My new album "...in so small a compass" is well underway with Lukas Drinkwater at the helm of engineering & production, as well as double bass, some acoustic guitar & banjo duties. My tenor guitar, mandola, parlour guitar & mandolin tracks, plus vocals are all done! Release date Feb 1st 2019.

What does "...in so small a compass" stand for? I hear you ask! Well...

“Nowhere… have I seen any place of so intense or varied a beauty in so small a compass” is a quote by Gavin Maxwell. Author of the Ring of Bright Water trilogy.

So this quote by writer, traveller & adventurer Gavin Maxwell, is his description of the western Highlands and Islands of Scotland, in particular Sandaig at Glenelg. I completely identify with this line when thinking about my home, South Cumbria & the Lakes. The same could be said for the whole of the UK & the world where you/we live - we have so much intense & varied beauty which is indeed, relatively, in so small a compass.

I have written 12 songs which are inspired by my region plus places I have visited and fallen in love with too. Sandaig being one of them! This is a truly magical place and it's so easy to realise why Maxwell was so inspired by this beautiful, tranquil & hidden bay where he lived, loved, wrote and shared with his Otters (and many other other animals too!).