Potted Steve Tilston: our Artist of the Week's random thoughts on Dylan, Renbourn, Piaf and Jez Lowe
December 11, 2024
For a companion piece to our announcement of Steve Tilston as Salut! Live Artist of the Week, Colin Randall posed a few questions ....
See why we’ve honoured Steve Tilston: https://www.salutlive.com/2024/12/steve-tilston-our-artist-of-the-week-recalls-the-john-lennon-letter-that-never-arrived-.html
In a long career as a musician, what has given you most satisfaction?
- Getting the Best Song award for The Reckoning at the 2012 Folk Awards was up there - and it would be churlish of me to pretend otherwise.
Is there one album or gig that sticks in the mind for the right reasons and if so, why?
Seeing Bert Jansch at the Leicester Folk club as a schoolboy in 1965. During the 2nd set he called up John Renbourn and Beverley Kutner to the stage. My musical journey started to find its path. Oh - and the month before at the Leicester De Montfort Hall I'd seen a solo Bob Dylan who, as you'd imagine, also blew me away. I sold my electric guitar and bought a better acoustic. He was doing the opposite.
Any regrets?
I love the Piaf song Je ne regrette rien but I should imagine most people have a few fleeting regrets. A few - too few to mention, as the song goes.
Which artists have you most enjoyed collaborating with?
I really enjoyed my collaboration with Jez Lowe. We wrote a whole album's worth of material together and played it out for quite a number of shows. Like Jez I'm usually a pretty exclusively solitary writer and we both were a tad sceptical of how it would work out, but the reality proved remarkably enjoyable and I think, artistically worthwhile. Ship Of Fools with John Renbourn, Maggie Boyle and Tony Robertson was pretty rewarding in many ways, all superb musicians, good to get immersed in traditional music and some jazz. I also enjoyed working with my old friend Chris Smither on a song called Can't Shake These Blues.
The folk scene has been badly hit by festival and venue closures. Is it all gloom or do you still see reason for hope?
The scene is very tenacious. However 'time' is inevitably taking its toll on audiences, and in particular organisers. There's a whole host of really talented younger musicians, but very few seem to want to organise or run venues. Unless that changes the outcome would sadly seem inevitable.
Who are you listening to?
Not much folk or singer-songwriter music. Most of my listening is done in the car. I'm listening to some jazz and classical. I'm fired up by Bocherini at present with a view to arranging a piece for guitar. Those Italian fellas wrote some ravishing melodies.
The song of which you are most proud, and why?
The Road When I Was Young, mostly because, although it's universal in subject, it's about my life, ie the travelling musician's life and when I sing it definite images and memories are conjured up. A new song As Night Follows Day I'm quite partial to. I suppose I'm also quite attached to The Slip Jigs & Reels as it 'took off' a bit and got played and recorded by quite a number of musicians. It's totally got a life of its own andseems to crop up in some pretty interesting places. In fact a few years back a Canadian novelist wrote a short story loosely based on it.
We know how you don't want to be remembered. How would you like people to think of you?
It's something I used to think about when I was younger, but not so much these days as it's something I don't have much control over. Maybe something on the lines of 'he could turnout a good tune and had a way with words'.
You're handed a magic wand. What one change would you choose to make the world a better place?
I can't bear what's happening in Palestine, particularly Gaza right now. It would take more than one magic wand to fix. Closer to home I'd have a new vote on Brexit as the first was won on blatant lies and malign foreign interference.
At our age, the stock question "where do you see yourself 5/10 years from now", is perhaps tempting fate. But have you any remaining ambition in life or career?
I'm not going to tempt providence and answer this as I couldn't possibly know. I feel that Last Call will be my final album of all new original material, but things could change and I reserve the right to change my mind. I might even write another novel*, or I might just drift with the flow wherever it may lead. Or heaven forbid, I might even take up a paintbrush again.
* Steve Tilston's novel All for Poor Jack was published in 2010. It is described as a ":stirring take of shipwrecked sailors, Abenaki tribesmen, Merchant Venturers, outlaws and lepers - all set in the Old and New World of 1485'.
One reader commented at Amazon:
A good old-fashioned clear narrative in which well-defined characters bring a period of history to life- a bit like one of Steve's songs, really.
Join the Salut! Live Facebook group. Visit us at https://www.facebook.com/groups/2902595146676633/. You'll get there immediately if you're already on Facebook and it's simple and free to join.
Comments