Mr Kil to support The Proclaimers

Apr 30 2009 by Carla Callaghan, Hamilton Advertiser

BLANTYRE musician Joe Gallagher and his band Mr Kil will support The Proclaimers on the Scottish leg of their forthcoming tour.

The band secured the gig after Joe (25) became friendly with The Proclaimers when he was a roadie for the band a few years ago.

He sent a Mr Kil demo CD to them and the lucky four-piece were offered a support slot.

Mr Kil are Joe Gallagher (vocals and guitar), Andy Cowan (keyboards and percussion), Pete Cowan (bass) and Paul Crawford (drums).

All of the band members have achieved success in their music careers so far, with Pete, Paul and Andy touring and playing in the highly successful indie outfit The Grim Northern Social.

Joe, a former pupil at John Ogilvie High, is no stranger to success, making a name for himself as a singer/songwriter. He has toured with and supported Turin Brakes and Martha Wainwright.

The boys have a busy summer ahead, including a session slot on Clyde 1 with Billy Sloan on Sunday.

They will play six songs live on the show.

Mr Kil will also be playing one of their last headline gigs before they head off on tour with The Proclaimers.

The gig takes place at Oran Mor in Glasgow on Friday. May 8.

Tickets are available from the venue or through the band’s MySpace website.

Joe and the rest of the band are looking forward to the SECC gig, their biggest to date.

He said: “We’ve been friends with The Proclaimers for a few years. I have wanted to play with the guys for a while but it never really happened because of timing or because the music I was making on my own or with other bands wasn’t quite right.

“Unless something major happens in the summer, this will be the biggest thing that Mr Kil will have done. We’re really looking forward to getting our music out to a massive audience.”

He added: “We play rock music, essentially. It’s quite cinematic and grand at times. We try to be as grand as possible and each song is supposed to draw out a certain emotion.”

For more information on the band and to hear them for yourself, visit www.myspace.com/mrkil