All
things bright and beautiful - Part Two
By Gareth Bicknell, Daily Post
It
is an apt time to think of her parents, as today is
Mother's Day. Mum Susan hasn't come up to Llandudno
to see the gig - she works for Breast Test Wales, travelling
the country screening women for breast cancer - but
Katherine is looking forward to seeing her when she
performs in Cardiff's St David's Hall next Sunday. "I've
asked her if I can postpone Mother's Day," she
jokes. "I've sent her a card, and I've sent her
some toiletry things, but I'm not going to see her until
I go to Cardiff. So I've arranged for her to come to
London with me after the Cardiff gig, and I'm going
to take her out shopping."
Her
London gig at the end of March will also give her a
chance to see her musician boyfriend Steve Hart, who
she shares a house with in the capital. They fell in
love three years ago, after they met through a mutual
friend. Katherine says they hit it off straight away
- "it was instant attraction", she says. "I
do believe in love at first sight."
Steve,
29, has written songs for the likes of Liberty X, and
is hoping to embark on a solo career of his own. When
Katherine tells me he is "talented in all sorts
of ways", the cheeky glint in her eyes tells me
I don't want to know too much more.
Has
she ever thought of working on a collaboration with
the love of her life? "Absolutely not," she
says. "When you get a collaboration with people
who are involved, it doesn't work, it just seems to
be fate that it's going to ruin everything for them.
I wouldn't even consider it."
Between
the two of them, she says they have a huge record collection.
"Have you heard of this new band Maroon Five?"
she asks. "We're playing that a lot at the moment.
We got the CD because we liked the first song, and they're
supposed to be one of the big bands of this year. I've
got a lot of soul music as well, like George Benson,
Stevie Wonder. I like all the old stuff."
She
is due on stage in less than 45 minutes now, and, quite
sweetly, she asks if she can put on her make-up while
she goes on to tell me what she thinks of the current
state of the pop charts.
"I
think the forecast for this year was that people are
going to buy more opera and rock. I think maybe the
market's been flooded with too much manufactured Pop
Idol and Fame Academy sort of things. It's difficult
for really talented people to get into music. I'm hoping
people want to try something new instead of all the
pop stuff."
While
her taste ranges from 70s soul to Christina Aguilera,
much of Katherine's own material comes from the hymns
she sang as a youngster. She won the Welsh Choirgirl
Of The Year competition at 12, and religion is still
an important part of her life.
"I'm
not as dedicated as I would like to be, because I can't
make it to church on a regular basis. But whenever I
am at home at the weekend I will go with my mum, and
I always go for special occasions. But just generally
I do believe in God, and I do think there's someone
who's looking down on me because I've been led down
a very fortunate path. I definitely believe there's
a God."
As
curtains up rolls nearer, the foyer is positively teeming
with people eager to take their seats for a concert
featuring two of the best young singers in the world.
If tonight goes well, in less then two weeks those same
people will be clamouring to buy Premiere.
"It's
a little bit nerve-racking, because my whole dream is
hinging now on these two weeks," Katherine says,
not long before taking the stage. "But I just feel
dead proud."
Two
days later, I speak to Genievieve again to ask how the
Llandudno gig went. Really well, apparently. After late
soundchecks, missed connections and chest infections,
perhaps somebody up there really is looking out for
Katherine, after all.
<
Part One
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