Folk/Singer-Songwriter
I must first acknowledge my debt to Aylesbury Folk Club where my initial efforts as a terrified performer were tolerated and even encouraged to the point where I could stand in front of an audience and play guitar and sing without falling over or running off in panic! It was also the cradle for my first attempts to write songs and perform them.
By the time I moved to Reading in the early 80’s I had a portfolio of pretty decent songs, mainly humorous and good enough for some of them to be covered by professional folk singers and to be broadcast live or as recordings on local radio stations such as Radio 210 and BBC Radio Oxford. I was also a sufficiently capable performer to start getting folk club bookings as a solo act. Joining Scotch Measure with Jim and Sylvia Barnes meant that I concentrated more on keyboards and the trio with less emphasis on song-writing and solo performance.
In the last five years or so I have picked up writing and solo performance again starting with an initial project to write, record and produce a CD of four songs about my home village of Mortimer to raise money for the local Junior School which both our kids attended – The Mortimer Tapes. This was well received, was a sell out and led to an interview on BBC Berkshire and a live performance on Kennet Radio.
I’ve also been polishing my performance skills with floor spots at local clubs with mainly original material to the point where I am now getting more lengthy feature spots and bookings both locally and beyond including a lot of work through the legendary Graham Steele and spots at Boar's Bridge Festival which does a great job raising money for the Berkshire Multiple Sclerosis centre.
More recently I've started playing with David Fenner again, our third iteration as a duo following earlier phases around Aylesbury in the late 70's early 80's and around Reading and the South East in the late 80's.
There's some video and audio of some recent (and not so recent!) performances here and details of my first solo album Twilight here.
By the time I moved to Reading in the early 80’s I had a portfolio of pretty decent songs, mainly humorous and good enough for some of them to be covered by professional folk singers and to be broadcast live or as recordings on local radio stations such as Radio 210 and BBC Radio Oxford. I was also a sufficiently capable performer to start getting folk club bookings as a solo act. Joining Scotch Measure with Jim and Sylvia Barnes meant that I concentrated more on keyboards and the trio with less emphasis on song-writing and solo performance.
In the last five years or so I have picked up writing and solo performance again starting with an initial project to write, record and produce a CD of four songs about my home village of Mortimer to raise money for the local Junior School which both our kids attended – The Mortimer Tapes. This was well received, was a sell out and led to an interview on BBC Berkshire and a live performance on Kennet Radio.
I’ve also been polishing my performance skills with floor spots at local clubs with mainly original material to the point where I am now getting more lengthy feature spots and bookings both locally and beyond including a lot of work through the legendary Graham Steele and spots at Boar's Bridge Festival which does a great job raising money for the Berkshire Multiple Sclerosis centre.
More recently I've started playing with David Fenner again, our third iteration as a duo following earlier phases around Aylesbury in the late 70's early 80's and around Reading and the South East in the late 80's.
There's some video and audio of some recent (and not so recent!) performances here and details of my first solo album Twilight here.