Hailing from San Diego in the US, Baby Bushka are 8 women who have wowed the UK and Ireland with their powerfully energetic, impressively entertaining and musically accomplished take on the work of Kate Bush – and they’re returning in May and June. They play Dublin (2 nights!), Cork, Belfast (2 nights!), Cardiff, Nottingham, Birmingham, London, Guilford, Leeds, Newcastle (2 nights!), Glasgow and Edinburgh! ALL TICKET LINKS HERE
The number of Kate Bush tribute acts actively doing shows is increasing, and more importantly, diversifying – each bringing their own take on Kate’s music to a live crowd. Natasha from the band tells us: “Kate Bush means the world to us and sharing the beauty, joy and genius of her music with old and new fans in a fun and fresh live show is what we love to do.” Read more about Baby Bushka at their Facebook page here. On their last visit I spoke to the ladies backstage at their Belfast show for an episode of the Kate Bush Fan Podcast – an absolutely electrifying night of Kate’s songs – you can listen again here:
The following ‘report’ was fabricated by myself, Seán, earlier this morning. Thanks for taking it in the spirit it was intended! Obviously myself and HomeGround promise as always never to rely on rumour or unverified sources to bring you the latest Kate Bush news. Anyway, here is the FALSE report I posted this morning, for April Fool’s Day – Seán
Kate has been nominated for induction to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in the US for the third time this year and reports this morning suggest Kate was in the final stages of accepting the honour in recent weeks, which would have been huge news for fans. However, her chances of finally being inducted seem to have been scuppered by the RRHOF Foundation’s unprecedented refusal to allow Kate her choice of performance at the ceremony later this year. While her fellow nominee Dolly Parton has formally excused herself from being inducted on the basis that she didn’t feel she was a “Rock & Roll” artist, Kate’s participation hinged on her request to be backed by an orchestration largely consisting of kazoos and some light percussion instruments.
A typical metal kazoo
The kazoo is an instrument that adds a “buzzing” timbral quality to a player’s voice when the player vocalizes into it. It is a type of mirliton (which itself is a membranophone), one of a class of instruments which modifies its player’s voice by way of a vibrating membrane of goldbeater’s skin or material with similar characteristics.
Kate wrote* in a statement that: “I am saddened that the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Foundation feels that a kazoo-based performance does not adhere to their remit of promoting a certain type of music. To my mind the kazoo, which is in fact an American instrument, is a beautiful, unearthly sound, resonating deeply and soulfully, especially when played by the musicians I had hoped to work on with this performance. I have recently come to love the kazoo sound and had hoped to bring it to wider exposure on the stage in Ohio. I feel I have no other course of action but to withdraw the kind offer to take my place in the RRHOF and wish my fellow nominees, who are all absolutely wonderful, the very best of luck this year.”
It is reported that up to 30 individual kazoo players had been contacted in the early planning stages of Kate’s piece.
Seán introduces the final instalment of Bush Telegraph’s interview with Preston Heyman. Here we get a further glimpse into the workings of the Tour Of Life and the special camaraderie that existed on tour, as well as the fun antics that happened offstage. Preston also remembers musical highlights and special moments with Kate during the show. Darrell and Paul mention their first meeting with Preston and the band at the 1980 Convention as young 13/14 year olds (being the youngest ones there), and fun memories of that meeting are remembered. Find out what other antics Preston and guitarist Alan Murphy got up to at the recording of the ‘Kate Show’ a few months after the tour. These memories and a whole lot more are revealed in this packed episode.
You can subscribe to the Kate Bush Fan Podcast on iTunes or on any podcast app you happen to use, such as Stitcher or Tunein or listen below on Soundcloud.
We were sad to hear of the passing of the great Gary Brooker, lead singer and keyboardist with Procol Harum. Aged 76, he had been receiving treatment for cancer, but died peacefully at home. Famous for his 1967 hit single with that band, A Whiter Shade of Pale, he played on Kate’s live performance of The Wedding List in July 1982 along with Midge Ure, Phil Collins and Pete Townsend. In 1993, Gary graced her 7th studio album, The Red Shoes, on the tracks And So Is Love, Constellation of the Heart and (perhaps most memorably) You’re the One with his trademark shimmering Hammond organ. In 2005 Gary provided backing vocals on Aerial‘s Sunset, vocals and Hammond organ on Somewhere In Between and Hammond organ on Nocturn. We send our condolences out to Gary’s family, friends and fans. Here’s a lovely tribute Gary paid to Kate in Uncut Magazine in 2010:
The April 2022 issue of Uncut Magazine in the UK has a Kate Bush cover and a substantial new 12 page feature by Peter Watts on the making of The Dreaming album – which will be 40 years old this year (we know!). It’s available to order here.
