Damn Pesky Indie Kid

HEY I’VE MOVE ONTO BIGGER AND BETTER THINGS AND YOU’LL FIND ME AT http://damnpeskyindiekid.wordpress.com

SEE YAS THERE!  

 WORDS: Barry Montgomery

First will come the ‘essential’ pay cuts, followed quickly, like a slap of a wet fish across your face, by three-day working weeks.  Next thing you’ll know, you’ll be handed that dreaded slip of paper telling you that, even though your experience was extremely valued to the workforce, the fat head honchos sitting in the comfy offices, sipping on their frappuccinos, or whatever delightful Starbucks craze they’re going through this week, have to let you go due to a ‘downturn in business’. 

And so off they’ll send you with a ‘sorrowful’ smile on their fat faces, shake of the hand and what they consider, a suffice redundancy payment. 

Well I say fuck it, why not just save yourself all that stress, worry and work and just quit.  That’s right.  Quit.  The way I see it is most of us are going to end up on the dole, sooner or later. 

At the rate the unemployment numbers are soaring, figured at 326,100 in January, and predicted to be nearing half a mil by the summer, in the words of that poet Morrissey “it’s gonna happen someday”. 

Think of my proposal. Rather than waking up at some ridiculous hour in the morning for work, dreading that maybe today is the day you get the news, you could be sleeping in ‘til twelve, not having to shave for days, watching re runs of Jerry Springer and developing a taste for those cheesy soaps. 

Plus all that free money. 

I’ve yet to see a flaw.

WORDS: Barry Montgomery
Hidden amongst the endless rows of Georgian houses on Dublin’s Southside, in his own world lives front man of what was once Amsterdam’s, and is now Ireland’s, best kept secret: House of Cosy Cushions.

When arranging an interview, shunned were the offers of overpriced cups of coffee in Starbucks, Richard had instead invited me into his home. As I walk through the snow on this cold bitter February afternoon, there’s something warm and welcoming about the ‘just knock’ sign that hanging underneath Richard Bolhuis name on the door.

Unlike other Irish musicians slash scenesters; Richard is wary of the clicky scenes in Ireland, telling me he tries to “avoid them so not confronted with the clickiness”.

Picked up on Seadog Records, Richard and co. released EP “Palace of The Lost Ones” in 2005, which was previously recorded in Holland.  The Irish not quite sure what to do with this piece of musical brilliancy, lukewarmly welcomed it.

Slowly the EP gained a following and an outcry for an album soon rose up, and so, in 2008, over various periods and studios, including Grouse Lodge and Elektra Studios in Dublin, Richard and co. recorded twenty tracks, twelve of which made it to the waiting ears of fans last October.  Album guests include choice awards winner, and close friend of the band, Cathy Davey. 

‘I know a lot of people who enjoyed the album, which is great, but then again, if they didn’t I would still make it’.  Behind the beauty of the music lays the lyrics of a poet, uncaring of adoring fans, and sold out venues, living for that tingle that creeps over your body when a song comes together.

Rather than whoring themselves out to major record labels, House of Cosy Cushions are more contented to just “keeping gigging and recording and every now and then release albums”. 

Putting just as much into their live shows with visuals accompanying their set, a House of Cosy Cushions live performance is worth catching and have announced dates for their latest tour, you needn’t wait too long.

Tour Dates:

3 march 2009 Ruby Sessions, Dublin
17 March 2009 Waterford Festival, Waterford
27 March 2009 Baker Place, Limerick
28 March 2009 Cleere’s Theatre, Kilkenny
2 April 2009 Whelans, Dublin
3 April 2009 De Barras, Clonkilty
4 April 2009 Crane Lane Theatre, Cork
9 May 2009 Fox & Firkin, London
14 May 2009 Eistmusic (with Cathy Davey), Portlaoise

www.myspace.com/houseofcosycushions

www.houseofcosycushions.com

WORDS: Barry Montgomery

Messiah J & The Expert have announced an Irish tour to coincide with the release of new single “Turn The Magic On”.  Released the 20^th February, it will be available as a digital download only.  The single is the second to be lifted from latest album “From The Word Go”.

The album, which is up for their second consecutive Choice Prize Nomination as Irish Album of The Year, sees guest appearances from The Delorentos, Leda Egri and the return of long time collaborator, Joanne Daly. 

Mastered by Guy Davie, who recent activities included The Foals, the album sees Messiah J and the Expert treading new musical territories and has been deemed “light years ahead of the pack" by the Irish press.

