Prince George's adopted prodigal troubadour is coming home.
UK singer-songwriter Martyn Joseph has become one of Prince George's regular international visitors since his first Canadian tour 15 years ago.
Last summer, he came to Northern B.C. for a personal holiday despite no concert on the schedule. This Saturday, however, he returns with guitar in hand for his first local performance in three years.
"Prince George has always been special," he said from Vancouver Island during a tour break. "It was the start of this wonderful journey for me, coming to play shows in Canada, and [Coldsnap founder] Jo Beattie was responsible for that. Now I tour all across the country, and all because of Jo bringing me to Prince George in 1999. I've got so many good friends there, it never feels like I'm busting in on a town with my little packet of songs, it feels more like playing a hometown gig in Cardiff."
One of his best-loved songs - All This Time - is specifically about this region. It is an ode to nature's abilities to put human existence into perspective. It is emblematic of the style of songs he consistently produces. Like a true folk singer from the era of Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie, Joseph is a balladeer. He takes pride in sending audiences home with lifted thoughts along with lifted spirits.
If there is any musician who inspires his own creative aspirations it is Bruce Springsteen. Joseph has done covers of songs by The Boss over the years. With a career that has included five appearances in the UK Top 50, winning the BBC award for Best Male Artist in Wales, selling more than a half-million albums, and winning the folk song category at the World Independent Music Awards in 2012, Joseph got the Springsteen camp to take notice.
As a result, Joseph's latest album release is a collection of reinterpreted Springsteen songs.
Joseph is hardly missing a beat in his own songwriting, however. He says the travel is not helpful for composition, he prefers stationary time to craft songs, but he chips away at ideas as he circles the globe doing about 160 performances each year. He has hopes for a new album of original material to emerge in late 2014 or early 2015.
"I don't really have an off-season," he said. "I don't really take a holiday although many people would see my life as a holiday. I travel a lot and meet a lot of people. You have to balance your life, but it's not a 9-to-5 job and I'm not a disciplined person, but it does have a way of working out."
After more than 30 albums, he has a loose rhythm to his life now. He has even taken on another musician, Luke Jackson, to promote his record label, and he has established a foundation called Let Yourself Trust (details at www.letyourself.net) through which he will channel the considerable international charitable work he has become known for, such as Operation War Child, Amnesty International and Advantage Africa.
All the while, he feels he is still so focused on the songs and the instruments that he has never been sharper at the singing and guitar playing.
"I'm more passionate, more angry, more joyful, more sad, it's all about more not less as I get older. I think the sound of the voice is reflective of that, and I personally think it sounds better than it did 15 years ago. I'm ambitious and hungry for the craft. You never master it; there is always something more to learn. I'm always trying to improve what I do, and I still hope the best is really yet to come."
He takes the Prince George Playhouse stage on Saturday night. Tickets are on sale at Books and Company.