It’s great to see one of the major music mags giving Kate’s fourth album the cover treatment for a change, normally Hounds of Love or Kate’s very early career takes centre stage. Refreshingly this isn’t a re-hashed archive article and a considerable line-up of people involved in the creation of Kate’s dark masterpiece are interviewed by Watts for this piece, including Preston Heyman, Paul Hardiman, Richard Burgess, Brian Bath, Roy Harper, Hugh Padgham, Dave Lawson, Howard Gray, Danny “Dan Dan the Sushi Man!” Dawson, and Teri Reed. Fan perspectives are offered by our own Dave Cross (HomeGround) and our podcast pal Darrell Babidge. From the magazine’s site: “KATE BUSH: Donkeys and didgeridoos. Celtic ballads and ethno-pop. Harry Houdini and the Star Wars Cantina theme. Heady experimentation and creative freedom. Welcome to The Dreaming: Kate Bush’s “she’s gone mad” album – and the record that ushered in her imperial phase. “‘Wuthering Heights’ gave Kate licence to do what she wanted,” one eyewitness tells Peter Watts. “With The Dreaming, she took it as far as she could possibly go.”
The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in the USA has revealed its nominees for the Class of 2022, including, once again, Kate Bush. As we know there’s a fan vote (which has a slight impact) and we also know it seems very much dependant on a USA-centric vote situation and our guess is it seems unlikely Kate will be inducted if she decides not to attend the actual ceremony.
A body of more than 1,000 artists, industry members and historians will help decide which five acts out of the 17 will progress into the final round of induction consideration. Fans also have the chance to contribute to the selection process by voting every day here or at the museum in Cleveland, Ohio here. The Rock Hall’s rule is that an act must have released their first commercial recording 25 years earlier than the year of the nomination.
Five acts will then be tallied among the other ballots to ultimately decide the Class of 2022. You can visit vote.rockhall.com to cast a ballot daily. Fans will need to login to vote. Voting is capped at one ballot per day.
Kate’s nomination has been summarised as follows: “Her radical experimentation with lush soundscapes, literary themes, sampling, and theatricality have inspired everyone from Johnny Rotten to Björk to Big Boi.” Nominees in 2022 (asterisk indicates first time nominees) are as follows:
Beck* Pat Benatar Kate Bush DEVO Duran Duran* Eminem* Eurythmics Judas Priest Fela Kuti MC5 New York Dolls Dolly Parton* Rage Against the Machine Lionel Richie* Carly Simon* A Tribe Called Quest* Dionne Warwick
In 1982, in the months leading up to the release of The Dreaming single, we first had the idea of making a Kate Bush fanzine. Over the following 30 years we put out 79 issues, full of news and information about Kate and her music and associated subjects, providing a platform for review and discussion of Kate’s work on a worldwide basis. On the way we also organised, with the official Kate Bush Club, the 1985, 1990, and 1994 fan Conventions, the 1986 Video Party, all of which Kate attended. We also organised the fan contribution to the video shoot for The Big Sky. We were asked to provide the chronology and discographies for the 1987 Kate Bush Complete music and lyric book from EMI Music Publishing, and the sleeve note for the 1997 EMI 100 remastered CD of Hounds of Love.
The last printed HomeGround magazine was published at the end of 2011 and rapidly sold out. It was followed in March 2014 by the hugely successful two-volume HomeGround Anthology, containing over 1,200 pages of material from all 79 issues.
In May 2022 it will be 40 years since the first issue of HomeGround, and we felt we should mark the occasion with a very special issue – issue 80. Our intention is to make this available as a free downloadable PDF enabling us to use full colour.
Just as no previous issue of HomeGround could have happened without contributions from Kate Bush fans around the globe this special issue cannot happen without your help.
We will be producing the familiar news and a special retrospective summary of the last ten years in the Kate Speaking world. What we need are other features, artwork, poetry, short “Letters to the Editor” and even For Sale, Wanted, and Personal Message ads, just as we always did.
