RAINY BOY SLEEPWith Special GuestCHELSEY CHAMBERS

The Black Box, Belfast23 October 2014

(Over 18s – ID Required)

Tickets on sale now from all usual outlets.Rainy Boy Sleep AKA Stevie Martin whose songs of love, loss, hope and redemption add in a wry sense of humour and lyrics that are every bit as sharp as his pop hooks and it’s no surprise that in March 2014 Rainy Boy Sleep became the latest member of the Universal Music Ireland family.

“I’d been a singer in a band before, but when I started writing songs purely for myself I decided, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life,” explains the now twenty-something Stevie.

Rainy Boy Sleep was delighted in 2011 to pick up a Northern Ireland Music Awards ‘Best Solo Act’ nomination, and even more delighted with the glowing endorsement he received earlier that year from Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody.

“The DJ on the BBC Introducing radio show played Gary my song ‘Your Face’, and afterwards he said on air: ‘Rainy Boy Sleep’s guitar is fantastic and his voice is beautiful. It’s extraordinary; teach me how to do it please!’” he beams. “Following a failed attempt at an Arts degree – which taught me what I didn’t want to do for the rest of my life – it was a huge confidence booster.”

The A-list rock support doesn’t end there, with James Morrison and Cyndi Lauper both taking Stevie out on tour with them.

“It was great being around two million-selling artists who are so supremely professional whilst still absolutely in love with what they do,” reflects the singer. “The best/scariest thing about the Cyndi Lauper tour was getting to sing Time After Time with her in front of 3,500 people at the Hammersmith Apollo. To go from tiny club shows where it was just me and my guitar to that was insane – but good insane! Seeing big audiences connect with you like that is such an amazing feeling.”

And something, we suspect, that he’ll be experiencing more and more as the year unfolds. Along with the aforementioned rock ’n’ roll types, Rainy Boy Sleep admits to borrowing some stylistic traits from author Roald Dahl.

“As a kid writing poetry at school, I loved how he mixed fun rhyme-y stuff with this vivid, some of it really dark, imagery. There was a surprise lurking round every corner, which is kind of what I’m aiming for myself.”

Someone who seems to make musical friends easily, Rainy Boy Sleep has also shared a stage with Nick Lowe and Ray Davies and been invited to perform at such massive UK festivals as Glastonbury, Meltdown, Hard Rock Calling, Reading and Leeds. This relentless gigging has helped hone the songs that feature on his Ambulance EP and its parent Waiting Games album, which follows later in the year.

No emotional punches are pulled on ‘Ambulance’, an EP standout, which features the angelic harmonies of Manchester’s Fred Longworth School Choir.

“Yeah, that’s another dark song,” he notes. “I’m not sure whether having the kids on there lightens the mood or just makes it darker. They had great fun doing it though, and it really adds to the track.”

Then there’s ‘Your Face’, a love song so tender and celebratory you can understand why Mr. Lightbody wants to crack its formula.

A summer hit just waiting to happen is ‘Manchester Post’, which Rainy Boy happily admits: “is designed to be played on the radio alongside the likes of Ellie Goulding. Growing up I thought ‘pop’ was a dirty word, but now I realise that’s exactly what two of my favourite bands, Blondie and The Cure are.”

Not that the song’s all sweetness and light, you understand.

“I don’t like to spell out what my songs are about. Some refer to a single subject while others are a mixture of two or three relationships or a fictitious take on a real life situation. I’ll let you make your own mind up about Manchester Post!”

From sensual whispers to tortured screams, Rainy Boy Sleep has an emotional lexicon that few other artists these days can match.

“I use the pseudonym as a barrier because these are really, really personal songs,” he concludes. “Also, it doesn’t tie me into being a singer-songwriter. I want to do the band thing eventually as well.”

“There’s a big musical world out there and I want to explore all of it.”

Watch the video for Ambulance:-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXVFl7SFpY4

Tickets for RAINY BOY SLEEP are on sale now from all usual Ticketmaster outlets:-24hr Credit Card Bookings0844 277 4455 (NI)0818 719300 (ROI)Book on line www.ticketmaster.ie

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