La Vida Liverpool loves to celebrate the abundance of talented music artists that Liverpool and the North West has to offer. We enjoy shouting about the wonderful diversity on our doorstep and the many different styles and genres available from guitarists, vocalists, beatbox artists, rappers and more. In this feature article, we bring you Lucy Mayhew.
We invited the Wirral singer/songwriter to Tanskey’s bistro on West Kirby promenade one Sunday evening and she mesmerised us with her beautiful lyrics and grace. With the sun setting over the Marine Lake, Lucy delivered three tracks from the bottom of her heart — starting with ‘Fall A Little Further’.
Lucy is well respected locally but is quietly making big waves nationally. She’s had a busy 2018, featuring at Smithdown Road Festival, FOCUS Wales, the International Guitar Festival of Great Britain, Llanfest (supporting Kaiser Chiefs), various weddings and will soon be embarking upon a UK tour. With a new E.P on the way and a packed schedule, things are looking very promising for this angelic artist and we were honoured to have her play for us at Tanskey’s.
We have another two tracks from Lucy that night to show you, but before we do here’s a little Q&A:
LVL: So what have you been up to lately?
Lucy: I’ve just finished a busy month of gigs mostly around North Wales and Chester! Back in April I supported an incredible artist, Brooke Sharkey, in Chester, and this month have played at Smithdown Road and FOCUS Wales festivals, Sefton Park Palm House, performed on a Mersey Ferry (which was pretty mental and luckily not blowing a gale), and at a couple of weddings. Also performing at the International Guitar Festival of Great Britain on 30th May.
LVL: How did you get into singing and performing?
Lucy: It wasn’t ever something I considered doing as a profession, I’m not the kind of person who’d get up and start belting out a tune so just thought I was too shy to ever do it. My parents were always playing music in the house, nobody played instruments but I remember Christmas presents being a karaoke machine or a little keyboard. I’d sit and sing along to Aretha Franklin and the Beatles’ Help! CD for hours on that karaoke machine. I had a couple of singing parts in primary school productions, and then didn’t even get into the choir in secondary school, which still haunts me haha. In fact, school music lessons might as well have been non-existent. A few years later at university I was listening to more guitar-heavy bands like the Smiths, Oasis, the Verve and began teaching myself guitar. After playing a couple of open mic nights in Norwich, I came home and played as many gigs as possible, any local venue and bar that’d take the risk of booking me (despite not having any videos online), and it’s kind of gone from there. I now sometimes help out at Wirral Academy of Performing Arts, which is where I used to go on Saturday mornings. It definitely steered me towards music at a young age and helped overcome nerves, so its nice seeing these kids grow in confidence too.
LVL: Who were your main inspirations?
Lucy: Well the first album I bought was Avril Lavigne’s ‘Let Go’ and I literally still know all the words to every song, I loved her voice and lyrics back then. But I’ll never get tired of listening to Amy Winehouse, Stevie Nicks and Laura Marling. There’s strength in their vulnerability and feeling everything so deeply, and the way they turn knock-backs into art. If an artist writes honestly and openly without relying on cliches, you’re much more likely to relate.
LVL: Who is your favourite singer/songwriter and why?
Lucy: Oh god, there’s too many! It literally changes everyday. 1970s songwriters like Sandy Denny, Rory Gallagher, Van Morrison definitely inspire me most of the time. At the moment I’m loving Courtney Barnett’s witty observational lines.
LVL: What are your plans for the future?
Lucy: I’m currently booking dates for my first tour around the UK, late summer into October. It’s basically an excuse to find some wicked little venues and stay with friends! Back in March, I recorded four songs for an EP and will be releasing it ahead of this tour. I’ll also be playing at Chester Live, Llanfest in Llangollen (Kaiser Chiefs headlining), a couple of beer festivals, and about eight weddings. Plan for the future is to be more disciplined and finish a song before starting the next, so by the end of the year I might just have enough for an album.
La Vida Liverpool loves Lucy Mayhew and if you want to hear more then check out our other videos coming soon or check her out on FACEBOOK and YOUTUBE. Check out Tanskey’s in West Kirby on FACEBOOK
