ASH mainman TIM WHEELER has joined a group of musicians from his native BELFAST to record a version of STIFF LITTLE FINGERS classic ‘ALTERNATIVE ULSTER’ due for release as a Christmas charity single, NME.COM can reveal.
Wheeler plays guitar on the track, which also features local beat poet and raconteur Terri Hooley, (the man who discovered the Undertones and released ‘Teenage Kicks’), David Holmes associates Chris Caul and Lisa Barros D’Sa, Belfast band Olympic Lifts and St. Ciarans High School Choir.
Profits from the sale of the single will go to the Children’s Youth Foundation, a cross community Northern Irish scheme that sends underprivileged children on trips to the US.
“Tim sent us the guitar-line on a mini-disc he’d recorded in his London flat,” explained Mark Gordon of Olympic Lifts, one of the organisers. “And we just added all the other bits round it. It’s a great version of a great song and sounds like something else with the choir.”
The single will be released on December 18 and be available in major independent record shops throughout the UK – such as Rough Trade in London, Fat City in Manchester and Avalanche in Edinburgh.
Ash have just kicked off their month-long UK tour, taking in venues not usually covered on the traditional band rounds. For more details and updates [url=]Click here to see NME.COM’s exclusive minisite.