I came across Steve Pledger’s album through a comment on Twitter by radio host Rick Stuart. His Roots & Fusion show on Stockport’s Pure Radio is probably one of my favourite radio shows. His words prompted me to ask Steve Pledger for a copy of his album and before I knew it, he was the featured songwriter of the week on my own show I Write The Songs, a show that celebrates the people behind some awesome music writing.
That week’s theme was voting, since the elections were upon the UK and song number 12, “Matches in the Wind”, brilliantly made my point about the importance of voting, a point that is a lot more about the importance of making one’s voice heard whilst very cleverly acknowledging the feeling we can all get about whether it is even worth it in the wind’s noise.
Although my favourite song on the album, it is not the one that caught me at first since it is the last song on the album and I religiously followed the tracks order. From the introductory track, People Who Care, this performing songwriter had me hooked. This, I thought is my kind of artist, a lover and a fighter. He does not talk about life with the cliché phrases that lose their meanings at the tip of the monkey’s tongue. He delves into its depth to extract its essence. The most impressive is that the melody is never just a flattering dimension on top but a real complement. The folkier track This Land Is Pound Land is only one of 12 songs that show this well ;). And there is movement not just in each song but in the way the tracks follow each other.
Curiosity drove me to this second album by Mr Pledger, that hunch when you read certain words about something and you know why it is going to move you. It was a pleasure to know that the album did (and still does) that and more. Find out more about the album from Steve Pledger’s official website….
http://www.stevepledger.co.uk/
Interview and live session on Sonic Bandwagon:
http://www.sonicbandwagon.com/radio/70-sonic-bandwagon-radio-steve-pledger-interview-and-session/