MAYFEST PREVIEW
Andy White
; Little has been heard ofAndy White 3 in this country since the release of his
third album. Himself. and last year’s
triumphantGlastonbury shindig.
when the Acoustic Tent flappcd and the audience flipped to the strains of ‘Groovy Kind of Way‘ and other infectious folk-pop belters. Since then. he has shed. albeit temporarily. his backing band The Classmen and opted again for the hobo-like. one-man-and-his-guitar scenario. touring America with The Hothouse Flowers and following this with selected dates round Europe. Yet despite minimal and random activity at home. Andy has no worries about maintaining his public profile. ‘l'd rather not read about people all the time personally. It‘s nice hearing about people once in a while and living with the records and going to see gigs when they come to
‘ town. I don't know why people try ' and generate publicity for
themselves all the time. except for self-gratification maybe.‘
When he does get a chance to talk. there‘s one subject he‘s never tired ofbroaching. and that's Northern Ireland. But the Belfast he sings about is a home rather than some conflict-ridden focus. While he could never be accused of neglecting political concerns. he is equally adept at articulating the personal side of his country's highly self-conscious culture.
‘In the music industry, there‘s music and there‘s business. I think all the business is in London and for me all the music is in Ireland. But it’s not an inward-looking thing. There’s a
' lost generation of Belfast who all
moved away and happened to come back at the same time, who felt some pressure to put out something really positive from where we come from, because we’re spending a lot of time
I being ashamed ofwhat the world
thinks of us.‘
So. is Andy White the ears. eyes and voice of ’a lost generation"? Maybe. but in a groovy kind ofway. (Fiona Shepherd)
Andy White plays the M oir Hall on Wed 22.
L___.,
22 The List 17— 30 May 1991
No none could accuse Teenage Fanclub of a heightened sense of responsibility. it’s four o’clock In the afternoon and Norman Blake should have been at Liverpool’s Amazon Studios two hours ago. instead he’s still In bed sleeping off a particularly rabble-rousing night before. Drummer Brendan is nominated to assume Norman’s interview commitments. With such a laid back attitude, it’s amazing they ever managed to summmon the energy to form the band in the first place. Yet
. intheir meagre two-yearexistence
, they’ve found themselves with a
best-selling indie album, a reputation as one of the most exciting live bands in the country and a level of success that surprises them as much as anyone else.
‘It’s just that things have moved so quickly,’ says Brendan. ‘lt’s about a
year since we did a gig at the Camden
Teenage Fanclub
Teenage drink orgy
Falcon which became that legendary fall-apart gig. It seems like two years, maybe even three, because we’ve done so much slnce.’
‘The said drunken debacle played host to a group of disaffected A&R men who retreated gracefully from the proceedings at various points throughout the set. Six months later, the same people were beating a path to the band’s door, desperate to lift them out of the ‘completely dodgy’ hands of Fire Records. However the group chose to pass up lucrative major label contracts in favour of a company they felt they could trust— Creation.
Brendan explains the label’s appeal: ‘McGee's dead open. The first thing they said to us was, “We can make lots of money out of you, and you can make lots of money out of us." it’s just so honest for a record company to say that, but it's true, and that’s basically why he signed us, so they can make money.’
The first fruits of the partnership should appear in July, when a single will be released. With a shortlist of four songs to choose from, why don’t the band play the EP gambit? ‘That's a kind of McGee thing to do, but it’s a bit too Creation for us I think.’ (Fiona Shepherd)
2 Teenage Fanclub play two shows at i King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut on May 22 i under the New Music World banner.
V FOLK
l Two more for the road l
2 The two most popular bands in the
Highlands of Scotland, excluding Runrig, make it to Maytest next week. Capercaillie is emerging or evolving into a fully-fledged rock band that just happensto use folk instruments and toss in the odd Gaelic song. Their new
single, Coisich A Ruin (Walk With Me),
is a well-known traditional song given a rhythm change and the full synth, percussion, vocals and chorus
treatment, and is due for release In a
few months, in either Tin or extended mlx. Also due for release Is their new album, produced by Moving Heart's Donal Lunny, whose brother Manus contributes driving accompaniment on
guitar and bouzouki as a member of the 7 band.
Wollstone play to packed halls in lnverness and Fort William and the
news ls spreading. Their two cassettes ;
play behind the bar of every hotel on the West Coast and they are to join the major league soon when Phil Cunningham takes them into Palladium Studios down Edinburgh way, to produce their new album.
With comparative new man Ivan Drevor on vocals, the band turned
full-time professional last summer and are extending their stage performance
everlurther. 0n the new album they are going to use alive drummer, with the possibility
i
of continuing to do so on tour, and switching off the drum machine. It’s doubtful whether many on the dance floor would notice, for the drums sit happily in the background of a boisterous clanjamfry of electric guitars, bass and keyboards with Duncan Chisholm’s celebrated fiddle and Alan Wilson’s amplified bagpipes and whistles bouncing over the top. The whole atmosphere is of an impromptu rock and roll cellidh dance after the Lairg agricultural show.
But, eagerto expand from their north-east base, the band are off to Amsterdam soon, and are already gearing up for their farthest fling yet when they fly off to wreak havoc on the peaceful inhabitants of Nova Scotla and Cape Breton.
Capercaillie, Pavilion Theatre, Wed 22; Wollstone, City Halls, Sat 25.
. west
i Boys go
Boys of the Lough '
‘Ry (‘ooder‘s done it. so have L'B-lll. Dave Stewart. Ravi Shankar. The readers have been Meryl Streep— she wasthe first -- and then Jack Nicholson wanted to do one. and Jodie Foster and then others. you get the picture. We‘re going to do it with Anjelica Huston.‘ Boysofthe Lough player, manager l)ave Richardson is talking about their latest project. a month in a recording studio. beautifully situated in thc (‘ascade mountains of Washington State in the American North West.
'Wc'ye to provide the score. or soundtrack. to the Irish tale of‘l’inn .‘slc(‘oul. and that's the way the Americans are spelling it. the great story of the mythic warrior and his band. It’s part ofa children's series that has won innumerable (irammy nominations and awards. lt's broadcast in the Statcson the educational channel. and on children‘s video. Iiach story is released as a book and cassette. or book and video. or in other combinations. and there are plans to release them in Britain, but ldon't think that will be fora while.
‘Aly Bain is still upin Shetland finishing offthe film Pelicula are making on the Shetland Folk Festival. It will be broadcast as six shows. with the series entitled The Shetland Experience, and all the bands at the festival will feature. people like the Barely Works. the Balham Alligators and Danny Thompson. [don't think they got a lot ofslecp.‘
A Shetlagged Alywill make it down to the boys' Mayfcst concert, before heading off on the usual geographically varied touring schedule that sees them back in these parts playing a concert. including a set with some
young local fiddlers. at the
Haddington Festival on 26
May. Buys off/re Lough, ('r‘Iy Hulls, Sat 18.