Alors, Et Toi? is a quarterly magazine of the arts, digitally published on the world wide web.
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Judging Amy
By Arley Owens
Court is now in session...
I’m a jaded old songbird who grew up listening to the best music ever made, and after suffering through the subsequent downward spiral of virtually every musical genre, haven’t been much impressed with anything new for two decades.
Until now.
I paid a visit to the My Space site of a very dear friend and saw she had posted a demo by a group called The Recovery Club. Curious, I gave it a tumble and as my Scottish friend would say, “I was GIE CHUFFED (very happy)!” Amy Rafferty, Allan James, and Graham McCarey gave me a rush through their song Rest and be Thankful that I haven’t felt since Peter, Paul, and Mary were riding the top of the air waves. Amy’s wistful voice lilting subtly over ultra-smooth backing, delivering deceptive lyrics that appear simple yet are layered with innuendo, enchanted me, completely.
Born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland’s West End, Amy and her two brothers, Bob and Nick, seemed destined to become performers. Their mother is an actress while their father was a drama teacher and writer until he passed away in 2007. According to Amy, “Our parents were very bohemian, both verging on being hippies. It wasn’t unusual to come home and there be actors lounging about rehearsing, or musicians scrounging cups of tea. We were surrounded by performers from an early age, so it’s no wonder we went down the same path. There was no chance of us becoming accountants really.”
Amy’s brothers are musicians as well and the three of them have a collaborated effort on My Space called Sunshine. “We all have our own distinct style, me and the sibs,” says Amy. “Although when we work together our different takes on music meld really well. Bob plays in his band El Dog, very emotive but powerful music. They have a gorgeous sound. Nick, when he lives in China, which is often, plays jazz bars. His sound is amazingly delicate and intricate.”
All the songs recorded by The Recovery Club are co-written by Amy, Allan, and Graham. Allen serves as the group’s producer who, according to Amy, “Has a unique ear which can pick up little nuances and deficiencies which are often lost on the rest of us. He tends to oversee the big picture recording-wise, but we’ve also worked with some great engineers, most notably Andrew Bush from Gold Soundz in Glasgow.”
This isn’t a group of studio hermits; they give live performances as well. I asked Amy about it. “As much as it often scares us half to death, we do find playing live is an important part of what we do. We don’t gig that regularly but when we do, we like to make an occasion of it and deliver something vivid and memorable for an audience. Though it can be absolutely terrifying before you go on, there’s always this strange moment as you start playing. A hush falls over the audience, there’s an expectancy from them and it kills me every time I experience it. I may be scared to begin with but the rush you get from playing to people and watching them enjoy it outweighs any fears.”
Amy has been singing since she was knee-high to a grasshopper but has also written poetry and prose from an early age as well. She’s close to attaining a degree in creative writing and though appreciative of the education feels “nothing evolves your writing as much as life experience. Everything you go through leaves its mark on your voice in some way. There’s nothing like it, to create something out of thin air. It’s a magical feeling and I’d be lost without it.”
My verdict is that Amy, Allan, and Graham possess not only superior talent but an exceptional je ne sais quoi rarely encountered in the modern music scene. Judge for yourself; check out The Recovery Club at http://www.myspace.com/therecoveryclub
We are adjourned.