Indie rockers The Minnows play Derry in May

The band has confirmed that it will play Sandino’s on Saturday, May 13.

Singer-songwriter Michael Rafferty (aka ‘Mickey Raff’) explained: “To be honest, we had no intention of playing live again, preferring to use our time to write and record instead - but then we released our ‘Californian Poppy’ album during lockdown and it all started to change after that.

“The incredible reaction to the album took us by surprise and we were inundated with social media requests to play live – all of which we initially dismissed without even a second thought. But eventually, the requests started to wear us down and we were thinking ‘what if…’ which gradually turned into ‘maybe we could… or should’.

“So now we’ve decided to give people what they want with a couple of live dates, and the response so far has been fantastic,” he added.

Special guests at the Sandino’s gig in Derry are alt-folk song-writing duo Polar Bolero.

“It’s been a long time coming but we’re sure it will be worth the wait,” said Raff, “but we would urge people to get their tickets as soon as possible as we’ll likely be putting up the SOLD OUT sign soon, and there’s nothing we can do after that.

“It’s funny how it’s all gone full circle and from feeling pretty nonchalant about the whole thing, we’re now really excited by it. I think we’ve all realised that life is short so we’re thrilled to be back doing what we love most – playing music – and we can’t wait to take the stage again.”

The Minnows are Michael Rafferty, Paul Maynes, Kevin Carson and Stephen O’Sullivan.

They first came to prominence with the release of their debut single ‘Time Flies’ on the famous Good Vibrations record label.

A string of singles and prominent live gigs followed, with the release of three albums Holyland, Leonard Cohen’s Happy Compared To Me and, most recently, ‘Californian Poppy’ which is available to stream or download on all digital platforms, including iTunes, Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon and Bandcamp.

For more Minnows news and music, check out www.minnowsband.com or the band’s Facebook page.

Derry podcaster Damian Kerlin uncovers the hidden history behind Britain's queer nightlife