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The name "Mostly Autumn" came about in 1992 when Liam and I were drinking in a pub called The Newfield Inn in Dunnerdale in the Lake District. I knew I wanted to name the project something to do with autumn and when out of the blue Liam pointed to a postcard rail saying "Mostly Sheep", I only saw the word "mostly". It struck me and thus the name was created. I have and still do have a great love for the season of autumn. Apart from the striking colour changes and fragrances, I find it a very provocative time, very nostalgic and powerful with its stunning beauty alongside a certain air of sadness and yet with a great feeling of optimism. The time between autumn and Christmas has always been a favourite of mine.

Over the next few years I recorded more ideas that were within the boundaries of what I felt Mostly Autumn was; "Winter Mountain", "Steal Away", "Boundless Ocean" and "Out of the Inn" were among these songs and although I did try a few of these in a short live gig as support to another band, the project was still very much a studio one.

Shortly after this I changed course and got involved in a project called "Under The Ivy" with a good friend and songwriter called Duncan Rayson. Duncan’s song-writing excited me a lot and we recorded some great songs. Regrettably we were unable to take the project any further at that time, though it is something I would like to have re-approached if time would permit in the future. Sadly Duncan passed away several years later, meaning that this can never now happen. Then in 1995, immediately after the very tragic loss of my father, I wrote the song "Heroes Never Die". The very first recording of this was still under the guise of "Under The Ivy" and Duncan also contributed some powerful lyrics on the song. Later on I decided to extend the arrangement of the song and create a band that would be capable of performing it in a live situation. Hence the return of Mostly Autumn but this time as an eight-piece band that could go out and play a full concert, not just a support. From the word go the band worked very well live, putting in very powerful performances that included some of my early song ideas and filled the rest of the set with choice cover versions from the likes of Pink Floyd.

During this period I felt very emotionally charged as I knew that the death of my father had the direct effect of re-creating Mostly Autumn. I felt very strongly about writing and recording a CD that would, in effect, be a tribute to what I and many others had shared with my father, Robert Josh. It also dealt with the way one tries to cope with such a situation. My mother kindly offered to fund the recording and it turned out to become the album "For All We Shared" with the song "Heroes Never Die" being the heart of it. I also resurrected some older ideas and re-recorded them. It was especially enjoyable to re-visit "The Night Sky" with it being the very first song relating to the concept of Mostly Autumn. I had always felt dissatisfied with it lying in silence since the very first recording in 1989/90 especially as only a handful of people had heard the song.

About six months later, thanks to a "Classic Rock Society" concert we were invited to play at, a certain Malcolm Parker got to hear the album and signed us to "Cyclops Records for a further two albums. He also picked up "For All We Shared" and suddenly we had international distribution. The second album, "The Spirit Of Autumn Past", has a photo of the inside of "The Lion Inn" at Blakey Ridge on the front cover. This marvellous pub, which stands alone on top of the North Yorkshire Moors, is a place I have an immense personal love for. In fact the singing at the beginning of "For All We Shared" was my dad directing a few words at me on my 21st birthday inside the Lion Inn! It has also played a large part in inspiring Mostly Autumn, and we still occasionally play concerts there.

Following the first three albums, and whilst supporting Ritchie Blackmore on his English tour, we were spotted by Bob Carruthers of Classic Rock Production. It was actually his daughters that insisted he bought the albums. He was incredibly enthusiastic and thus signed us to his label. The extra resources and backing of Classic Rock Productions enabled us to put out our first live DVD, ‘”The Story So Far”. We were also able to return to the studio and re-record a selection of the best material from our first three albums, using the extra time and resource we had to recreate those songs more along the lines that they had naturally developed over several years of being played live.

This was soon followed by the ‘Music Inspired By The Lord Of The Rings’ CD, recorded in a manic 14 days and nights. Intended an interim piece of work rather than an album proper, it was nevertheless great fun to do. However, it was the “Passengers” album that was our first ‘proper’ album on the CRP label and a real progression for us musically.

The next couple of years with CRP saw more live DVDs and live albums – and of course much touring, culminating in the ‘V” Shows of 2004. This was the first time I was really able to take a major step towards my vision of presenting Mostly Autumn’s music as a full audio-visual experience – a concept I intend to develop further in the future.

The 2005 album “Storms Over Still Water” was to be our last with CRP. It was a difficult decision to make but it was obvious to me that the best way to forge ahead with the band’s destiny was on an independent basis. Fortunately the process was made whole lot easier when, in an event unprecedented rock history, Bob Carruthers generously gave us back the rights to all the work we had done with CRP.

  And so, on 20 April 2006, Mostly Autumn Records officially came into being - an event celebrated with much burning of fires and drinking of ale up in the Lake District, which has had such an influence on me and the band’s music.

2006 proved to be quite possibly the busiest Mostly Autumn year ever for Heather and me in particular. After the spring tour the whole of the summer was taken with writing and pre-production of the songs that would form the “Heart Full Of Sky” album. Ambitiously we had decided to make the limited edition version a double album, so basically we had double the normal workload. September, October and early November were devoted to recording before we set off on our winter tour. The workload was intense and we all felt exhausted by the end of the year but extremely proud of our achievements.

2007 kicked off with a highly successful gig at the Astoria in London to launch the general release version of “Heart Full Of Sky”. This was made all the more challenging by the fact that Liam decided it was time for him to leave the band in order to pursue other interests, and our drummer, Andrew Jennings, also left. However, I am always amazed how things work out as not only did the incredibly talented Chris Johnson step out from behind his keyboard to show us he could fill any gaps on guitar too, but we were blessed with gaining the services of Gav Griffiths on drums. Things got even better when we were privileged to be invited to appear as special guests to support Bryan Adams at Murrayfield Stadium in July 2007. So, from strumming acoustic guitars under the moonlight as a boy to playing stadiums. You see, dreams can come true!

And so now I feel incredibly confident about the future. The songs, the band members, the support form the fans - it’s all there, in place, ready for us to take yet another step forward to fulfilling our destiny.

In brief, this is The Story So Far........