singer | songwriter | musician | writer
Here are some updates on a couple of the ‘Inspirations’ I’ve written about – Kevin Ayers and Dr Strangely Strange. Kevin Ayers I was contacted by a Rich Weinstein who is a massive Kevin Ayers fan. He’s put together a feature-length YouTube piece on Kevin Ayers called The Kevin Ayers Story: It Begins With a … Read more Updates on Kevin Ayers and Dr Strangely Strange
Probably the best aspect of doing this blog and writing about the musicians I love is that occasionally I get contact from other fans of the same people, with new insights. Here’s a story I got from Tom in Glasgow presented with his permission and my thanks: Although I was vaguely aware of Doll By … Read more Drinking with Jackie Leven
Cat Stevens seems to be ‘Marmite’ among my musical friends. A few can’t stand him, and quite a few like him a lot. I was a huge fan from his rebirth as a singer-songwriter in 1970 with Mona Bone Jakon through to his ‘throw everything out the window and start again’ album Foreigner in 1973. … Read more Songworks #2: 18th Avenue by Cat Stevens
Welcome to a new series of posts in which I’ll talk about individual songs I’ve gone back to time and time again over the years and try to tease out what’s at work in them and why they move me. My aims are: to draw your attention to the song and hope that you end … Read more Songworks #1: Golden Hours by Brian Eno
Here’s something you may not be aware of. The Red Hand Files is a blog by Nick Cave, but an interactive blog: every post is in response to a question from a fan. He started it in September 2018 so it’s a fairly new venture but already there are 25 posts – about four to … Read more Nick Cave – the Red Hand Files
Time to look back on a year, but I don’t want to do it as a blast of my own trumpet. More like a wave of gratitude for all the help I’ve had and the things that have gone well. to the Heaven Sent for being at my side on the stage and sticking with … Read more So that’s 2018, then …