WHEN it comes to projects, musician Duke Special may just have the monopoly on eclecticism.

In recent years they have included writing the theme tune for Sesame Tree, the Northern Ireland edition of Sesame Street, where he also got to sing with the Muppets, to writing the music for and appearing in Deborah Warner’s critically-acclaimed 2009 production of Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children, at London’s National Theatre.

Special, who is performing in Colchester next month, then recorded an album of the 12 songs from the play, which was to form part of his ambitious three-CD box-set, the Stage, a Book and the Silver Screen.

That also included a five-track EP called Huckleberry Finn, the first recording of an unfinished musical written by Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson, based on Mark Twain’s classic character.

In 2011, Special was commissioned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to write a series of songs based on the photographs featured in an exhibition of work by Stieglitz, Steichen, and Strand. That year he was invited by Irish TV company RTE to present a documentary about Ireland’s first pop star, Ruby Murray, the real-life inspiration for the Cockney rhyming slang for curry.

He says: “That was kind of one of the reasons I wanted to do it.

“I knew very little about her and so I got to meet her family and people she worked with. Afterwards I made this little EP of some of her songs.

“The key for me was to respect the songs, but also not be bound by them.

“Some of these songs still resonate with people today, but I also wanted to make them my own.”

With his romantic style and a warm, distinctly-accented voice, not to mention his distinctive dreadlocks, eyeliner and outfits he describes as hobo chic, Special’s live performances have a theatrical style which makes his gigs much more than just a music show.

For his latest tour, Special has allowed himself the freedom to play whatever he wants, although there are a certain number of songs that will always be on the bill.

He says: “That’s only because I have some special songsheets for them.

“I’ve handed out songsheets before, so the audience can sing along, and I’ve found it’s a really good ice breaker.”

As well as performing some old tracks, there will be a few from last year’s critically, acclaimed album, Oh Pioneer. According to the Belfast-based songwriter, a lot went into the making of the record.

A banned Iranian children’s book about a fish’ a pirate who wants to retire and a barman who hears people’s stories, whether he likes it or not, are some of the ingredients that make up his first commercial album since 2008’s I Never Thought this Day Would Come.

Special says: “Standing on the edge of recording a new album is a daunting task.

“Behind you are the sessions and songs you have recorded previously, some popular, some well known, some dear to you, but not celebrated, some completely overlooked.

“Ahead are other people’s expectations, your own hopes for the record, the worry of horrible reviews, paying the bills and so on. But do you know what? I love the adventure.”

 

Duke Special
    Colchester Arts Centre
    Church Street, Colchester.
    May 8. Doors open at 7.30pm
    £12. 01206 500900.
   colchesterartscentre.com