Substack Steve... A Blog Reborn

As Soul Surmise disappears, here is the story of 30 years on the Web... and a welcome to the next chapter...

It all began in late 1995 when my administrator, Andrew, told me that I got space on the web with my new fangled email address. “What is the web?” I asked. He told me about the world wide web and how I could write things on there that others might find and read. Wow!

I started putting articles I had written onto this page. I also started writing record reviews and putting them up there too. We got so excited when after a number of weeks we had reached 100 views.

In 1996 I started hosting a music show on BBC Radio Ulster. My friend, Gareth, who was a pioneer in all things web page told me that I needed a good web site. In his generosity he set me up a very professional site called Rhythms of Redemption, which was what the show was to be called until it changed to Rhythm N Soul.

Rhythms of Redemption got me a book deal. Some guys in America looking for someone to write a book about U2 came across my writing and, in 2001, Walk On; The Spiritual Journey of U2 was published. It went on to sell almost 100,000 copies, was translated into at least seven languages and reached 99 on the Amazon chart.

Another amazing story surrounds Radiohead’s secret gig in Queen’s University’s Mandela Hall in 1997. The band performed to a small crowd as a warm up for Glastonbury and other Festivals where they would unveil Ok Computer. Twenty year’s later it was discovered that the only review of the concert in the entire world was mine on Rhythms Of Redemption. Being a warm up gig the press were banned and as I was one of the earliest bloggers I was the guy. I found out when the BBC came calling for the 20th Anniversary documentary.

By 2008 Gareth suggested that I needed to move to a blog and Soul Surmise was born around 2009. Moving from Chaplaincy to being minister of Fitzroy I realised that the time needed to write books was gone but that I could write 350 words on one topic per day. Blogging became my genre.

I blogged about everything that meant everything to me - as a theo-musicologist, my favourite records and great concerts and interviews; as a seeker of the spiritual in the arts, stimulating books and films and television; as a follower of Jesus, thoughts on his radical ways; as a peace builder, thoughts on peace and justice. So much… and so much more.

Now, 16 years and almost 1.4 million views later Typepad have called it a day closed us all down and here I am starting again. Thank you for reading Soul Surmise and Rhythms Of Redemption before it. It allows me to self indulge myself in things I love.

I am thankful for all of you who say how much it means and that you are out of money in albums and books. Let’s start again, go further up and further in… I hope you’ll join me and keep reading.