Drew Kennett has a Bee in his bonnet.

The Isle Of Wight is an inspiring place. Or so Drew Kennett, the latest musical talent to emerge from this remote British outpost, thinks. “I live in a cottage in the middle of nowhere and you can just go out walking. It’s really chilled,” he says. “There’s a lot of musicians and everybody seems inspired to write.” His album, Songs From The Devil’s Chimney, named after his favourite local beauty spot, is due out in March and is produced by Paul Butler of fellow islanders, The Bees. The first few tracks were even recorded in The Bees’ famous shed.

“I went to school with Paul and I hadn’t seen him for a couple of years,” explains Drew. “I met up with him again and I had a couple of tracks. He said ‘come over to the shed’ and we just put them down.” Paul sent the two tracks off to his label, Source Records and before he knew it, Drew was signed. “I was very lucky that the right person got to hear it,” he says. “And luckily he loved it.”

Drew’s music has the same timeless quality as The Bees. In Drew’s case it’s classic folkie singer song-writing: good songs fuelled by real emotion. “It’s acoustic based pop music really, with that kind of 60s feel because we all use old equipment and there’s lots of harmonies and stuff like that,” he says. “I love all that 60s stuff like The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, The Beatles and The Kinks.”

Kennett didn’t pick up a guitar until he was 18 but was soon on a song-writing roll. “They just started coming. And when you write one, then you just want to write a better one.” He thinks the best songs are written quickly, like Under The Weather, the title track from last year’s EP. “I was going out with a girl at the time and she was feeling a bit low and I wrote it at one o’clock in the morning in about half an hour. I think with the best songs you get a verse, then a chorus very quickly and they seem to rush out.”

Under The Weather also features on his debut album, something that he can’t wait to be released. “I was up in London just before Christmas for a couple of parties and I got the artwork for the album on vinyl. I took it home to show my mum. I was well chuffed with that.” Matt Walton 09 January 04

Drew - Song’s from the Devil’s Chimney is out 22 March 04 on source records.

useful link: www.wearedrew.com