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Singer-songwriter Richard Fleeshman is keen to shed the Soapstar Superstar tag with gigs in Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Rising star
by Shona Craven
He may be known to millions as the winner of a somewhat naff TV talent show, but 19-year-old Richard Fleeshman is hoping to earn his singer-songwriter stripes with a UK tour that visits Glasgow and Edinburgh.
The intimate surroundings of King Tut's and Cabaret Voltaire will certainly contrast sharply with the stadiums and arenas the former Coronation Street star is playing in between solo gigs, as support for Elton John.
A teen soap star may seem an unlikely choice to open for Elton, but Fleeshman's new material is more reminiscent of Bryan Adams than Kylie, and perhaps more suited to soft rock-loving Radio 2 listeners than the teen pop fans hoping that their heartthrob (voted sexiest male at the British Soap Awards) would become the new Shayne Ward.
Needless to say the broadsheet critics haven't been quick to hail Fleeshman as the next Paolo Nutini or Daniel Bedingfield, although when reviewing his debut album one did bestow the back-handed compliment that 'his passing vocal resemblance to Jackson Browne is wasted on uniformly middle-of-the-road content'.
Given that he was only a teenager when he wrote the derided songs, it was perhaps not a bad start.
Richard Fleeshman supports Elton John at McDiarmid Park in Perth on July 6 and plays solo gigs at King Tut's Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow on July 7 and Cabaret Voltaire in Edinburgh on July 8.
