Fast forward to 2024!
Fast forward to 2024!
Yes, I know... I haven't kept this page up to date at all since 2018, and the In So Small A Compass album!
Apologies.
The truth is, I've been super busy with many projects, recordings and playing live.
2019
was a year of playing live around my home county of Cumbria. Many festivals, events and collaborations. Notably with South Lakes band Southern Edge. We recorded an 8 track album. After the horrid year of 2020 the band had a rest and I decided to bow out from the band to concentrate on other projects.
Later in 2019 I recorded my ep Courageous Tree which featured some great friends and fellow artists. Courageous Tree, Sea Charts and Life Maps, Ernies Liquid Gold, Summer Standing Still, Every Last Wolf.
2020
I started to create some tutorial videos on playing tenor guitar and mandolin. These are on my YouTube Channel.
I also wrote new material and recorded demos for the next album Two Kingdoms. I played most of the instruments but passed on the bass duties to various bass player friends. I have long serving side kick Dave Pennington on cajon, Lukas Drinkwater on double bass, Stu Denney on clarinet, Paul Fulker on electric bass and Tim Rowe on double bass. It was released early 2021. Runaway Corpse, Sails and Oars, Eagle and the Child, Ghosts in the Grass, Pendragons Hill, Shipwreck Rats, Reivers Steel, Slate Blue, Slate Green.
2021
My loyal sidekick Dave & I played all over as a duo. Myself on tenor guitar and Dave on cajon, we were a little power duo playing the Two Kingdoms material. Often we had double bass player Suzanne with us too.
2022
Saw the beginning of a sabbatical, where I briefly returned to my first instrument, the bass guitar. Having played some bass on my Two Kingdoms album myself, I re-discoverd my love for my fretless bass. I dusted it off and played with a couple of local bands for a while. In the midst of which, I moved house too.
2023
Came around quickly and I had the urge to get back to my original material and beloved tenor guitar. My partner Kate practiced with me whilst learning mandolin and playing the shruti box. It spawned a newish sound and the notion that we should be a duo. Briar & Bramble was born. The phrase comes from the series The Detectorists, written & directed my McKenzie Crook. We were both massive fans of the series. The title song is by Johnny Flynn, where we found the line *"will you search the loamy earth for me, climb through the briar and bramble" * I wrote lots of new material and we started to do a few low key gigs to Kate up to speed! By the end of 2023 we started to record Rum Tales, our Briar & Bramble ep. This was released early 2024!
2024
The gamble paid off as we received some positive interest in our sound which features my tenor guitars, tenor banjo, mandola, mandolin, shruti box drone and a kick drum! As a duo we pack a little punch! A few festivals later, plus a mini winter tour of Cumbria, we are planning our new adventures for 2025.
2025...
Watch this space! We are pulling together a collection of new songs with a particular theme. This will be our new concept of songs and stories to take out in 2025!