Blue Raincoat Music has signed the songwriter behind rising stars William the Conqueror to its publishing division.

The trio from Cornwall, signed to Loose Music for recordings, release their Americana-influenced debut album Proud Disturber of the Peace on 4 August. Singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Ruarri Joseph was previously signed to Atlantic as a solo artist.

Joseph has now joined the Blue Raincoat Songs publishing roster alongside songwriters including Fionn Regan, Nerina Pallot and Rickie Lee Jones.

“He’s an incredibly talented guy, just a natural, great voice,” Blue Raincoat CEO Jeremy Lascelles told Music Week. "We have a couple of other artists that we’re very keen on at the moment, we’re still early in the negotiation stage. The publishing company has only been going a year and I think we have about a dozen artists now, so that’s another string to our bow."

Blue Raincoat Music Group is led by Lascelles and Robin Millar, with the backing of Chris Wright and former Virgin Entertainment chairman Robert Devereux.

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