featuring: natalie mccool.

she’s signed to a grammy award winning producer, released multiple eps by now, her songs got played on bbc radio, she played a session for songs from the shed and many other “proper” shows – so it’s safe to say that natalie mccool isn’t necessarily a new artist in the business but it still seems like not enough people have recognised her incredible talent yet. what makes her so different?! many things. it’s not just her voice that sets her apart from other female artists. it’s the way her vocals, her lyrics and her sound work together. dark and mysterious, yet so fragile and innocent. it’s this great mix that makes her music so interesting. thankfully i’ve known and been in touch with her for a while now, so she didn’t hesitate for a second when i asked her if she’d answer a few questions for me.

question: you’re signed to grammy award winner steve levine and his label hubris records. how did that come about?
 

natelie: i won yamaha’s national songwriting competition 'make it break it' when I was in my second year of study at LIPA (the liverpool institute for performing arts). steve levine was one of the judges on the panel which included coldplay’s chris martin, promoter harvey goldsmith, and bbc radio 2’s mark radcliffe. after i performed at the MIBI awards ceremony, steve signed me to his label hubris records.

the double a-side single ‘fortune/on fire’ is your most recent release. how come you went for a double a-side this time and not for a new ep?
 

after the release of my 'black sun ep', i went into the studio to record some of my new songs with steve my producer, the new songs included both 'on fire' and 'fortune'. after recording the songs we began the process of choosing which track should be the single or 'lead track' on the next ep, but after listening to all the tracks we just couldn't decide whether it should be 'fortune' or 'on fire', because we felt that they were both so strong - so we decided we would release them both as singles - using the old vinyl terminology of 'double a side', obviously meaning two tracks both released as singles on the same record.

a couple of weeks ago you posted a video for your song ‘america’ which was partly written by sir paul mccartney. can you tell us how this happened?

sir paul mccartney is the lead patron of my old university LIPA in liverpool. the LIPA building is actually his old grammar school! every year sir paul visits LIPA and holds a masterclass for all the music students who have taken the songwriting module in their final year. as i had chosen songwriting, i was given a one to one masterclass with him - can you imagine how surreal that was! i decided that i was going to play him a song that i hadn't yet finished - 'america' - just to see what advice he could give me - i had a couple of ideas about the bridge section, but i couldn’t decide exactly where to go with the chord progression. so i played it to sir paul, and to my surprise he picked up his own guitar and began to play along! he jammed out some chords to the bridge section, and that same chord progression has remained part of the song ever since!

what would you say is your personal highlight of your career so far?
 

it has got to be meeting and jamming with sir paul mccartney! but another great highlight was when my support slot for joan armatrading was confirmed. joan is on a uk tour this year and i’m supporting her at the bridgewater hall in manchester, 4th november. by coincidence i met her just recently at a uk music event held at the houses of parliament, she is so cool.

you’ve released three eps and a double a-side so far. what’s next on your agenda in terms of new material and live shows?
 

i'm about to release my latest ep which is planned for release this summer. i’m also in the process of making a couple of videos, and i've got a show supporting jesca hoop at LEAF in liverpool on the 28th june (also my birthday!). i have a number of other shows booked too, the live dates and latest news are on my website at http://www.nataliemccool.co.uk !

massive thanks again to natalie for taking the time to do this short interview. keep an eye on her website for future live and release dates. natalie is also on facebook and twitter, so make sure to check her out and say hi!

ahab. live. deaf institute.

who: ahab

where: deaf institute, manchester, uk

when: 8 may 2012

support: charlotte carpenter; hawker reunion

everyone probably has at least one band that they never get tired of seeing live. i have quite a few bands on that list and ahab are definitely one of them. full band set, acoustic, unplugged – it doesn’t matter. it always feels like they can pull of anything without even trying. so once they announced a gig at the wonderful deaf institute, the date got marked in my calendar.

compared to the last time ahab played in manchester at band on the wall, a lot of things were different this time, not counting the venue change. but having a support act, two in fact, was one of those things for example. charlotte carpenter from kettering was up first. her tender voice accompanied by an acoustic guitar seemed to be a good start to the night. some of her songs were more folk, others more pop. in general it felt like she didn’t quite show what she can actually do, so she might be worth keeping an eye on in the future. hawker reunion were up next. the two piece from manchester claims their sound to be alt folk and yes, i’d sign that statement. electric and acoustic guitars and two voices that complemented one another in a wonderful way proved to be just the right support for ahab. no matter how good they were though, a more or less happy tune surely wouldn’t hurt anyone once in a while.

the bad news came last friday when ahab’s callum adamson “announced” he was in the hospital. (almost) no harm done though, the appendix is out and he’s back home recovering from his operation, so no one had to feel guilty for enjoying themselves on tuesday night. having no lead guitarist and no drummer present meant for the rest of the band to at least try to live up to their usual show. at the risk of repeating myself, they obviously didn’t even need to try because whatever they do normally works very well.

