DUBLIN

1995 -

OVERVIEW For 18 months after he split The Fat Lady Sings, nothing was heard from Nick. Then in mid-1995 Kelly began playing low-key live shows in Britain, Ireland, New York and Tokyo. These acoustic sets, composed exclusively of previously unheard and unrecorded songs written by Kelly during his eighteen months of self-imposed exile from the music business, were greeted in rapturous terms by fans and critics alike. In June 1996, Sin? O'Connor invited Kelly to accompany her in a special performance of one of his new songs, "Republic", at a state reception hosted by visiting Czech President Vaclav Havel for President Mary Robinson in Johnny Fox's pub in Kilternan. In January 1997, Kelly released a debut solo album, "Between Trapezes", in Ireland on his own Self Possessed label. The record was deliberately funded without recourse to conventional music business sources, the initial pressing costs being met by 260 of Kelly's fans who agreed to act as sponsors of the project. The reaction of the Irish media was unanimously and extraordinarily positive. In May 1997 the album was released in the U.K., once again to exceptional critical reaction. "Between Trapezes" was voted "Debut Album Of The Year" by the readers of Hot Press Magazine in their annual poll. Early in 1998 "Between Trapezes" was released in Sweden (on the Showtime label) and in the US (on Lunch Records). In March 1998 Nick embarked upon a very well received mini-tour of the U.S., including dates in New York, Boston, Chicago and a showcase at the prestigious South By South-West Musicfest in Austin, Texas. In April 1998, Nick was granted the accolade of "Best Solo Male Artist" by Irish music critics at Ireland's most important music awards, defeating Van Morrison, Christy Moore, Paul Brady and Jack L for the accolade (Nick was also nominated in the ?Best Album? and ?Best Songwriter? categories). Over the next few years, Nick kept writing and performed live intermittently (often playing new songs at secret gigs only advertised to mailing list members). However it was not until January 2005 that Nick finally released the long overdue follow-up to ?Between Trapezes?, ?Running Dog?. 1995 - 1997 - Release of debut solo album 'Between Trapezes' [January] - 'Between Trapezes' was voted Debut Album Of The Year by readers of Hot Press 2005 - Release of 'Running Dog' [January]