A 'Star is born

The winners of the 2001 Bacardi/HOTPRESS 'Plugged Band of the Year' competition, Woodstar, are poised to sign a one-off EP deal with Parlophone.

You can get a sneak preview of the opus next week when the Limerick outfit play a hometown show at Dolan's and then head to the Roisin Dubh, Galway (February 1st) and Half Moon Club, Cork (2nd).

There's also talk of UK supports with Minuteman, the unspeakably hip outfit featuring ex-members of Ultrasound.

It's been a good few weeks for Woodstar on the business front, with the Universal-administered Hero Music picking up their publishing and 13 Artists coming on board as UK bookers.