Eddi sang on the loo for her latest album.
Recording her new album took Scottish songstress Eddi Reader back to her childhood when she used to get a row for practising her music in the family bathroom.
The 54-year-old says she’s been on a “journey” with her new set of songs, many of which were recorded in her Glasgow home.
That journey saw her record vocals for new album, Vagabond, in the studio’s toilet and a cupboard in her house.
The process began two years ago, when she began writing and playing on a new piano bought by her husband, John Douglas from the Trashcan Sinatras.
“I say new, it’s a second-hand, small Zender piano,” explained Eddi.
“The guys in the Edinburgh music shop who sold it to me said Tom Waits had been in the shop earlier and played it for a half hour, then bought another one.
“He was playing Edinburgh that night, so it seemed plausible.”
Eddi took advantage of last January’s Celtic Connections to call upon a number of top musicians visiting the city for the festival.
“We all squeezed into the studio. I sang in the toilet, also grabbing the boys for some chorus singing in my ‘vocal booth’!
“We had 17 ideas and songs down in five days. I felt I had the start of a new record, but not enough. I knew I needed more.”
So in the spring they took the studio to Eddi’s house and set up in the kitchen.
“I was in a cupboard. That was apt, since as a child when I began needing space to explore singing, I used the hall cupboard in my childhood home in Arden,” said the ex-Fairground Attraction star.
“From the age of 11 to 14, I was barred from sitting in the toilet with my guitar for hours with the door locked.
“Living with eight others, and me practising being Elvis in there with my guitar, drove everyone else crazy!
“Anyway, singing in that cupboard served me well. I’ll never forget those days and nights in my house, recording with them all.
“The neighbours said they heard nothing. That’s Glasgow sandstone for you!”
Vagabond is released on February 3.
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