Irish tour dates:
Thursday 26 February     UCD, Dublin
Friday 27 February           Electric Avenue, Waterford
Saturday 28 February      Cypress Avenue, Cork
Wednesday 4 March        Vicar Street (Choice Prize), Dublin
Friday 6 March                 Roisin Dubh, Galway
Thursday 12 March          Queens Speakeasy, Belfast
Saturday 14 March          Dolan’s Warehouse, Limerick
Sunday 15 March            Anu Bar, Wexford
Monday 16 Mar               The Spirit Store, Dundalk
Saturday 28 March          The Academy, Dublin (with Halfset and Le Galaxie)

WORDS: Barry Montgomery

Deciding not to associate themselves with the whole “Blast” scene, might have been suicide for many bands, but Mr. Lightweight are still breathing, having apparently survived.  Relentless touring up and down the breathe of the country over the last year has seen their Myspace fan numbers soar into the tens of thousands.

Fair enough, it’s mainly young girls and their training bras, hormones raging all over the place, screaming for a bit of bassist Spud, but a fan’s a fan. 

But unlike other bands, whoring themselves out to labels, rather than sending out demos begging for the attention of record companies, bassist Spud says that the band would rather not go down that root, as “there’s too many catches with record labels”.

Formed in January 2008 amidst hangovers and with world dominion in mind, the last twelve months has seen them follow a path of “wild adventures… involving nudity, toast, more nudity… uncontrollable drinking and public urination on hotel walls and the odd few groupies”. 

Amazingly, in-between all of this pandemonium, they managed to trek to Manor Park Studios twice to record debut album “Clocks and Bottles” with producer Neal Calderwood, their second visit ending with them “almost burning his studio down while recording” last July. 

Many bands hit or miss in their first year, and until now Mr. Lightweight had seemingly missed all the major hiccups.  But after a recent trek to Studio 1 of the infamous Grouse Lodge Studios late last year where they planned to spend three days recording new single “Demon”, the session pushed the band to their limits and cracks appeared.

“We worked pretty much twenty four hours straight at one point trying to get it finished but it just didn’t go right at all and in the end the recording isn’t exactly good enough to be a single so its back to manor park”

And a rather turbulent start to the year has seen the departure of founding member, guitarist/ front man Des Foley.  Unhappy with the way the band was progressing, Des broke the news to his fellow band mates.

Of the incident, Spud told The Bullet that “it’s been hard to get things rolling again since Christmas because of the big set back of Des leaving the band. He left on good terms obviously, but it’s a shock to us because he played such a big part with us”.

But not ones to cry over spilt milk, Spud continued on saying that “their main priority at the moment is auditioning new singers/guitarists then once back on our feet we’ll get this Demon single recorded” letting it slip that “there’s one guitarist that we’re really happy with now”.

And so planning another trip back to Derry to Manor Park Studios, with their new member, they can only hope and pray this time to not to burn the studio down. 

Finishing off asking Spud whether he feels that Mr. Lightweight are not given the proper chance by people considering the type of music they play, he brazenly responded “I think is something unique and anyone that says other wise we’ll just turn the music up louder".

www.myspaace.com/mrlightweight

Photo: Donal O Caoimh (www.donal.ie)

Words: Barry Montgomery Jan 2009

Not liking “to tie themselves down to any one particular style of song”, Mike got Spiked began to stretch boundaries to breaking point in 2002, quickly becoming firm favourites of Irish promotion group, Gigsmart.  No run of the mill band, their live show is a cacophony of ska/rock/metal-laden riffs. 

With David Lodge holding it all together on the sticks, Jonathon Myles’s funky bass lines escape from the fret board and collide with the ears of the assembled masses. While somewhere amidst this wall of music, Gavin McGuire’s vocals reach dizzyingly heights before bringing it crashing down to his trademark guttural roar. You leave the venue after their show, not quite sure of what you have just witnessed but knowing your life will never be quite the same again.

Releasing debut album “Caveat Emptor” in 2005, described in the Irish Examiner as ‘the most original album to emerge from Ireland in a decade’, it hit the underground scene with an echoing thud, and, four years later, the ground is still shaking from its impact. While single “All You Need”, charting in at #23, gave the band some much-appreciated airplay in 2004.

