about

Fiona Soe Paing is a singer, producer, songwriter, and sound artist, and has released two critically acclaimed solo albums, in addition to her collaborations across genres and artforms.

Her current solo project “Sand, Silt, Flint” explores the folk tales and landscapes of Northeast Scotland, combining traditional song and music with experimental electronic production, to create a mesmerising, delicate and distinctive avant-folk sound.

The 2022 album was rated with Four Stars in The Guardian and Songlines Magazine, and Fiona was nominated for Performer Of The Year in the 2023 Scots Language awards.

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Fiona’s music has been played on BBC 6 Music (Iggy Pop), BBC Radio 3 (Verity Sharp, Elizabeth Alker), BBC World Service (Charlie Gillett), BBC Radio 1 (Mary Anne Hobbs), Radio Scotland (Vic Galloway, Mary Ann Kennedy) as well as being featured in Radio Scotland’s “Out Of Doors” programme and the award-winning podcast “Folk On Foot” which Fiona recorded in the landscapes that inspired her music.

* * * * SONGLINES MAGAZINE
“Soe Paing delivers that rarest of treats – a sublimely powerful and lingering experience, her otherworldly vocals providing a haunting and mesmerising homage to the northeast of Scotland.”
Brought up in rural Aberdeenshire, and of Scottish/Burmese heritage, Fiona recently discovered she is related to one of the area’s original ballad singers, John Strachan, who was recorded by the folk archivist Alan Lomax. This led to digging deeper into the rich seam of Northeast Scotland’s balladry tradition, stories, and language.
Her debut release, “Tamin Sah Pade”, sung in Burmese, appeared on the “Sound Of The Word 2007” album for Warner Music, compiled by world music DJ and musicologist the late Charlie Gillett.
The 2016 album Alien Lullabies was a deeper exploration of language, identity, and heritage, combining vocals in Burmese and English with abstract vocal improvisations. The audio-visual show was selected for the “Made In Scotland” showcase of the best in Scottish performance in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

For the new album Sand, Silt, Flint, Fiona returns to her Scottish roots, with the use of the Doric dialect, unique to Northeast Scotland.  For live shows, Fiona performs accompanied by visuals by Clea Wallis and Isla Goldie.

Fiona acknowledges the generous support of Creative Scotland, Help Musicians UK and Aberdeen Performing Arts. John Strachan samples are from the Alan Lomax Collection at the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress. Courtesy of the Association for Cultural Equity.