birthmarked: It was always an ambition to record my songs. Through a stroke of luck I was put in touch with the very talented knob twiddler, Arthur Wilson, by a colleague and friend, Jim Bathgate, and that meeting led to this CD. I performed the songs straight off so there's no big productions but it has a certain charm. In reality, when I started recording with Arthur, many of the songs were lyrically unfinished so I got together with yet another colleague, Bob Shields, who happens to be one of the best poets in Scotland, and he helped me complete a lot of them. I have a great deal to thank Jim, Arthur and Bob for and I am really grateful for all of their help and guidance. I can look back on recording birthmarked as a significant point in my life for many reasons but I am particularly glad that it has since given me the opportunity to meet so many musicians and to make so many new friends.

Speaking In Tongues is the CD I made as part of a group of poets and singer songwriters called The Travelling Waverlies. This was our first CD and we are currently working on a second. The mixture of poetry and song is what we are all about and we try hard to work on integrated pieces.

The Harbour At Symi is a mini CD featuring the title track as a song/poem combination with Bob Shields and Martin Boland. I co-wrote Symi with my wife, Jane. We both love the little Greek island and regard it as a very special place for us. I would love to perform at the Symi Music Festival one day and perhaps get the chance to play the song there.
War On War was a Dutch compilation CD produced as a gesture against the war in Iraq. Mike Dillon, one of The Travelling Waverlies, features on the CD singing a song I co-wrote with Mike and Bob called Rockets Over Babylon.

Companions was a brilliant experience. It features three songs each by six songwriters; myself, Arthur Wilson, Mark Barnett, Martin Boland, Mike Dillon and Kenny Vass and we have all now produced solo CDs.

The Journeyman was my second solo CD and on this one I was able to get the help of a lot of great musicians and singers to help make it what I consider to be a very special recording. I think it contains some of the best songs I've written.

As Eden Lay In Darkness is one of the latest CDs. The title is taken from a line in one of the songs and combines the themes of philosophy, religion and sex. It is a mixture of americana, country, folk and contemporary writing. A lot of the songs were co-written with Bob Shields and I think it has layers of meaning whilst being accessible at one and the same time.

Banishment is the other new CD and is connected to Eden by themes. I have tried very hard to provide a consistent level of quality in terms of the writing. There are so many brilliant performances from the guest performers on both CDs that I could spend all day pointing them out. A few of my favourite moments would be the exchange between the trumpet and violin on Prada Heels on the Eden CD, the first time the slide guitar comes in on Without Tears on the Banishment CD, the choir on We All Want To Go Home Now, the vocals from Karen and Inge on Hawthorn, the violin on Boston, the accordion on The Woman, the electric guitar on I Want To Be Kissed, the keyboard / steel drum break on The Last Sailor Man, the harmonies on Sonoma & Sistine, the line "'til death or temptation do us part" on The Blue Part Of My Heart, the harmonica on Little Lucifer and the harmonies on Will You Fly Away? I could go on.