Gig Review - Lou Hicky @ Crofthead Bowling Club

"I never thought I'd be playing a gig in Neilston", muses Lou Hickey midway through her hometown gig. Neither did I expect to be attending a gig in Neilston, but such is life!

The night's show was part of a wider Neilston Live! initiative which runs each year in the village. Having toured as one half of the successful Codeine Velvet Club, and recently putting out her own EP, 'Minutes, Hours, Days', having Lou Hickey perform at a local bowling club is a pretty big coup.

The support was offered by another local artist Sean Gilles, a.k.a. The Lonely Boy. However due to my notorious tardiness, I missed most of his set. Rumour had it that it was a good performance, and I'm willing to go along with that on the basis of the last song 'End Of The Line' which culminated with frantic strumming his acoustic guitar.

Being a village bowling club, it would be wrong not to take advantage of the cheap drink on offer. 10 minutes and a fresh pint later Lou Hickey, backed by a full band, takes to the stage. The set kicks off with older track 'Realist Romeo' which has a soft pop backing track and showcases Hickey's vintage voice well. It's an intimate affair and Hickey shows her support to the local community, many of whom I'm sure would be unlikely to attend such a gig were it in Glasgow or Edinburgh. Hickey recognised this and is kind to the crowd to throw in some covers throughout the set, the first of which is a cover of John Lennon's '(Just Like) Starting Over'.

Hickey also pays tribute to the fact that many people know her from the Codiene Velvet Club, by treating us to a track that she penned for the band about the 'horrors' of the music industry with a funky bassline that James Brown would have been proud off. Having tipped her hat to the pub where she used to work, and recognising that an audience of Neilstoners is far more rowdy than an audience in Edinburgh, we all get coaxed into some hand claps for the next track. Taken from her latest EP of the same name, 'Minutes, Hours, Days' lifts the tempo and is one of the standout tracks of the evening.

The band were clearly comfortable as the banter onstage flowed towards the bar, with a request for a refill Morgan's & Coke coming from behind the piano. The next track, a smootchy number from the forthcoming album (hopefully 2012), hinted towards Hickey's love of blues, jazz and burleqsue. And whilst we are in this 'bluesy' mood, the band decide the time is right for some freestyle jazz indulgence. Their cover of 'Summertime' treats us to smokey vocals, sexy sax solo, and a kickass bass solo. 

It's time for an onstage switch, which see's Hickey take place behind the piano, and our first trumpet track of the night. A more songs, infused with what the band define as 'Gay Jazz', and it's time for another cover, this time from 50's rocker Jerry Lee Lewis. 'Great Balls Of Fire' get's the crowd fired up for the home stretch. 'Waiting For The Night' and 'Are We In Love?' take us through to the theatrical part, where we 'pretend' the band leave the stage and return for their well deserved encore.

Again, tipping her hat to the success of CVC, Hickey plays a solo version of the track which still earns her money, 'Vanity Kills', and it's a lovely stripped back piano driven version, showcasing Hickey's undoubtedly strong vocals. It's now time for everyone in Neilston under the age of 40 who has had guitar lessons to show some appreciation for the legend that is Mr Hickey, a.k.a. Lou's dad, as he takes the stage for what I'm sure must be a lovely moment. The track is dedicated to her fiancee, and it ends with a suitably classic 60's outro. Next track is another EP track, and also one which Hickey performed live on my show 'Scottish Fiction' on Pulse Community Radio, *shameless plug alert* which you can download for FREE here. 'You!' is another of the set's highlights, and leads us to the last song of the evening which is a cover of a Zombies' song.

Or is it? Somewhat taken back, Hickey returns to the stage for a real encore, and squeezes in one last track, a number she wrote with Jonathan Carr called 'Perfect In Me'. A great end to a great night.

Check out more of Lou Hickey on her website, on Facebook, on Myspace and lastly on Twitter.

