I wrote my first song at the age of 12; it was entitled "I wish I was back in old England now", and it was a narrative about living away in the United States, where I was living with my family at the time. I can remember the tune perfectly, but unfortunately the words have been lost in the mists of time! After that I wrote the odd song, just dabbling and not taking it seriously. Then, in 1993, I was watching a series on BBC2 on the music of the 70s, and in one episode singer-songwriters were being featured. One song struck me in particular - Janis Ian's "At 17" - and gave me the inspiration to sit down and write a song that might have the effect that "At 17" had on me.
I've written many songs since then, which I play at the folk clubs in Southampton. In fact, I've got enough songs to fill two or three more CDs! As I work full-time, I just have to find the time to record them all... To purchase the 'Nouvelle' CD, please use the comments box on the Home page.
My favourite musicians and influences include the Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, Joni Mitchell, Janis Ian (see above), Nick Drake, Japan and Madonna. I also listen to Kate Rusby, Show of Hands, Sandi Thom (see Home page), and Travis. Being a 'cellist I also listen to classical music - from Bach and Sibelius to Howard Skempton.
I've written a few compositions for contemporary ensembles - so far I've written 'Cat Suite', which attempts to describe musically a day in the life of a cat, 'Miracles', a piece with sounds and words, 'Seascape', inspired by Hayling Island, and 'On the River Loire', based on a painting of the same name by Charles-Francois Daubigny. 'Cat Suite' has been performed as part of the London Chamber Group's 'Piece of the Year' Competition (2003), and by the Northwood String Orchestra, which is based in Southampton. 'On the River Loire' was written and performed as part of a project run by CoMA South (see Links page) in conjunction with Southampton Art Gallery in December 2004.