singer | songwriter | musician | writer
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 moreSo that’s 2018, then …
This is the story of a collaborative songwriting effort over the last six months or so between Gerry Callaghan and myself. The result was a three-song album -an EP if you will – which we’re selling to benefit SAMH, the Scottish Association for Mental Health. Four Little Leaves – the beginning Early in 2018 I … Read moreWho Was The Poor Girl from Dublin?
I recently put out an email to my music friends referencing my post about multitrack recording. In it I talked about how I dreamed of copying my musical heroes and multitracking. I’d never set foot in a recording studio, so I tried to approximate it by using two ghettoblaster cassette machines, one recording the output … Read moreMultifarious multitracking – your stories
A couple of years ago I learned of the death of a singer-songwriter who’d been a friend of mine when I lived in Manchester. Although I hadn’t heard anything of her for twenty years her songs had remained in my mind and her cassette album Take Route was probably the only cassette I ever played … Read moreSongstories #24: Sullen City (cover)
A few weeks ago I decided to go on a news fast, avoiding news on the media for four weeks. My reasons for doing it are here, but it boiled down to noticing that it was an addictive behaviour with no real effect on anything within my control, therefore better eliminated. I thought four weeks … Read moreAfter the news fast
Good evening. Here is the news When I was younger (Oh, no it’s one of those …) news was a fixed point in the day. You would tune in to the news on BBC or ITV at 6 o’clock and hear a 15m bulletin. If you wanted more depth you might get it on the … Read moreWhy I’m avoiding the news for a month