Soon, plans were hatched for a short American tour and so, leaving the limited scene of Ireland behind them, they released the “Poetry and Prozak EP” in June 2006 for their hardcore Irish fans and set out for the U.S. and the Canadian leg of the Warped Tour. Unbeknownst to them, ahead of them lay a path of bedlam and chaos, resulting in them playing only one of the supposed five dates, and having to borrow instruments for their debut, due to a cock up with transport some 3 000 miles south in New York.  

Of their first attempt at touring, guitarist Conall McMahon told me that “anything that could have possibly gone wrong did go wrong for us on that trip but, because of that, it totally armed us for the next time”.

Fast forward two years, add the stress and strain of constant touring, which saw them travel over 120 000 miles and through 42 states, they hit a brick wall and burned out mid-tour. Conall and crew reluctantly cancelled the remainder of the tour, much to the dismay of their newfound fans, and decided to jet back home, deciding a well-deserved rest was in order. 

One of their last dates in July saw Mike got Spiked playing on the Whiskey A Go-Go Tour on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood, leaving them feeling a overwhelming sense of achievement and of course, “like total bloody rock stars after, chilling out in the VIP area”. After the storming set, management labels began circling overhead, and they left Hollywood flirting, and eventually, signing with Associated Talent Management (ATM). The group headed home, one less weight on their minds.

Hitting Irish soil, they parted ways for six weeks to recuperate; catching up with the scene they had grew up in, refreshing old friendships and reacquainting themselves with bottles of buckfasts. But hangovers wearing thin, the itch set back in and they soon picked back up instruments. Recording a Xmas internet-only release, “Red to Blue”, they re-ignited the spark that had helped them gain widespread popularity on the American punk scene and with new found gusto, songs came thick and fast. 

Well rested and armed with a brand new live set, Mike Got Spiked are flying back to America in March to get “a bit of money and clout behind” them and back out onto the scene. A summer of “huge drives across grassy plains, barren deserts and snow-capped mountains” awaits them, giving them a chance to put their new found skill of “how to urinate in a bottle while driving at 70mph” to practise. Seven new songs and counting, written over their break, their sophomore effort is due to be recorded early next year.  

 With 100 000 plus hits on myspace, provided, they manage not to get “ship-wrecked in Florida” or becoming “buzzard-food in Arkansas”, it looks like Mike got Spiked are here for the foreseeable future.

www.myspae.com/mikegotspiked

www.mikegotspiked.com

John Walsh was born in a wilderness where many fear to thread after dark; ‘Ballyfermot’.  Muttered uneasily by some but known affectionately to locals as ‘Ballyer’.

After two decades in this wilderness, John decided it was time to fly the roost and experience life out on his own.  Drinks were had, plans were made, houses were viewed and John soon found himself living in Rathmines with his girlfriend.

What with the start of a new college year swiftly approaching, it became an inconvenience living such a distance away from college.

So John and his beloved mutually parted ways and he flew home, ready for another year of days spent skipping classes and drinking overpriced cups of teas.

John, a self confessed cynic of the pop world, when not dodging classes, studies journalism in his local college, BCFE, with hopes of aspiring to become a music journalist.

BCFE, a college renowned for having its alumni go far, alumni such as Lorraine Keane [TV3 Presenter] and Niall Turner [Editor, Connected Magazine].  Maybe John could possible be their next success story.

His fresh young face belies his age, easily mistaken for a twenty-year-old, John is in actual fact 28, and after all those years, he had come to the conclusion that music and its journalists are all nothing more than a bunch of ‘cheerleaders’ without a single opinion amongst themselves.

His dislike of your typical modern music journalists interested me so I decided to investigate further.  Quietly, he informed me, while taking a slow drag of a cigarette that ‘modern journalists are nothing more than a bunch of cheerleaders, not a single opinion among themselves’.

Quizzing him further, he ran off the list of magazines he believed ‘sold out’ for highter sales.  His dislike for NME stood out strongly, asking me have I ever truly see any originality in it since the early 90s.  I had to take his word for it considering I’ve only read it about once.

While many people would disagree, after researching the topic a little further I noted that music magazines, the likes of KERRANG! And the aforementioned NME, which John believes was one of the first to employ those so-called  ‘cheerleaders’ are slightly veering towards the more mainstream bands such as Muse and the Artic Monkeys, bands who’s interviews would sell more copies, bands who don’t need the over exposure NME offers them, leaving the lesser known bands out in the cold.