Here are some ideas for articles: there’s the work Kate has done since 2012, the 2014 Before the Dawn live performances, the 2015 live album, the 2018 re-masters and The Other Sides, and the Record Shop Day specials. 40 years of The Dreaming. Last words on 50 Words for Snow and the animations. Tribute Bands and tribute gigs, cover versions and Kate songs on TV talent shows. Inspired fictional stories. Reviews and reactions to the many and various Kate related books now available. The trials and tribulations of collecting Kate material. Charts and facts. That day you met Kate. The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever, tales of fan conventions and other Kate fan meet ups. The wider KateSphere – Paddy and John Carder Bush, Beck Sian, Sarah Daly, Raven Bush …
But generally, whatever might have a connection to Kate’s music. Before now we have run material as diverse as the appropriate whisky to drink with each album, to an analysis of the Red Shoes myth. We are looking forward to your contributions. Have a go!
Our aim is to have the issue ready by 18th May 2022, the official HomeGround birthday, so four months.
Please send submissions to and otherwise contact us at
In this day and age we see new Facebook, Instagram and Tiktok accounts and pages about Kate Bush appear almost daily, but it’s very rare to see an entire new website resource built from scratch which offers a unique facility to Kate’s fans. An incredible new Kate Bush Collectibles site has just been launched by our fan friend James Russell and it’s truly exceptional. James was deeply involved in our work with the Record Collector Kate Bush Special magazine last year, for which he helped us compile, describe and catalogue thousands of items.
The site has been devised and created to capture the full range of Kate Bush collectibles – records, promos, memorabilia, tour items, posters, fanzines; anything and everything that a Kate collector may collect or covet. From standard 7″ singles with their multiple variations, to privately pressed or gifted CDs or prints, all will eventually be catalogued with full details and images. I’ve already spent a long time digging deeply into this excellently put together resource. It’s a pleasure to explore and the scale of the work involved (18 months and counting!) is so immediately obvious. James writes:
Dear Friends,
I’m pleased to introduce www.katebushcollectibles.com, the product of 1.5 years of private design and development (a very slow project kickstarted by the Record Collector magazine special last year).
The site launches with thousands of items already submitted, extracted not only from my personal collection but also from multiple other public sources – collecting sites, historical sales data, social media groups, auction houses and internet discoveries. Where known, credits and links to the originator or owner (individual or site) have been included, and I’ve been in touch with many collectors privately to ensure these are accurate. Please make contact if you wish to query any entry or have a credit added (or removed).
katebushcollectibles.com is continuously updated, and a priority is the upgrading of poor images (I’m midway through scanning and editing hundreds of 7” singles as I type). For some items, there exists no known image, or just one very poor image available to me. As a community site, submissions from all collectors are welcome, whether images, new items, clarifications or comments. Together we can build an essential resource, so please do get in touch via katebushcollectibles@outlook.com
In this second episode of the Kate Bush Fan podcast we’ve had out this week in time for Christmas, the guys from Bush Telegraph, Paul and Darrell present: “2011 – The Year Of The Director’s Two Cuts!” Being the 10th anniversary of both ‘Director’s Cut’ and ’50 Words For Snow’, Bush Telegraph chat from either side of the Atlantic, and reminisce about their individual experiences of listening to the albums for the first time and their reviews of both albums. Kate surprised her fanbase by releasing two albums in one year, and although fans have divided opinions about these albums, they are solid works that fit perfectly in her prolific recording catalogue. Bush Telegraph wish everyone a safe and peaceful Christmas and New Year.
You can subscribe to the Kate Bush Fan Podcast on iTunes or on any podcast app you happen to use, such as Stitcher or Tunein or listen below on Soundcloud.
