THE future looks bright for Kington band Mermaid Kiss, who played their first live gig at Stourbridge's Rock Caf in December.

"We'd put in three months work before going on stage," said Jamie Field, who plays acoustic and electric guitars with lead singer Evelyn Downing, "and even though there were some technical problems to begin with, it was great."

The band's first album has been receiving American interest, and airplay, with WDYN, New York broadcasting an hour-long show dedicated to the band and album.

"That kind of coverage is unknown in the UK, however famous you are."

Although Evelyn, now 20, is away at university - the two recorded four new tracks over the Christmas holidays and plan to make the most of the very good recording facilities in Manchester, where Evelyn is now living.

"The set up for indy music is different in the US," Jamie said. "The response is generally much more positive and less fixed on your label, or who you sound like."

The band were number one for nine straight weeks on IntoMusic, the UK's leading mp3 site, after the release of the album Mermaid Kiss in June.

Having received a great audience response from Stourbridge, where they supported Karnataka on December 21, the group are looking for more live concerts and would love to play in Hereford.

For more information and to order the album go to www.mermaidkiss.co.uk