Hi there. The next gig should be at Stereo (old
West 13th) in Glasgow on 3rd February, though I'm just waiting
total confirmation, but it's looking pretty likely. There will
also be some songs broadcast on the Beatscene
radio show (Beat
106 FM) on Sunday 26th January which I'll say more about
once they're recorded tomorrow night. Hopefully I'll be able
to stick them up on the site once they've been aired.
I'm looking forward to getting back into Riverside
Studios to record a couple more tracks next month and I'm looking
to hopefully do some acoustic spots myself too coz I just wanna
get out there and let people hear my songs. I might even try
and get someone to help me record a few acoustic tracks on their
PC and put them on the site.
Hope you are well coz so many people I know
here are sniffling away with colds, myself included. But then
again you might be reading this in a sunny warm climate, in
which case I'm jealous coz it's grey here.. But the Flaming
Lips are playing on Wednesday and they'll bring with them a
colourful show with lots of crazy visuals and beautiful songs.
So everything will be okay.
4th January 2003
There will be another gig at the 13th Note Cafe
in Glasgow on Saturday 11th January, this time with Dead Fly
Buckowski.
Thanks to those who came along and give me and
the band support last night at King Tuts. It was only my second
full gig and it went well.
23rd December 2002
There's not long to go until the next gig (3rd
Jan @ King Tuts in Glasgow), so anyone wanting cheaper tickets
please let me know as they seem to be selling well. I should
be doing an acoustic set on the Beatscene
show on radio station Beat 106, I'll know the date soon
I think. No joy with the Popscene single of the year but it
was fun getting nominated. So Christmas and the New Year are
just around the corner.....it's a cliche but I can't believe
how quickly this one has gone. But it's been a really productive
year and hopefully there will be alot on the horizon in the
one to come. This site has been running for nearly a year so
I'll give my monitor the bumps on its anniversary. Meantime
if you're bored, leave a message on the
messageboard and say hi or drop me an
email. I'll be adding some text to the features section
really soon too. I'm off now to wrap my Christmas presents in
tin foil and tickle the turkey. Merry Christmas.
Oh, I've just added an audio file to the 'features'
section so it's now up and running.
8th December 2002
I'm really surprised and happy to have discovered
that I'm in a poll on a German radio station to be best single
of the year 2002, so if anyone wants to vote for the Midst of
the Storm EP, then please visit www.popscenewithjalal.de
21st October 2002
Here are some places that I
know are selling the debut EP: Jetset
Records (Japan), Arch
Records (Japan), Apple-Crumble
(Japan), Darla
(USA), Poppolar
(Canada), Rough
Trade (UK), Heyday
(UK) and Elefant
Records (Spain). There will probably be a few more that
I don't know about. Oh, you can also get one from my
flat along with a nice trilby.
5th October 2002
Well the gig at King Tuts went well and The
Czars were really charming people and great musicians. The set
me and the band did seemed to go so fast, we did eight songs
in thirty minutes. I'm thinking of trying to get a keyboard
player to help me, so if you know anyone, please email me.
24th September 2002
In their singles roundup the 'Midst of the Storm'
EP received 4 out of 5 from The List magazine. If you'd like
to see me and the band at King Tuts with Heirloom and headliners
The Czars, then email me for cheaper tickets.The gig is on Thursday
October 3rd.
5th September 2002
Just a quickie to say that you can listen to
Midst of the Storm in its entirety
here. The sound quality is pretty good too coz it's from
the Elefant Records site. There will defintely be a gig on 3rd
October at King Tuts Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow, so if you fancy
coming along, please email
me about tickets.
1st September 2002
From the Dutch webzine 'Think
Small' comes this review of the EP, roughly translated into
English.
"Is the stream of good music from Scotland
never ending? After Belle & Sebastian, Camera Obscura and
The Pearlfishers, we now have a singer called Ally Kerr that
drips out of the speakers with a two/pop sound. Midst of the
Storm, Ally Kerr's debut record is a mixture of the aforementioned
bands. Apart from the titletrack, the EP contains two more semi-acoustic
jewels. We can only hope that later this year (or at the beginning
of next year) another record appears, for I really want to hear
more of this. Must-buy for fans of Scottish indie-pop!"
