DAVE Hemingway, veteran of The Housemartins and The Beautiful South, is one of pop’s great survivors.

“To get a shot at the big time in the music industry is hard enough these days, but to achieve it twice, well I must be one of the luckiest guys around,” said Hemingway, who fronts a new version of The Beautiful South, now simply called The South.

“Music is a bit like becoming a professional footballer.

“Millions dream about doing it but very few actually make it.

“I’ve been very fortunate.”

While the nine-piece band, featuring Hemingway and long-time Beautiful South vocalist Alison Wheeler, still bang out the top 10 hits that made them famous — A Little Time, Don’t Marry Her, Rotterdam and Perfect 10 — Hemingway admits there is a fresh vibe coursing the band, who roll into Clitheroe tomorrow.

“I was never comfortable with the fame thing, not at all,” added Hemingway.

“I’m a very shy person and at the height of our fame, and it was fame, because Carry On Up the Charts was one of the fastest selling LPs ever, it wasn’t a pleasant experience.

“It was a very intense period, and the success became a bit of a poisoned chalice.

“The top 40 was like dreamland then, though.

“Getting to number one seemed to matter more than it does in 2013 and the charts as a whole seemed to be more important to bands.

“I’m a lot more comfortable with things now.

“I know that we’ll never scale the heights that The Beautiful South did, but I don’t want to.”

The move to re-form without original singer Paul Heaton meant that Hemingway would find himself thrust into the spotlight as one of the main vocalists alongside Wheeler.

Hemingway wasn’t sure at first, but after the group rehearsed, he soon knew they still had plenty to offer and their debut album Sweet Refrains will keep old and new fans happy.

“When the decision was announced that we were re-forming without Paul there was a mixed reaction, and I understood that,” said Hemingway.

“People who said that were absolutely right, we didn’t have Paul with us, and he was the main voice of the band, but we are still fundamentally the same.

“We still play all the hits and songs we are known for and I really love the new album.

“I don’t see Paul much now.

“He has his own life and we have ours.”

  • n The South, Clitheroe Grand Theatre, Friday, December 13, 01200 421599.