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Last Friday, 23 March, the School of Arts, Culture and Language welcomed David Cousins, who delivered two inspiring talks.

With a career spanning over five decades, David is best known as the lead singer and chief songwriter of the legendary band Strawbs, who have released over 30 albums since their critically acclaimed self-titled debut of 1969. Their most recent album appeared in 2023. Between Strawbs and his solo work, David has written and recorded over 300 songs. . David left Strawbs in 1980 and worked for the next two decades at executive level in radio broadcasting, during which time he led many successful franchise applications for stations such as XFM. He returned to Strawbs in the late 1990s and also founded an independent record and publishing company, Witchwood Media Ltd. In 2023 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music degree (DMus) by the University of Leicester, where he studied pure mathematics and statistics in the early 1960s.

Introduced by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Edmund Burke, David spoke to a full house of students and staff in Mathias Hall. In the morning session, David shared his experiences from decades of working in the music industry, from signing to A&M Records in 1968 to streaming and copyright. In the afternoon, guitar in hand, David gave insights into his approach to songwriting using various non-standard tunings, which are a hallmark of his unique compositional style. The event also included a performance of two of David’s finest songs – ‘Josephine (For Better or for Worse)’ and ‘Forever Ocean Blue’ – by Gwawr Evans, a second-year Music student, accompanied on piano by Dr Iwan Llewelyn-Jones (senior lecturer in Music).

Dr John Cunningham, Reader in Music and Head of Department of Arts, said: “David Cousins is one of the finest modern British songwriters. His eclectic compositional style is highly distinctive, and his sound instantly recognisable. David has led an extraordinary life and has enjoyed a long and varied career. It was a fantastic experience for our students to have him share his insights and advice. It was truly inspiring.”