Steve Daggett - Troubadour Territory

RGF/EnMASCD2002
Steve Daggett
Troubadour Territory

This first solo album by STEVE DAGGETT is the culmination of over 20 years in music.

Click here to listen to a clip of 'Mandolin Moon' (300K - lo-fi mp3)

From his early career signed to Mercury Records as a member of New Wave band Stiletto in 1979 - sharing vocal duties with Bren Laidler on a pair of singles - through 1981's electronic duo, It Hz (again with Bren Laidler), via many years as a record producer, to this new milestone, DAGGETT has gained a considerable reputation in the thriving music scene of North-East England.

It was meeting Lindisfarne mainman, the late Alan Hull, in 1983, that resulted in DAGGETT's best-known achievements before now. The two struck up a bond and worked together, with DAGGETT producing, on three Lindisfarne albums and a solo album by Hull. DAGGETT even joined the group as an auxiliary touring member, playing keyboards, guitar and percussion with them for several years.

During this time, his production/engineering skills were used by numerous artists, notably Kathryn Tickell, Chas Chandler (of The Animals), Prelude, Michael Chapman and Paul Lamb, in addition to his involvement with Lindisfarne and its founder members Hull and Rod Clements. His biggest commercial success (but one about which he has mixed feelings) is his work on the Top 3 hit from 1990, 'Fog On The Tyne (Revisited)', on which Lindisfarne "duetted" with the notorious Gazza.

By then, DAGGETT had relocated to the border country between England and Scotland, where he still lives, and where he wrote the songs on 'Troubadour Territory'. The album includes musical helpers, such as renowned local guitarist Jim Hornsby, who has worked with the likes of Prefab Sprout and Prelude, and drummer Stephen Robson from Punishment of Luxury, but this album is very much DAGGETT's work: producer, songwriter, vocalist and playing numerous instruments, including guitar, keyboards, and harmonica.

Among 13 original DAGGETT compositions, the key track here is 'Mandolin Moon', a song written by Steve in memory of his great friend and collaborator, Alan Hull. With lyrics which include several of Hull's song titles, this is immediately captivating, but the title track, which follows, demonstrates DAGGETT's ability to write a tuneful and meaningful song about another subject, the career he has chosen.