THE road to overnight success is often far longer than people assume, but for Jamie Lawson, who will be appearing at the Plymouth Pavilions on Thursday, October 27, the journey was an epic one.

It took time for him to find his voice, and even longer to hone his songs, which recreate a key moment, an emotion or even a whole lifetime in sparse, poetic language that connects in a very direct and powerful way. And though he quickly found a core, loyal following who have sustained him throughout, only now is that starting to blossom into something far bigger.

Growing up in Plymouth, Jamie was introduced to music by his older brothers. Early on, he’d go to school singing lyrics by The Smiths and The Housemartins that he didn’t fully understand, and then Thriller introduced him to Michael Jackson, a singer he still admires. ‘Looking back on it, he had no real experience of what he was singing about – he never had those kinds of relationships – yet you always believed he felt every single word, that he understood how you were feeling,’ said Jamie.

Later, he found Natalie Merchant, and bands like 10,000 Maniacs and REM. He joined a band at school, and they rehearsed diligently through their mid teens, playing locally.  ‘I wanted to be Michael Stipe for a while,’ he laughs. ‘I even had the hat!  But that’s your way in, I think.  You try to be someone else, and eventually you find yourself.  I wanted to be Eddie Vedder too, but my voice wouldn’t allow it.  It took me a while to let it do its own thing.’

Afterwards, Jamie went to art school, where he showed promise but was unable to settle. Eventually, a lecturer asked what it was he really wanted to do. ‘I want to be a singer,’ Jamie replied, without hesitation. ‘So go do it!’ the teacher shrugged.  That same week, Jamie also discovered the emotional, yearning music of American Music Club main man Mark Eitzel, making a pilgrimage down to Virgin Records to hear his solo album 60 Watt Silver Lining every day. By Friday, he says, his mind was made up, and he left college to concentrate on music full-time.

Read the full interview with Jamie Lawson in Thursday’s Tavistock Times (January 28)