David Stevenson profile picture

David Stevenson

davidstevensonmusic

About Me

I have been writing songs since student days in Scotland in the 1970s, with occasional forays into performance, mostly playing covers, until the late 1990s, when a songwriting and performance renaissance began which shows no signs of stopping. I started to play in local folk clubs in Cambridgeshire, occasionally dropping one of my own songs anonymously into a set of covers, and gradually developed the confidence to start performing my own material exclusively.Over the past few years I have written a lot of songs, and audience response has let me know which ones to keep and record. In addition to spots at St Neots, Cambridge, Wisbech, Baldock and Ely Folk Clubs, I have also performed three times in the Club Tent at Cambridge Folk Festival. The centrepiece of my debut CD, Unfinished Lace, features three songs known collectively as The Great War Trilogy, which have attracted a lot of attention as stand-alone songs and as a piece, in performance and from other artists.I write songs drawn from my own experience, as my work takes me all over the world, but also songs based on historical events and periods. The Last of England, based on Ford Madox Brown's painting of that name, is about emigration from England during the 1840s, while From Detroit to Dallas is about a business trip between those two cities in the USA and Parting is the Hardest Thing is a song about leaving, coming back, leaving, coming back....Reviewers have said that my songs, guitar and style remind them of Ralph McTell, Steve Tilston, Al Stewart, Roy Harper, Michael Chapman, and Eric Bogle amongst others. August company!Reviewers have said some nice things about the CD too - "Unfinished Lace is a sparse, intimate album where the songs are allowed to speak for themselves - just how it should be - a remarkable collection of strong, self-penned material, beautifully performed throughout with assured guitar playing and amiable, unadorned vocals" - Folking.com. "Unfinished Lace is an album that will have a widespread appeal with its lovely melodies, well-crafted and thoughtful lyrics plus some deft guitar work" - Woven Wheat Whispers.com. "Unfinished Lace - the debut collection of Stevenson's own compositions which reveals his versatility and grasp of the craft of songwriting - there's plenty here to recommend" - Rock'n'Reel magazine. "Unfinished Lace is a sublime combination of traditional English folk music and delta blues. The two styles seem to vie for position to varying degrees. It works very well, Stevenson appears to be a great guitarist as well as good songwriter." - Fatea.comI am also working and performing in a duo with Andrew Noyes, another Cambridgeshire-based songwriter, with a mix of our respective back catalogues and new material.Unfinished Lace is selling very well and you can find out more by emailing me at [email protected]. All the songs sampled above are on the CD. It's also available as a full album download at www.wovenwheatwhispers.co.uk with a cool review as well. There's a very good review at http://www.folking.com as well. The website is finally up, just a home page just now, but check it out at http://www.david-stevenson-music.co.uk.Now starting to think about the follow-up CD which will have a strongly Scottish theme - no reason other than six songs are about different facets of Scotland and its history.Thanks for reading - hope you've enjoyed listening too.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 4/15/2006
Band Website: david-stevenson-music.co.uk
Band Members: David Stevenson, guitar and vocal
Influences: Ralph McTell, James Taylor, Robbie Robertson, Show of Hands, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Dougie MacLean, Rab Noakes, Tom Paxton, The Beatles, Elvis Costello, Nick Drake, Gordon Lightfoot, Ron Sexsmith, Al Stewart, Harry Chapin, Eric Bogle, Gallagher and Lyle, Harvey Andrews, Allan Taylor, Mike Silver, Richard Thompson, Joni Mitchell, Steve Earle, Nanci Griffith. Myspace Layouts and SO much more from WhateverLife.com! ♥
whateverlife.com
Sounds Like: You tell me!
Record Label: own label
Type of Label: None

My Blog

From Detroit to Dallas uploaded

I've taken down the Carrier and uploaded another personal slice of Americana, but this time with a very different take. It's about visits that I made a few years back for business into Detroit and Da...
Posted by David Stevenson on Wed, 30 Jan 2008 07:39:00 PST

New Songs Uploaded

Now that Christmas has gone and the seasons are moving on, I've taken down Stille Nacht - and thanks for all the nice comments about it - and also November Song. I've replaced them with The Girls wit...
Posted by David Stevenson on Sun, 27 Jan 2008 08:36:00 PST

Compass Rose

After listening and relistening to the recordings I've decided to redo some of the songs - I had my one and only cold of theyear when I was in Yorkshire with Brian and Jacey and I'm really unhappy wit...
Posted by David Stevenson on Wed, 12 Dec 2007 03:36:00 PST

New album now recorded

Well, Compass Rose has now been recorded with the assistance of Brian Bedford once again at his studio in the Pennines.  I'm very pleased with the results and the overall quality.  We record...
Posted by David Stevenson on Tue, 13 Nov 2007 01:44:00 PST

Time for a few changes - back to my Scottish roots....

HelloThere hasn't been a lot that's new on the site for a while - I'm aiming to revamp and update it a bit in the next few weeks.  Now getting ready for the set at the Cambridge Folk Festival whi...
Posted by David Stevenson on Mon, 18 Jun 2007 03:11:00 PST

Last minute week in Greece

HiWe managed to get a late booking so Marion and I are off for some spring sunshine in Greece for a week - back on the 18th.Yamass!...
Posted by David Stevenson on Thu, 10 May 2007 06:30:00 PST

Back from Australia

G'day!!!Been back from Australia for quite some time now and also started my new job as head of HR for a major telecoms consultancy based in Cambridge.Marion stayed on for a couple of weeks so that sh...
Posted by David Stevenson on Sat, 21 Apr 2007 06:58:00 PST

New Pix

HiI've finally got round to posting some new pix from gigs old and new, plus a few bits of personal context.And the new CD is taking shape - it will be round like most CD's, but there the stereotyping...
Posted by David Stevenson on Sat, 07 Apr 2007 08:06:00 PST

New Pix

Hi, finally got around to posting some new pictures, from various gigs etc
Posted by David Stevenson on Sat, 07 Apr 2007 07:46:00 PST

Off to Australia

Hi Everyone My wife and I are heading off to Australia for a few weeks vacation tomorrow.  Borrowing a guitar while we're there and hoping to get in some gigs and maybe even the Blue Mountains Fe...
Posted by David Stevenson on Mon, 19 Feb 2007 01:20:00 PST