So you want to play a musical instrument? You think you can write songs? You have a dream to one day record these and put them in front of the public? Welcome to my world. It’s been a lifelong dream... Read more

I’m pretty sure that my parents never met John Lennon. Or to be more specific John Lennon’s Aunt Mimi. But whether they did or not they were of the same opinion as her. As she had famously told John playing... Read more

If a thing is worth doing it’s worth doing badly. I remember the first time I heard that saying and I remember the first time I gleefully repeated it to my mother. Her reaction was pretty predictable and came with... Read more

I’d known Chris Halstead since we were four. I still know him today. He was always head and shoulders taller than me and we fought like cat and dog throughout infant school, primary school and secondary school. I never really... Read more

The holy grail was getting a guitar with steel strings. What it looked like, who made it and even what it sounded like were completely secondary because I was fixated on getting a ‘real’ guitar now that I had an... Read more

After having the guys learn my song I felt I was in the band on some sort of merit. There was no formal initiation ceremony just an acceptance that I was expected to turn up for rehearsals and when we... Read more

Despite my musical limitations I soon wrote quite a few songs, the most important of which was called Fotheringhay. So much so it pretty much became the band’s anthem. Everyone at the folk club could sing along to it because... Read more

To get in my face Chris would have to bend down, quite a bit actually, but he had no hesitation doing that. He was well over six feet tall and had a mop of curly hair bouncing around on top... Read more

After the band folded I went on to royally screw up what was left of my education. I sat my A Levels more because I didn’t have a sufficient enough excuse not to than any expectation of doing well. Predictably... Read more

So my marriage was over and I was starting out again. And something very strange happened. I actually found my voice, quite literally. Some friends of a friend invited me round to their place and by pure chance they had... Read more

I left Bristol and headed up to North Wales where most of my family had decamped to whilst I’d been in London and Bristol. My personal life had gone to hell in a handcart and I needed somewhere to get... Read more

In retrospect it was no surprise that Christine liked my songs, that she played them over and again on her car stereo because Christine supported me in just about anything I wanted to do. To be fair it was mutual,... Read more

As 2003 wound on I made up my mind to commit my songs to CD. I was very aware of my limitations as a music producer and as aware that I wasn’t getting the best possible results from Cubase because... Read more

When I decided to embark on telling my musical story I knew that eventually I would have to write this section. I knew what it would cost me to do that, how I would feel and I’ve dreaded getting to... Read more

Half the songs on Present Tense started out some time ago and half were newer. None had ever been properly recorded. I made the decision that I was going to record the whole album myself, to retain complete control of... Read more

So I had the songs on the world wide web, I had a CD and of course those were just the very things the world was waiting for. It turned out the world not only wasn't waiting for my music,... Read more

Many moons ago I had a friend who had a great saying. She would tell people "I believe that if I cast my bread on the waters it will come back as toast and jam". I never found out if... Read more

In the main the older you get the more likely it is that you're going to need medical intervention. When you get to my advanced years it can feel that life revolves completely around your next trip to the doctor's... Read more

My second album came together far too slowly for the reason I explained My Story 18, click here to read that chapter, but eventually it got released. The album was topped and tailed by two songs, the opening song Like... Read more