The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Boyzlife / Katie Kittermaster
Church, Dundee, September 1
Pop idols Keith Duffy and Brian McFadden will re-live former glories when they kick off their latest tour in Dundee.
The ex-Boyzone and Westlife rivals are now united as Boyzlife, a celebration of their hit-laden careers and such memorable chart-toppers as Words, No Matter What and Unbreakable.
It won’t all be retro at Church, however, as the Irish duo are giving youth its fling in the shape of rising acoustic songsmith Katie Kittermaster.
The Kent-based performer, 18, supported Jools Holland, Marc Almond and Olly Murs while studying for her A-levels, and opened shows by ex-Boyzone star Ronan Keating this month.
Katie’s unfazed by the bright lights having earned her big break in Dubai before she even reached her teens.
“My family only lived there for three years and I had some pretty good opportunities,” she says.
“I did a gig for 50 Cent, Eva Longoria and Ricky Martin, as well as performing on live TV, which was pretty cool aged 12.
“There’s masses of beach festivals in Dubai and anyone and everyone plays there. The best gig I ever saw was Bruno Mars – he was amazing live – and my parents were lucky enough to see some incredible people like Lionel Richie and Ed Sheeran.”
Katie joined more than 40,000 other fans at Sheeran’s final concert on his 30-month Divide world tour in Ipswich on Monday.
“Ed’s always been a massive inspiration of mine because as a singersongwriter he’s just like a god really,” she adds. “Taylor Swift was the same for me – both musically and lyrically some of her earlier stuff was very nice. My other favourites growing up were JLS and One Direction, and about a year ago I found this girl called Maisie Peters who I just adore.”
Katie recently honed her songwriting craft during a collaborative stay in Berlin, with her new single Sunday Afternoon among the fruits of her labours.
“I was anxious because I thought it’d be hard to sit in a room with a stranger and write about emotions but it went really well,” she says.
“I finished an EP but it won’t be digitally released until November, which is really annoying because I just want to put it out right now.
“The single’s a song about being in a really comfortable relationship and spending time together just chilling out.”
Boyzlife’s 15-date UK tour opens in Dundee and Katie’s relishing the prospect.
She says: “I’ve only been to Scotland two or three times – it will be nice to explore a bit.”