This week I also had the chance to chat with Ken Cotter, singer & songwriter based in Cork. Ken is noted for his strong voice, captivating melodies and astute lyrical composition. His live performances are steered by a confident guitar and a well-honed stage craft. Ken started playing guitar at the age of 12, and over the next few years found himself penning songs in the style of his heroes, Bruce Springsteen and Billy Bragg. But it was in the songs of Jimmy MacCarthy, Paul Brady, Luka Bloom and many other Irish Singer Songwriters, that Ken began to feel most at home. These great Irish performers helped him shape his sound and acquire the confidence to sing in his own voice about his own experiences. As a teen Ken was also listening to The Jam, The Who, U2, Big Country, Echo And The Bunnymen, as well as Irish homegrown rockers, Something Happens, Light A Big Fire and Cactus World News. Radiohead became a big influence. However, gradually Ken began to discover his own style.
Certainly, he incorporated aspects of these different musical strains, but by marrying them to his own experiences and by never deviating from his core principles of pride in place and uniqueness of accent, he has created a rare sound.2010 saw Ken celebrate 21 years of playing original material- original being the operative word. You won't find stained faux Dylanesque tones here, or lyrics dripping in a pastiche American landscape.
Ken's charm is that he manages to stay loyal to his own place, it's accent and it's rhythm, while still sounding contemporary and new. He has managed to straddle his Irish folk and songwriting heritage with a distinct indie heartbeat. He is of his place, but also, as importantly, of his time. This confidence in himself and the place that shaped him probably comes from a music career that has seen him spend years on the road, touring Ireland, the UK, Europe, Singapore, Australia, the US and Newfoundland.
His new album which he is working on at the moment is a collection of songs based on Ulysses and I had the pleasure of hearing some of them and they are quite simply, an amazing collection of songs that are well crafted and very well put together, it goes to show how much Ken has invested in this project, where every single sound on each recording has been listened to several times and taken out or left in. Every note, nuance, sound, breath, beat is there for a reason and Ken in his wisdom is overseeing the project with an eagle eye. When this album hits the shelves it will be worth buying.
Some of the things that have been said about Ken in recent times are as follows.
Corkman Cotter does his own neat take on indie-pop classicism.-Colm O Hare, HotPress.
Sounds totally assured and hits all the right buttons - Evening Echo, Cork.
Magnificent Stuff! HotPress, Dublin.
A wonderfully assured brand of melodic songcraft - Time Out, London.
With albums due out from writers of the calibre of Ken Cotter in the Autumn, this could turn out to be Corks year on the rock front - Jackie Hayden, HotPress, Dublin.
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