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Rhythm Section Sir Elton gave Katie the shock of her life
By Kevin Bridges In just three years Kirkintilloch girl Katie Sutherland went from a part-time Woolworths job to sipping champagne with Sir Elton John. Now, under the name Pearl and the Puppets, she and her band are releasing a new single, Make Me Smile, tomorrow and she’s on the threshold of worldwide success. It’s all been a bit of a blur for the girl who was training to be a primary school teacher before she impulse-bought her first guitar aged 19. “On the way to university in Glasgow I’d walk past the same music shop and see the guitars in the window. One day I decided I had to buy one,” she told me. Katie had played woodwind in school orchestras and soon managed to teach herself the guitar. Before long she found she had a flair for songwriting too, surprising her family. Caught singing “My bedroom was downstairs and, unknown to me, my mum was upstairs painting the ceiling, so I started to loudly sing this song I’d written. Mum came down to clean up and asked ‘Whose song is that?’ and I said, ‘Er, mine.’ So she said, ‘You don’t write songs’ and I said, ‘I do now!’ ” Katie laughed. After that she sang at a few open mic nights around Glasgow for fun before uploading a few songs to Myspace. “I did it to try to make some friends but then it all went a bit mental.” Soon she found herself being flown to London for meetings and landed first a publishing deal and then a management one with Sir Elton John’s management group. Katie also had to make the tough decision to quit teacher training. “It was strange — things were snowballing very fast and I thought ‘Hang on, I’m supposed to become a primary teacher.’ I actually left university before I told my mum and dad, which is something no-one should ever do,” she smiled. Party Then she found herself sitting at a party with Sir Elton himself, who takes a big interest in everyone signed to his management team. “I’d never ever met anyone famous, apart from getting the autograph of Jet from Gladiators and meeting The Singing Kettle. I found myself sitting next to James Blunt and opposite Elton. “I didn’t want to make a fool of myself, so I thought I’d just keep quiet and sip my champagne. But then Elton stood up and gave a talk about me. He knew all about the songs I’d done. I was shocked.” Katie decided not to record under her own name for a simple reason. “There are just so many Kate’s about right now — there’s Kate Nash, Katy Perry, KT Tunstall and Kate Walsh for a start. So I came up with the name Pearl. But I got booked by a hard rock venue who thought I was Meatloaf’s daughter, so after that we added The Puppets. “I have a tattoo of a pearl on my wrist to remind me I’m Pearl now and my dad sometimes jokingly calls me Pearl.” Missed Glasgow Katie still lives in Glasgow. “I rented a place in London as it was cheaper than staying in hotels, but I missed Glasgow too much. Mind you, I’m never home. I see record company people more than my parents now.” Katie now has a US recording deal too and will be going to LA in next month. “It’s great having the backing of Elton as his people have offices in LA and New York. When I went to the US for the first time I was terrified as I thought I didn’t know anybody, but then I thought to myself ‘But you do!’ and called them. After that Elton’s manager looked after me there.” Katie’s also supported the great man at one of his outdoor shows last year. “I was told it was a football stadium and asked how many would be there. They said 8000 but just before I went on they told me it was 20,000. They didn’t want me to know too much before in case it terrified me!” Despite her new high-flying life, Katie hasn’t forgotten her spell working in Woolies. “They closed just after I left. Me leaving them was probably the last straw!”
Competition WIN the new NOW album
No fewer than 46 pop gems are spread over the two CDs this time, with every song a solid gold hit. They include Number One hits aplenty such as Katy Perry’s California Gurls featuring Snoop Dogg and hot new boyband JLS with their smash The Club Is Alive. Pop princess Kylie Minogue is represented by her brilliant new single All The Lovers, but she’s not the only great diva on this, as there are also great tracks from Rihanna, Cheryl Cole and Kelly Rowland. The hit Just Be Good To Green from new rap sensation Professor Green, with help from his friend Lily Allen is also here, and, of course, no such compilation is complete without an appearance from the one and only Lady Gaga. You’ll find her song Alejandro included. Divas galore The hits just keep coming thick and fast in this collection, so you’ll also find This Ain’t A Love Song from Scouting For Girls, She Said by Plan B and Fyfe Dangerfield’s great version of Billy Joel’s classic She’s Always A Woman. Fans of R&B will be pleased find songs from Alicia Keys, Kelis, Black Eyed Peas and Timbaland featuring Justin Timberlake, while new British sensation Pixie Lott is included alongside Fire With Fire, the new single from Scissor Sisters. I have 10 copies of this brilliant new compilation to give away. To have a chance of getting one, answer this — You'll find the question on page 33 of the August 8 edition of The Sunday Post. For info on subscribing to the paper, click here. Just email your answer to rhythm@sundaypost.com with the subject as “NOW 76 Competition” by clicking on the above link and adding your answer, name, address and daytime phone number to the email it should create. First 10 correct entries drawn on Friday, August 13, win a copy of each album. Employees of D.C.Thomson & Co. Ltd, and their close relatives, may not enter. The Editor’s decision is final. This is a joint promotion between The Sunday Post and EMI TV.
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© All copyright D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd., 2010 |
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For
more about Katie and the band go to their official MySpace page at 
Arcade Fire
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