But I had to think, is it really the whole ‘selling out’ issue that bugs John, who, at one point mentioned that he was once a member of the ‘elite’ Tower Records staff.

The ‘uber-cool’ record shop whose employees hate anything that could possible be considered mainstream.  The kind of staff who can quote off a list of bands you’ve never heard of but will definitely ‘change your life’.

When I asked him for a list of his favourite artists, I noted nothing much stemmed pass the psychedelic genre that was founded in the 1960s.  Was it ignorance or fear that made him reluctant to listen to modern music?

Ignorance that nothing possible could be better than this, or fear that he actually might like some of what he’d hear, and making himself an outcast amongst his Tower Records peers.

Keeping in line with cynical views when I joking asked him where does he see himself in ten years, god forbid, maybe one of these ‘cheerleaders’ slaving for the like of NME? 

He slowly looked into my eye, crushing the remnants of his cigarette onto the ground with his foot replying: ‘more than likely dead’.  Nice to see optimism is still truly alive.

Photos: Cluas © Barry Montgomery Nov 2008

The rain bounced off the protective covering off the roof of Danny Byrnes beer garden, a garden renowned for its local celebrities. On a good day you could catch a glimpse of ‘Bresy’ or Justin Ryan of The Blizzards smoking fags and drinking coffees during breaks from rehearsals in the abandoned nightclub upstairs.

But today it was a different celebrity I was keen to spot. Johnny Cronin, front man of Irish indie heroes, The Aftermath.

As I crushed out the end of yet another cigarette, I thought being late in my choice of career was professional suicide, but it seems fashionable amongst the stars.

Whilst debating on whether to smoke another cigarette, I heard the familiar voice of Johnny greeting the bar staff behind me as he rushed over. Sinking down into the soft leathery couches, he at once began to apologise, something about a taxi.

Shaking hands with Johnny, he quipped that The Aftermath are “actually doing better with the recession… when you’re skint, you drink your dole and wanna listen to a depressing tune.

Johnny and his younger brother Mick were brought up in the small town of Drumlish in Longford. As teenagers, they left for the bright and shining lights of Leeds in the early 90s as a recession rolled over the hills and into the towns and villages of Ireland.

It was here in Leeds, as teenagers, they built up a strong and lasting friendship with many now well-established musicians including Nick Hodgson from the Kaiser Chiefs. Their teenage years were spent performing with assorted musicians under different guises, honing their sound, a sound that has made them like no others the Irish live scene.   

Some would say having brothers in a band would be a recipe for disaster; after all, you’ve just got to look at Oasis, a prime example of brotherly feuding, but not the Cronin brothers!

Fair enough, “the fights are worse… because it’s our lives that we’ve wasted… we’ve brought ourselves down together, but we’re sticking together until the grave.”  

As Johnny and Mick arrived in Mullingar in 2002, a, some would say, famous producer by the name of Mike Hedges [The Cure, U2] was singing Johnny’s praises to the heads of Sony BGM back in England. Johnny hadn’t even begun to unpack before the label, intrigued by Hedges’ interest in Cronin, had invited him back across the water to London for talks. But on arrival, Johnny was cruelly informed that he was simply “too fat” to be famous. This was perhaps the deciding factor, an urge to prove them wrong… and prove them wrong he did.

Almost five years later, a much thinner Johnny Cronin, a debut album charting in at #11, three Top 20 singles, and an ability to sell out venues in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Mullingar has replaced the dejected front man of 2002. The bosses at Sony BGM must be kicking themselves. 

He told me that this was one of the reasons behind their decision to ditch the major record label interest and go the independent root instead. Setting up their own label, Live Transmission Records, they launched “Friendlier Up Here”.

When I asked him at any point did he feel like he had made a mistake in doing so, he told me no, as he “knows people who were signed to that label at that time, and they’ve been dropped since”.

Gathering the required monies and recruiting the remaining band members, Justin McNabb [Guitar] and Martin ‘Sleepy’ Grey [Bass], the musical machine, now christened The Aftermath, built up a large fan base before heading for the hills, the sunny hills of southern France that is.

Hiding out in the Black Box Studios in the first half of 2006 with producers David and Karl Oldum, they recorded half of what, for Irish indie bands, would eventually become one of the biggest success stories of 2007: “Friendlier Up Here”.   

Missing the rainy days, The Aftermath returned home, deciding to finish the other half of the album on home ground. Holing themselves up in various studios around Ireland including their own studio in Drumlish and Temple Lane Studios in Dublin with producer Ger MacDonald, they finally finished the album many have waited years for.