Also follow the hyperlinks to check out the Q&A she did for the blog a few weeks back, plus listen to the live session she did for the show on Pulse 98.4 FM, AND download the free 'Scottish Fiction' August EP which features a track from Lou Hickey. Phew!

You can also check out more about The Lonely Boy here. Enjoy!

Gig Preview - Lou Hickey - Crofthead Bowling Club

I never thought in all my days I would go to a gig in my little home villiage of Neilston. However, Scottish Fiction favourite Lou Hickey (read her Q&A for the blog here) is bringing her full band along to Crofthead Bowling Club on Friday 30th September for a hometown gig.

With support offered from The Lonely Boy this is a gig well worth popping along to should you be local, or even make the journey down you lazy sods!

Tickets are £10 and are available in person at Kool Kreations in the village or online here. Doors are at 8pm.

Scottish Fiction August EP

Lo and behold! It's the end of another month and that can only mean one thing.

Time for some more great free music courtesy of Scottish Fiction and our August EP. Featuring some great artists who have appeared on the 'We're Only Here For The Banter' Q&A feature over the month of August, all of them have been kind enough to contribute a track which is available to download for free NOW! This month's contributors are:

Lou Hickey
Black International
The Celestians
velcroBROTHER

You can download the full EP for free here, and also stream below. Enjoy!

We're Only Here For The Banter - Lou Hickey

Lou Hickey is a singer-songwriter from Neilston, just outside Glasgow. Her refreshing brand of pop is steeped in vintage feel good vibes, and she has a new E.P., 'Minutes, Hours, Days' which came out 4th July. She has two self released EP already under her belt, a wealth of experience supporting artists such as Martha Reeves and Suzanne Vega. And of course Lou was one half of the Codiene Velvet Club along with Fratelli's frontman Jon Fratelli. With a debut album looming large on the horizon, Lou was kind enough to chat to Scottish Fiction.

Hello. How are you?

Very well thank you.

Tell us a little bit about your influences?

When I was at uni, I was a jazz vocalist, and even at home we always had on things like Frank Sinatra, Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald and that kind of stuff. And through my brothers and sisters I have a huge love of The Cure and Joy Division. I kinda just listen to a mix of everything, and even though I love of older music I still have to listen to what's out there today, 'cause that's your market. And I'm lucky just now that people are looking to the past for music, but it's always good to keep an eye on what's happening just now.

A big melting pot of influences then! It's August, and that means Edinburgh Festival. You've got a lot going on, do you want to tell us a wee bit about it?

Well I've got my own residency as part of the official fringe, which I didn't realise it was actually part of the 'official' fringe, I thought it was just a low key gig! But it's a gorgeous venue in Edinburgh called the Ghillie Dhu, it's like an old converted church and the top room is a ballroom, and we've got that every Sunday night. It's kind of a Jools Holland vibe, where me and the band will be playing, but I'll also be compering, I'll be introducing a variety of different acts, and we're really lucky to have some great bands such as Sonny Marvello, Pearl And The Puppets, and Jonathan Carr. We've got a real mix and we want to show the tourists that as much as there are great indie bands come out of Scotland, there's so many other things going on that maybe don't get noticed as much.

What Scottish artist(s) would you recommend?

There's a songwriter I've been working with called Jonathan Carr, he's kinda like a Scottish John Legend. He plays the piano and he's got that kinda jazz, Michael Buble thing but he's really quite r'n'b and pop at the same time. I like what he's doing and I hope he gets the right producers and gets the chance to take that a wee bit further. And I'm also a huge fan of Sonny Marvello, we share the same drummer and they're a band from Glasgow who I've gone to see for years. They are an amazing live act.

Obviously you're building up to the album, how's things going in that regard?

It's finished, it's absolutely finished. I recorded most of it up at a studio in the West End called Gloworm, which belongs to a friend. I actually studied music at Strathclyde University, but most people don't believe I'm actually qualified as a sound engineer through my degree, but I'm lazy with it now, I like other people to do it for me. So my friend from uni has this studio, we recorded everything there, but it was over the space of three years, him and I just mixed and produced the album ourselves, and then we've mastered it.

