Ian Prowse & Amsterdam

Raised on the rallying cry of protest songs and influenced by the celtic sounds that make
Liverpool so unique, Ian Prowse is a singer/songwriter who is renowned for his incendiary
live shows and has cemented his cult following over twenty five years with indie bands Pele
and Amsterdam. Prowse charted with his song ‘Does This Train Stop on Merseyside?’, and
Radio 1 DJ, John Peel, was reduced to tears live on air each time he played the track. Irish
legend Christy Moore then adopted the song in 2009, making it the centrepiece of his
number 1 album, ‘Listen’.
Deeply impressed with Prowse’s 2019 album, Elvis Costello invited him to join every date of
his national 2020 tour, ‘Just Trust’, as his special guest. Elvis is not alone in recognising
Prowse’s ability to wow a live crowd as Prowse has previously rocked national tours with
The Pogues, Damien Dempsey, Del Amitri and The Wonderstuff.
Costello said of Prowse’s 2019 album, ‘Here I Lie’: “I always come to an Ian Prowse record
prepared to learn. Ian doesn’t just sing of the here and now but also reaches back into the
past for a passionate tale to tell, to sing of an injustice that might tell us something about
today. The truth is probably the best thing about Here I Lie.”
The album has racked up an impressive array of plaudits from other fellow songwriters,
including Jean-Jacques Burnel and Baz Warne from The Stranglers, Miles Hunt and Damien
Dempsey, who described it as a “sublime and majestic masterpiece [with] stunning
imagery”. It has also amassed top reviews from the Daily Mirror, The Skinny, R2 and Louder
Than War.
Prowse’s ‘90s band Pele garnered hits abroad, most notably a number 1 in South Africa. It
was with Pele that Prowse gained a reputation for his astonishing live performances and had
multiple singles playlisted on Radio 1.
Even though Prowse is known to sing many a heartbreak tune, conviction songs have
remained his passion and, with his rousing performance of ‘My Name is Dessie Warren’,
Prowse has helped to highlight the injustice of the late trade unionist.
2020 saw Prowse release a career-spanning retrospective, ‘The Story of Ian Prowse’ with
brand new Soho-based label who signed him, Kitchen Disco Records. Christy Moore paid
homage to Prowse on RTE: “Ian Prowse is a magnificent songwriter. We’re really glad we got
to know him” whilst music business legend Bill Drummond opined that Prowse is a “one
off”.
Never stopping for breath, Prowse has continued to widen his cult following in 2020 both
during the Costello tour and during lockdown; he has been commended recently on Radio 5
Live, on Talk Sport, by Janice Long and in national newspaper Metro for building a fresh and
inclusive music community as he performs during his weekly, online, live shows.
‘Urban folk is as good a label as any, though it would be foolish to get too reductive when
talking about one of the UK’s most thrilling and underrated singer-songwriters.’ - Record Collector