About Me

Thank you for visiting my website.

In the early 1990s I spent 5 years with a rock band called `Lizard` from Walsall in the West Midlands. We did a handful of gigs, and once came third in a Battle of the Bands contest organised by a local radio station. I briefly joined a band called `Out Of The Fire`, which broke up when both guitarists emigrated to Australia leaving me behind (must have been something I said!), and then a few years with my own small band called `Food For Thought`.

Until recently, I have been half of a duo called `Colorado`, which consisted of two guys from Staffordshire in the heart of England. We had been good friends for a number of years, but got together as a musical partnership in 1998 a few months after the tragic death of John Denver in a plane crash. As a keyboard player I joined Mark Robinson, vocalist and guitarist, to form a tribute act to the artist.

One of Colorado`s main aims was to keep the music and memory of John Denver alive. It would have been all too easy to play along with karaoke-style backing tracks, but we wished to retain as much of the authentic style as possible, given the obvious limitations of a duo, rather than a full-sized band comprising several different types of musician. We have given our support, and raised money for various charities, including Air Ambulance, Marie Curie Cancer Care and the British Heart Foundation.

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With Mark Robinson, Barton under Needwood, 22 December 2004

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I have produced an album for each of the last 5 years, the earliest ones as keyboard player for singer/songwriter Mark Robinson CDs `Another Sunrise`, released in 2004, and `A Life More Beautiful`, released in April 2005.

Those who know me are aware of my fascination with the Victorian period, and the outstanding characters who lived in that era. My first solo album was a concept album about Jack the Ripper, and the second relates the story of the so-called ‘Elephant Man’. My third subject for musical interpretation, is Lewis Carroll and his relationship with Alice, and is entitled `Malice in Wonderland`. I have tried to compose music that evokes gentle memories of that bygone age, but also looking at the more sinister side of Lewis Carroll`s characters.

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With Steve Brook in concert, Coventry, 21 January 2006
                        Photo courtesy Debbie Austin

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Musical Influences...

The first groups to catch my ear always had keyboard players. I found I wasn’t a guitar man, as early attempts to learn the thing ended in frustration. My fingers were too big !

When synths first came out about 1972 I thought..hang on.. Genesis and ELP and Yes have only got about 2 years start on me. So I bought my first old analogue synthesizer in about 1974 and starting twiddling all the knobs and dials and pretended I could sound like Rick Wakeman or Tony Banks.

Years later I discovered the most symphonic rock band of all - The Enid, led by the wonderful genius of Robert John Godfrey,
probably the only rock band in the world ever to understand the proper use of dynamics. Anyone can go loud by turning the volume up. They  make the music do it.