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Introducing the Wire Daisies

While most crossover bands that call the United Kingdom home are from the hopping scenes of London or Manchester, Wire Daisies are from the county of Cornwall, population 515,000. The band’s out lead singer, Treana Morris, said that this makes her band “kind-hearted.”

“It’s in our blood,” she said. “We’re very slow, caring people.” From her soft voice and pleasant demeanor, it’s not hard to believe.

Wire Daisies, which released their eponymous second album last May in the U.K., are readying their first American release in October – a CD that includes tracks from both of the band’s two albums as well as two new songs. Their first album, 2003’s Just Another Day, hit No. 1 on the U.K. and French iTunes charts.

As the band’s front woman, Treana Morris is inevitably going to be the center of attention on American shores. A leggy blonde with a cute, razor-edged pixie cut and a style that includes tight, low-rise black jeans and combat boots, she’s bound to break hearts. This past June, the U.K. lesbian magazine Diva featured her as a cover model, calling her one of “Pop’s New Lesbian Pin-Ups.”

But for a musician who was discovered by Queen guitarist Roger Taylor while singing in a Cornwall pub, Morris feels lucky just to be playing music.

She has been a widely loved and respected vocalist and guitar player in the U.K. for a decade. After releasing her solo debut, Naked, in 1997, she toured with Queen and Robbie Williams, receiving rave reviews from critics and fans of the larger-than-life acts she opened for. In 2002, she met her current band mates, and they began performing in Cornwell as a nameless wonder.

“We would literally play shows and have no name,” Morris explained. Then they came up with House in the Woods, which Morris said was “a mouthful,” so they decided to change it – based upon the discovery of a wire daisy perched on a pizza table.

“I wasn’t there when it was decided,” she said. “But after a while you don’t think about it anymore. Like U2 – what an awful band name. It sounds like a cheesy pop duo.”

Now that they have a name, Morris said that her only concern is that the band is having a good time. “We’re just having fun,” she said. “We love it!”

Perhaps she has yet to be made jaded by the music industry, but Morris is an optimistic personality, and that comes through in her song lyrics. From hilarious tracks like “Gay Boy” (“He is a gay boy, and it shows/It’s OK boy, no one knows”) to the lovers’ lament “Make Everything Change,” Morris’ thick, born-to-rock vocals have appealed to U.K. fans for the six years the band has been together.

They are signed to the Transistor Project, a subsidiary label of EMI owned by Queen’s manager, Jim Beach, and Blur’s drummer, David Rowntree. The album that Americans will hear next month was recorded with John Cornfield, who has worked with U.K. superstars Oasis, Supergrass and Muse. It includes their song “Rocket Girl,” which has been receiving positive reinforcement from being played on XM Radio, and that gives Morris hope for success in the United States.

“It takes a lot to break in America,” she said. “America is so large and England is so small in comparison, but we’ve gotten quite a lot of good feedback so far.”

Wire Daisies has been a featured band on iTunes and a popular act at English festivals — and for good reason. Their songs are, as Morris describes, “not poppy, not rocky,” but “old-school songwriting with a raunchy edge.” She’s unsure if raunchy is the right word, but can’t think of anything better to describe it.

“We’re always struggling with that,” she said.

One thing she never struggled with, though, is being completely open about her sexuality. There are gayer songs than “Gay Boy” on the album, and those are the ones that Morris has written about personal experiences with the ladies in her life.

Growing up gay in Cornwall, Morris said she “picked her battles” and her sexuality was never a negative issue, but she does have friends who are close to 30 and “still haven’t told their parents,” so she acknowledges it can be an issue for some people — just not her.

“I’m being honest,” she said of her lyrics. “I don’t do it for the sake of it.” She said that “pretty much 100 percent” of her songs are autobiographical, only excluding the ones she co-wrote with the band’s keyboardist, Ol Beach. The other band members are guitarist Alden Evans and drummer Steve Jackson.

“They’re all things I really was feeling,” Morris said of the songs she has written. On the band’s website, she reveals that the ballad “Never Meant to Hurt You” is her favorite. The vulnerable, stripped-down, piano-led song tells of a moment when Morris felt lost without someone she’d let down: “If you’re willing, please forgive me, I’ve never meant to leave you,” she sings.

In “Rocket Girl,” which was a huge hit in the U.K., she declares: “I now live in a plastic world, I don’t want to love a plastic girl.” The hook “I will see you in my dreams” will stick with you hours, and the feeling the song evokes about irresistible attraction is universal.

Unfortunately, it may be some time before Wire Daisies will play any U.S. shows. The band is currently in a recording studio they built themselves in Cornwall, and Morris said they are in there “until 11 p.m. at night” just writing music and playing songs. Morris herself is no stranger to the U.S., as she has stayed in New York and California for “five months at a time,” but hasn’t been back in five or six years.

“We’re playing stuff we’re really happy with and hopefully will release next year,” she said. “[Touring America] has been talked about.”

Until then, Wire Daisies will continue to play live shows in England, and hope their album is well received by Americans.

“We don’t want to move too fast,” Morris said. “We’re all really happy.”

It must be that small-town upbringing.

For more on Wire Daisies, visit their official website or their MySpace page.

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