Martin Stephenson: Gladsome, humour and warmth
The warmth in the room had little to do with the sunshine outside, and more to do with the engaging style of the man on stage. Martin Stephenson attracted a full house to the Kings Live Lounge last Sunday, and delivered a gig that was quite simply, wonderful. It must be 35 years since I last saw him play live with The Daintees at the old Picturehouse in Lothian Road in Edinburgh - another great live venue wasted today as a Wetherspoons pub. His albums of the 1980s - Boat To Bolivia, and Gladsome Humour and Blue - were on heavy rotation on my turntable, and lockdown saw me take a deep dive into YouTube and catch up with his musical journey. Stephenson is a fantastic songwriter and story-teller, and on stage he chats away as if we are all old mates. He seemed genuinely thrilled at so many in the audience recognising his songs from decades back, and delivered a glorious set filled with tracks from those great albums and his excellent 1990 set, Salutation Road. His stories and observations...