THE RECENT STUFF:-

Sounds Acoustic - Every Tuesday (except 1st Tuesday of month) I have organised an evening for musicians to get together, make some music, discuss ideas and possibly form collaborations. This is being held in the Grey Horse Lounge, Balerno, Edinburgh

In June '09 I teamed up with Harry Sunderland, a Bodhran player, and we started the Mantlers Sessions in The Greenmantle Edinburgh. It is an Open session so if you are in the area come along. This is a great venue where you can hear good music, drink fine ale, have a good crack and it is also becoming well known for their Buffalo Burgers .

I have recently joined forces with "Oz" Gordon Kingsford-Smith who plays Bass. he is guesting on some of my solo gigs but we are planning some gigs under the name of "Rustic Two"

I had started some home recording not long ago but have decided to try and pull in the finanace to go into a studio with a view to recording a CD that I had hoped to have done in 2007 so here's hoping!!

FROM THE BEGINNING:-

I started my musical life as a teenage singer in a rock band, in my hometown of Edinburgh, covering many different artists songs from the 60's and early 70's. Performances included songs from Free, Bowie, Quo & The faces to name a few. However I realised that  "I was never really a rock singer although at 17 you believe that you are the best thing since sliced bread". The band I was in eventually split up so I decided to go my own way and started to learn guitar.

After becoming reasonably competent playing an acoustic, and moving to Germany in 1975, I started to get involved in a folk club. Singing a mix of traditional and contemporary songs I found a more comfortable area of music for my style of singing and soon had my own little following when I played in various folk clubs.

 On returning to the UK in 1984 I had a career change and, because of my workload, it became difficult to continue regular playing so unfortunately I pretty much dropped out of the music scene.

In the summer of 2004 I started to get out and about again in Edinburgh and went to a few open mic nights and a couple of pubs that had open sessions. I got out my guitar again and began playing some of the old songs from the folk club days and then tried them out at some of these places. I eventually got offered a spot running a session at the Royal Oak bar in Infirmary Street Edinburgh on a Friday evening and I have been there ever since.

In May 2006 I joined forces with Martin Boland, another of the artists from the Oak, and we started playing some gigs under the guise of Idle Beggars. We released a CD, Rich Man Poor Man Beggarman Thief, in August that year to coincide with some Edinburgh festival gigs.  

August 2007 brought a major change to my life, this was due to changes happening at work coupled with some decisions that I made with my partner Jackie. We decided to head off on a trip around Europe with the main countries being Germany and Spain. 
Leaving the UK mid September we headed off to Germany via Holland. We had an absolutely fantastic 10weeks in Germany and I even managed to get a few gigs. 
After travelling through Austria and Italy we arrived in Spain early November where we decided to settle for several months in a Catalunyan coastal village called Cambrils. I played a couple of gigs during the winter months and then when the 2008 summer season started I set up a series of gigs in Salou.

Unfortunately we had to head home in August 2008 after 11 months of relaxation and fun.
I have played a few small gigs since returning and continue to plan more gigs during 2009.