“A wonderful singer-songwriter with a remarkable voice.” - Folk World Magazine
“One of Scotland’s finest songwriters.” - Mairi Campbell
“Rich in melody…a quietly powerful way with words.” - Scotland on Sunday
“A most impressive piece of work.”
BBC Radio Scotland (Album of the Week)
Scotland On Sunday ★★★★
MUSIC
“Quite stunning!”
Maverick Magazine ★★★★★
Scotland On Sunday ★★★★
LISTEN
ABOUT
Stevie Palmer is a multi-award winning Scottish singer-songwriter with two critically acclaimed albums to his name on Greentrax Recordings. His releases have featured as Album of the Week on a number of radio stations, from BBC Radio Scotland to Celtic Music Radio, and even as far afield as 2Air FM Australia.
A particular personal highlight for Stevie was his featured part in the Scottish Traditional Music Awards winning production, Far, Far From Ypres alongside two of his musical heroes, Dick Gaughan and Barabara Dixon, the former of whom went on to co-produce Stevie’s second album, We Become The Sunshine.
REVIEWS
SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY
Stevie Palmer: We Become the Sunshine (Greentrax Recordings) ★★★★
It’s been a few years since singer-songwriter Stevie Palmer’s well-received debut album. This follow-up, co-produced by folk heavyweights Dick Gaughan and Ian McCalman, enlists sterling company including harmony vocals from Karine Polwart, guitar from Steven Polwart and empathetic piano work from Kim Edgar, as Palmer sings with articulate passion. Preoccupations shift between personal, environmental and life-affirming. Kirstan Harvey’s fiddle adds to the faintly ominous current of Fly Away With You, Going, Going, Gone swings with deceptive cheerfulness despite intimations of disaster while Phil Cunningham adds Cajun accordion to a take on seasonal change in Winter and Me. The title track is an anthem of positivism, while Palmer and Polwart sing over Mary McMaster’s harp in All Your Tomorrows and McFall’s Chamber add plaintive string harmonies of their own to the closing Somewhere.
Jim Gilchrist
Stevie Palmer: "We Become The Sunshine" (Greentrax Recordings)
The latest offering from multi-award winning acoustic tunesmith Stevie Palmer draws on contributions from fellow Scottish folkies Phil Cunningham, Karine Polwart and harpist Mary MacMaster, who all play their part in creating a subtly memorable collection which provides an ideal follow-up to Palmer's critically acclaimed Greentrax debut, "Heartprint Shadow." It's a measure of Stevie's natural eclecticism that the singer-songwriter is able to cite musical influences as diverse as Nick Drake,Paul Weller and Dick Gaughan, and the latter is such an admirer of his compatriot's work that he personally volunteered to lend a hand in the creation of this excellent addition to Greentrax's recorded repertoire.
Kevin Bryan
LIVING TRADITION
Stevie Palmer: We Become The Sunshine (Greentrax Recordings)
You may know of Stevie Palmer from his work as part of the award-winning stage show, Far, Far From Ypres, in 2018, but that alone won’t prepare you for the variety of what is on offer here.
There are 13 tracks, and no two the same. Huge credit must go to Stevie’s co-producers Dick Gaughan and Ian McCalman who have had the wisdom to allow each song to have space for excellent melodies and strong lyrical content. Stevie has help from Karine and Steven Polwart, Phil Cunningham and others, so you would expect the musicianship to be top drawer, and it is. The songs range from the narrative (James Watt’s Perfect Engine) to the achingly beautiful (Fly Away with You) via the upbeat, optimistic and anthemic. Rise Up Singing has a gospel or soul feel to it and must be a candidate for Radio 2 or 6 playlists. But for me, the absolute stand-out track is God Gave Me These Hands. It is rare for a male singer/writer to craft a song in the voice of a female protagonist in such a way that he inhabits the character and carries it off without seeming patronising. Stevie does more than carry it off, there can be no doubt. He gets some help here from Mary Macmaster on harp and Steven Polwart on some fine mandolin, but it’s the power of the story itself that makes this so special. Stevie doesn’t seem to give any indication of the inspiration for this song and that’s a shame. I would love to know the back story for this.
This CD was produced with support from Creative Scotland so a tip of the hat to them. It is a highlight of the year for me.
Philip Thomas
Heartprint Shadow (Greentrax Recordings)
“Quite stunning!” (Maverick Magazine: ★★★★★)
“An absorbing album” (Scotland On Sunday: ★★★★)
“An excellent piece of work” (The late great Michael Marra)
“These songs are by turns literate, moving, memorable and uplifting” (Karine Polwart)
“From the very first track I had shivers down my back…an exceptional recording” (2Air FM Australia)
GIGS
New live dates to be announced soon.