Episode 59 - Stephen Boyle - It's A Wonderful Life!

My guest in this episode is friend and colleague Stephen Boyle. Stephen was born and grew up in a small fishing town in the Northeast of England called North Shields with the city metropolis of Newcastle only eight miles away. After University in Sheffield and then a time living and working in London, he took the big step in 1995 to move to the US which is where he has lived for almost all of the last 26 years. Most of that time has been spent in Southern California although there were spells in Atlanta and Seattle which is where we met. Today he has the good fortune to live in Carmel in a house he and his wife Kim have spent the last three years building. Stephen clearly still feels a very strong connection to the Northeast of England and that is a theme that runs through his song choices but also his shows in his love of football and Newcastle United in particular. That said he does tell a fascinating story of being a 13-year-old and going over to the dark side for a year when a next-door neighbor moved from Newcastle United to play for fierce local rival Sunderland (and they won the FA Cup!) . In amongst the music, we talk about being born in his Grandparents house and the close relationship Stephen had with them, favourite concert venues in the US and his view of America in 1995 and how that has changed somewhat today. Like a lot of guests David Bowie is a major figure in Stephen’s musical journey and two of his song choices are Bowie songs but in an interesting twist neither are performed by the great man himself. Stephen’s song choices are :·        60’s       - The Animals                  House of the Rising Sun ·        70’s       - Mott The Hoople          All the Young Dudes ·        80’s       - Bruce Springsteen       The River ·        90’s       - Sting                               Englishman In New York ·        00’s       - U2                                    Beautiful Day ·        10’s       - Nine Inch Nails              I Can’t Give Everything Away ·        00’s       - Devon Gilfillian             The Good LifeEnjoy :-)