Musical Influences 

 

My tastes are rooted in what I would describe as classic song writing of many of my childhood heroes/heroines in the rock industry. What I would call "classic mainstream" who wrote songs with meaning and lasting impact:

 

Starting with Woody Guthrie, Chuck Berry, Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, Beatles, Stones, The Who, Paul Simon, Dylan, Cohen, Hendrix, Beach Boys, Kinks, Hollies, Eric Clapton, Cream, The Doors, Eagles, Byrds, Bowie, Velvet Underground, Led Zepplin, John Mayall, Peter Green and future incarnations of Fleetwood Mac, Rod Stewart, Joni Mitchell, Crosby Stills Nash + Neil Young, Pink Floyd, Bob Marley. Steve Miller, Steve Winwood, The Band, Van Morrison, Johnny Cash, Doobie Brothers, Bruce Springsteen, Grateful Dead, Canned Heat, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Janis Joplin, Dire Straits, Supertramp,  Tom Petty, U2, Debbie Harry, Pretenders, John Martyn, Ian Dury, Sting, The Specials, The Undertones, Chic, Coldplay, Oasis, Blur, REM, Stereophonics, Manic Street Preachers, Lloyd Cole, Arcade Fire, Squeeze, Radiohead, Snow Patrol, Foo Fighters, Counting Crows, Cranberries, Mumford & sons, Arctic Monkeys, Zero 7, The Strokes, Muse,4 Long Blondes, Taylor Swift, Adelle, 21 Pilots, and many more recent ones from the last 10 years or so.

 

But also the genres that inspired behind these great artists:

 

Blues, Folk, Country, Jazz (to some extent), Gypsy Jazz, Tamla, Soul, Reggae and of course Rock n’ Roll!

And great song writers: Neil Diamond, Johnny Cash, Leiber and Stoller,

What am I not into? Well I guess heavy metal/hard rock. I was exposed to too much in my early years to too many rock concerts, hours of shredding, and this has left me somewhat numb. I have a number of friends who Heavy rock fans and so I apologise that there are not examples on my album. The closest is rock and roll. I am trying hard to get into House, rap and contemporary mixing.

 

So, I as am sure you will like the music of some of these great icons, I hope you will enjoy some of my songs, although I am modest enough not place myself on an equal pedestal!

 

Blue Sky Morning, my first album, has been in many ways an exploration into some musical genres as well as exploring different topics/themes, lyrically. I like playing with imagery, metaphors, and ideas. I don’t necessarily stick strictly to the classic song formats as they are “taught” but look to create a structure that I feel delivers what I want to say.

 

I am very concerned about what mankind is doing to the environment but also how fragile we all are in many ways. But there are so many things to write songs about. Yes, Love Songs dominate and they are a big challenge to write something different with passion and emotion.