Valentine grace

A sublime evening in London Bridge with my wife Julie as we celebrated Valentine’s Day and our having been a couple for thirty years. As Julie had been at work in Westminster during the day, we met in the Bunch of Grapes in St Thomas’s Street in the immediate vicinity of the Shard.

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Hootenanny online

An extremely useful meeting today in Adam Street, the Strand, with Chris Peabody and Grace Taylor, the principal executives behind the Hootenanny initiative for the industry. This aims to connect artists with fans, build community, and drive revenue effortlessly. The facility offers a single platform for music and community, generating exclusive events and fan-only opportunities.

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Ripley celebration

Julie and I drove over to Ripley this evening, to join our friends Dave and Anya Williamson in celebrating their birthdays of note and to enjoy performances by two of his bands. Gigs of all types are such an important element of the music industry in this country and bassist Dave is a prime example of a homegrown musician who has delivered sublime playing and stage presence for decades.

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Bristol visit

A very relaxing trip to Bristol for the last couple of days, as I caught up with several long-standing contacts in the city. First up was a night out with songwriter and journalist Neil Crossley and top designer Chris Stenner. I worked for twenty years with Neil, principally on The Musician magazine, and it is always rewarding to exchange news of our most recent activities.

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Americana UK

I have just spent three very rewarding days at the AMA-UK Conference 2025, the annual celebration of Americana artists and music, which this year has been sponsored by travel business Sweet Home Alabama. Once again the event was centred around venues in the Hackney Central area, namely Night Tales 1 and 2, Oslo, The Moth Club and the Paper Dress.

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Waterloo storyline

The idea of the same characters running through the songs on my new album is an intriguing possibility. So far, I have the following three couples in mind: Kevin and Carol (both in their mid twenties), Dawn and former partner Nathan (both in their early thirties), and Courtney and Jade (both in their late thirties).

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New Year Borders

In addition to our trips to Rome, Liverpool, Jersey and Christchurch this year, we have just returned from a week in the Scottish Borders. Although delayed by 24 hours at Heathrow thanks to the heavy fog last weekend, we finally flew from London City Airport and arrived in Edinburgh on Sunday evening.

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Power Pop Radio

My thanks to Simon Lloyd of Power Pop Radio, who played my track Nicoll Road today on the internet based station. Power Pop Radio is a popular Hit Music Radio Station in the East Midlands, broadcasting across Long Eaton, Derby and Nottingham and surrounding boroughs.

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West End lights

Julie, Ben and I could be found in the West End today as we had tickets for the Fawlty Towers recreation at the Apollo Theatre in Shaftesbury Avenue. Our seats were right up at the top of the steep balcony and certainly presented a challenging view of the stage!

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Carol concert

Each year the Lords Taverners, who have been empowering young people through cricket since 1950, host a fund-raising carol concert. This year the event was held in the glorious surroundings of the ‘Cathedral of the Arts and Crafts’, the Holy Trinity Church in Sloane Square, Chelsea, and I was kindly invited as a guest of the Music Committee.

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Music Makers

A packed crowd of names from across the music industry squeezed into The Editor’s Tap in Fetter Lane tonight at the invitation of the Council of Music Makers. Another of the events arranged to mark the year’s end and to bring together members and friends of The Ivors Academy, the Featured Artists Coalition, Music Managers Forum, Music Producers Guild and the MU.

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