Working under the name Bluenose B since the 1980s, Liverpudlian songwriter Stephen Lawson is a child of one of our toughest city’s harshest estates, an environment to which he returned, having qualified as a mental health professional. Unsurprisingly, his hard-edged indie-folk reflects his experiences as both participant in and observer of those who have been left behind.

As a musician his pedigree can be traced back to the second Scouse Invasion, playing in bands alongside the likes of Echo and The Bunnymen and The Teardrop Explodes and enjoying the support of the legendary John Peel, among others.

More recently, his writing has become more folk-oriented, as he looks to tell the stories of people at the margins, often forgotten, frequently overlooked, but while life can be hard, it can also offer richness, fulfilment and hope.

LATEST RELEASE: VOICES FROM THE EDGE
VOICES FROM THE EDGE sees Stephen draw in collaborators to enrich his powerfully written works, and while most are delivered in his own voice, the eclectic nature of the songs is reflected in his choice of vocal partners. There is room for the voices of his sister Rachell (who also scores her first co-write, young vocalist Jack Hillidge and Tom Williams, who plays guitar and supplies backing vocals to Liverpool's coolly successful indie rockers, Red Rum Club, though on this occasion he is pushed to the fore. All this means that there is a range of feeling, from revisiting Stephen's Indie roots, his embracing of folk music whilst leaving room for a soulfully smooth interlude as well Of course there are fine instrumental contributions from long term associates, John Kettle and Neil McCartney, members of folk rockers Merry Hell current and past, supplying guitar & fiddle respectively.

What often sets Stephen apart, whichever genre he is channelling, are his lyrics. Not for him the familiar themes of the folk genre, or even those of pop inflected indie. He frequently explores the lives and loves of people on the margins of society, a region that reflects both his early life and his later work. It is that combination of experiences that gives us VOICES FROM THE EDGE as the title of his latest offering.

There is, as ever, room for musings on the nature of love, intermingling the mysteries of the condition with the complexities of physics, where passions and problems are matched by the complexities of entropy, thermo-dynamics and the preservation of energy and matter, truly Quantum Love!

Love of place is never far away from a Liverpool based artist, and in The Three Graces, the activity of the city's people are set against the permanence and all secing gaze of the iconic waterfront buildings at the heart of it all.

Both the CD cover and the accompanying booklet reflect Stephen's ongoing interest in exploring the possibilities that Al offer in relation to transforming his lyrical creations into visual representations and ways in which new technology can be hamessed to augment creativity, rather than, as some worry, replace it. His visions have been used to create the video for the lead track 'Waiting For You' which combines his concerns for the current state of the world, his worry for the future of those closest to him and his hope that in the end, love will triumph over hate.