It’s always great to hear from Kate and this year she sends a lovely message to her fans, via her official site. Wishing you a lovely Christmas, Kate and yes, a happier 2022 for us all x
With nearly two years of Covid, are any of us the same people we were before? It’s left everyone confused and uncertain of the future. It’s been a terrible time of loss for so many. I want to say a big thank you to all the people on the front line and in the NHS. I have such huge respect for all the nurses and doctors who’ve already been working flat out for nearly two years. These caring people are showing such extraordinary acts of kindness to others. Let’s hope they get the pay rises they rightly deserve. I’d like to mention something that happened a few weeks ago on a walk; stopping to look at the view, I noticed something moving in a tree right beside me. It was a Goldcrest – the smallest bird in Europe, even smaller than a wren. I stood still, hoping not to frighten it away. Its colouring is beautiful – a peacock’s eye on each wing and a striking yellow streak on its tiny head. This gorgeous little ball of fluff flew away after ten minutes or so. I’ve only ever seen one once before and very briefly. It made my day. In these strange times, I really hope you can get the chance to stop for a moment and feel nature around you. Please stay safe. Wishing you a restful Christmas and hoping 2022 is a happier year for everyone . With love Kate
Michael Byrne, the co-creator of the new coffee table book, Finding Kate, which visually explores Kate’s songs is interviewed by Seán to discuss how the pandemic, and a successful Kickstarter campaign, lead to this stunning book being realised. You can find out more about ordering the book at www.findingkatebook.com. This is the first of two Kate Bush Fan podcast episodes we’ll have for you this week, so you’ll have plenty of KB chatter to have on in the background as you prepare for the holiday season!
You can subscribe to the Kate Bush Fan Podcast on iTunes or on any podcast app you happen to use, such as Stitcher or Tunein or listen below on Soundcloud.
I had the pleasure this afternoon of meeting up on Howth Head, Dublin, with Michael Byrne and Marius Herbert, the two gifted Irish creatives behind Finding Kate, an illustrated journey through five decades of the music of Kate Bush – a truly stunning coffee table book project that we’ve followed on the site here from its successful Kickstarter campaign through development and now, finally ready to ship put around the world from Monday. It was a joy to leaf through the pages of the book and talk through this impressive piece of work with its clearly relieved and delighted creators. As promised, the book is a visual feast, illustrating twenty six of Kate’s songs across sumptuous double-page spreads. The songs have been chosen by Michael, a major Kate Bush fan (it shows!) who writes beautifully about each song’s significance in Kate’s career and what they mean to him.
The unexpectedly generous introduction sections by Michael throughout constitute a wonderful, concise synopsis of Kate’s recording career, so there’s plenty of great reading here for both casual and more hardcore fans of Kate. But, this large LP-sized book is intended to be a visual feast and Marius has produced some breathtaking images filled with detail and touches that were agonised over for months between the pair – a honeybee flies across the pages from a near psychedelic explosion of Kate in colourful nature imagery (and a familiar yellow sun-design) for Delius, a floating, angel-winged electric guitar poignantly reflects the departed musicians name-checked in Blow Away (for Bill), a water-submerged Kate simultaneously floats, dreamlike, above the planet for Hello Earth, an Irish dancer’s feet captured in whirling mid-step on a flagstone floor for Jig of Life, four glorious pages devoted to A Sky of Honey where the crimson, red and rust of golden hour transform a female figure into an explosion of feathered wings and avian friends, soaring skyward…and so many, many more surprising visuals. The book can be ordered now for €39.95 per copy PLUS cost of delivery, and ships worldwide from Monday.
Yes, we’ve been hearing snippets from Big Boi for years now about his work with Kate but it does indeed seem to be simply awaiting release at this point. He has given his most in-depth comments about this long-teased collaboration speaking to producer/DJ Mark Ronson on The Fader Uncovered podcast.
Speaking to Ronson about his various collaborators throughout the years, Big Boi said: “I have a monster hit with Kate Bush that I’m just holding.” Adding: “It’s a dream come true and the people are going to fucking love it. It’s fucking incredible.” Here’s the full transcript from that portion of the podcast episode:
Mark Ronson: Has that gotten any further, doing a record with Kate Bush? I know you’ve been putting it out into the ether for a minute.
Big Boi: I have a monster hit with Kate Bush that I’m just holding.
Are you serious?
I’m holding it. It’s a fucking monster.
So you’ve made music together.
Yes, we have. Yes, we did.
That’s fucking incredible.
Yeah, you get it here first, buddy. Yeah, it’s a dream come true and the people are going to fucking love it. It’s fucking incredible.
Oh my God. So how long did it take? Because you’ve been saying this for so long and you almost sound like you were trying to will it into the universe, just sending good energy. How long did it actually take for her to come back and be like, “Hey yeah, let’s do something,” or whatever? However Kate Bush talks.
