Established singer-songwriters Reilly and Sutherland heading north

Shetlanders can look forward to a singer-songwriter double header next month when Tommy Reilly and Katie Sutherland stop off for a gig in the isles.

Reilly, a solo artist, and Sutherland, the singer and frontwoman with indie group Pearl and the Puppets, are teaming up to perform several intimate gigs throughout the Highlands and Islands.

They will play at the Legion in Lerwick on Wednesday 23rd November as part of a tour also taking in Inverness, Forres and Stornoway. Both originally hail from East Dunbartonshire and have carved out successful music careers in recent years.

Reilly first gained national recognition having won Channel 4 television show Orange Unsigned Act in 2009. He hit number 14 in the UK charts with first single Gimme a Call, followed up with huge critical acclaim for his debut album Words on the Floor later that year.

He has just completed his third album with producer Paul Savage, who has worked with Franz Ferdinand and Admiral Fallow. Tommy says he is extremely eager to let audiences hear the new songs live and solo. “At last I can play these songs live,” he said.

The album’s release date has not been confirmed yet, but the gig’s promoters say that it sees Tommy “going back to his solo acoustic roots and retaining the classic pop songwriting approach, while the production displays a darker undercurrent”.

He will be delving into his back catalogue for songs from his debut and his second LP Hello, I’m Tommy Reilly, as well as introducing audiences to new compositions from his forthcoming album.

Sutherland is the singer in Pearl and the Puppets and is no stranger to the Scottish, UK or international music scenes. In 2008 her track Because I Do was used in a Vodafone advert throughout Australia and New Zealand. Another of her songs, Make Me Smile, featured on adverts in the US and Romania.

Pearl and the Puppets have previously supported Elton John and played at major festivals up and down the country including Rockness and T in the Park.

Davie Gardner is promoting the show on behalf of Beyond Promotions in Inverness, and he said: “This promises to be a great and very exclusive double-header gig with two very exciting young musicians. Individually they are both fantastic singer-songwriters, so their coming together like this should be something else indeed.

“It’s always a fairly unique experience to have top artists perform smaller gigs of this nature, giving fans a chance to get up close to the music and of course the artists.”