Hitting the live circuit once again with relentless touring around the country in the months leading up to the album launch, they slotted into #11.

As the interview progressed his ability to name drop became more and more obvious as he ran off a list of famous musicians that have guested on their debut album “Friendlier Up Here”.   

Sounding more like a who’s who of the Irish scene, guests included Helen Turner from Paul Weller’s band [until the Stanley Road Album] and The Style Council. A hero of Johnny’s, Steve Wickham, played on four of their tracks. Vivienne Long, [Cellist, Damien Rice] was another musician they became friends with, offering her services to the lads. Terry Edwards, of The Tindersticks, came in towards the end and did all the string arrangements, bringing a completed sound to the album.   

“Friendlier Up Here” is one of those albums that can be played from start to finish, a rarity these days, which Johnny puts down to the fact that the songs were written on such a long period of time with “an awful lot of different styles cause it’s been written over years and recorded at different times”.

There’s a song for every occasion, whether it’s for that rainy day listening to “Overlooking Paris” wondering where that ex girlfriend is or singing along to “Are You Not Wanting Me Yet?” as you swallow that last gin and OJ before heading out to hit the town. 

But Johnny “loves them all especially Joyful/Mystery”. Calling them his “different babies”, Johnny’s the worried parent, “hoping they don’t get bullied at school”.

Confirming that the next album will just stay in the one mood, whether it’s sad, angry or depressed, who knows? But I’m certain that whatever mood they pick, it’s bound to be just as successfully as their debut.

Regretting those coffees I had drank earlier; I excused myself and made a run for the jacks. On my way back, I saw that Justin Ryan, of The Blizzards, on yet another fag break, had robbed my seat.

Seeing me coming back, he excused himself and as he walked away, I questioned Johnny on whether he ever found that sometimes being based in Mullingar, did they find themselves being labelled ‘just another band from Mullingar’ trying to be the next Blizzards.

But Johnny reckoned that it isn’t so saying “that’s not such a bad thing to be just another band from Mullingar… They’re brilliant for the town, it’s better for young kids to be listening to The Blizzards than techno…well bad techno anyway”.

Never a band to stop, the remainder of the year is filled up with “sexy gigs” including the 2FM School of Rock in Cork, [6^th December] and a gig with fellow Irish rockers The Stunning in the Tripod, Dublin [20^th December]. All their hard work has seemingly started to pay off, earning themselves the support slot with The Pigeon Detectives on their Irish tour, taking in Derry, Belfast, Dublin and Galway. [11^th – 14^th December] And if you want to catch them on the box make sure to tune into Dave Fanning’s The Last Broadcast on Network Two on 4^th December.

As the rain eased off, and our time was winding down, Johnny began to tell me what 2009 holds for The Aftermath with plans to tour around England, a place harder to crack as “there’s always another twenty five bands who look like The Artic Monkeys trying to make it” and there’s a trip over to Scandinavia due, where they have landed a distribution deal in Norway and Sweden.

Johnny hinted that with the new album, recording due to begin in early ’09, there was a possibility of recording yet again in the Black Box Studios. But this time behind the desk is Noel Hogan, the guitarist of The Cranberries. As I finish off yet another fag, I’ve run out of questions and time. But one thing’s for sure…it’s beginning to shape up to be a busy couple of months ahead for The Aftermath.

New Single “There Is a Darkness” available on download on 9th December.    

http://www.myspace.com/theaftermathband

Photo:  Hotpress    Words: © Barry Montgomery Dec 2008

With hair ‘looking like it had been hacked by a crazed eight-year-old’, Cathy Davey calmly put down her guitar and stepped off the stage smiling after playing yet another storming set to the dithering public.  Good to see she’s overcome her stage fright.

EMI have seemed to develop a pattern of signing bands on a whim.  They took a chance on The Thrills back in the early noughties, which paid off.  Then, seeing the potential in this young singer/songwriter from Dublin, they took the gamble again in 2002 and yet again, after somewhat of a shaky start with debut ‘Something Ilk’, it has seemingly paid off.

While the crowd slowly disperse, we made our way through the red doors of The Stables to unwind and get started.  As we begin our interview upstairs away from her adoring fans, a stressed Cathy, clearly unhappy with her performance, flops out onto the floor.

