My epic adventure across America

It was only when Emma Rugg arrived home from her epic 35-date tour of the US that the real journey began.

She may have played everywhere from house parties to "hick pool halls", coffee houses to cool anti-folk clubs, Borders book stores to West Jefferson golf club and Tennessee to New York, but it was when she arrived home, in slightly less exotic Hull, that her biggest challenge started.

While touring the US with her long-term friend and collaborator Henry Doss, the singer amassed hours of raw video footage charting the pair's travels along the highways and interstates of the north east US.

"It was a brilliant experience travelling from show to show with Henry," says 26-year-old Emma. "The reception we got everywhere was really positive and welcoming. I took a video camera with me for the journey and when I got back home, in May 2007, I knew I had to do something with all the footage I'd filmed so I could share the experience with as many people as possible."

What followed was five solid months of furious late night editing as Emma shaped her American adventure into bite-sized chunks of road movie following Henry and her as they troubadoured their way across the country.

"It was all coming together really well and we were just approaching the finishing post when, on April 1 of all days, the computer crashed and I lost everything. The whole five months of work was gone, like that," she says with a click of her fingers, wincing at the thought. "It said the file had corrupted and everything had gone. I think that's when I had a mini-breakdown."

But, driven by the same determination to succeed that saw her raise the funds for her debut album Isolated Impression by busking in Hull city centre, Emma decided to plough on and start afresh with her movie magnum opus.

"I just really wanted to release it, to get it out there," says the singer, who release the first two installments of her finally completed tour movie – called Directions – on Youtube this week.

The singer will release two, ten-minute chapters from the film each week for the next six weeks, telling the story of Emma's 2007 expedition from Hull to Tennessee and back again.

As well as revealing what went on behind the scenes as Emma and Henry travelled from town to town in her car, the rockumentary also features lives performances from both singers as they entertain audiences in places such as the Route One Bar, in East Asheville, North Carolina.

It also features incidents that happened along the way including the moment Emma was formally greeted by the mayor of Raleigh, North Carolina, one of Hull's twin cities, as an official ambassador of her home city.

Emma is now hoping British audiences will log-on to find out what she's been doing for the past 18 months.

"The great ting about the film is that it shows me exactly as I am, warts and all," she smiles. "I think it shows my sense of humour and what I'm like as a person, as well as giving people the chance to hear mine and Henry's music."

* For more details and to watch Emma's tour documentary, visit www.youtube.com/EmmaRuggTV or visit and