Ever since I can remember I have had music around me. My earliest recollection of music was my grandmother playing the ‘Warsaw Concerto' to me on the piano, I think I was about five years of age at the time. Years later, that piece of music would still send shivers up my spine. Both my grandmothers were musical, one very good on the piano, the other, opera and classical music dominated her life. Both these forms of music were to eventually influence my own musical interpretation of life. Then there was my mother, although not a musician herself, she loved the sound of music, all kinds from classical to pop. Long before the iPod, my mother always had a radio held up to her head whilst we travelled in the car listening to some song that was being played at the time. Little did I know that the music that I heard coming from that little radio was to have such an enormous influence on me both personally and vocationally. However, the person who had the most significant influence on my musical upbringing was my father’s brother, Christopher. More like a brother than an uncle, he, and more to the point, I, was to benefit from his own inexhaustible passion for music, which was captured between the late 60’s and 70’s progressive rock boom. For over a decade, my ears were subjected to and bombarded with a multitude of rock bands and solo acts from both the UK and USA. It was not long before all I could think about was playing the guitar and making music like the icons I had been listening to. I had my first guitar at the age of eight, and I have never looked back. My passion for playing the guitar and making music has grown ever stronger, everyday, since that first time I picked up the guitar. Musically, I was particularly influenced by groups such as Fleetwood Mac, Free and Cream, before finding my love for what has been aptly called ‘American West Coast music’, such as David Gates with his band Bread, the Eagles and the Doobie Brothers. Later, came the likes of the Allman Brothers and finally two men who were to have the greatest influence on my own personal style of playing the guitar; Stevie Ray Vaughan and James Taylor. To me SRV had it all, great technique, originality and superb sound, all performed with just his trusty old Strat and his Fender amp, simple, but deadly. At the opposite end to SRV is James Taylor, a man whose honesty and personality shine through in his songs, not to mention his superb acoustic picking style. My own musical style is a blend of all that music I have been so fortunately exposed to. The melodic sequences of classical music, the hard edge of rock through to the thought provoking singer/songwriter style. I suppose it all went in, has been re-interpreted and come back out with my own style stamped on it. Music for me is a link to memories and events in my life. Each song has a visual memory that I can play again and again, like a film, some are happy, some sad, they all have their place. ‘I have dreams of playing the guitar and performing music, I have nightmares when I am not’. With many hours of studio work as a session musician behind me, playing guitar for a whole range of people and styles, I am very fortunate and thankful that I managed to make my passion, my career. As well as endless studio work, I find time to do what I like doing best in music, writing and performing.