Biography

I was born and raised in the small village of Owslebury, near Winchester, in the south of England. My family is quite musical, although I am the only one of us to play an instrument other than my Gran who played piano. My mother has always sung in chapel, and my Dad and Grandad sang in a choir, but my earliest musical experiences were singing along with her and my brother and sister to Mum's Country and Western tapes in the van whenever she would drive us to her work, or in the car, although that sounds a bit Partridge Family for my liking! I can remember songs like Behind closed doors, The son of Hickory Hollow's tramp, and the one about some bloke who threw himself of the Talahachi Bridge, happy stuff! I've written poetry since I was a child, and was desperate to play the guitar (too many Elvis movies when I was a kid). My Dad managed to borrow one for me from a friend, when I was around 13, but I didn't’t really get on with it. I finally managed to afford my own when I was about 16/17, but didn't’t get seriously into playing until I ran out of money and patience at college, and had to busk for extra money. Whilst at college I started to write songs, and haven't been able to stop since. I started gigging about two years after college in about 1993. Stupidly, I am a stubborn purist, and throughout this time I have only really ever played my own stuff, which has made it a bit of a hard road, to the point where I gave up music a couple of years ago, only to find that you can check-out any time you like, but you can never leave! So, after a trip to Ireland, I took a year out to record three songs, and, I think I’m writing the best songs of my life and looking forward to the next gig. I'm not big into rambling or artifice, so my songs are pared down, truthful without always being autobiographical, and passionate. I believe that if you can't say it in four verses and in plain English, then it probably isn't worth saying.