Music Ministry

My Christian music ministry started back in 1977 when I joined Holtwood Mission Band (HMB), as singer/guitarist. Since then a great variety of musical opportunities have come my way - exploring this website will give you a flavour of the last 30 odd years!  The photo to the right was taken from Holtwood in Dorset, looking towards Horton Tower. 

Songwriting

Milestones came in late 2003 when my 'Name in the Sand' album was released, followed in May 2010 with "We can all be free ..." 

In the Worldwide Unisong 2005 competition my song 'Horton Tower' made it to the finals, following which I was interviewed by the International Songwriters Association for the 'Songwriter' magazine.
You can read Part 1 by opening the Songwriter Profile PDF (240kb).
You can read Part 2 by opening the Songwriter Profile Pt2 PDF (419Kb). 

LATEST NEWS 2010

September - on Saturday 11th September at 8.00 Wimborne Community Theatre will again present "Source - Tales from the Pumphouse" in Wimborne - this time as part of Architectural Heritage Week.  Ticket details are here.  Both performances were sold out and so WCT have added a third performance at 9.30 on the 11th.  During the month there are also several ceilidhs and services to be led by Holtwood Mission Band.

The photo below was taken one wet and misty afternoon at Creech Arch in Dorset. 

October - on Thursday 21st I'll be appearing on the NCM stage at the Christian Resources Exhibition in Telford, at some ceilidhs with Dotty Crotchets and leading some services with HMB.

December - on Saturday 4th I'll be with HMB at the Strouden Park Torch Fellowship in Bournemouth, then later in the month carol singing in and around Holtwood.  These are always wonderful evenings, taking us back to Hardy's time (and even earlier) when the church quires and musicians would take the Good News to local villagers - if you haven't read it, do read "Under the Greenwood Tree" to get a flavour of this tradition.  On Sunday 19th a special evening - our candlelit carol service at Holtwood will be led by HMB and we're now starting to plan the service around the theme of a traditional Dorset Advent and Christmas.  Should be another great evening - and you might even track down a mince pie or two!  

2011

February - on Saturday 26th I'll be appearing on the NCM stage at the Christian Resources Exhibition in Peterborough. 

EARLIER IN 2010

January - a bit of a catching-up month in the studio and preparing for a busy February, including promotional radio and press work for the visit to Holtwood of George Hamilton IV in February.  HMB led a couple of services locally and with Cottage Industry I called the dances for a Burns' Night Ceilidh for the SBS - an interesting evening! 

February - this month a track from the album called "Because of You" was  released by New Christian Music (NCM) on the NCM#70 compilation CD.  It was distributed to hundreds of radio stations and is being played on air in Belgium, Hungary, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, South Africa,  the UK and Australia.  The positive feedback received from radio producers and presenters is amazing - thank you to Paul Davis and his team at NCM.  On the 13th flautist Becky Shears and I were made really welcome at the NCM Weekend in Leighton Buzzard where it was good to catch up with others in the Christian contemporary music field.   The weekend included the Radio Mic Awards Ceremony 2010 when the awards were presented by George Hamilton IV.  You can find out more about the weekend by clicking on http://www.newchristianmusic.co.uk   George then be returned to present "Easter in the Country" at Holtwood on the 20th as part of his short tour of the UK.  It was a tremendously blessed evening and Becky and I were delighted to play for the first half of the concert.  Once again, thank you George for your kindness and generosity and we wish many more blessings on your ministry - and stamina!

March - the new CD "We Can All Be Free" had some last minute percussion added to a couple of tracks - so we're almost there!   On Saturday 6th with Wimborne Community Theatre I helped to take forward the music side of the forthcoming production 'Go with the Flow'.  If you would like to be involved as a musician or singer please contact me.  On the 20th I was with Dotty Crotchets for a charity ceilidh at Blandford Corn Exchange in Dorset.  On 28th I was with HMB at Witchampton Methodist Church.  My song "Because of You" on NCM#70 continued to receive worldwide radio plays with many encouraging reaction sheets from near and far.

April - The new album is now at the CD factory in readiness for release in May.   Becky Shears has done a really great job with the artwork and packaging - thank you Becky.  Part of the packaging includes a photo at Creech Arch on top of the Purbeck Hills in Dorset.  I was hoping for an atmospheric photo for the rear of the CD cover - the mist and the rain at Creech Arch certainly ensured plenty of atmosphere - and very wet trousers!   "Life by your side" was included on NCM#72 and has been well-received around the world.  One of the feedback comments was "Very 1960s - Herman without the Hermits!"  Not sure if that's a compliment or not!  On 23rd April I played with Cottage Industry for Ray Sargent's St. George's Day memorial ceilidh at Corfe Mullen.  It was a really memorable evening, even more so because Clive from the band somehow managed to fall through the stage on the last chord of our final tune - what timing! 

