You could say Lou Dalgleish is better qualified than anyone to perform a tribute to Elvis Costello – she’s written a dissertation on him.

Lou’s celebration to the Attractions frontman is a real labour of love for the Birmingham singer – but she’s quick to point out this is no Stars In Your Eyes lookalike show: “It’s very important that the project is not deemed as another tribute band, which is obviously quite difficult to do as a woman,” says Lou. “It’s important it doesn’t come over as me dressing up and trying to be him; no-ones going to dress up to look like the Attractions – for a start Gladstone’s black and he’s not going to white up or anything!

“What I would say is we remain true to the spirit of the original recordings so that gives it the vibe, but a certain feel of our own; the obvious difference is a woman singing, but with some versions it’s with a 90s flair. “Tribute bands are very much in vogue, for the public to go and see someone else perform their favourite artists, and also it allows me to take time out from my own stuff.” She adds: “It’s weird for me because as a songwriter to do all someone else’s material, but also it’s nice cos it’s like a holiday... well, to be honest it’s hard stuff to do – his stuff is technically very difficult and vocally his range is very wide so it’s no easy task, but it’s just very inspiring.”

Instead of going under her own name, Lou performs the set as Elsie Costello, with her band (Neil Bullock, Dave Lowe, Tony Kelsey and Gladstone Wilson) going by the name They Call Her Natasha – both clever pseudonyms plucked from the lyrics of (I Don’t Wanna Go To) Chelsea. “On one level it’s a bit comical as Elsie Costello, but on another level all the intellectual anorak fans will go ‘genius!’” she laughs.

A lifelong fan of Elvis (Costello, that is), Lou wrote her paper on his songs during the degree she took in a recent career break. “A couple of years ago I was doing an arts and culture course and part of it was to do a dissertation on a subject of your choice and I did Costello’s songwriting and lyric writing, so it was just a chance to write lots of stuff about my favourite writer,” she says. “It was about the fact that Elvis Costello is not just a pop star but an intellectual and that pop music can be taken seriously. “That was quite a labour of love... no-one’s allowed to read it – it’s for display purposes only!”

It’s not the first time Lou has performed Costello material. On her last album she covered Indoor Fireworks, a fact that found it’s way to the man himself: “I have met him, only briefly but I really was very excited,” says Lou. “I’m pals with a couple of the Brodsky Quartet (who recorded the Juliet Letters album with Costello) and we went to see him in concert, and then I was invited backstage, so I met him and it was quite cool. “On my most recent album I did a version of Indoor Fireworks and he was very professional, very polite: ‘Thank you for doing that recording,’ and I thought what’s he on about? I think he’s got me mixed up with someone else and then I realised what he meant! That was really nice, that he endorsed my recording of one of his songs.” With the tour calling in at Liverpool and London, there’s even the remotest chance Costello may turn up to see his female counterpart – a fact Lou admits is a little too daunting: “That would be just superb but a bit frightening,” she laughs. “I don’t want to even think about it!”
Jon Perks, What's On, January 2001