A NORTH East singer is looking to get his tune noticed on the viral stage after penning a recent track about the City of Durham that’s already catching the attention of some social media users.
Paul Martin, who is more commonly known as The Geordie Singer, delighted his fans at the start of this month after he released a new track entitled ‘I love Durham’.
Inspired by his Durham-born Fiancè, Emma, who he met last year in Kielder, Paul has rewritten the lyrics to the Roger Whittaker classic ‘Old Durham town’ – making it more of a positive and uplifting tune in the process, and reflecting his newfound love he has for Durham, where he currently lives with his fiancée.
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The regional singer, who has performed for over 20 years, has managed to write the track just in time for the City of Culture bid in 2025 – and hopes that it will sway the judging panel to grant the accolade to County Durham, which is currently in the final four locations in the bid process.
Alongside the reason for writing the tune, Paul says that he loves championing the North East at every opportunity he gets – including some of his previous tracks that he’s written that follow the theme of his beloved Newcastle United.
He told The Northern Echo: “I absolutely love everything North East. Even though I support Newcastle United, I still want Middlesbrough, Sunderland, and all the other teams to do well because it’s good for the region.
“As a child, I always enjoyed when my family would take me to Durham, and as an adult I love the city.
“Hearing the Roger Whittaker classic, I wanted to get some positivity into the tune because I’m a positive person. I hope others enjoy listening to it – that’s why I made it.
“So far, loads of people have reacted to the tune – the 2025 City of Culture bid team have shared it, and I’m hoping lots more people can hear it.”
Despite being North East through and through, Paul only came back to the UK in 2021 after nine years in Mallorca, due to the pandemic putting an end to his performing career there.
It was this return to the UK and the North East, though, that inspired the Durham song – that same inspiration that The Geordie Singer hopes can continue throughout 2022.
With songs already released for the 2022 Great North Run and plans in the pipeline for England’s World Cup 2022 campaign, Paul has promised that the rest of this year will be a fruitful one for him.
He added: “I’m looking forward to releasing even more music in 2022 – enjoy my Durham song and there’s plenty more North East songs in the plans.”
People can check out Paul’s music on Spotify here and as The Geordie Singer on Facebook here.
‘I Love Durham’ is available as the classic version and Paul has also put together a dance version too.
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