Shelly Poole News

UK’s Shelly Poole has so many strings to her bow (pun intended) that I find it hard to keep track of what she is up to! Singer/songwriter/multi instrumentalist and producer are just some of the hats she juggles, and she has achieved international success with all of them over the years in a variety of genres. She formed the band Alicia’s Attic with her sister in the late 90’s, who released four gold and platinum selling albums, and her 2005 solo album “ The Dreamer” entered the i-tunes chat at number 1. As songwriter, she has worked with the likes of Ward Thomas, Sarah Darling, Wandering Hearts, Janet Jackson, Gary Barlow, Paloma Faith and Jack Savoretti. One of her continuing passions is mentoring new and emerging artists.

But Country/Americana fans will know her best as co-founder of the trio Red Sky July who have released several albums to date and continue to tour and record, their upcoming (now annual!) Christmas show at London’s Green Note selling out within a few days… look out for a new album from them in 2020, by the way!

This week saw the release of Shelly’s latest solo work in the form of the gorgeous and haunting Americana style single “Paradise Cafe” . Unusually for her this is totally uncollaborative (she says that in general she loves the vibe that others bring) . Shelly is the sole writer, sole producer and played all the instruments apart from her husband, Ally Mcerlaine (from the band Texas) helping out on guitar. The song was inspired by her bumping into her ex’s girlfriend in a random and most bizarre meeting… “she asked if I missed you. I thought about a lie but I don’t want a rusting soul…” “I leant to kiss her on the cheek but I caught her on the lips, surprisingly not awkward at all for her” …you can just feel the tension of the entire situation! And how beautiful are the harmonies throughout?

The follow up to “Underwater “ which came out earlier this year, this is the second in a planned series of singles which Shelly will be releasing at three monthly intervals. As she told me, this project is “more about the little stories and they are all one offs”. I’m really excited to hear what’s to come!

“Paradise Cafe” is available now to stream/download everywhere.