of 19. Over the years she has worked hard to establish herself as one of the countries most musically gifted artists and has gone on to become a regular featured act on Classic FM, Europe’s most recognised and listened to classical music radio station as well as claiming the title of Caffé Nero’s most played artist throughout the UK.

Road Of The Loving Heart is a gentle collection of warm and charming piano numbers that Gow has composed with faultless precision. Known primarily for her skills on the harp Gow has this time substituted her strings for the keys of a piano and built a generous collection of 13 instrumental gems.

Though the tracks on Road Of The Loving Heart are all instrumental numbers each hold their own special position within the record and have their own character on the album that sets them apart from the next.

London is minimalist piano balladry at its best which is drenched in sorrowful tinkerings and a mournful melody while Regresso A Chile contains some sweet and fast paced fingerwork with a harder approach to it. The following Au Revoir Elsaalso contains a darker feel within its two minute duration that adds a more eerie and darker edge to the centre of the album.

With a successful tour of Europe to promote the record Gow is quickly becoming a household name with her charismatic approach to songwriting and a knack for penning some memorable and gifted easy listening records.

source: http://www.entertainment-focus.com/music/articles/phamie-gow-road-of-the-loving-heart

Album review: Phamie Gow, Road Of The Loving Heart

Published Date: 29th May 2011

By NORMAN CHALMERS

****

Wildfire Records GOW006, £12.99

Known in Scotland as a harp player, the young Gow was taught piano by the virtuoso pianist Ronald Stevenson, and this album celebrates her love of that instrument.

Still in her twenties, Gow has just moved from Barcelona to Montpelier in France, where these 14 original compositions (one is a video) were recorded.

Played live, unedited and with no other instruments, this is a beautifully understated, lovingly expressed collection of moving musical invention.

 

 

 PRESS CUTTINGS 2008

 

_____________________

“WHAT THE PEOPLE SAY…

Here are some of the comments the public have written (via youtube.com) to Phamie about her music….

“Chinese people say “i shin den shin” which means “from my heart to your heart”… as a candle lights an other candle. I think that your music is like that, direct to the heart. What you give is not just music, it’s bread, food for the hungry.
I went with some friends to a show you gave in Chile, and I can tell you that everyone was happier after hearing your music, which makes you travel with the imagination to other places, and the most important, into the depths of oneself. Thanks!!”

“Phamie you´re not of this world… you re an angel…”

“Wow Phamie you are an amazing musician. You are extrodinarily talented and your sound is very beautiful. Thank you!”

“Wow this is some of the most beautiful music I have ever heard, it takes you to a different world.”

“Phamie Gow is a godsend. Long may you compose!”

____________________________

 

 

NEWSPAPER ARTICLES

“A dream come true as Phamie makes a date with a legend.”

The Evening News. 6th February. 2008

By JOANNA VALLELY

HARPIST Phamie Gow could hardly believe her eyes as she scrolled down the lengthy text message from her dad. He had just had a call inviting his young Edinburgh-based daughter to perform at New York’s famous Carnegie Hall with Oscar nominated composer Philip Glass.
The 28-year-old had met the composer of soundtracks for The Hours, starring Nicole Kidman, and Martin Scorsese’s Kundun, through a mutual friend just weeks before. But working with Glass, who has been cited as an influence by rock stars David Bowie and Brian Eno, was something of which Phamie, a talented composer herself, had only dreamed.

Speaking from Montpellier, France, where she is giving masterclasses in the harp, Phamie exudes excitement: “It was like something out of a dream when my dad texted me. I’d always hoped that I would one day have the opportunity to play at Carnegie Hall. It will be my biggest gig so far.”

Appearing in next Wednesday’s Tibet benefit concert, directed by Glass and featuring stars including Ray Davies of The Kinks, is the latest high in Phamie’s career, which has seen the self-taught harpist rise from playing at a school concert aged 12, to performing on Broadway with hit Celtic tap show Tapeire.

It was her co-star in Tapeire, fiddle player Ashley MacIsaac, a long-time friend of Glass, who introduced them. “Ashley and I were in East Village, where Philip lives, so we called in on him at his house,” explains Phamie, “It is really big, with a grand piano in the living room. On his bookshelf the whole of world music is covered and there’s a big photo of Philip with the Dalai Lama.”

Seeing the holy man’s picture reminded her of when she performed in front of Tibet’s spiritual leader at the Usher Hall during his visit to Edinburgh in 2004. But modestly, she didn’t mention the connection to Glass immediately. “I didn’t tell him at that moment because when you meet someone so famous you don’t want to talk about yourself. But I thought that was amazing,” she confides.

After coming to see Tapeire, Glass invited Ashley and Phamie for lunch, and was able to give Phamie some useful advice. “He was asking me what I wanted to do and I told him it was my big dream to write music for movies and TV. He said I needed to be in the right place, which he told me was Hollywood. He was very easy to talk to and gave me his number and e-mail and said to keep in touch.”

Despite Glass’ advice to move to Hollywood, for the moment Phamie, who was born in the Scottish Borders, is maintaining her Bruntsfield flat and continuing to work to raise her profile in Europe. She spent nearly two years in Barcelona and has just recorded her fifth solo album which has a Spanish title, La Vida Buena, or The Good Life. “I love languages,” she says, “I’m here in Montpellier to learn French but the main reason is to perform workshops. That’s what I did in Spain to promote the music there.”

