Songs in the key of life
THERE ARE MANY THINGS Jessie Buckley could reasonably have expected to be doing this winter. Shooting a film, perhaps. Going on holiday, possibly. Sitting at home watching Wimbledon and the World Cup, for another.
Going on tour, not so much. Yet that’s exactly what Buckley is about to do when she rings Empire late one June afternoon. She’s fixing to head off on a mini-jaunt around Scotland and Ireland with her band, singing songs from Wild Rose, the film which confirms that Buckley is an astonishing, dynamite talent. “I’m so excited to be on a tour bus,” she laughs. “And so are all the band. We’ve got little bunk beds. It’s a nice way to round up a good old journey.”
It’s a journey that began when she signed on to , attracted by the lead role of Rose-Lynn Harlan, a Glaswegian single mother who, upon release from a brief stint in prison, eventually manages to turn her obsession-themed talent show, , when she was 18 — but has chosen to focus on acting of late, in the likes of and . But gives her the chance to show off her incredible voice across a series of songs. Including one written by Mary Steenburgen. Here, Buckley talks us through the pick of the bunch.
