Rosie Miles: A Voice That Captivates, Stories That Resonate

Alt-folk singer-songwriter Rosie Miles is a modern-day storyteller, weaving poetic lyrics and soaring melodies inspired by the likes of Joni Mitchell, Madison Cunningham, and Laura Marling. Her music dances seamlessly between Indie, Folk, and Jazz, echoing the rich nostalgia of the 70s songwriter movement while remaining deeply personal and refreshingly unique.

Praised as a “gifted and charismatic songwriter” by Tom Robinson (BBC Radio 6), Rosie’s debut EP Still Life earned acclaim for its intricate exploration of self-paralysis during the stillness of 2020. Now, with her forthcoming EP Meet You in the Morning—a stripped-back, heartfelt meditation on grief, healing, and friendship—Rosie unveils her most vulnerable and raw work to date.

Known for her captivating live performances, Rosie blends her powerful vocals with off-the-cuff anecdotes, creating unrepeatable moments that leave audiences laughing, crying, and enchanted. Having supported artists like Tom Robinson, Rosie Frater-Taylor, and O’Hooley & Tidow, she continues to carve a space that is both timeless and uniquely her own.

Prepare to be transported by a voice “hard not to fall in love with” (Triste Magazine), music “achingly beautiful” (LSF), and a songwriter whose vulnerability and artistry resonate long after the final note.

Your music has been described as hauntingly beautiful and deeply personal. Can you share the inspiration behind your upcoming EP, Meet You in the Morning, and what it means to you personally?

The 6 songs that make up the EP weren’t originally written as a body of work so the inspiration that links them together was something I found in retrospect. They are all songs that I never played with my band so naturally they are the rawest and most personal ones. That started as the surface-level common thread but as I let them sit together as a group, I found that their common inspiration was that of grief. Grieving for people I’ve lost from my life or the world itself, for things that could have been and for versions of your former self you say goodbye to as your grow and age. Because they were all written at different points over three or four years, you can hear me becoming more accepting and clear-eyed about the realities of loss and change. They mean a lot to me because, more than my other music which I have played live and shared so much with other, writing these songs helped me process a lot of that grief in a very private way.

Your sound is often compared to artists like Joni Mitchell and Laura Marling. How have they influenced your music, and how do you balance honoring your influences while maintaining your unique style?

I am always drawn to the lyrics of songs (and write far more lyrics than I do songs!) so a lot of my influences are word-loving singers. I remember listening to a lot of Joni Mitchell at a time when I being encouraged to write succinctly (and talk less) to make songs and metre flow better but she has an amazing way of disregarding structure and fitting whole essays in a verse. So I thought if she can write too many words, so can I. I am a big sucker for nostalgia and often fall into the trap of trying to replicate the work of my favourite artists from the past so I make a conscience effort to listen to newer artists and genres of music I would never write myself. In the end, if I feel like I’m trying to hard it’s probably bad and inauthentic and you can hear that in my old demos.

After the success of Still Life, you chose to record your new EP solo with just your voice and guitar. What was the creative process like for this stripped-back approach, and how did it shape the stories you wanted to tell?

I find recording very stressful because I don’t know much about music production and struggle to realise the sound world I hear in my head into an Ableton project. So I was keen to take it back to basics and just record these songs how I wrote them, me and the guitar. Me and the wonderful Sam Hobbs (Rebel Elements) recorded them all live which, due to the nature of them, was quite an emotional experience but the recordings alone didn’t feel full or intense enough. So we came up with an approach where we would add subtle sounds, a drone here, some percussion there, but as soon as that sound came into consciousness and you started to wonder what it was, we cut it out. I think what we managed to create is the rawness and vulnerability of live, unedited recordings supported by a healthy dose of production intensity that makes a record impactful and long-lasting.

Your performances are known for blending emotional intensity with lighthearted anecdotes. How do you approach connecting with your audience during live shows, and how does that interplay affect your storytelling on stage?

To be honest, as a self-confessed last minute Charlie, I’m pretty awful at preparing for live shows so a lot of it comes from just being thrust into the moment and riding the waves that come. But I like it like that because then each show feels like a conversation with the audience rather than a super-polished performance. It means each time I might preface each songs with a different thought or story depending on the vibe of the people in the room which gives them a slightly different meaning each time and makes performing fun. When I play without my band, I’ll often change or choose the set as I go which I think is one of the privileges of being a solo artist. I can play songs that I finished the night before or old songs that I think they might like which is very fun. There’s a lot of artists I love that have an artistic persona on stage that is separate from themselves but everything I write is (sometimes embarrassingly) autobiographical so it would feel inauthentic to not just be myself. Also once I’m faced with a crowd of people, the adrenaline kicks in and I lose any sense of composure that I had. Which is fun for the most part and sometimes a bit mental.

Having received support from BBC Radio 6, BBC Introducing, and Folk Radio UK, how has this recognition shaped your career, and what advice would you offer to emerging singer-songwriters looking to gain similar support?

When most of your creative practise happens alone in your bedroom, it’s hard to feel like what you’re creating is a) any good and b) relatable. So receiving feedback and support from anyone, whether they are on the radio or a person at a show is very grounding and special to feel like your music has connected with someone in some way. It’s not essential, some songs I write to soothe myself but sharing my music with others, like chatting your feelings out with a friend, is a big reason why I do it. I think my advice would be to first focus on making something you’re not embarrassed to share and then finding early-career opportunities like Launchpad or BBC Introducing to apply to. Even if you’re not successful the first time (which I wasn’t), each time someone reads your name in an email or on a list you are building a foundation that slowly nibbles away in people’s memory and you don’t know where it will lead or who is listening.