With one part Salford and two parts south Manchester, The Rossoneri are definitely singing from a local hymn sheet. Add to the mix the evocative and extremely sentimental lyrics of BBC poet for Manchester Mike Duff and you're almost there.

Singer and guitarist Rob Mager said: "Myself and Phil (whistles/bodhrán) were in Manchester/Irish band Cairde for four years. We enjoyed apperances on BBC GMR and Granada Tonight before the Emerald Isle came calling and stole away two of our members. We needed a fresh start and on New Year's Eve this year after a few beers we came up with the idea of roping in Mike and Jenny (violin).

"Mike's written a set of poems called 'the drunken lullabies' which we have turned into songs in their own right. The sound draws a lot on irish influences with the story-telling element of Mike's lyrics featuring heavily. The Pogues, The Smiths and Bob Dylan are good reference points."

Fast forward eight months and the band now have a strong set of gigs under their belts. Highlights range from an intimate gig at Chorlton's Iguana Bar to a rather boistrous St Patrick's Day set at central Liverpool pub The Excelsior. Phil remembers, "All these burly gaelic football fans from Galway were over and were jumping around down at the front. The place was literaly shaking!" Such scenes are not likely to be repeated during the M19 gig due to the acoustic nature of the show, but don't let that put you off catching a very entertaining performance from one of Manchester's freshest new bands...

R. Mager, August 2005