..in the late 60s and early 70s I was a regular visitor to the Folk Clubs around Bolton - watching the good local artists around at that time such as Mike Harding, Bernard Wrigley, The Houghton Weavers, to mention just a few....
.. this is where my Folk life began .
I have always admired anyone who can get up and entertain people.
It's a wonderful gift which I always yearned to have. However it wasn't meant to be and my guitar which I had started to learn got shelved for 25 years or more.
Eventually I started to visit BlueGrass Festivals whose exciting style of music inspired me to pick up my guitar again, playing along with friends
Whilst holidaying on the Scottish Islands there was a need to 'sing for our supper ' and one or two of the songs that I had written seemed to go down
well - so I carried on writing...
... then with encouragement from Alan, my partner, I started to write about
my childhood in Lancashire and the many characters who shared that space. Initially it was just for fun and something to entertain my family with, although, again people seemed to like the songs and now that's probably where my strength lies.
I do love to sing a mixture of Country, Folk &
BlueGrass numbers and am a great admirer of
the late Kate Wolf - whose music has been an
inspiration to me as too has John Denver,
Nanci Griffiths and many others.
I enjoy being part of the thriving Folk scene in Cleveland and involvement in Charity Concerts and Folk Club events throughout North Yorkshire
and Durham on one occasion with THE Old Rope String Band
Invited to guest with Scottish Band ' Home Made Jam ' I joined them in their Booking at Dunbar Folk Festival.
In recent times I have guested at Guisborough Folk Club and the Cutty Wren Folk Club also on a Concert for Saltburn Folk Festival at the SPA Saltburn on the bill with THE Scratch Band and Kieran Halpin
Again at the SPA I am pleased to have joined Vin Garbutt & Special Friends for the Annual Concert & BBQ for Alison.
