Introducing The Purple Healer from Plymouth

Tell me about the name The Purple Healer?
It was the name of a song I co-wrote while in the band "Sundogs". It had a kind of disco feel to it. I really liked it but the rest of the band decided to drop it.

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I adopted the alias "The Purple Healer" after setting up a website; www.purplehealer.com as a vehicle to help promote my songs to record companies, publishers and established artists. Withing two months it became clear that I should establish myself as an artist in my own right and so Jeff Payne became The Purple Healer.

Glad I asked! Which three words best describe your music?
Soulful Indie Rock.
Woman, the track I've chosen to demo, was written in 1992 but not recorded until 2001. In March 2001 it made the uksounds.com Top Ten reaching number one in both the Ballad and Overall charts.

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Sounds like you've already got plenty going for you - what's the future in store?
I want to keep the momentum going. The success of "Woman" has increased the number of hits to the website one hundred fold. In March 2001 I received recognition as a songwriter by the International Songwriters' Association and I'm now included on the songwriter page at www.songwriter.co.uk alongside such song writing legends as Paul McCartney, Jimi Hendrix and John Lennon. The main goal is to start earning enough money to make a reasonable living from being a full time songwriter.

Whose records do you have in your collection?

"..and I don't want to be a part of the reason you leave..." Woman by The Purple Healer

A wide range from the sixties onwards:
Beatles, Rolling Stones, Led Zep, Free, Pink Floyd, Abba, Prince, George Michael, Guns & Roses, Black Crowes, Reef, Cast, Craig David, Robbie Williams, All Saints - loads really.

Do you seek fame?
I'd rather not have to suffer fame but I just can't stop writing songs. The ideal situation would be for the songs to become famous and the songwriter unknown.

And finally then your thoughts on living in Devon?
It's a beautiful part of the world. But not enough people living here realise it.