My first performance was at the Hinckley Youth Centre in 1964 playing Woody Guthrie songs on a borrowed guitar. I was at Nuneaton School of Art (1967-68), Manchester College of Art (1968-69) and Winchester School of Art (1969-72). From 1964 I was playing regularly as a folk/blues performer and helping to run two folk clubs in Hinckley. At Winchester I helped start a college band, Red Acid, and began playing Frank Zappa, King Crimson and Caravan music. Oddly enough, I joined Caravan in September 1972, supported Frank Zappa with them on a tour of the USA in 1975, and played with members of Crimson in the 70s and 80s! Since 1972, I've toured the world and made a large number of records and written quite a bit of TV and film music. Wikipaedia has a (nearly) complete discography!I've been a member of The Penguin Cafe Orchestra since 1976 and have been in (or am in) the bands of Murray Head, Paul Brady, Bob Geldof, Renaud, Elsa, and Khaled, Faudel and Rachid Taha performing as 'Un, Deux, Trois Soleils', produced by Steve Hillage, for whom I've done a lot of sessions over the years. I've made records with Jim Leverton, Raphael Mead and many others. With Jim Leverton I have a new combo with Martin Elliott playing acoustic, folksy R&B.I've recently finished eight months on the Rouge Sang tour of France, Switzerland, Belgium and Canada with Renaud, playing violin (Mittenwald), viola (Honore Derazy), mandolin (Epiphone), ukulele (Alvin Keech), guitar (Martin), flute (Rudall Carte), whistles (Susato).I'm now back in my studio and have recently recorded songs and string arrangements for Murray Head and Chris de Burgh and am playing with Jim Leverton and Raphael Mead. I'm also in the middle of recording the second Raphael Mead album.Instruments that I have a bash at include:violin, viola, tenor viola, 'cello; mandolin, mandola; ukulele, cuatro; acoustic and electric guitars, tenor banjo; electric bass; piano; flute, clarinet, whistles; bongos, djembe, kalimba and small percussion (including spoons and hedgeclippers)
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