Interview With Miles Cain (1/2) By Steve Rudd Promo Pictures by Simon Watterson, David Green

(1/2), (2/2).

Miles Cain, once a Hull resident, is a superb singer-songwriter who is now based in York. Back in April he unleashed yet another outstanding album - A Way Of Being Free' - and, fresh from his recent support slot with Lucy Kaplansky in York, here he chats exclusively to Steve Rudd about the state of the local music scene in general, what first spawned his interest in music, and his plans for 2008... Hi Miles how you doing? Good, thank you. So, has 2007 treated you well?

It has been, all in all, a good year. My daughter was born in August, which was amazing. I released a new album in April, which was good, too. Have you been pleased with the response to your latest album A Way Of Being Free? I am really proud of the album. I wish I had better responses in some quarters - I worked with a publicist for a while but all I got was one really lousy review - so I was disappointed about that. But some other responses from people who have heard it have been really nice. I feel very proud of it because it took us 10 months to make and we worked really hard on getting it right.

After a few years spent living in Hull, you are now based in York. What do you think of the live music scene there? Some really good acts, both solo artists and bands. Some excellent songwriters: Chris Helme, Hayley Hutchinson, Dan Webster, Oli J Brooke, Edwina Hayes play here often. Holly Taymar plus a bunch of others. Hijak Oscar have just done really well on Channel 4, too.

What first got you into music, and have you always favoured the folk genre? Long story - first band I ever loved was Abba. My Mum used to play them in the car when I was about 7 years old. I thought they were wonderful. They had a really good ear for a melody. Later on, when I was about 9, it was early 80s pop, the big hit songs like Come On Eileen, Eye of The Tiger, stuff like that.

Then it was hard rock and metal - Bryan Adams, Queen, Meat Loaf, Whitesnake, Guns N Roses. Then, around 1988 or 89, I heard Bob Dylan. That got me into the American classic stuff - him, Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp.... I do like folk music and especially its attitude to playing live, but I am not sure I am really a folkie! That said, I hosted a late night venue at the Beverley Folk Festival in 2007 and will probably do it again in 2008.

Continued .... Next Page (2/2)

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