BASED IN THE NORTH-WEST PART OF ENGLAND IN A SMALL INDUSTRIAL TOWN OF ENGLAND CALLED WIDNES JOHN IS INFLUNCED BY A WIDE ARRAY OF ARTISTS FROM FOLK-AMERICANA TO INDIE AND ROCK. COMPARISONS HAVE INCLUDED THE SMITHS, NEIL YOUNG, BELLE AND SEBASTIAN AND THE DIVINE COMEDY AMONGST OTHERS.
THE FORGOTTEN COWBOY HAS RECEIVED SOME GREAT REVIEWS ESPECIALLY FROM THE NORTH-WEST FANZINE SCENE AND CONTINUES TO WRITE QUITE PROLIFICALLY.HE IS ALSO THE GUITARIST/WRITER FOR PUNK ROCK`N`ROLL BAND THE GENTLE SCARS.

MARTIN STEPHENSON has been one of the UK’s best-loved musicians for 30 years, his band The Daintees released 4 classic albums in the 80's and he has went on to release many more

New album Haunted Highway sees him reunited with The Daintees, the band he’s intermittently fronted through a string of albums - and hundreds of gigs - since his teens in the North East.

Always popular on the circuit, Stephenson’s “must see” live performances are an exuberant tour-de-force combining heart-in-your-mouth intimacy with playful humour and warm self-deprecation.

The Daintees’ critically acclaimed 1986 debut BOAT TO BOLIVIA opened up an always interesting story. It showcased Stephenson’s songwriting, poetic romanticism and spiritual depth – so marking him out as a soulful cream of the leftfield crop during the self-obsessed 1980s.

Never pandering to a particular scene, Stephenson’s lightness of touch on a varied mix of musical styles was immediately apparent. His path was destined to be a lifelong journey through the music he loved: folk, ragtime, jazz, rockabilly, show tunes, punk-pop and country.

CALIFORNIA STAR continues his tradition for eclectic roots songwriting, and is the perfect middle-age bookend on a discography now amounting to 40 albums.

 

Followers of Tim Donkin