Hi, I'm a songwriter / musician based in the St Albans area of Hertfordshire and this is my musical world...

...which began way back in the murky 1970s - my mates had a band, I felt inspired to buy a really bad but affordable guitar and started writing songs. Now fast forward to the 90s: over the previous decades I'd continued to write but with nothing much to show for it - no albums, hadn't joined or formed a band (live performing has never been that high on the agenda). And just when most people of a certain vintage should be thinking of moving on to more appropriate lifestyles, I decided it was time to launch my musical career and start recording.

The two most frequently asked questions I get are 'who do you sound like?' and 'what kind of music do you play?'. I always struggle with this one as I would like to think I don't sound too much like anyone - but I guess that doesn't help secure any prospective new audience! Of course you can go and listen to the samples on the Music page and make your own mind up but it might help if I mention the artists, albums and musical styles which may have shaped and influenced me.

Back in the 60s it was the emergence of the singer/songwriter - the 'Tims' (Hardin, and Buckley) plus the acoustic west coat stylings of David Crosby and Love's 'Forever Changes' and also the great songsmiths of the day like Burt Bacharach and Jimmy Webb. In the 70s the the more melodic prog and overt 'englishness' of the Canterbury scene, artists such as Robert Wyatt and Caravan; the rise of the singer/songwriter on this side of the Atlantic notably the late, great Nick Drake, Sandy Denny (also no longer with us) and John Martyn (just about with us!). Also Steely Dan, Neil Young and those two consummate albums by Joni Mitchell - 'Hissing of Summer Lawns' and 'Hejira'. The 80s for me was about the merging of those previous forms with a post punk energy and in particular some great Scottish artists - The Blue Nile, Roddy Frame, Danny Wilson. The emergence of a new acoustic movement with the early days of Windham Hill (before New Age became a byword for elevator music). And two of the most startling and influential albums - Talk Talk's 'Spirit of Eden' and 'Laughing Stock'. Come the 90s and it was the rise of roots music and the merging with other forms - The Buena Vista Social Club, The Jayhawks, Bill Frissell, Salif Keita; the post-rock movement lead by Jim O'Rourke; eclectic acts like Air and The High Llamas. And finally to a new century with great writers and performers like Sufjan Steven, Joe Henry & Josh Rouse; Richard Hawley conjuring up the ghosts of Scott Walker and Roy Orbison; the nu-folk movement - Kings of Convenience, James Yorkston, M-Craft, Devendra Banhart - the link back to the 60s singer/songwriter traditions and so round we go.

So if any of these names are resonating with you then 'Welcome' and read on...