Martyn Joseph

by William Ruhlmann
Welsh singer/songwriter Martyn Joseph began writing songs in early adolescence, although he was equally attracted at first to music and golf. He became the youngest club champion at one of Wales' oldest golf courses, and won many championships, but felt he would not advance to the ranks of professional golf, and so concentrated on music instead. His first album, on a small label, was I'm Only Beginning, and it was followed by 1988's An Aching and a Longing before he was signed to Epic Records and released two major-label albums, Being There (1992) and Martyn Joseph (1995). These releases brought him four U.K. singles chart entries, "Dolphins Make Me Cry," "Working Mother," "Please Sir," and "Talk About It in the Morning." But afterwards, Joseph returned to independent labels, signing with Grapevine for Full Colour Black and White (1996) and Tangled Souls (1998) before founding his own company, Pipe Records, in 1999. With Pipe, Joseph released Far >From Silent (1999), The Shirley Sessions (2000), and the two-volume live recording Don't Talk About Love. Whoever It Was That Brought Me Here Will Have to Take Me Home (2003), was his first album of new studio recordings in four years. In 2004, American folk label Appleseed Records issued the album, giving him his first U.S. release since 1995, and he toured America for the first time since 1993. In 2005, Joseph came out with another studio record, Deep Blue.