‘Glastonbury Pyramid stage still hasn’t sunk in but Liverpool feels like a specIal home gig’ Meet BeautifulSouth singer Rianne Downey

When singer Rianne Downey first played Liverpool’s Sound City back in 2021, it was to a crowd of a couple of hundred in LEAF on Bold Street.

Now, about to return for this year’s festival in May, the 25-year-old Glaswegian is still pinching herself over what has happened since.

Top of the surreal career moment list has to be last summer when, guest singing with Paul Heaton and with a surprise appearance from Norman Cook, she became part of what was one of the most talked about sets of Glastonbury.

Even so long later, Rianne – who moved from Scotland to live in Liverpool three years ago – is finding it hard to take it all in.

“It’s like my body nearly combusts because I can’t comprehend it. It just comes in waves and all of a sudden I’m nearly in tears because I’ve just realised what’s going on,” she says. “When you’re doing things you’ve dreamed of since you were a kid your brain just almost keeps it as a dream.

“I still don’t think Glastonbury has sunk in really. When you’re on stage you look out and it’s literally just a sea of people and you can’t see where it ends. I just remember the pure adrenaline.

“Playing intimate gigs is a totally different experience. I’m just back from Ireland with Paul and we played arenas in Belfast and Dublin then we toured around some small counties where we did some gigs to about 100 people.

“The smaller ones are definitely more intense because you’re so close to the crowd, you can see their faces watching you so it feels really personal and also the energy is electric because you’re feeding off each other.

“The big gigs are electric in a different sense – it’s so loud, the stage is so big, that’s what you get the buzz from.

“I absolutely love performing, and when you see a huge crowd it’s almost like going into battle but you feel like you’re going to win.”

The whirlwind of stadium and arena gigs began for Rianne in 2023, although it stemmed from almost three years earlier when she was uploading songs to YouTube during Covid.

“I’d been busking since I was 15, when I turned 18 I moved on to pubs then lockdown hit and I started with the online covers and it skyrocketed from there. 

“I’d loved The Beautiful South’s Rotterdam for years and a pal kept telling me I’d be brilliant at it, but I kept brushing it aside. One night in about October 2020, quite spontaneously, I just thought I’d give it a try. 

“Paul saw it, commented on it and liked it and I remember running downstairs to my mum and dad screaming.

“I never thought anything of it again until almost three years later when I got the phone call to see if I was available for summer 2023. I’d just been sitting on his radar all that time.

“The first gig I did with Paul, we headlined Neighbourhood Weekender. Before that, the last gig I’d played was to 300 people, then it jumped up to 30,000 people so I think I was just adding zeroes!”

The past 12 months for Rianne have been especially non-stop, with Paul and with her own gigs, and the massive dates are already stretching out across the year including supporting Texas and back at Glastonbury with Billy Bragg. 

Whether it’s her self-penned songs, or Beautiful South classics, crowds just love her distinctive country/folk vocals.

“I’m so grateful for what’s happened with Paul,” she says. “It was such a shock that people bought into me as me through Paul because it could easily have been that I was his singer and that was it. The fact that people are wanting to hear my songs and my story is such a lovely thing.”

One of the major highlights of this year will be a return to Sound City, which she’s played every year except one since her debut.

Having moved here in 2022, working with James Skelly from The Coral, Reds fan Rianne says Liverpool gigs feel special.

“As soon as I came here I just felt such an affinity with the place and so welcomed. It’s such a warm city. It’s just so lovely to be surrounded by people who are so passionate about music whether they’re a musician or they’ve grown up here.

“I’ve only done two headlines here, but I played the Pier Head with Deacon Blue last year which was amazing and I supported Paolo Nutini at the Cavern Club so even though I’ve not done loads the gigs the ones I have done have been extremely special.

“When I played the Arena with Paul last December, that definitely felt like a hometown gig to me. The cheer when I was singing my solo songs and the reception I got, I felt like I really was one of your own.”

Rianne Downey plays Sound City main stage Grand Central on Saturday May 3. Get tickets here.

Get the latest music news for Liverpool HERE.

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