I’d like to take this opportunity to say how sad I was to hear that Helen and her family had gone. She will be missed and I have many fond memories of playing with the DRB and running the open mic night in the Tavi. Best wishes Helen and I hope life brings better things for you and your family.

Back to the pub itself, It’s currently under temporary management and they’ve assured me the jam nights will continue as normal.

It runs from 8pm til 11pm and you can find the pub at

Gasking St, Plymouth, Devon PL4 8DQ

01752 669700 ‎

Facebook, that handy dandy tool for keeping in touch, for sharing photos and videos and statuses,- what could be so wrong in that?

Well,- I’ve come to the realisation that maybe there’s something else going on here. I’ve been feeling increasingly more uncomfortable with the whole facebook thing, not exactly facebook per-se, but the expectations, the rules, the ‘image’, the privacy issues and the whole heap of crap that comes along with it. Is it really worth it? Should it actually be such a big deal what goes on on a website?

I dunno,- but anyway I do feel better having finally left it. My life is for me and the people I love not for the hidden spectators behind the computer keyboards of the world. There’s something insidious about facebook,- something so welcoming and friendly and yes addictive.

I’m now just reminding myself that y’know,- I have email, I have a phone and if people really give a damn I’d rather them call,text or email me and have some sort of actual communication in the real world.

Peace.

It’s short, simple and I hope you like it.

i hate the cold light of day

It’s been relatively busy with a right mix of music stuff going on, from acoustic solo shows to new projects with Jen and Owen and a few nice function band shows, and duo functions with Neil.

I feel like I’m very well oiled now and ready as this year winds down to get out there and play my socks off. To be honest it’s a great distraction from my private life which has been challenging for a while now and it’s something I enjoy, and to some extent keeps me sane

So here I am, in the fertile void – trusting in whatever the future brings. I’ve made some great friends and had some amazing moments which I’ll cherish forever and it’s with those in my heart I look forward to the rest of this journey I’m so fortunate to have.

I hope you all enjoy your autumn,- it’s my favourite time of the year for many reasons and hopefully see you at one of my shows where we can huddle up against the dark nights and enjoy some heart warming times

So then to today when I’m playing solo down the riser and then again tomorrow when I’m running the jam night down there. Then Tuesday I’m looking forward to a bit of a chill out

However,- if  like me you do and are then you probably have the dreaded ‘visual editor not appearing’ bug. I’ve been plagued by this on a few sites for months now but I found a fix! – essentially the 123-reg wordpress installation app is adding a : in the address in Settings/General in your dashboard which makes the visual editor not function. Remove that colon and you’re in business again!

Hope that helps someone, this drove me crazy for ages and I’m over the moon to have discovered the fix

You’ll find our dates on the calendar now and I’ll update this website with a proper page as soon as we’ve got some pics done and have some more information but our first gig is on the 5th August in the Cornish Arms in Gunnislake and it should be a corker! – We’ve basically taken some of my solo set, some of Jen’s set, and put them together to produce a pretty wide-varied set which we’ll start honing once we’ve done this gig and start feeling what works and what doesn’t. It’s great to be working with a female singer again because it opens up a whole range of songs which I just couldn’t really pull off without that higher register (although Owen can falceto with the best of ‘em )

We’re aiming for private gigs as well as the pub/club venues so watch this space

After many many years I’m now back running the Monday night jam nights at the Rising Sun in Gunnislake.

There are more details on it’s own page in the Jam nights section but essentially it’s a more chilled out acousticy type affair, with a great atmosphere and a broad mix of music. It’ll be great to meet new people and hopefully get a bit of a cross-attendance from the Tavi jam crowd.

The best bit though is it’s weekly so there’s no wondering what time of the month it is!

What a wonderful weekend that was. It began on Saturday with a lovely gig in Highampton as the Ratters duo with Neil. That must have been the most incredible view I’ve ever experienced from a stage as it looked over with dartmoor in the distance. Simply astounding!

We really enjoyed the set and although strangely the great weather meant there weren’t as many there as could’ve been (it’s a farming community and the great weather meant they were still out doing farmy things in the evening) it was still a really nice night. Thanks guys!

Then onto Sunday and we went over to Brian and Kayes to celebrate Kayes birthday. Again it was another scorcher and we had a lovely time, it was also great to see them both again after not seeing them for about a year,- funny how the time flies. The DRB news is that there’s talk of a one-off gig in the summer, which might be a private function, but it’ll be great to play with the guys (or at least some of them) again.