the night started with folk-pop and alt folk and ended with alt country. ahab are often described as one of the best americana bands in the uk. judging by their live shows, i guess they can live up to that reputation. they played an impressive set of a whopping 17 songs, including a couple of new tunes. their songs are normally short (or maybe it just seems like that) and spot on. this show was the second time i’ve seen them as a 3-piece playing an acoustic set. of course the 12-string guitar was clearly missing when you’re familiar with their music but somehow the remaining band members made it work nevertheless. kicking off their set with the wonderful lucy and then slowly playing their way through a selection of their best tunes including all-time favourite lightning bug, the catchy call a waiter, the as always beautiful million reasons and a brilliant cover of wagon wheel. clearly the new songs were the highlight of the night though. neighbours, wild mouth, why are you so sad and it hurts were all different but equally beautiful each in their own way. a powerful performance of rosebud with seebs llewellyn on lead vocals then was the perfect end to their main set. but what makes ahab’s music actually so amazing? besides the obvious like gorgeous lyrics, it’s their stunning harmonies which were particularly great during why are you so sad (luke price on lead vocals) and my father’s eyes (dave burn on lead vocals), which they performed unplugged and in the middle of the audience as an encore. and i gotta say, it’s actually pretty brave to get people clapping along when you’re off mic but their voices are all so strong that the audience probably could’ve made a lot more noise and it wouldn’t have mattered at all. all in all, a night out seeing ahab live is always a guarantee for a great time – regardless of how many band members are actually on stage. 

setlist:

lucy

lightning bug

wish you

docker's hands

wagon wheel

run me down

call a waiter

neighbours

wild mouth

why are you so sad

it hurts

to the light

joanna

million reasons

womans arms

rosebud

encore:

my father's eyes (unplugged)

from left to right: seebs llewellyn, luke price and dave burn

dry the river. live. electric ballroom.

who: dry the river

where: electric ballroom, camden town, london, uk

when: 2 may 2012

support: tall ships; bowerbirds

a trip to london usually includes a dry the river gig, so of course this little visit was no exception. the electric ballroom is (from the outside) by far not the most impressive venue ever but once you step inside it’s easy to forget that the sign above the front door is broke. walking by there i honestly didn’t even notice the sign at first. what’s on the outside has nothing to with what you find on the inside though. the sold out show at the electric ballroom was their biggest headline show to date. 

tall ships were kicking off the night. the trio from brighton delivered a decent set with a slightly louder and more aggressive sound than dry the river. but as every other band, the guys from tall ships have some more mellow tunes too and that’s where their lead singer could show off his vocal talent. not quite my taste, nevertheless easy to listen to and probably a treat for fans of a similar sound.

when dry the river announced bowerbirds as their second support band a day before the show, things got even more exciting. knowing i would have to miss them a few days later in manchester, this was a really nice surprise. and the 5 piece from raleigh, north carolina did not disappoint. their more or less typical folk songs do not only come across great on record but live as well. lacking a bit of stage presence whatsoever, it was more the listening than the watching that grabbed me in the end and i guess that’s what counts in the end, so catch them live if you can.

after seeing dry the river quite a few times since i first saw them at the haldern pop festival in germany last year, it seems like they’re taking a step forward with every single show they play. even though the setlist is still not as varied as it probably could be (why did they stop playing the chambers and the valves?), they manage to get the crowd going every single time which, of course, is not at all surprising considering their live quality. 

after opening with their debut single no rest, they played their way through almost the entire list of their debut album shallow bed with shield your eyes and shaker hymns still being my personal highlights. the audience seemed to appreciate the mesmerising weights & measures the most though, starting completely unplugged, the crowd joined in as soon as lead singer peter liddle (photo on the right) started filling the room with his haunting vocals, singing “i was prepared to love you, never expect anything of you…”. the incredibly gorgeous bible belt with lines like “the trick of it is, don’t be afraid anymore” marked the end of their main set. 

said many many times before, the dry the river boys are not exactly fans of encores but as the crowd kept cheering, we didn’t need to ask them twice to return to the stage. and if we would’ve known to what kind of encore they would treat us, we sure would’ve made even more noise. back on stage, they were joined by all members of tall ships and bowerbirds. accompanied only by matthew taylor (dry the river) on acoustic guitar, they all sang down in the river to pray together. the original by alison krauss is already insanely beautiful but i’m sure i wasn´t not the only one who thought the dry the river/tall ships/bowerbirds version was equally moving, if not even better. lion’s den then proved to be the perfect end to a great show, starting quiet before working up their way to a massive end. judging by the expressions on their faces, the band enjoyed themselves just as much as we did, perhaps even more. their folk-rock sound just never fails to impress and if they keep doing what they do best, playing live shows, i’m sure we’ll hear a lot more of these guys in the future.

setlist

no rest

shield your eyes

history book

new ceremony

family

shaker hymns

demons

weights & measures

(instrumental)

bible belt

encore

down in the river to pray (cover)

lion's den

dry the river + tall ships + bowerbirds...

 ...singing down in the river to pray.