Well, she’s a very, very, very classy lady, and when we were on the Outkast 20 tour, I got tickets, me and my wife, and we went to go see her show that she had, played the live shows. And so from there, I get invited backstage, we have some wine and we talk. And her kid is there, he’s about the same age as my kids, which is cool. And she signs an album for me and give me her number. So after that, about a year or so pass, and I told her I was coming back, I just said, “Hey, when can we do a song?” Just send her a text every now and then. I talked to her on the phone, “Hello. Hello. So lovely.” And so I came back and she’s like, “Let’s go to dinner.” So we went and she took me to dinner to this cool little pub place where I had almond cognac. And we was both throwing them back. It was the coolest experience.
So we had dinner and then we’re like okay. Her son was going off to college and she was just like, “Okay, I’m going to try to get to something when I get my studio set back up.” And so my manager, being the great, great manager he is, he reached out to her manager a couple years ago and was like, “Hey, we need to make this happen.” And I just so happened to have the right song that is fucking phenomenal, and sent it to her. And it had the words on there and she just had to sing the words. And then I wrote my verse and my boy Go Dreamer wrote her parts and wrote the hook. And it is incredible. It’s incredible.
Is it going to come in the next year? Is it just you’re going to hold on, whenever the universe, whenever it’s right?
Yeah, whenever I think they deserve it, I’m going to give it to them.
That is a big scoop you just gave us. Thank you very much.
Yeah, it’s a big scoop. And I’m going to tell you another thing too I was thinking too, because you know how these NFTs are supposed to be works of art, so I’m thinking maybe this is that perfect art piece to have something stunning visual to go along with it as an NFT, I’ll fucking blow the whole world up.
That will. Or you could just make only one copy, like the Wu-Tang album, pocket $30 million or something.
No, the world got to hear because it’s uplifting.
Of course.
It’s uplifting.
So that collaboration right there was the last piece of the puzzle?
That collaboration right there was the last piece of the puzzle.
Yeah.
You know what I mean? As far as my legacy goes. The only other person I wanted to work with would’ve been Bob Marley.
Yeah.
And I’ve worked with everybody that I wanted to work with now. You know what I mean?
Yeah.
And this one right here is special because I’ve been a fan of hers since I was in middle school. You know what I mean? She’s one of the reasons why I started doing music.
How did you discover her? Were you just listening to the radio or …?
No. Everybody got the weird old uncle, right?
Okay.
My mom’s brother, her younger brother, my uncle Russell, he turned me on to Prince. He turned me on to Genesis, Phil Collins, Guns and Roses. And he turned me on … He listened to everything, Michael Jackson and all that. And so he had this record player and he had Kate Bush and he would tell me the stories behind the songs. And I was just intrigued. You know what I mean?
Yeah, yeah.
Oh, this is deep. And then to find out that she was producing and writing all this stuff. And then she worked with Peter Gabriel and I love Peter Gabriel. I used to ride my bike to school, listening and running up that hill. Crazy as a boy. And now as a grown ass man with three kids and a grandson.
Oh, congratulations.
Yeah, man. For sure. Like God is good. I’m blessed and highly favored, man.
Italian writer, Antonello Saeli, has written an unusual English-language novel, ‘Aerie‘, that should be very interesting for Kate’s fans. It tells the story of singer Neve Rever, who is ready to come back to the music scene after a very long absence, with a new double album called ‘Aerie’ and a live show. And then her precious diary is stolen from her…
The book is littered from the start with references to Kate’s work (the name ‘Neve Rever’ should already be sounding familiar…) and because Antonello has previously had creative collaborations with the likes of Del Palmer and John Carder Bush you will see that he is indeed steeped in the lore and meaning behind the music we love. You can order your copy of “Aerie” here.
Following the release last week of ABBA‘s first new studio album in 40 years, Voyage, BBC2 in the UK will be airing an evening of ABBA-themed programmes from 8pm on Saturday 13th November. At 11pm they will screen the 1979 TV special ABBA in Switzerland, which famously features Benny and Björn introducing Kate’s unforgettable performance of Wow, which sent the British popular press into a frenzy at the time. Warm congratulations to Anni-Frid, Agnetha, Benny and Björn on their wonderful new album and enduring success.
ABBA in 2021 – in their performance capture ABBAtar outfits!
