Having a trawl through my archive vault deep underground, protected by fearsome robot warriors and smelling faintly of disinfectant, I came across this from The Village pub in Leith a couple of Christmases ago. Three quiet acoustic cover versions of songs I’d loved for a long time but never played until that night. The songs: … Read more
The year has just turned. Even though it’s still daylight at 10pm, what better time to do another Twilight Show? This one is a cover of a song by Mick Bennett, recorded by Clive’s Original Band on their wonderful 1972 album Moyshe McStiff and the Tartan Lancers of the Sacred Heart. This is a first-take … Read more
On Monday 24th I took part in a Bobathon – about five hours of Dylan covers from singer songwriters in the Ruby Tuesday Sessions page of Facebook. I did, of course, The Ballad of Bob Dylan but also two Dylan covers which I’m quite happy with: Bob Dylan portrait by Birgit Karacsonyi via Wikimedia https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bob_dylan.jpg
Dave Christopher was one of the finest songwriters to come out of Edinburgh. But you won’t find him on YouTube or Spotify. Until recently you wouldn’t find him anywhere online. Only a few cassettes and singles in the hands of friends. His life negotiated personal tragedy and challenges that few have faced, but towards the … Read more
I haven’t had any new stuff to share with you. I’m still working on the November song in my series of new songs for email subscribers, but in the meantime here’s some good music that friends of mine have sent me. Let me just say here and now that I’m not looking for people to … Read more
This a beautifully observed, concise jewel of a song with a disturbing twist. This description would be true of many, if not most, of the Handsome Family’s songs, but I find this one especially moving. I’ve considered singing it during a solo set, but was afraid I would choke up – it still gets to … Read more