You can view the review
here
Another review, this one
from Jockrock.
"Another singer-songwriter with a summery
feel, suiting a Spanish release on Elefant, but there's something
about this which sets it aside. Not too Californian, and not
too Scottish (i.e.Fanclub) either. The title of 'Another Winters
Day' probably tells you as much - with its lazy guitar work
perhaps closer to early Aztec Camera in places. 'Without You'
is pop with a timeless quality and 'Midst of the Storm' would
grace any chart, anywhere in the world."
You can view this review here.
There will be a gig at King Tuts in Glasgow
on Thursday 3rd October. I'll put more details up soon, but
it'll be in support of American band
The Czars.
7th August 2002
The record has been released and you can order
it online through the Rough
Trade shop in the UK (search the database), Darla
in the USA or the good people at Elefant
of course. It'll be available in Japan through Popbiz
soon I think. There was a great thread on the Teenage Fanclub
website about the record which cheered me up when I was feeling
low.. Hopefully rehersals will begin again once people are back
from their holidays otherwise me and my guitar will simultaneously
explode and the walls of my flat will be covered with the chords
D, G, C, Am and F.
1st July 2002
Another review of the T Break
gig at King Tuts has popped up on the Jockrock
site. Click
here to have a peek. Or if you'd rather not read any more
then just go and wallop up a mushroom omelette instead.
7th June 2002
"ALLY KERR’ is a young Scottish
man that has chosen Elefant as the label to release his very
first songs. If he keeps on writing such excellent tracks such
as “Midst of the storm”, the sky’s the limit
for him. Three wonderful tracks for fans of acoustic, pastoral
pop music, r.i.y.l. The Byrds or Belle and Sebastian. Ally was
helped and assisted in the studio by our pal Duglas from BMX
Bandits plus Duncan Cameron, who has engineered recordings by
Teenage Fanclub or Travis among others". Yup,
the single will be out in early July according to Elefant
Records who have just put the design and these lovely words
up on their site.
5th June 2002
No 'T in the Park' this year but nevermind,
T-Break was a great experience to build on. Here's a little
review of it I found on the T-Break website....
King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow.
Monday 13th May
After the quality
of the first night, we’re glad to report that gig two at
King Tut’s was just as good. Ally Kerr played his first
gig at T Break and gave us a very Belle and Sebastian-esque
set that was full of sweet sounds and fine tunes. He was followed
by The Boy Cartographer, representing the lo-fi brigade. They
did the movement justice with a strong selection of tunes. The
third band of the night was Viva Stereo. They mellowed people
out with their laidback style before it was the turn of Odeon
Beat Club to get everyone rocking and talking about them. They
were followed by Moon who continued in an indie-pop style.Finally,
Torqamada ran riot on the stage with an energetic rock-metal
chaos sound that seemed to both intrigue and scare the audience
in equal measures.
Congrats to Odeon Beat Club who made it through.
Oh, and thanks to those who voted for Midst of the Storm on
BBC's Air show, it was fun to get played.
21st May 2002
Apparently I'm in the running on BBC Radio Scotland's
Air programme to get a track played on the show. If you like
what you hear then please do vote at www.bbc.co.uk/air.
As far as the T-Break competition goes, well the bands who'll
get to play T in the Park will be announced first week in June
so I'll keep you posted.
15th May 2002
Thanks alot to all those who gave me and the
band their support at the T
Break gig on Monday night at King Tuts Wah Wah Hut, it was
great fun. Who knows if we'll get to play at
T in the Park, but it was a nice surprise to get selected
and not a bad start for a first band gig. There will be an announcement
on BBC Radio One's Session
In Scotland show soon. I'm hoping to put a video clip up
on the site soon, but my computer is currently on the floor
and it's really uncomfortable to type. Plus i don't know how
to do it:) Anyway I'm planning to get some help from the multi-talented
bassist and wool weaver Graeme Renfrew. I also plan to update
this website more often and add bits to it, if I can find a
table to sit at and a bassist to help me.
14th April 2002
