HOLLY ELMHIRST

Band Timeline:

The Nivens

The Rainbyrds ??-1996

Angelou 1996-2007

Solo 2006-

Singer song writer Holly Elmhirst born in London on 13 November 1969 relocating with her family to Norfolk in 1978.

[Wiki] She grew up around music, and began playing guitar at the age of six. When she was nine her family relocated to Norfolk. Lerski played bass and guitar in various bands throughout her teens and whilst studying at Art School. Upon graduation she joined folk rock band The Rainbyrds. Lerski formed Angelou with guitarist Jo Baker in 1996. Local Norwich label Haven Records heard the demo and signed Angelou in the beginning of 1997

On hearing of their success abroad, UK music independent giant Sanctuary Records offered Lerski a recording and publishing agreement and at the end of 2001 Lerski finally signed a major deal. Angelou were soon off on the road again, this time as a duo touring Scandinavia and Europe with John Hiatt & The Goners.

On their return from Europe the band went into rehearsals for the third album, staying in a wooden hunting lodge in Derbyshire. Recorded both in Denmark and Manchester throughout 2002, Life Is Beautiful was a much poppier record. It was finally released in 2003 under Lerski's own name. With the launch of the album came lives dates with The Cranberries, Jason Mraz and Josh Rouse, and support from BBC Radio 2 and most notably Wake Up To Wogan producer Paul Walters. In 2004, after disagreements with Sanctuary over lack of promotion for the record, Lerski was forced to leave the label and her songs behind.

In the summer of 2004, tired of the music industry and following a break up, Lerski relocated to Manchester where she began to write new material with the intention of releasing on her own imprint Laundry Label. Greetings From N.Y. was Laundry's first release. Featuring on the cover a hand written postcard to Lerski from Jeff Buckley, 'Greetings' was a 'best of' CD showcasing Lerski and the band's music to date. BBC Radio 2's Wake Up To Wogan once again championed the record and "More Than A Storm" featured weekly on his show. Starbucks at the time was also featuring tracks from Life Is Beautiful on their in-store compilation.

By 2006, following the news that Sanctuary had been bought out by Universal Music Group, Lerski returned to Norwich to begin a new chapter.