My music has been described as "new age", "contemporary classical" and "world", but rather than put a label on it I prefer you just to give it a listen.
Brief background: my first professional band was the folk-rock group Blackthorn. From there I move to playing with the Steve Ashley Band and studio session work, mainly for Countdown Music of Hamburg. I also did a very enjoyable tour with Dave Pegg's Cocktail Cowboys.
During the '80s I delved into studio engineering and producing, and enjoyed working with many of the leading folk and folk-rock artists.
In the '90s I spent a very enjoyable time working with theatre imprassario Scott Young and also with the touring theatre company Fieldwork, performing Mick Ryan's folk operas. I also worked with country-rock band Ida Red, one of the few UK bands of this type to make it across to the USA and Canada.
During this time I began to write for TV, with my first commission being "Danjugan Island", a film for the UK's Channel 4 about the damage being done to the forests of the Philippines on account of their being one of the main suppliers of charcoal. That lead to my being invited to write for library music companies such as Stock and Sonoton, for whom I've been gainfully employed ever since. You can hear me on programmes such as Oprah Winfrey, the UK breakfast TV station GMTV,and the Australian version of er... Big Brother, as well as the odd (sometimes very odd!) Japanese game show!
I've also found the time to record my own albums, from which you can hear excerpts by clicking the links above. Tracks from these have been featured on compilations released by Sony Europe, EMI, Ewise and a few others.
Recently I've focussed on my work with the singer and co-writer Maggie Sand. Under the name of
Alquimia, our first album "Angaelic Voices" was released in the UK and USA by BSC, and our latest,
Forever was released by the same company last summer. A track from it has also appeared on a compilation, "Celtic Lounge 2" released in the USA by
Sequoia Records.
Maggie and I are now concentrating our efforts on our latest project, full details of which you can see by clicking here.Summer 2007 also saw the release in the USA of "Virtual Wonders of the Columbia Gorge", a scenic DVD produced by Dennis Stilwell and released by
Northwest Hiker. I'm delighted that he's chosen to use my music in this and his future productions.
In 2006 I also just started working with the symphonic rock band
Whimwise , formed by Nick May of The Enid. It's quite different from anything else that I've done, and I've enjoyed our tours and gigs.
Selected discography:
My own albums:
From Here and Then (featuring Ric Sanders- violin, Steaphan Hannigan- uillean pipes, and others)
Rocks and Sand (featuring Alquimia- voice, Ian Morrison- uillean pipes, Robert Friel- highland pipes, and others)
Elliptical Dance (featuring Alquimia, Alan Noble- violin, Ian Morrison- border pipes, and others)
Natural Light (with Alquimia, Alan Noble and Tim Perkins- violins, and others)
Whispers on a Silent Landscape (with Alquimia, Shakya Shakyamuni- Tibetan singing bowls, James Wheatley - Chinese and Balinese percussion, and others)
Library albums:
Albums and tracks for Sonoton, Stock, Dennis and Focus.
Collaborations:
Alquimia: "Angaelic Voices", "Forever"
The Steve Ashley Band: "Demo Tapes", "The Family Album"
Belshazzar's Feast: "One Too Many"
Blackthorn: "Blackthorn II"
Fieldwork: "Songs From 'A Day's Work', "The Voyage"
Los Cabelleros del Tango: "Los Reyes del Tango"
Compilations:
Sony Europe: "Celtic Spirits", "Mystic Dreaming" and "Irish Greats" series, "Celtica".
EMI: "Sweet Tango"
Edge Music, Australia: "Coolin' Down"
Ewise, Singapore: "Celtic Divas" (with Liz York)
ARC, UK: "The Gathering" (with Pat Dalton)
Sequoia, USA: "Celtic Lounge 2"
As producer/engineer:
The Albion Band: "Shuffle Off"
The Steve Ashley Band: "Demo Tapes", "The Family Album" (also played keyboards on both)
Belshazzar's Feast: "Drop the Reed"
Jon Benns and Bill Zorn: "Wake up and Dress Funny"
Blowzabella: "Blowzabella" (debut album)
Cotswold (for the English Folk Dance and Song Society): various albums featuring Wild Thyme playing dance music collections
Fairport Convention: "AT2", "The Boot", "Gladys's Leap"
Finality Jack: "Peasant Gourment"
Hoover the Dog: "New Tricks"
Paul Hutchinson & John Hymas: "The Emperor of the Moon"
The Robert Mandell Band: "East European Dance Music
Dave Pegg: "The Cocktail Cowboy Goes It Alone"
Jill Rogoff: "The Celtic Cradle", "Across the Narrow Seas" (also played on both)
Dave Swarbrick and Simon Nicol: "In The Club"
I've worked with many others over the years; far too many to list here.
Thanks for dropping by!
