A pivotal moment in my life was when I first heard David Crosby sing 'Deja Vu' from the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young album of the same name. I was completely blown away. I binned my Olivia Newton John record there and then and decided to learn the acoustic guitar, become a songwriter and see where my life would end up. Next, I discovered Neil Young and that was it: my long and winding journey began in earnest, 'the longest drum roll in history'.
Another key moment along the way was seeing Kris Kristofferson perform live in London at the Hammersmith Apollo in 2004. The brilliance of the songs and the sheer dignity of the man struck me very powerfully. It made a huge impression and inspired me to continue my journey, to never give up. Kris Kristofferson is a great inspiration:
I've come to appreciate how special a song is compared to other art forms, because you can carry it around in your head and your heart and it remains part of you. It just comes as natural as a bird to me, always did. It's the way singer-songwriters make sense of our lives.- Kris Kristofferson
I've written and recorded lots of songs and I'm planning to record an album of new songs in 2009. I'm inspired by 'literary songwriters' and great lyricists, Kristofferson, Dylan etc. I think it's important to read books, to be inspired by great writers, and to try and practise writing well, to even write the odd letter to your friends now and then. Lyrics are important; I studied English literature at Southampton University. I also worked for a brilliant wordsmith, Douglas Adams, on h2g2 , an encyclopedic website based on Adams's novel The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy.
I'm currently writing with some very talented folk including Fiona Bevan , Medi and the Medicine Show , Eugene Machine and my great friend and fellow songsmith Tom Baxter . Tom and I have written a few songs together including 'Better' and 'Miracle', both tracks featuring on Tom's second album Skybound. 'Better' has just been covered by Boyzone - it features on their latest greatest hits album, Back Again... No Matter What - and 'Miracle' was used by the BBC in some great montages showing highlights of the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games .
Another big inspiration is my dad, Shel Macrae, a brilliant singer who sang with 60s and 70s harmony pop band The Fortunes, and who's still singing like a legend today. The songs my dad sang - in particular those written by ace songwriters Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway - are a big influence on my own writing.