WORD WATCHING #4: PINEY MOUNTAINS
Old-timey songwriter Craig Johnson met an ex-logger in a bar one evening, they got talking and it turned into a song. Johnson, who died in 2009, has a Bandcamp page where you can find it. Easier, though, to watch Bruce Molsky on YouTube: It’s a track from Molsky’s...WORD WATCHING #3: Swim until you can’t see land
This one’s all about emotion. Scott Hutchison’s mum called him Frightened Rabbit as a pet name when he was a shy, anxious boy. He used it on stage when he started performing, and continued as the Scottish indie-rock band coalesced around him. Swim was the single from...Narrowboat Sessions: A grand day out
It was my pleasure & privilege to visit Chirk Marina in May to record 3 songs for The Narrowboat Sessions. Lovely people, and all in support of a better cause than simply raising my own profile. This is the second of them, Don’t Ever Say...Word Watching #2: Leaning on a lamppost
Bare mention’s enough to set us off, strumming an air banjolele, screwed-up face and a bad imitation of the great man’s Wigan accent: ‘I’m leaning on a lamp-post . . .’ Except, it actually begins: I’m leaning on a lamp, I know I look just like a tramp, Or you...Word watching #1: Blue Velvet
A classic of the Great American Songbook, written by Bernie Wayne and Lee Morris in 1950, a hit for Tony Bennett the following year. Covered by many – here by Bobby Vinton: So I bet you can sing it off the top of your head, right? Wrong, probably. I...Bar the Doors and Bang the Shutters Down
My latest album is now available! Click the image to find out more.
