Ian Prowse

Born in Chester in 1964 and associated with Ellesmere Port in Cheshire, Ian Prowse has been part of the Liverpool scene since the late 1980s. His songwriting blends British pop, alternative rock and Celtic inflections drawn from Irish music. He first formed Pele in 1989, a band active through the 1990s, with which he released albums including Fireworks and The Sport of Kings—records characterized by guitars, direct melodies and folk-rock tension. After Pele split, he launched Amsterdam in 1999, a group project where his writing took on a broader, more narrative form, between story-driven songs and traditional English rock, heard on The Journey (2005) and Arm in Arm (2008). The song Does This Train Stop on Merseyside has been a milestone in his career and was later covered by Christy Moore, reflecting a lasting link to Irish-inspired repertoire. In parallel, Ian Prowse has developed a solo discography: Does This Train Stop on Merseyside: The Very Best of Ian Prowse (2012), Who Loves Ya Baby (2014), Companeros (2015), Here I Lie (2019) and One Hand on the Starry Plough (2021). Over the years he has also crossed paths with Elvis Costello and taken part in the Irish Sea Sessions.