A new song available on digital platfoms. 1953 Remember the floods of 1953
Flatlands is now available on Apple Music , Spotify, Amazon Music Youtube
Flatlands is now available on Apple Music , Spotify, Amazon Music Youtube
A song written by Patty Vetta and me to remember the great flood of 1953 that decimated the east coast 70 years ago.
Lockdown gave us all time to ponder. My pondering lead to twelve new songs that I started recording in November 2021. March 2022 - here they are. I can't describe what sort of music it is - it's me ! My songs are like politician's principles .. if you don't like this one , there's a different one coming next. !
I have some incredibly talented friends who helped me with this album.
Patty Vetta for vocals , percussion and production.
Tony Harris for engineering , bass guitar , keys , lap steel.
Steve Harrison for keys , Kamila Badlowska for violin and Tom Wright for a fab guitar solo.
Long Overdue ... I meet up with three friends I've had since college in the 70's but not for two years.
Play Your Hand ... just give it a good go.
Come On All You Pilgrims ... folk songs tell stories.
I've Got A Ghost ... my wife wonders what's going on in my head sometimes.
Unwind ... sometimes things don't work
Places In Between... life's ups and downs
Light At The End Of The Tunnel...written after first lockdown - that went well.
I Built My House ... Mother Nature does as Mother Nature feels
I Might Be A Spy... binge watching spy films in lockdown
I'm Looking At Me Phone...just look around
Influencer... what can I be famous for?
Someone Else's Eyes... a loss
Long Overdue ... I meet up with three friends I've had since college in the 70's but not for two years.
Play Your Hand ... just give it a good go.
Come On All You Pilgrims ... folk songs tell stories.
I've Got A Ghost ... my wife wonders what's going on in my head sometimes.
Unwind ... sometimes things don't work
Places In Between... life's ups and downs
Light At The End Of The Tunnel...written after first lockdown - that went well.
I Built My House ... Mother Nature does as Mother Nature feels
I Might Be A Spy... binge watching spy films in lockdown
I'm Looking At Me Phone...just look around
Influencer... what can I be famous for?
Someone Else's Eyes... a loss
Great review of Long Overdue in my local paper.
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Born in the 50's I was enthralled by music and bands all of my childhood and for the rest of my life so far. The release of The Beatles' new single was an exciting day and I loved the melody of 60's pop. You can't beat a good drum groove and that love took me first to folk rock with Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span - great instrument
Born in the 50's I was enthralled by music and bands all of my childhood and for the rest of my life so far. The release of The Beatles' new single was an exciting day and I loved the melody of 60's pop. You can't beat a good drum groove and that love took me first to folk rock with Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span - great instrumentation and solid drums. I then heard Deep Purple and my first album purchase became Deep Purple In Rock.
I think I really can say that I have a broad range of musical tastes that perhaps have influenced me over the years. A shuffle playlist from me could include AC/DC , Boy Named Banjo , Kate Rusby , Cara Dillon , Lindsay Lou , Amon Duul 11 , Phish and so on and so on..
My dad was a woodwork teacher who , seeing my early air guitar work , made me a guitar when I was around 11 or 12. Dad was a great furniture maker but sadly hadn't grasped the concept of " action " on a guitar neck. The guitar would have survived anything and I suppose if I was able to hold steel strings down almost half an inch onto
My dad was a woodwork teacher who , seeing my early air guitar work , made me a guitar when I was around 11 or 12. Dad was a great furniture maker but sadly hadn't grasped the concept of " action " on a guitar neck. The guitar would have survived anything and I suppose if I was able to hold steel strings down almost half an inch onto the fret board, I could probably play any guitar. Fortunately a new nylon strung and a second hand Eko
made life and learning a little easier. Armed with a book of chords and a Beatles song book , I was off. An SG copy took me into the electric guitar world - a world that still amazes and moves me today. School mates often play major roles in our music and I was no exception. Mate Andy Stone ( far left on the picture above ) and I learned together , playing Beatles and Simon and Garfunkle songs at Lincolnshire folk clubs as 15 / 16 year olds. Prog rock loomed heavy in our lives and we would battle to work out the beginning of Roundabout or Thick As A Brick. Life got in the way and music was always a hobby to fit in when time allowed. Rock bands , dance bands , function bands all came and went until now....
2016 was a great year. I retired from the corporate world and all of a sudden I had time to spend on what really made me happy - Music.
I wasn't actually doing anything when I retired but earlier projects had introduced me to Patty Vetta. Patty was a member of The Settlers from the mid 70's until the band's demise in the 80's. The Settle
2016 was a great year. I retired from the corporate world and all of a sudden I had time to spend on what really made me happy - Music.
I wasn't actually doing anything when I retired but earlier projects had introduced me to Patty Vetta. Patty was a member of The Settlers from the mid 70's until the band's demise in the 80's. The Settlers reformed with me , Patty, Steve Somers ( also ex Settlers) and Patty's husband Tony Harris. It was an incredible learning curve for me , finding myself playing guitar and singing harmonies with extremely accomplished musicians - not a hobby any more !
Lockdown struck just as we were playing bigger and better venues and unfortunately we decided that it was time to let The Settlers go.
However , lockdown also gave me plenty of time to think and wonder and all the other things that we do. I've never been a song writer of any quantity but somehow by the middle of 2021 I had a collection of songs written. I made demos and played them to Tony and Patty who both agreed there was definitely an album in there.
Here I am at the beginning of March 2022 waiting for the delivery of my solo album . The album is appropriately entitled Long Overdue. Thanks to Tony and Patty for lots of instrumentation and vocals , engineering and production. Thanks also to old college mate Steve Harrison , old band mate Nic Neale , Violin virtuoso Kamila Badlowska and guitar god Tom Wright.
What's next?? Patty , Tony and I are working on arrangements of the songs that we can then play live acoustically.
Patty and I with The Settlers
Me with the implausibly big hair with Lifeline. Mid 80's .
Debbie Dunkley and Nic Neale at the back and Mel Baker (L) with Chris Dunkley
Recording Welcome To The Real World 2007 - with Lou Bryant , Graeme Collins , Andy Cox
The Real World at Bourne Festival 2008
