THE man dubbed the Welsh Springsteen heads for Narberth on his UK autumn tour to bring a splash of Las Vegas to the Queen's Hall on Saturday, November 24. Hot on the heels of a US/Canadian tour, the award- winning Cardiff-based singer songwriter will unveil a slew of edgy new songs from what is, incredibly, his 29th album -Vegas - acclaimed as his best yet by many critics and Radio 2. His performances are often a roller coaster of light and shade, leaving audiences somewhat shell- shocked and this 23-date tour should be no exception. Shades of Springsteen, Rea and Knopfler there may be, but Martyn Joseph is a performer like no other. One of acoustic music's most arresting artists, he has been in demand on both sides of the Atlantic for over two decades, notching up a string of top 50 hits (including Please Sir and Dolphins Make Me Cry - currently a hit in the European charts for Italian-German singer Nevio Passaro), touring with the likes of Art Garfunkel and Jools Holland and winning fans everywhere with his uncanny fusion of material - feisty, pull no punches big issue numbers alongside stripped bare love songs. Voted Best Male Artist at the 2004 BBC Welsh Music Awards, he's a skilled acoustic and electric guitar player with one of the most powerful voices on the circuit, crafting songs with, as Bob Harris put it, 'outstanding lyrical intelligence'. His humanitarian work is well documented and permeates the lyrics of many songs. He received an Amnesty International award for his work with the Brazilian Landless movement. Vegas is variously jazzier, rockier, bluesier, funkier than his previous recordings - more edgy and electric, moving him out of his comfort zone and into an uptempo musical landscape of very broad brushstrokes.
