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| The Sundowners |
Now a formidable live act, this Wirral 5-piece 'psychedelic folk rock' band benefit from an almost telepathic on-stage understanding born out of both Fiona & Niamh's long-term friendship and the addition of Fiona's brother, Alfie, on guitar.
Niamh and Fiona hung out together a lot, learning their favourite tunes, practicing harmonies and writing. They'd get up performing in local bars and pubs which is where Fiona's brother Alfie saw them. Alfie had toured and worked with bands such as 'The Coral', 'The Arctic Monkeys' and 'Oasis' and was in-between tours back in Hoylake looking for a singer as his band just split up. The girls went in for a rehearsal and they loved it, becoming the new band's front women. Tim Cunningham then joined on bass and they played as an acoustic 4 - piece for about a year, their first gig was in The Ruby Lounge in Manchester, before drummer Jim Sharrock came along to join the band.
The resultant line-up became Niamh Rowe on vocals and guitar, Fiona Skelly on vocals, guitar and percussion, Alfie Skelly on lead guitar, Tim Cunningham on bass guitar and Jim Sharrock on drums.
An appearance at All Tomorrow's Parties Festival helped add to an ever growing fan base after which they supported 'The Coral', 'Cat's Eyes', Paul Weller, Jane Weaver and 'Kasabian' and featured on BBC Radio 6, as well as making further waves on the festival circuit, such as at the 2013 Glastonbury Festival where they were named by NME as one of the Top 20 new bands to watch.
Working from Alfie's bedroom they produced a number of demos including 'Hummingbird' which, attracting the attention of James Skelly and his new label Skeleton Key Records, became their debut release. This was followed by an EP, 'Medicine', in 2014 and 'Back To You', in the same year. Their debut self-titled album was released on Skeleton Key Records in 2015 and was recorded almost entirely live in Parr Street Studios, Liverpool over a 2 week period in the summer of 2014. Produced by James Skelly and Ian Skelly from 'The Coral, together with Richard Turvey, it reflects Fiona and Niamh's mutual love of psyche and west coast harmonies. The 11-tracks of psyche-folk, harmony heavy, well-crafted pop gems were in part inspired by the diverse and eclectic range of music the band listened to during recording.
Some of their influences are 'The Velvet Underground', 'Air', 'The White Stripes', 'Goat' and 'Tame Impala' but perhaps one of the strongest influences has been Tom Petty.
2017 saw the release of their sophomore album, 'Cut The Master', before they toured it in the Spring and had a Summer jam packed with festivals. Soundblab said of it, " The Sundowners straddle the Sixties and Seventies psychedelic divide,
with a multitude of inspirational sources that are blended nicely so
that a musical researcher in you can have a hard time defining where
they came from. Fiona’s voice does have a slight similarity with that of
'Broadcast's' Trish Keenan, but with less of that cool detachment and
more full-blooded engagement."
Out in 2019 their new single, 'River Run', on Skeleton Key Records, was described by Urbanista Magazine; "the new single is the official start of the next chapter of 'The Sundowners' as they continue to work on new music and look ahead to album number three, and if the vibe started by 'River Run' is anything to go by, album three just might be the best yet".
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