Inspired by early Cure and the Brighton scene, Martin Stephenson began his career as a busker aged 15. He then spent three years plying his trade as the guitar player in various bands in the North East of England. But Martin wanted more, he wanted to tell stories of his own and he was quickly developing ways of doing just that.
He developed his song-writing technique by firstly learning a few licks from a Spanish guitar book and repeated the process with Jazz, Blues, Country, Skiffle, Reggae etc. Eventually, this glorious collision of styles would become the trademark which Martin has carried through his career of almost 40 years.
Martin formed his band The Daintees, who became a busking sensation and were signed by Kitchenware at around the same time as Prefab Sprout and Hurrah! The band and indeed Martin have always been known for their incredible range of styles, each album covering a multitude of genres, tempos and moods.
In the early days of The Daintees, the band toured with the likes of Aztec Camera and The Bluebells. In 1985, they became Roy Buchannan’s backing band on a month long tour of Europe and the following year joined John Martyn on his ‘Piece by Piece ‘tour. As a solo artist, Martin also toured around this time with such artists as Hothouse Flowers and Janice Ian.
Daintees albums and solo recordings alike are met with eager anticipation by Martin’s loyal fanbase, who often pre-order projects ahead even of their recording to ensure they see the light of day.
In 2019, Billy Connolly paid a visit to Martin’s home which was Filmed as part of Billy’s Made in Scotland BBC TV programme, in which, Connolly warmly described Martin as his kind of musician and songwriter and the song ‘Rain‘ from Boat to Bolivia was heavily featured .
Martin has hundreds of songs which are crying out to be used in tv and Film projects, he is a truly independent artist free of any ties or management which makes dealing with him both enjoyable and straightforward.
The range of material is breath-taking, the best thing to do is see / hear for yourself:
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