
There are several railway stations in the North West of England that claim to be the place where a morose Paul Simon wrote his classic tune “Homeward Bound.” One of them even has a plaque to mark the event. Thousands of miles from home, and hundreds of miles from his girlfriend, Simon’s troubadour was touring the industrial North of England in the ’60s, performing in front of dozens of people in one-night stands. The highest hope would be that, after a night on the sofa of the person running the folk club, you might get a cooked breakfast before the cycle of travel on public transport resumed.
Steve Stout has had some success with ØZWALD and as a newer guitarist for Lifehouse, but Paul Simon’s fame has eluded him thus far. So, perhaps it makes sense that his version of the song shows much more urgency than the original. The delivery is swifter. There is a sense of impatience. A song at the end of the evening, where the pleasure of playing in front of a crowd of any size is tempered with the thought of the travel or lobby calls to come. He has paid his dues over many years, but there has not been a Concert in Central Park. Perhaps it will come.