The Starries were a Indie-Rock band from Birmingham, UK formed in Summer of 1997 by Richard Burke (Guitar/Vocals), Steven Kelly (Drums) and Paul Shipley (Bass). The band lasted until the dark days of Christmas 2002 when they decided to go their seperate ways.

Originally taking their musical cue's from the grunge era (Nirvana, Mudhoney, Dinosaur Jr) and melding it with the British Indie of Belle & Sebastian, Blur and The Smiths. Their transistions were numerous, ranging from the instrumental soundscapes akin to Tortoise, Captain Beefheart and Slint to the hardcore, angular buzz of Husker Du and Sebadoh via God knows what else. Their debut single 'After The Strap' was released as a split 7" on Bearos Records in early 1999. The flipside side was 'Silverado' by another classic Birmingham band called Jameson. Within the following year The Starries added a new member in the shape of Geordie, went on to support Idlewild several times and released a track (Feature 85) on the 'Cutting Hedge' E.P through the well repsected London label, Fierce Panda. The newly established four piece only lasted until the September of 2000. A new line up was formed within a matter of months however, when Geordie, Paul and Rich regrouped under The Starries banner with local drummer Greg Ikin. Within a year The Starries had released a four track 7" which included the songs: The Years Are Hers, Water Flow, Foreign Age and Crying Girl. Although the title track was a live favourite and the E.P itself was well received, the band would have been well advised to wait on a release as they were yet to write their finest, more focused songs. Tracks such as Sunbeam, Map Of Our Stars, I Fear Ghosts and Lifetaker truly showed the bands potential but, alas, the band became disinterested with playing the same places to the same faces and duly split up in Christmas 2002. A posthumous album collecting their singles and unreleased tracks was released on Bearos at the end of 2004. Although The Starries are long gone they remain close friends and are still involved musically in projects around Birmingham. Paul, Steve and Rich had a short stint as the band 'Roscrea' soon after The Starries demise. Steve decided to concentrate on 'Koala Grip' and Paul joined local screamo act 'Death of a Champion' (who also included members of 'Baxxter') on vocals with Rich briefly joining as a guitarist in the same band. Geordie joined up with three members of 'Twist' to form 'Tian Tian' for a year or so and is now concentrating on his more Hip-Hop orientated project. Greg joined up with several members of the much loved 'The Regulars' to form 'The Will To Rally' who are still performing today. At present Paul is playing bass for 'D.Louis Baker & Friends' (Ex-member of 'Solway Fifth') whilst Rich has released two solo albums on the Bearos Label, 'Roscrea' in 2004 followed by 'The Wintered Sea' in early 2006. He has also been moonlighting in 'Knivesharks' which includes James Summerfield ('Buick 6/The Toques').

1997-1999 - Richard Burke (Guitar/Vocals), Steven Kelly (Drums), Paul Shipley (Bass) 1999-2000 - As above but with: Geordie (Guitar/Vocals) 2000-2002 - R. Burke (G/V), Greg Ikin (Drums), Geordie (G/V), P. Shipley (Bass) Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.