Shannonbridge singer on her Late Late Show performance

Up until Wednesday of last week Offaly musician Louise Killeen didn't know what her plans for Friday night were. One phone call changed all that however, and Friday night saw her perform live on the Late Late Show on RTE 1. Speaking to the Offaly Independent after her performance Louise said she was both nervous and delighted when she found out about the gig. "Initially I couldn't believe it," she said. "Michael my manager rang me and said 'We're after getting the Late Late Show', I thought he was joking!" Louise added that she was actually glad she only got just over 48 hours' notice. "I'm glad I only had two days to think about it," she said, adding that it did make things a little difficult when it came to organising her musicians. All four musicians who play with her on stage had gigs planned for the night, but fortunately they all came up trumps for her and made themselves available for the Late Late Show gig. On Friday night Louise played "Ease Up On Me Dear", the first song from her recently released album "Brilliant Tease", along with her band James Blenner Hassett from Sligo, Brendan Emmett from Drumshambo in Leitrim, Danny Buirt from Ennis and Paul Gurney from Longford. "I was nervous that day," Louise says looking back. "With about an hour to go I just thought I'm going to have to give this my best shot and I can't afford to be nervous." The singer, who works in her family's pub in Shannonbridge and lives in Belmont, said she was happy with the performance she put in. "I was happy with it. It's a hard thing to look back on. I don't enjoy seeing myself on television and I'd be my own worst critic." There were no critics back at home in Killeen's of Shannonbridge on the night however, where a large crowd gathered to watch the performance. Before returning to that crowd, Louise says she took the time to have a chat with Ryan Tubridy and get a picture with show guest Jerry Flannery.