‘Her songs can be a rollercoaster’
LISA-MARIE WALTERS, 41, FROM BRISTOL IS… KATE BUSH
Rifling through my mum’s record collection as a 12-year-old, I found the Kate Bush album The Whole Story. I was struck by her incredible, unique voice and otherworldly style that transported me to another place. I sang along to Wow and Wuthering Heights in front of the bedroom mirror.
My husband Rob, 44, and I had four children, Ewan, 19, Jared, 17, Tia-Rae, 14, and Freya, nine, and for years I juggled motherhood, being a part-time make-up artist and singing with a local band. I started posting videos of me singing Kate Bush on Facebook and friends and family said I sounded just like her. A friend posted one of my videos on a fan page and it got such an enthusiastic response, it sowed the seed of an idea to start a tribute band. So, in January 2019, after a bottle of wine for courage, I uploaded a video of me singing Army Dreamers, asking if any musicians would be interested in forming a band. Mark Feven, a piano player, called me immediately, telling me he knew Kate’s songs inside out. He thought my voice sounded so uncannily like hers I must be lip syncing! Together with three other musicians, we formed Moments of Pleasure, and the first time we met we knew we’d created something special.
In lockdown, we did live-streams to keep up morale. In 2022, the Netflix show Stranger Things featured Kate’s 1985 single Running Up That Hill and the song went to Number One in the charts. We noticed a surge of younger fans who didn’t just love that song but were hooked on Kate’s entire repertoire. That Summer, we played the Manchester tribute festival Festwich in front of 10,000 people. I’d never sung in front of so many people and was shaking before we went on stage. Rob had to give me a pep talk to calm my nerves, but it was an amazing experience. Since then, we’ve been touring and 2024 is already fully booked with gigs all over the country.
This Woman’s Work is my favourite song because it hits me right in the heart. Under the Ivy is a hidden gem too. Kate Bush songs can be a rollercoaster, leaving you laughing, crying and dancing. It’s important to me to give people an authentic experience. It’s important that I deeply connect to her songs. I want to be true to Kate’s music and that shines through my performance.
Kate Bush fans who saw her live in the Seventies and when she toured in 2014, tell me that seeing me perform is like being in the room with Kate. It is a huge compliment to be compared to someone I admire so much.
I WANT TO BE TRUE TO KATE’S MUSIC