At 9pm on Saturday 9th August 2025 – on the 50th anniversary of Shostakovich’s death – the superb Brodsky Quartet will be streaming a candlelit performance of the composer’s last work for the medium: his 15th String Quartet. This work lives in a space of its own, different to all that came before it. A series of slow-moving, meditative movements, it is a statement on both life and death, as the composer neared his end.
Tag: News
Mercedes experience
Ben and I travelled to Byfleet in Surrey this morning to enjoy an off-road driving experience at the impressive Mercedes-Benz World centre and to take on the steep climbs, rugged terrain and through-water motoring in a modified 4×4 G Class vehicle. We also enjoyed the company’s extensive indoor facilities including the museum, F1 simulator machines, and dedicated sales area displaying their latest models.
Legends of football
British soul icon Heather Small has been announced as the headline performer for Legends of Football 2025, the annual charity gala supporting Nordoff and Robbins, the UK’s largest music therapy charity. The event will take place on Monday 6th October at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House in London, celebrating the outstanding contributions of football legends Jill Scott and Gary Lineker.
Ashley Blasse
I met up with Ashley Blasse this afternoon in Exmouth Market. Ashley is a rising star in the world of improvisation and production, with focus on a wide-ranging choice of genres, including pop, theatre and video. Gaining respect and reviews for solo lines and arrangements, their playing on guitar, double bass, mandolin and ukulele has contributed to a range of live productions including shows in theatres across the south-east.
Alice Offley
An excellent late lunch with rising star Alice Offley at Joe Allen’s this afternoon. Alice is a singer and songwriter, plus an experienced professional bass player and pianist. She currently holds residencies as a solo piano player and vocalist in high-end London venues and performs as a session musician for a variety of artists. Alice is launching a new single, Is It Because I’m A Woman? on 6th June 2025. A sassy track of defiance, describing what it’s truly like to be an urban female in the 21st century.
Sunrise book
I visited Steve at Printstore this morning to begin laying out the text, photos and song transcriptions for a 60 page book, which will include the stories behind the songs on my Waterloo Sunrise album plus brief biogs of all the contributors to the project. This publication will sit alongside the vinyl release and offers the opportunity to feature additional images to those captured by photographer Jonathan Stewart for the record sleeves.
West End walk
A busy day in Mayfair and Soho. Kicked off with a visit to the Simon Carter clothing emporium in Shepherd Market, with its choice of multi-coloured shirts and jackets. I then paid my respects around the corner at the flat in Curzon Place where, very sadly, both Mama Cass and Keith Moon passed away in 1974 and 1978 respectively.
Olympic Studios
Alerted by photographer Jonathan Stewart that the documentary about the rise of Led Zeppelin was on release in theatres, I drove to Barnes this afternoon to watch the film in the very surroundings where the band recorded their debut album in 1968.
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 that day, we met in the Bunch of Grapes in St Thomas’s Street in the vicinity of the Shard.
Hootenanny online
An extremely useful meeting today in Adam Street, the Strand, with Chris Peabody and Grace Taylor, the 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.
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.
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 early twenties), Dawn and former partner Nathan (both in their late twenties), plus Courtney and Jade (both in their early to mid-thirties).
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.
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.
Crisis at Christmas
Crisis was formed in 1967 as a response to growing homelessness across the UK. Since then the charity has helped tens of thousands of people out of homelessness and campaigned for change.
Album notes 2
Here is the second write-up of the ideas and influences behind the songs on my forthcoming album, plus details of the remaining seven tracks and what they mean to me: Falling off the edge of the world, Head above water, The girl I never had, Love on a summer’s day, Farewell to your Valentine, Caring soul, and In the comfort of strangers.
Across the river
I met the wonderful Debbie Rogerson, BBC music supervisor, over lunch at the Crown & Sceptre, Great Titchfield St, W1 today.
Vinyl labels
More news on the vinyl manufacturing front: gracious supplier David Noonan has kindly offered to produce a small run with The Vinyl Factory of my Waterloo Sunrise album with revised black and white labels. The test pressings for these arrived today and once the test discs have been given approval, courtesy of a listening session on 22nd November at Mike Thorne’s excellent studio, this latest manufacturing run will be underway.
Album notes 1
What inspires a song lyric? And perhaps the melody too? Well, here are some thoughts on the tracks I have recorded with Greg for my new album: Trust, Quids in, She reminds me of you, Promises at midnight, (London never will be) Nashville, Tennessee, Girl on the train and the title track: Waterloo Sunrise (theme).
Photo gallery
A key part of the Waterloo Sunrise album project has been the illustrative work by the highly-respected Richmond-based photographer, Jonathan Stewart. The collection boasts 160 frames, all taken in either the Waterloo area, or during the recording sessions at producer Greg Fitzgerald’s studio in Canterbury, Kent.
Newsletter sign up
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Jersey
A relaxing weekend thanks to a short trip to Jersey with Julie and Ben. We stayed at the Radisson Blu on the harbour in St Helier, which turned out to be a superb hotel with attentive staff, stunning views from our room across the bay, and ideal facilities by the way of its fitness suite and a pool.
