Please choose from the following:
1964-1978... The Early Years
1978-1990... The Middle Years
1990-2008... The Later Years

1990-2008... The Later Years

Thanks to Richard Hutchinson, my manager at the time, I was soon to sign a major deal with Chrysalis Records. It was on the strength of my first two releases and the hard work of Richard that this deal came through. I had met Peter Van Hooke and long admired his work with Van Morrison. He agreed to produce the album and I was happy to trust him with the various rhythm sections he was outlining for the project. It was a privilege for me to work with Paul Carrack, Alvin Lee, Roger Cook and many others and the record 'Time Marches On' was delivered on time and under budget. It was an absolute corker and I was very proud of it. Unfortunately unknown to me, EMI bought Chrysalis the week I delivered the album making many of us instantly redundant.

From that day it took six years' hard slog to get EMI to allow the album to be released via another label. In stepped German Roots label ‘Taxim’ and the album finally saw light of day in 1999, thanks to my good friend Roger Hubbard, who introduced me to the label.

Meanwhile back at the Ranch I had got married to my wonderful wife Louise and had baby Jessica. This was good timing as the decision by EMI not to release the album meant I could provide childcare for our newborn. This I did for 5 years until Jess was old enough to start school. During that period I wrote and released ‘Sunny Side Up’, a selection of instrumentals written in those glorious moments when baby was sleeping.

It was a case of déjà vu I’m afraid for as I delivered Sunny Side Up to Hannibal; the company was bought/bailed out by Rykodisc and the new main man Chris Blackwell did not see this record as part of his future plans. Once more Doodah came to the rescue and it became the first release on the label for over 10 years. (DD001)

Also during this period I had the good fortune to meet Mark Knopfler, who kindly invited me to guest on his album Golden Heart. Mark, to this day, continues to stay in touch and only recently rang to congratulate me on ‘Mojave Dust’

After 5 years child care my daughter started school giving me more time to once again concentrate on my writing and slide playing. I knew that without record company funding any future releases would have to be live recordings straight to mono or stereo. Back to square one with memories of those student bedsits and my battered Ferrograph. I spent a year and a half writing and honing material for my first ever solo acoustic project and in the summer of 2001 I proudly unvieled ‘Mojave Dust’ (DD002) to the nation. Reviews were ecstatic, and so was I. After some major disappointments with other labels I was now in control of my own destiny. Mojave Dust was recorded in mono straight to a Revox 1/4 inch reel-to-reel, and I think the record speaks for itself in terms of message and feel. This was the first ever release on Doodah to receive professional distribution. In making this record I met many wonderful people who spurred me on when my vision became a little cloudy. The wonderful Antony Howard continues to provide outstanding graphics, and Charlie Jones whose collection of vintage microphones were a constant source of inspiration during the project.

During my period with Jessica, I was fortunate enough to become friends with Moussa Kouyate, a master Kora player from Senegal, and after much
soul searching, we managed to generate ideas strong enough
to entitle us to tour the UK and Europe. Again, using direct
recording methods, we have finalised recordings scheduled
for September release. The live recordings featured in
'Kora Blues' (DD003) have, for me, successfully captured
the soul inspired meetings between Moussa
and myself.

Tin Church, the follow up to Mojave Dust was
released to wide critical acclaim in 2005 featuring
more tunes inspired by tramps, mercenaries
athletes and preachers. This is the album I have
been promoting till this present time in 2007.

The future looks bright with a new found interest in
both acoustic and electric lap steel. This has inspired
new works and a small but efficient band will be
hitting the road in 2008.
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