Lead singer co-songwriter and lyricist for Marillion since 1989 during which the band have produced 16 studio albums – the latest “An Hour Before It’s Dark” reaching #2 in the UK album chart and #1 in the rock chart. Outside of Marillion he has collaborated with Richard Barbieri, Gleb Kolyadin and with legendary music producer Trevor Horn, in the studio and live.
h first performed solo as an experiment to pair his favourite songs back to the bare bones. In addition to minimalist performances of his extensive Marillion catalogue he’s known to cover songs from artists as diverse as Leonard Cohen, Abba, Glen Campbell, Beatles, Bob Dylan, Peter Gabriel, Radiohead, Al Stewart, Kraftwerk, Crowded House, Rufus Wainright, Kate Bush, The Isley Brothers, Carole King, Waterboys, and David Bowie to name but a few.
He has published 2 volumes of diaries “The Invisible Man Diaries” from which he occasionally reads during h Natural shows, and currently hosts his own podcast “The Corona Diaries” with his friend Anthony Short.
“It’s liberating to occasionally escape the discipline of Marillion’s heavily-programmed music. It’s great to be able to expose the voice and the nuance of it, to be able to do anything in the moment, follow the energy of the audience, and know they can hear the words. When I sing with the band it’s like riding a monster – very exciting – but by necessity quite “nailed-down” structurally-speaking and so working alone is a chance for intimacy, tenderness and spontaneity.. a more volatile and audience-influenced performance”.
“I play whatever I feel like playing during the show. I try to get a dialogue going with the audience so feel free to ask me a question or two. Don’t just ask me to play this song or that song, ASK me something! Having said that, I often play requests too. I play songs which, for whatever reason, have been significant in my life.”
A chance then, to witness Marillion’s voice up close and (very) personal.