The band were formed at the end of 1992 by John Miller, Frank Macdonald and Teenage Fanclub bassist Gerry Love. After recruiting erstwhile Pastel Brian Taylor and enlisting the help of Battlefield Band fiddler John McCusker they made their debut appearance at Glasgow's famous King Tut's Wah Wah Hut.

Shortly after this Gerry left due to recording commitments and was replaced by ex-Pastel, Martin Hayward. The band continued to make rare live appearances, playing support to such indie darlings as Dodgy, BMX Bandits, Eugenius, Superstar, Thrum and others, and before long their mix of country and rock, described by the press as reminiscent of classic Gram Parsons' Flying Burrito Brothers, began to attract it's own following.

Their reputation spread to the other side of the Atlantic where their debut single was released on San Francisco's Swingset Records. Featuring early versions of "Headin' On Down The Highway","Every Other Song" and "Living Without You" this limited edition EP was an important step and was the catalyst which led to the band becoming more of a full time outfit. Starting to gig on a regular basis, the band recruited local steel player Drew Hamill to help round out their sound. Drew was soon replaced by regular Steelie Malcolm McMaster, completing the line-up that would go on to record "New Memories".

In the studio recording New Memories

L-R Kim, John Miller and engineer Duncan Cameron

The New Memories album cover

Following the recording of "New Memories" , the Sweethearts went back into the studio to add backing to some unreleased tapes by "The Killer" himself, Mr. Jerry Lee Lewis.

Successfully recorded these tapes are currently languishing somewhere in the USA. We hope that they may finally be released one day soon.

After "New Memories" the band continued to write and perform on a regular basis and at last got a chance to go back into the studio, this time with no less than Memphis legend Alex Chilton (Box Tops, Big Star, etc.) at the controls. They recorded 6 tracks, to which Alex added backing vocals and guitar, these tracks would form the basis of the second album.

L-R John Miller, Alex Chilton and Frank Macdonald.

John Peel visits John's house

"I made sure he didn't get away without doing the washing up"

Finally completed in the Autumn of 1999, LONESOME BLUE was released on Spit & Polish Records (a division of Shoeshine) and features Battlefield Band's John McCusker, as well as performances by the afore-mentioned Mr. Chilton, Johnny Cameron of The Carol Laula Band, and Belle And Sebastian's Stevie Jackson.

With the addition of guitarist Kevin Key (replaced the departed Brian Taylor) the band toured the UK in January and May/June of 2000 as part of Shoeshine/Spit & Polish package tours featuring Ben Vaughn, Laura Cantrell, and John Herald. They also recorded, not one, but, two sessions for the legendary John Peel show on Radio 1, one with Ms.Cantrell and one in their own right.

They hope to be hitting the road again as soon as possible. Keep tuned to the live page (see link below) for details of all forthcoming shows.