May - my new album "We can all be free ...." was released in May - please click on the home page for details of availability.  The album was launched at the Christian Resources Exhibition at Sandown Park in Surrey where I appeared on the NCM stage.  Other NCM artistes appearing during the week included George Hamilton IV.  More details of the CRE here.  Then on Saturday 15th at 7.00 I was in concert for a really enthusiastic audience at Wimblington Methodist Church in Cambridgeshire.  It was my first visit to the Fens and I was made to feel very welcome by the people that I met from Wimblington and nearby March.  It was also good to lead some of the music for the Sunday morning service before heading back to Dorset - after a tasty 'Wimblington lunch".  Special thanks to Peter Whatley for organising the weekend.  I hope to return to the Fens on a future occasion.  Add to all of this a couple of ceilidhs and playing with HMB and it all adds up to another pretty busy month.

June - a busy month as "We can all be free ..." was promoted around the world.  The feedback from radio stations has been encouraging and the album is selling well.  But it's not just about selling CDs - it's getting the Good News out there to people who maybe don't know Jesus yet.  I always think at concerts and when I'm helping to lead worship that if just one person takes something away that they didn't arrive with, then it's a really worthwhile use of my time!  The month was hectic including a number of ceilidhs plus services with HMB - not to mention an intensive songwriting and rehearsal schedule with Wimborne Community Theatre. 

July - whew what a scorcher!  On the 4th Becky Shears and I played some songs from the new CD at the Holtwood Fete which also featured a wonderful array of talent - singer/songwriter Rebecca Walker Jones, Bournemouth Christian rock band Route 66, Pete & Sarah Emberley and Sharon Pearcey, the Dotty Crotchets ceilidh band and Wimborne Community Theatre.  There was lots more going on at the fete and more than £1,430 was raised, 10% of which will be donated to WaterAid.  Special thanks to Marilyn Barber of the Stour & Avon Community Magazine for officially opening the fete which was enjoyed by several hundred people.  If you were one of them - well, thank you for your support!  On Sunday 4th I was with Becky, Paul Woodward and Holtwood Mission Band leading the music for the annual 'Songs of Praise' service with our Anglican friends.  It was too blustery to play on Holt Village Green as planned so we all adjourned to Holt St. James' Church where we had a really great evening.  During the morning of Sunday 11th I had an unusual gig - providing the PA system for a ceremony in Wareham to award the Freedom of Purbeck to the Armour Centre and the Old Boys Association of the Junior Leaders Regiment.  My brief was simple - the speeches needed to be heard throughout the town centre!  On the evening of the 11th I was with Holtwood Mission Band - unusually at our home church in Holtwood.  The month ended with a diamond anniversary ceilidh for Austin & Margaret from the Church of the Good Shepherd in Poole.  It was a great evening in a marquee adjoining the Swanage Steam Railway at Harmans Cross station - so we just had to dance the Flying Scotsman!

August - on 29th August I appeared with Wimborne Community Theatre at the Victorian Wimborne Pumphouse in "Source - Tales from the Pumphouse", a water-themed production as part of the Sting in the Tail Festival.  I played "Old Willum" and also sang with Steamheat some songs which had been commissioned for the production.  The month had been very busy as we finalised and rehearsed the production.  There were also gigs with Cottage Industry and with Dotty Crotchets, so not too much time for relaxation!

2009 Highlights 

January - 2009 kicked off with a return to Moonfleet Manor on New Year's Day.  On the 17th I was with HMB as we entertained the Holt Skittles Association with a variety of songs, poems, etc appropriate for 'Olde 12th Night'.  On the 21st I was with the Holtwood Sisterhood, presenting "Musical Memoirs and Milestones", and was made really welcome - thank you ladies!  On the 31st I helped out at Horton Heath's Teddy Bear Exhibition in, well, a teddy bear sort of way.  It was a cold day - but the costume kept me warm!  Congratulations to Becky Shears on putting together a wonderful exhibition with almost 700 teddy bears in all sorts of situations.

February - plenty happened on the music front, both with HMB and Cottage Industry and I also made progress with the new CD.

