Steve – guitars, etc.
Steve is a founder member of the band along with Hugh who he’s known since moving to Cumbria in the 1970’s. In those days he was a solo singer/songwriter/guitarist and got to know Hugh at The Brewery Folk Club in Kendal and playing and singing at a weekly session at The Crown at High Newton. When Tumbling Tom started out he played mainly melodeon but is now the band’s guitarist. His main role is provider of danceable rhythms to underpin the melodies from Hugh and Fiona but he also plays lead guitar on some tunes. His aim is to help achieve TT’s mission in life to play music that makes audiences get up and boogie. Possibly the biggest influence on Steve’s playing style came from listening to the various incarnations of Tiger Moth and Edward The Second (later EII), with their combination of English dance music, reggae and West African rhythms.
Steve also played guitar in Nododo where he reinforced his love of ‘world’, especially African, music. Nododo played the WOMAD festival in Morecambe and since then he’s been a big WOMAD fan and has been to loads of festivals and seen lots of world class bands and musicians – Manu Dibango, Robert Plant, Tiger Moth, Kanda Bongo Man, Kepa Junkera, Airto Moreira etc. etc.
On stage Steve plays a blue US Fender Stratocaster Plus and either a Patrick Eggle Limited Edition Evo Legend in quilted maple or a sunburst Musicman Silhouette. He also has a K.Yairi acoustic/electric guitar and his current melodeon (which according to the folk police now has to be called diatonic accordion) is a Salterelle 2 and a half row.
As well as playing music, Steve is keen on tai chi, walking in the Lake District Fells, listening to the radio – some favourite programmes being Test Match Special, World on 3 and Global Gathering (Radio Scotland) - and lots of reading. He lives in Troutbeck Bridge with Ruth and they have 2 grown up kids who live in Kendal and Tokyo.