User:Rufus Cockburn/sandbox

Steve Somers UK Musician

Steve Somers, full name Steve Somers-Smith, was born in Bristol in 1949 and began to play an instrument at 7 years old. His father was a salesman and the family moved around the country for some years settling in Essex, in a small village called Tillingham. Steve found music through school, playing recorder and quickly moving through the brass section, tenor horn, euphonium, trombone and settling on trumpet. He left school before his 15th birthday and signed on to HM Forces as a junior bandsman on cornet. When his parents asked him what he wanted to do with his life, he had said he wanted to be a musician, but his father had been a major in the Army and a compromise was found. After two and a half years and a high standard of playing achieved, Steve was told he could not go to hot countries due to a medical condition and his year group were moving out to Hong Kong, so he left the Army and went to work for a music shop in Shaftesbury Avenue, London call Bill Lexington’s. This was a shop used by professional musicians and Steve would meet top names in the jazz world everyday like Ronnie Scott, Tubby Haynes, Roland Kirk, the list was endless. One of Britains top female jazz tenor sax players, Cathy Stobart, worked along side Steve at Lewingtons and Steve would spend many a pleasant lunchtime in the basement with Cathy, blowing through duets, but Steve says, ‘this was Cathy being very patient with me and me getting an amazing education’. Steve had taught himself to play guitar in the Army and when fellow guitarist Graham Stagg came to work at the shop, a new duo was formed. Playing at parties at first, Steve and Graham decided to branch out into the world of professional show business. Graham Stagg was an electric guitar player, where Steve was an acoustic player and had a leaning towards contemporary folk music and could be found playing solo on the London folk circuit, alongside names of the day like Derick Brimstone and Mike Absolem.