Biography

I've been into music for as long as I can remember, and started writing songs when I was 14. First song: "Attitudes" was an innocent, honest look at what I thought of the way people can be. Umpteen years and songs have passed since then but I'd like to think I haven't lost that honesty. Started dabbling in piano from a young age but my first instrument was the violin. That didn't last (too hard an instrument and my heart wasn't in it!). Eventually got a keyboard (we couldn't afford a piano) and from a suggestion from a friend decided to have a go at songwriting. From then on I wrote at a phenomenal rate, writing about anything and everything. Joined my first band when I was 16 and started doing gigs soon after. When I finished school I went off to college to study music, where among other things I learnt about recording and stagecraft. After college I joined my first semi-professional band called "Circle 6", and got a taste for it as we developed a local following doing a mixture of covers and originals. In 1996 I formed a two piece called "Smile" and the following year as a result of the success of this I decided to turn professional. I decided I wanted to explore other avenues and in late '97 I joined a 9 piece Pink Floyd tribute band with backing singers, large scale sound rig and lighting show. After 18 months of rigourous rehearsals, gigging and internal disputes we decided to go our separate ways. It was during this period that I also decided to go solo for the first time (partly due to financial reasons, but maybe also because of aforementioned band!). Between the years 1997-2001 I didn't write any new songs but instead focussed my attentions on solely on gigging and producing backing music for my gigs. Towards the end of this period I started to get the writer's bug again and began to get my inspiration back, which in turn led to the writing of a number of songs and the recording of a 10 track album of originals and covers in 2002. My dream had been to record an album completely made up of original material but at the time I felt I didn't have enough suitable songs. This didn't remain the case for long and in 2003 began work on a 14 track all-originals album entitled "Ten a Penny". While it's been some years in the making, and very much a labour of love, I had it manufactured towards the end of 2007 (had to finance the whole thing myself, hence why it's taken so long!) and it is now available online. If you'd like to buy a copy, click on the link below. Some of these tracks are on my profile, along with a selection of live acoustic numbers and demos. All feedback is welcome so give them a listen and let me know what you think