27-year-old Cathy Davey has repeatedly attempted to shrug off the label of just another girl with a guitar crying over her lost loves, but her latest album ‘Tales of Silversleeve’, like its predecessor, ‘Something Ilk’ smacks of broken hearts and abandonment.

Moments of stage fright, ever increasing pressure from labels, fussy producers who wouldn’t ‘rein into her way of thinking’… some of the often less talked about side effects of being famous.

You name it; Cathy’s career has experienced it, on its somewhat bumpy road to success.  But instead of hindering her career, this experience has turned her into more of a success story.  You could even call her The Cinderella of the Irish music scene.

The year was 2003 and the feeling of someone walking over her grave sent a shiver down her back as the ‘Come Over’ EP fell into the hands of the big wigs across the water at EMI.

Their reactions were to take a chance and sign a then unknown Cathy.  The young, naïve 23-year-old was then thrown in the deep end late in 2003 with renowned producer Ben Hillier (with producing credits on records for Elbow and Blur) in Rock Field Studios in the wilderness that, in geographical terms, is known as Southern Wales.

Of the recording process, she says she ‘wasn’t used to having to comprise with someone else’ and ‘was very nervous singing in front of him and it never really stopped’ but still believes that ‘a lot of good stuff did come out of the experience’.

As the interview progressed she told me of the ‘massive and probably unnecessary pressure’ she was under during the run up to the release of ‘Something Ilk’.  She struck me as someone who was truly in it for the music and somewhat uncomfortable with the success and pressures that come with being signed to a label.

The result, ‘Something Ilk’, was an album she was unhappy with, calling it ‘a massive waste of money’, putting her dislike of it down to the fact that she didn’t ‘think she was ready’ for the experience.

As the release date of her debut approached fast, the Irish being a bunch of begrudgers, were geared up to slate the album.  Not caring too much for those who belittle her for getting signed on just the strength of her recordings, Cathy says that being ‘signed on a recording deal, you’re being signed for your recording material’, not the amount of gigs you’ve played.

Believing ‘more could have been done’ with debut ‘Something Ilk’, Cathy and her band did the necessary touring and promotions and quickly puts its mixed commercial success, along with her disappointment, behind her and began work on her sophomore effort, spending ‘a twentieth of what was spent on the first album’.

Three years can be a long time in this ever-changing music industry.  Many artists would worry over being dropped from their label and forgotten by the fickle public, but EMI, seeing the potential in Cathy, gave her another chance.

Davey herself, secretly hoped the public would forget all about her and her songs of anguish, and let her drop off the radar, giving her that all too rare second chance to ‘start afresh’.

With her second chance tucked neatly into her back packet, Cathy hot footed it out of the offices of EMI and decided to return down the fail-safe road of what she knew best, and what had gotten her signed in the first; recording in the comfort of her home.

Ditching tempting offers of big producers and even bigger studios, she began recording tracks at home, for her sophomore effort, in the belief that ‘your stamp is wiped out once you work with a producer that you’re not able to rein into your way of thinking’.

Tracks done and dusted, she brought the assorted demos to Liam Howe, of Sneaker Pimps’ fame, of whom she was more than happy to let add his magical touch, to produce what would eventually be christened ‘Tales of Silversleeve’.

Davey hit the nail on the head this time around, releasing ‘Tales of Silversleeve’ in Oct 2007 to a more welcoming response than her debut.

Extensive radio play of the album, and of her single ‘Reuben’ earned her a  Meteor Award for ‘Best Irish Female of 2008’ and a Choice Music Prize nomination for ‘3007 Irish Album of the Year’ only to lose out to fellow Dubliners Super Extra Bonus Party  This left her manager rather ‘pissed off’ but didn’t really upset Cathy as she felt it got people who otherwise wouldn’t of heard of her ‘listening to her music’.

After the excitement of the awards, 2008 saw Cathy wear out the soles of more than one pair of shoes with her promoting the arse-end out of the album up and down the country.  And what with 2009 readying itself for the launch of album number three, it seems EMI are going to have to buy her another few pairs.

Hitting closing time and me there with not a single trace of alcohol in my veins, I could feel the auld withdrawal symptoms starting to creep up.  So with a slight shake in my hand, I decided to wrap it up and let Cathy get on with the usual antics of harassment by drunken fans, a necessary evil associated with being famous.

With a new album being recorded in the new year, deciding to record at home is a move that’s paying off for her, I for one, cant wait for its release.

www.myspace.com/cathydavey

www.cathydavey.com