Hannah Scott

Event information

The Oxted Sessions are delighted to welcome Hannah Scott for the first time, while returning favourite James Hodder will open the evening.

“She reduces women and children to tears - in a good way…”
The Guardian

“…and grown men.”
Tom Besford, English Folk Expo & Richard Haswell, Liverpool Philharmonic

“This is beautiful.”
Dermot O’Leary, BBC Radio 2

“Wonderful songwriting.”
Seth Lakeman

“She screams class but in the quietest way possible.”
Folking.com

The best stories elicit profound personal reactions and in the 15 years she has been writing and performing, Hannah Scott has become a consummate storyteller. Her music is shaped by human stories, with family, in all its chaos and glory, sitting at the heart of her work. Her lyrics are powerful and poignant, and her voice feels strangely familiar, though you can’t quite put your finger on why. Her writing may be deeply personal but her music has a universal appeal that extends beyond the melodies you catch yourself humming days after listening to her songs.

Born in Suffolk and raised by an artist mother and an eccentric entertainer father, with music going back three generations to her songwriting great-grandmother, creativity was always destined to be an integral part of Hannah’s life. At the age of four, her father bought a second-hand piano for £70 from a friend in the pub and she didn’t look back, falling in love with both playing and listening to classical music. Picking up a guitar in her early teens as the influence of her peers and more contemporary music took hold, Hannah taught herself some simple chords that would lay the foundation for her earliest attempts at songwriting.

Career highlights include having her song No Gravity featured on the hit international TV series Grey’s Anatomy, recording a live session on BBC Radio 2 with Dermot O’Leary and opening for Madeleine Peyroux, performing to an audience of two thousand. She has also shared the stage with folk luminaries such as Seth Lakeman, Cara Dillon and Fairport Convention and has performed at festivals including Cambridge, Sidmouth and Manchester Folk. Equally at home in small venues, she thrives on the intimacy of performing in spaces where she can look audience members in the eye.

Opening the evening is James Hodder.

James is a British troubadour who fuses Folk and Americana influences with bittersweet lyrics and storytelling. In 2023 he released 'Wilderness Road', his second full-length album, to much acclaim.

As with his debut, James made the album with Dan Cooper at Rodel Sound. The sessions were recorded over three days and included Jim Kimberley on Drums (The Kimberleys/Robert Vincent), Tom Monks on keyboards (Nine Below Zero) and long time collaborators John Appleyard on harmonica and Beth Reid on vocals.

To mark the album release, James played a sold out show with the band at London's iconic Betsey Trotwood on Friday 10th February 2023. Hosted by Black Cat Music, the event received a glowing review from Americana UK: "one of the best concerts by a debut artist that I have seen in many a year".

In January, James was chosen as a showcase artist at the UK Americana Music Week in Hackney, continuing to win over new fans with every performance.