Ballad of the Barrowland; the BIG razz interview Exclusive Rising star Amy MacDonald pays tribute to legendary venue with a song.

Byline: By John Dingwall

SCOTS singer-songwriter Amy MacDonald first shot to fame with a song about Pete Doherty ...now she is set to immortalise Glasgow's legendary Barrowland.

Amy's debut album This Is The Life, out in two weeks, includes the track Barrowland Ballroom.

The east end venue has enjoyed tremendous performances from the likes of Oasis, Beastie Boys, Arctic Monkeys and David Bowie as well as homegrown acts Simple Minds, Travis, Franz Ferdinand and The Jesus And Mary Chain.

Amy's lyrics go: "Oh nothing beats the feeling of the high Barrowland ceiling, when the band starts to play," and "I wish that I saw Bowie, playing on that stage, I wish that I saw something to make me come of age."

She said: "I've never played there but to go to a gig is wonderful. All the bands who played there have always said it is a brilliant venue. I felt it deserved its own song because it is such a legendary music place.

"The lyrics are about times when I have been there or sitting thinking back to shows. My favourite gig was by Razorlight at the start of their career. It was before people really knew who Johnny Borrell was.

"I remember he climbed on to the amps and was swinging along the side of the wall. It was before he got his reputation for having a big ego."

The 19-year-old Glaswegian added: "I've played the song twice at King Tut's and got an amazing response, so to be able to play it at the Barrowland would be amazing.

"I don't know how that would feel. It would be quite surreal. I hope I can play there one day."

Meanwhile, Amy has been no slacker when it comes to live gigs. As well as tours, she has just performed for the first time at T in the Park.

One of the perks of playing at Balado was meeting Brandon Flowers of The Killers and Johnny Borrell.

"I shimmied over to them and said hello and that was about it," admitted Amy. "I don't think they knew what was going on and neither did I.

"It was a bit embarrassing. It was the label people working their magic and so I felt like a bit of an idiot.

"We got our picture taken and that was that. I love both The Killers and Razorlight though, so it was nice to get the chance to say hello.

"Johnny and Brandon are obviously really good friends and were catching up because they hadn't seen each other in a while. Johnny was really polite and soft spoken and didn't seem to have an ego at all."

But Johnny's girlfriend, Spider-Man actress Kirsten Dunst, has nothing to worry about. Amy isn't interested in nicking the Razorlight frontman from under the Hollywood star's nose.

"I don't like him in that way," she said. "He is a bit of a weed and very short. He is shorter than me and must be about 5ft 6in. He gets away with it because he is so skinny.

"Brandon is a really good looking guy but seems quite shy. I said hello to him and he seemed a bit quiet. Both these guys have their music and that's what they do. They give their all when they are singing.

"I wish I'd had more time to spend with my friends at T in the Park though to enjoy the whole festival experience. But instead I got to watch Brian Wilson for 10 minutes with them and that was it.

"I was still camping this year but it was a bit different to previous years because this time I had to do a lot of media stuff, including interviews.

"I had to leave on the Sunday afternoon and I was gutted about that.

"But it was brilliant performing there. It was the best gig we have done by a long shot because of the atmosphere, even though it wasn't technically our best performance. I had an amazing time."

Amy's T in the Park appearance shows what an inspiring band can do to turn your life around.

She saw Travis when she was 13 when they headlined the festival in 2000 and decided she wanted to be a singer-songwriter.

Amy went on to support Travis but admits she didn't have the courage to tell singer Fran Healy how much of an inspiration he had been. "I wanted to tell him so much that I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him," she said.

"But I could feel myself welling up and didn't want to start crying in front of the poor man. He knew a few of my songs and was singing them back to me, which was surreal.

"I wanted to burst into tears. My bottom lip was trembling. But I hope one day to be able to tell him once I get my emotions in check. At the moment I cry at everything."

Amy got her first break when she answered an advert in the NME in 2005, which read: "Small production company seeks new artists."

She sent off a demo and was signed up by her her current manager Pete Wilkinson, and that led to a deal with Mercury Records in April 2006.

Amy will guest with Sir Elton John tomorrow at Glasgow's SECC after the doyen of British pop music invited her to share the stage with him.

She said: "I only found out about it this week. It's such a brilliant opportunity that I couldn't really believe it. Everyone knows at least five Elton John songs and I love them all. It is such an amazing honour to be able to do it."

This week sees the download release of her latest single, Mr Rock 'n' Roll, which is out on CD on Monday and has already been Record of the Week on Radio 2.

"I'm extremely busy just now but it is all good," she said. "I played Glastonbury and T in the Park and have been doing lots of work to promote the album.

"As far as the public is concerned, the album has just landed and that's it.

"But this has been going on for two years. I recorded the album last July and it was mixed in October. I've been working on the songs for five years so I'm glad it is finally coming out."

And Amy doesn't mind being compared to KT Tunstall.

"It's a huge honour," she said. "She is a massive success and people are really proud to have someone from Scotland representing them.

"But I don't think our music is similar at all. I can't get upset though because that's a very positive comparison.

"Hopefully, people who say I am this year's KT Tunstall mean they think I will be this year's success story from Scotland."

Amy will be at HMV Braehead at 1pm on July 16.

*** 'I played it twice at King Tut's and got an amazing response, so to play it at the Barrowland would be amazing'

'I shimmied over to Brandon and Johnny and said hello. It was a bit embarrassing. I felt a bit of an idiot'

CAPTION(S):

BAD BOY: Amy wrote about Pete Doherty; STARRY NIGHT: Amy meets Brandon Flowers and Johnny Borrell backstage at T in the Park