Do you think there will be a sense of completion once it's released?

At the time I think it was amazing just to get to the final stage and get it completed. And now it's mastered it sounds even bigger, so I celebrated that day by ordering a new pair of Vivian Westwood high heels! But now it's the boring side, it's the business side and the organisation. But it's also the case that you don't want to just put something out there, I'd like to build up to it and put a wee bit of advertising behind it.

Your EP 'Minutes, Hours, Days' came out early July, tell us a little about that?

Yeah it was a case of letting my fans know I'm still here, but also to show how my sound has changed. This is a lot more pop than my older stuff. When I first started out I was a lot more blues and it was very melancholy, for the most part I played piano and had someone playing cello. Now with the addition of the band, it's let me recreated the '50's rock and roll pop that I wanted to. I just wanted to make a record that people would dance to.

How does your latest work compare with your earlier releases 'New Shoes' and 'Do It Yourself'?

I've actually taken my first EP offline, because I can't bear listening to it now! It's strange some people still come to gigs and have got it. It's good, but I was like 19, 20 when I wrote some of those songs, and I never really thought people would be listening to them. But your tastes they change and the grow, and I've kinda just decided to make the music I want, which is pop music.

You were one half of Codine Velvet Club, along with Jon Fratelli, how was that experience for you?

It was amazing opportunity, and I think that going into the music industry then you need to realise that every achievement is a bonus, and celebrate the small things, because it can be taken away so easily. But I got to do some amazing things, I got to tour America, play South By South West, got to tour the UK. It was also nice to make an album and not be the person in charge and just sit back and watch and that was an amazing learning experience. Obviously Jon had the pressure, but I had the chance to just be relaxed and take in everything that was going on. And it's good when you've got someone else to work with you can run ideas by.

And how does it feel to be back solo again compared with working with someone like that?

It's more stressful in a way, but I'm thankful for it because there were decision made with Codeine Velvet Club that I wasn't a part of which is frustrating whenI'd always been completely in control.

Thanks very much for taking the time to talk to us, all the best!

You can check out more about Lou Hickey and her music on her website. Check out her video for 'Minutes, Hours, Days' below, and also listen to the full interview as well as a live version of her song 'You!' below.

Scottish Fiction - 1st August 2011 by wilsonnj

Scottish Fiction Playlist - Monday 1st August

It's crazy to think I started at Pulse Community Radio six months ago. I like to think my radio presenting skills have improved somewhat since then. Last Monday's show was a great one, down to the fact that fellow Neilstoner, and pop practitioner Lou Hickey joined me in the studio. Lou chatted about her music, her experiences in Codeine Velvet Club, and her new E.P. 'Minutes, Hours, Days' and you can hear/read the full thing here.

Lou also showed me up by picking an astute selection of songs to play over the course of the first hour of the show. Her choices were:

Del Shannon - Runaway
Buddy Holly - Peggy Sue
Amy Winehouse - Back To Black
The Kinks - Waterloo Sunset
Martha Reeves And The Vandellas - Heat Wave
The Clash - Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

I also treated listeners to songs from Lou's new E.P., but not to be outdone, Lou performed a live acoustic version of 'You!'.

The rest of the show was packed full of great music. You can listen again to the full show at the bottom, and here is the playlist in full.

BMX Bandits - I Could Fall In Love
So Many Animal Calls - In Winter, We Should Have Headed For Shelter
The Moldy Peaches - Anyone Else But You
Fiction Faction - A Lot Can Happen On A Summers Day
Wyclef Jean feat. The Rock - It Doesn't Matter
Wrongnote - Devil Give Misdirection
Wilco - Theologians
Vivian Girls - I Heard You Say
We Were Promised Jetpacks - Act On Impulse
Washington Irving - Abbey Gallop
The Unwinding Hours - There Are Worse Things Than Being Alone
Owen Pallet - Hard To Explain
Withered Hand - Religious Songs