KILDARE: Naas man and American musician join forces to write a book

Music fans are in for a rare and revealing insight into the world of professional touring musicians thanks to a new book called Hired Guns: Portraits of Women in Alternative Music. 

Co-written by Naas man Wayne Byrne and American musician Amanda Kramer (keyboardist of The Psychedelic Furs), the publication charts the careers of ten notable female musicians who have toured with some acclaimed artists.

These include Sara Lee (Gang of Four, The B-52’s), Gail Ann Dorsey (David Bowie, Tears for Fears), Joy Askew (Peter Gabriel, Joe Jackson), Caroline Dale (David Gilmour, U2, Sinead O’Connor), and Sue Hadjopolous (Cyndi Lauper, Simple Minds).

Along with others they candidly relate their decades of experience in the music industry.

This will be Byrne’s sixth title, following five acclaimed books on film history, while it represents Kramer’s debut literary work. The accomplished musician began her illustrious career in the mid-80s with electronic group Information Society before joining the massively popular rock band 10,000 Maniacs. From there she would tour and record with acts as varied as World Party, Siouxsie Sioux, Lloyd Cole, Eurythmics, and alternative supergroup, The Golden Palominos. 

The friends decided to become collaborators when Kramer suggested an intriguing project. “We had talked about working together,” Byrne says “and then one morning I got a text from Amanda telling me she had an idea for a book. So, I called her, and she told me about this subject that she felt should be documented, and she knew exactly who she wanted to feature in it. It was already fully formed in her mind. 

“We both loved the idea of celebrating some interesting musicians and examining the cultural, educational, and sociopolitical milieus that they came out of. So, we decided to put it on the page.”

Within weeks  the duo landed a deal with Equinox Publishing, who immediately saw the potential in acquiring Hired Guns for their considerable catalogue of music titles. 

Kramer and Byrne spent the ensuing year interviewing the ten musicians whose stories they wanted to tell, a task that Byrne says was made easy thanks to his partner’s personal approach.

“We both had certain things we wanted to ask each musician, but Amanda really took the reins with the interviews. This is her milieu; she has been a touring musician for four decades, so she could ask questions and broach topics that I never would. The women we profiled rarely give interviews, so what we gathered is quite exclusive. Ultimately, there was mutual trust and respect between us and our subjects that allowed us to craft these honest and frankly documented narratives.”

The authors enjoyed their alliance so much they immediately lined up their next literary projects, having recently inked a publishing contract for an upcoming book on film soundtracks, a subject close to their hearts.

 “We share a goal of wanting to document art and culture that we love,” Byrne says, “and the 1960s to the 1980s is an era in cinema which interests us in an aesthetic and technological context. The New Hollywood movement marked a huge shift in how film and music intertwined; it changed everything. Scores were no longer solely orchestral, they were pop, rock, folk, jazz. So, Amanda and I are tracing the development of soundtracks across those three decades. 

“This project feels so natural to us, given my work in film history and Amanda’s career in music. We’ve been interviewing some great film composers along the way, including Mark Isham, Thomas Dolby, Hayley Moss, Mark Mothersbaugh..”

So, despite Kramer’s busy touring schedule with The Psychedelic Furs, and with Byrne under imminent deadline for two other cinema books releasing this year, Hired Guns: Portraits of Women in Alternative Music heralds a significant debut work of a potentially productive publishing partnership.

“It was worked wonderfully so far,” Byrne says. “We talk a lot and get together when we can. We’re friends first, so that connection affords us a kind of creative shorthand with each other, making our collaboration entirely organic and fun, not like work." 

The book is due to be released released on March 1.