Ian W Brown has nothing to do with The Stone Roses and everything to do with being the Ivor Novello-nominated songwriter from the New Forest who’s playing a set of headline dates this autumn.
Inspired by bemused Stone Roses fans he met at Purbeck Folk Festival a couple of years ago Ian’s debut single Me Too has struck a chord wherever it was heard at festivals and on Radio 2 during the course of a year that has seen him step out of his songwriting shed and take the stage at Glastonbury, Cornbury, Wimborne, Greenwich and Purbeck as well as support Rita Coolidge on tour and folk royalty Julie Felix in Ringwood.
Along the way another of Ian’s songs, I’m Gone, provided drum&bass legends Drumsound & Bassline Smith featuring Bully with a d&b number one and the lyrics to his song It’s Hard To be Humble were published in a poetry book for children in August.
Although he was nominated for an Ivor Novello for co-writing Sandi Thom’s number one, I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker and the album from which it was taken, and has written songs for the likes of Fisherman’s Friends, Show Of Hands, Jason Donovan, D Side, Pixie Lott, Graham Gouldman, Henry Priestman and Meryl Streep – not to mention co-writing the lead song in the West End musical Dreamboats and Petticoats – performing and writing songs is Ian’s hobby.
Which explains why he didn’t release his first single until his fiftieth year.
“I always feel a bit sorry for people who think I’m going to be the Stone Roses singer,’ he says. “I mean, frankly I would rather see him than me! The song is about sharing your name with someone famous and having to deal with all the day-to-day business of living that you presume they don’t, but when you think about it they do – we’re all the same, we all get lonely and we all get sad.”
Ian’s set also includes No Hopers, Jokers & Rogues (written for Fisherman’s Friends) Thanks For Turning Up (co-written with Steve Knightley from Show of Hands) and a host of songs that have yet to trouble the charts such asShe Can’t Recycle Michael & His Folding Bicycle, Grey Is The New Blonde and The Five Foot Two Inch Giant, as well as a rich vein of tall tales from the music business, life, love and the view from his shed.
Dates:
27 September – Ringwood Folk Club, Elm Tree, Hightown. 8pm. 01425 472516.
27 October – Lantern Theatre, Romsey, 01794 523037
4 December – Bournemouth Folk Club, Trouville Hotel. 8pm. Advance tickets: www.wegottickets.com/ bournemouthfolk
