The Early Years

Despite coming from a musical family, (my father was a classical violinist, my mother played the spoons at parties), It wasn’t until my mid teens that I became serious about being a musician. I’d had some formal music training earlier which I put to good use when I bought my first keyboard, an aging sixties style combo organ.

Almost immediately I joined a band with some friends and started to play in local pubs and clubs, despite not actually being old enough to be allowed in!

Those early performances instilled in me a passion for playing live, a passion I still have to this day.

I soon found myself playing in more accomplished bands and started playing better venues, mainly hotels and nightclubs at functions of various types. In the eighties I played in a trio called ‘Sound on Sound’ we played some really nice venues around London and the Home Counties. During this time we secured a Christmas residency with Hilton International Hotels which lasted five years. We also played a lot of cabaret shows with several ‘Stars’ of the time.

At that time I used an arsenal of keyboards including organs, synthesisers and other electronic equipment. But then I started playing the piano more seriously, and it has become the love of my life, musically speaking.

More Recently

For the last few years I have spent a lot of time perfecting the art of playing as a solo performer. Technology these days enables a solo performer to sound like a full orchestra and this technology is embraced by many performers, including myself to a certain extent. However, I’ve always believed a live performance should contain as much live playing as possible, and my performances reflect this belief.

My recent solo appearances have been split between appearing as a piano/vocalist and as a piano/keyboard/vocalist with additional backings.

As a piano/vocalist I use either an ‘In house’ piano or my own portable digital piano and sound system. I love working like this because it allows me to be completely spontaneous. I’ve played in hotels, lounges, restaurants and piano bars all over the place using this set-up and I just love it!

Playing solo piano and singing can be a bit limiting when playing for a dancing audience, so sometimes I play with pre-recorded backings. Although a piano is still at the heart of the music, playing this way also enables me to use other keyboards as well. Using this set-up I have played at numerous functions including weddings, Masonic ladies festivals, private parties and at dances and social events in a variety of venues including top London Hotels such as The Grosvener House and The Hilton.

Repertoire

I have an extremely wide and varied repertoire, part of which is listed elsewhere on this site along with audio samples for you to listen to.

Other Strings to My Bow

Between 1998 and 2001 I played in a function band called ‘Watch This Space’. We played all over the country, on the continent and even in West Africa. One of the band members was a beautiful and talented singer called Lindsay Field. Lindsay and I now write songs together. We also perform live and have appeared at festivals, in theatres and on several radio broadcasts.

Although we sometimes appear with other musicians, we also perform as a duo using a simple piano/vocal setup. We discovered that, because we could be ‘wheeled on an off’ quite easily, we were well suited to the role of support act. As a result we recently appeared on a nationwide tour with internationally acclaimed singer/songwriter Paul Carrack, a leading light in bands such as Mike and the Mechanics, Ace and Squeeze.

Details of my songwriting and recording projects can be found elsewhere on this site.

Aside from playing keyboard instruments of various kinds, I also play guitar, can program computer based sequencers and drum machines. I am fully conversant with the use of MIDI, various studio techniques and I make a nice cup of tea!

I also teach piano and keyboard, performance skills and programming techniques.