Following two highly successful 'LIPA Nights' at The Bedford over the past two years (which attracted continuing interest from major label A&R executives), SongLink was delighted to present a special industry showcase at London's Regal Room on May 9th, featuring five of LIPA's most promising young artists and performers, ranging from new country to jazz/crossover to new singer/songwriters (see biogs below), hosted by Tony Moore. The show was totally immaculate, with each of the five young LIPA students demonstrating an amazing talent and huge future potential in the music business.

The showcase also proved why LIPA (Lead Patron: Sir Paul McCartney) has enjoyed such a great reputation for producing musical talent of the highest calibre, such as fomer students Sandie Thom, The Zutons, Pop Levi, Jon Green (co-writer of Lucie Silvas), The Wombats and many others.

SongLink editor/publisher David Stark has maintained a close relationship with LIPA over the last few years, awarding the SongLink Prizes at Graduation Day every July, and also arranging Master Class visits by some of the UK's most successful songwriters & composers, including Guy Chambers, David Arnold, Don Black, and in the near future, Cathy Dennis and Pam Sheyne.

Photo: David Stark and host Tony Moore with performers Katherine Elizabeth, Sam Sanderson, Kate Threlfall, Andy Coleman and Kate Clague, along with their backing musicians.

ARTIST BIOS:

KATE CLAGUE
Acoustic/country singer/songwriter Kate was born and raised in Canada, where she discovered her passion for new country music at the tender age of five. Realising how much music meant to her, she took up piano lessons aged six, attended vocal coaching, and sang her way through highschool; organising musical events and gigging whenever and wherever she could. A fervent writer with an infatuation for lyrics, she began penning her own songs from the age of nine. However, her passion for songwriting really began when she picked up the guitar at the age of fourteen. After moving continents, she found she had a lot of life experiences to draw upon for inspiration. Kate is currently attending the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, where she is in her final year of her BA Honours Music degree. After years of gigging solo, Kate finds herself enjoying the rich sounds of her very own country backing band; establishing herself as a unique country artist here in the UK.
http://www.myspace.com/kateclague

ANDY COLEMAN
Performing since the age of 12, Andrews's television appearances include ITV's Talent of Tomorrow, 1999, the BBC 1 show 'The Next Big Thing', 2002. In August 2002 Andrew progressed to the second day of the London stages of 'Popstars - The Rivals. In October 2002 Andrew was interviewed on the Radio 4 show 'In Touch', meeting multi-platinum record producer Robin Millar and since then they have worked together producing some master tracks. In December 2004, Andrew appeared at the Royal Albert Hall. He performed two of his own songs for the UNHCR concert for the Darfur refugees. Andrew performed All It Takes Is Love, a song, which Andrew wrote through the eyes of a refugee. Playing piano while being accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic concert orchestra. He appeared alongside well known stars such as Mick Hucknell, Cat Stevens, Chrissie Hynde and Alison Moyet just to mention a few. Andrew is now a second year student at LIPA following an Honours degree course in Music. Andrew has now formed a band that is gigging together around the Liverpool area. Andrew still finds time to continue with his support for local charities using his musical talent at many fundraising events each year.
http://www.andrewcolemanmusic.com

KATHERINE ELIZABETH
Prepare to experience the world through Katherine's perspective, as she bares her soul to all. This fresh faced songstress will awaken your senses with her powerful lyrics, spirited style and stunning voice. Katherine Elizabeth is an accomplished singer songwriter. At 21 years of age she is completing her final year at LIPA, studying for a BA Hons in Music. This year she has written and recorded her debut album and the project is due for completion in May of 2007.
http://www.myspace.com/katherineelizabethclark

SAM SANDERSON
Sam Sanderson is a young singer songwriter from Bristol. Unusually Sam is not an artist who has been perfecting her performance since she was a young child rather stumbled on her musical break at the age of 19 when a friend suggested she should sing a couple of songs with the local blues band he played in.
"Although I had never sung with a band till that point I had always considered myself musical," says Sam. " I had always known that I wanted a career in music but had never had the opportunity to explore it before. As a young girl I was obsessed with artists such as Aretha Franklin, Eva Cassidy and Nina Simone, transfixed by the raw emotion when they sang. Growing up was a confusing time for me so I used to write lyrics and melodies as a way of escaping and expressing how I felt but they always remained in a battered book hidden under my bed! Sam became a regular singer with her friend's blues band and it was at this point she started to share her ideas with others. After spending a year gaining confidence in her performing and writing ability Sam applied to LIPA to study music. "When I came to Liverpool everything fell into place for me i knew then this is what I was meant to do. Since then Sam has been trying to experiment with her writing playing with different genres and also writing for others.

KATE THRELFALL
19-year-old Kate Threlfall was born in Manchester to a musical family. Encouraged within a strong classical background, she began to play the piano and cello at an early age, starting to sing at the age of 8 with her local church choir. It was, however at the age of 13, during an eighteen-month period without any specific training that Kate really began to develop her craft. A love for songwriting really became apparent during this time, explored through singing and playing freely, something, which is still at the heart of her material. It was also during this time that Kate began to discover some of her most important influences, namely Joni Mitchell, Carole King, and Stevie Wonder, as well as a lot more soul.
After some hesitation, Kate gradually began to expose herself more and more until she was given the chance to perform in October 2005 at the Bridgewater Hall. Encouraged by a positive response, Kate entered Manchester's Wannabe Competition in January of this year, and won. The prizes were both the chance to record at Salford's Adelphi Studios, and an opportunity to perform at the Didsbury Party in the Park, attended by roughly 6,000 each summer.
Since then Kate has been working on other projects such as some funky house tunes with a local producer, and has also been arranging songs written by Liverpool poet Terry Caffrey. Also this year Kate has had performances at Matt & Phred's Jazz Club, The Magnet in Liverpool, The Midland Hotel, Manchester and numerous weddings and business events as a solo act, as well as maintaining a strong relationship with Francis House, a children's hospice in Manchester, through regular performances. Kate was also lucky enough to have the chance to sing for Universal and Polydor in the LIPA bar this term. Currently studying in her first year on the LIPA Performing Arts Music degree, Kate is looking forward to the new possibilities of performing with a band, and is enjoying the inspiration of exploring new styles of songwriting. Forthcoming performances include the "celebr8 (don't disrimin8)" festival on June 4th, around the North West. http://www.myspace.com/katethrelfall