Narc. Magazine Online
Reliably informed
The genre-bending guitarist and songwriter makes a stop in Newcastle on his new tour
Image by Richard Ecclestone
Long considered one of Britain’s greatest lost talents, you may recognise Matt Deighton (who is making a stop at Newcastle’s Common Room on Saturday 3rd December) from his previous stints as the frontman of acid jazz heroes Mother Earth, or as Paul Weller’s guitarist in the late 90s, or more recently as the oft-considered natural successor to the throne previously held by the likes of Nick Drake, Davey Graham and John Martyn.
It’s quite an interesting career arc, especially when you consider the fact that he once briefly replaced Noel Gallagher in Oasis. Although this second career as something of a Britpop Zelig admittedly makes for some eye-catching copy, I strongly advise that you don’t let that inform your expectations of his output; from 1995’s Villager through to last year’s Kids Steal Feelings, Matt has succeeded at brilliantly building upon the spirit of the genre-bending, high-quality output of those aforementioned singer-songwriters, whilst never falling into the trap of becoming too clichèd or too pastiche in his approach. It’s an all-too-tempting pitfall of many an artist who dares to pick up where legends have left off, but he makes it look far too easy.
Matt Deighton plays The Common Room, Newcastle on Saturday 3rd December.