She was back in the Capital for the Hogmanay festivities and played the electric harp in George Street for The Night Afore celebrations on December 30. Clearly used to performing for large audiences, nerves don’t seem to be a problem for Phamie.

“I never get nervous. It was great seeing the streets filled with people.”

The musician admits it was a delight to be back in the town to which she made a deliberate move in 2002. “I love the architecture,” she explains, “I call Edinburgh home and I always come back here. Sir Patrick Geddes, who designed Ramsay Garden, has inspired me in life because he came up with the phrase: ‘By creating we think, by living we learn’. I love that because that’s how I live, by experiences.”

Such is Phamie’s fascination with the well-known Scot that he has even influenced her current choice of temporary abode. “That’s part of the reason I chose to come to Montpellier. Geddes designed the College des Ecossais, or Scottish School, here. I researched it before coming. I love finding connections and that’s a very strong one for me.”

A graduate of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Phamie plays the Celtic modern lever harp – acoustic and electric – piano, accordion and whistle, as well as singing. Her first big break came when she was 19 and won an award in the Celtic Connections Festival, which allowed her to make a wish list of musicians to work with. She chose fiddler Alisdair Fraser and seven others, who collaborated on her second CD Lammermuir, which was a New Voices commission for Celtic Connections and was recorded live at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.

At the moment, between giving workshops, the multi-talented musician, who has worked with top names in piping, including Galician “gaitero” Carlos Nunez and Irish Uilleann piper, Davy Spillane, is busy promoting her current album, a piano CD called Moments in Time.

Fast gaining international acclaim, Phamie performed on the electric harp before Christmas with her Tapeire co-stars on major US breakfast television show

, Regis and Kelly. On that occasion she got to meet Hollywood actor Vince Vaughan, star of Wedding Crashers, who was standing in for usual presenter Regis. She says: “We all met Vince. He introduced himself during the ad breaks. It was so surreal. I was walking down Broadway afterwards and there were huge billboards everywhere with him.”

She can start getting used to the good life, for Phamie will be flown first class next week to New York, where she is looking forward to meeting Glass again. “He’s so approachable. I’ll be there for five days and I’ll definitely ask him about the industry. After meeting him before I was kicking myself for not taking a photo. I had a camera in my pocket but there wasn’t the right moment during lunch. I’ll make sure I do after the concert,” she laughs, adding: “I’ve always had big dreams and aspirations. If you have vision, anything is possible.”

 

 

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“Phamie debuts her new collection”

Westruther musician returns home

Phamie Gow in Edinburgh to launch her new album.

“The album springs from a deep love of Scotland”
Phamie Gow
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Published Date:
15 August 2007
By Simon Duke

FRESH from her success all over the world, a Westruther musician headed home to Scotland last week for the release of her new album.

Phamie Gow, most famous for her work on the harp, chose the Coda Music Shop in Edinburgh as the venue to debut her latest collection, ‘Moments in Time’, which has already received the seal of approval from Classic FM after it found its way onto their playlist.

What is probably most surprising, is that rather than display her criticially acclaimed playing of the harp, on ‘Moments of Time’ every track is a solo piano piece.
However, it was the piano that gave Phamie her first venture into the world of music when she had her first lesson at the age of eight.

And despite taking to the harp like a duck to water, Phamie has never turned her back on the piano and is a visiting tutor of piano and composition at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama on her periodic trips back from Spain, where she has spent the last 18 months living in Barcelona, playing many concert halls, performing on radio and even having the honour of her show being broadcast live on nationwide television.

In fact Phamie has gained many fans not just in Europe but all over the world including America where she heard one of her songs played on the radio and in Italy when she was recognised when she was walking down the street.

However, so far widespread success in Britain has proved elusive, although Phamie is hoping that the Scottish influences in ‘Moments of Time’ and increased interest in her music will help her to make more of an impact.

Talking about her new album, Phamie said: “The album has a classical feel to it yet springs from a deep love of Scotland, it’s places, people and history.

“Hopefully with ‘Moments of Time’ scheduled for playlisting on Classic FM this will increase public awareness of my work in the UK.”

Although Phamie has travelled all over the world and had a taste of many cultures and traditions, a lot of her influences can be traced closer to home.

One of the tracks on the new CD is ‘The Night Fold’, the name of a field at Fingerpost Farm in Westruther and one of her most successful albums to date is ‘Lammermuir’, which is heavily based on Phamie’s upbringing in the Borders.

Following the album launch on Friday, Phamie returned to Spain in San Sebastian which she was really looking forward to. However, it won’t be long before Phamie is back over to these shores as she joins the line-up for an Edinburgh event at the end of the month.

“San Sebastian is a beautiful location and they put me up in a fairytale castle set high on a hill,” she said.

“It’s really magical, particularly as the sun goes down.

“After that I’ll be back in Edinburgh for a solo concert on August 26 as part of the InterFaith Festival at St John’s, Princes Street.

“I was honoured to play for His Holiness, the Dalai Lama two years ago at the Usher Hall and Interfaith sets out to break down barriers and unite humanity, so I’m pleased to be a part of that.”

And Phamie’s busy summer doesn’t stop there. After her stint in Edinburgh, Phamie will then be setting off for a tour with the highly acclaimed TapEire which sees her travel to Canada, Broadway, Miami and London’s West End before heading off for Johnannesburg.