March - on the 10th I spent a delightful afternoon singing for the Ladies Fellowship at St. Clements Church Hall in Poole.   On the 18th  I sang a couple of songs for the Holtwood Sisterhood's anniversary rally, including the first public airing of a new song "Even For Me".  On the 23rd I was the Coffee Morning Guest for the Friends of Colehill Library, presenting "Musical Memoirs and Milestones" which featured both my Christian and secular music - and a chat about how the songs came to be written.   Add to these my gigs with Cottage Industry, Dotty Crotchets & HMB and it all added up to another busy month!  

April - mainly in the studio plus a few services with HMB and gigs with Cottage Industry, including the St. George's Day Ceilidh in memory of Ray Sargent.

May -  On the 31st I was the guest of Eddie Hams on his Hope FM programme "Through The Gates", singing live and chatting with Eddie about some of the songs from the new CD "We Can All Be Free".  He was really generous with airtime and I was on for an hour and a half - thank you Eddie!  You can listen to Hope FM by clicking here.  On 30th May Hope FM celebrated 2 years of full-time broadcasting - well done, thank you and congratulations! 

June - On the 28th June I was one of the NCM artistes in concert at "Praise-on-the-Ouse" at the Bedford-Jersey Arts Festival.  This outreach concert, overlooking the River Ouse in Bedford, was organised by Paul Davis of the UK Christian Music Alliance and New Christian Music.  Click here for more details and to view a poster for the event.   June also saw the radio and media release of NCM #64 CD which included my song "We Can All Be Free". 

July - Out and about with Cottage Industry, HMB and Dotty Crochets as well as a couple of appearances with Wimborne Community Theatre.  "We Can All Be Free" on NCM#64 CD continued to receive worldwide radio airplay and encouraging feedback from programme producers and presenters, as well as riding high in the Christian music radio play charts for Europe and the UK. 

August - "We Can All Be Free" continued to receive radio airplay worldwide and the feedback received was really encouraging  The song is receiving airplay in literally dozens of countries including America, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland and the Netherlands as well as radio stations in the UK - from London to Shetland.  A couple of the radio response sheets to NCM have commented that the song is "T-Rex with tinkling ivories" and "A touch of a young Cliff Richard" - I think that both of these are compliments!  Also a very busy month on the ceilidh side of things with a number of weddings and other social gatherings.

September - another busy month, the highlights of which were welcoming The Yetties in concert at Holtwood and 'singing for my supper' at Crendell Harvest Festival.  Crendell?  It's more or less where Dorset, Wiltshire and Hampshire all join together.  A great evening amongst great folk!

October - On the 5th I was honoured to lead a short service before the harvest sale at Horton Heath Methodist Church which was followed by sale of produce with the incomparable auctioneer Colin Besant.  Quite a busy month including gigs with Cottage Industry, Dotty Crotchets and Holtwood Mission Band plus some solo appearances.  On the 24th I took part in the Verwood Methodist Church Olde Tyme Variety Show which was really good fun  - thank you to all who supported the event which was to help celebrate the centenary of the church building. 

November - Photographer Ovi Omegar has kindly supplied the perfect image of a Dorset poppy field for the front cover of the new CD - thank you Ovi!  Becky Shears is now working to create the CD design in reality based on my fairly nebulous ideas!  On Sunday 1st Becky and I played at a full Hope Cafe in The Hub at Verwood which is a relaxed, non-threatening outreach venture by local Christians.  Thank you to Adrian Bowyer and the team from the Verwood Family Church for making us so welcome - we hope to return early in 2010. 

December - on Friday 4th Becky and I played some traditional and some original Christmas & Advent carols & songs for the Holtwood Hot Potato Club and on Monday 7th I entertained the good folk of Holt Monday Club.  It was great to have about 40/50 percussionists in the audience for each of these concerts - really made the Christmas songs come alive, especially the old wassailing songs!  On Sunday 13th I sang a selection of seasonal songs at Kinson Community Centre in Bournemouth, appearing with my good friends Route 66.  It was good to play "We Can All Be Free" with Route 66 for the first time.  Well done guys & gals!  Next it was time for carol singing in and around the Holt area.  On Sunday 27th I appeared live on Hope FM 90.1 as the studio guest for The Sunday Breakfast Show with Sheena & Derek Dayman - you can listen to Hope FM by clicking here.   Thank you Sheena & Derek for being so generous with your airtime.     

SOME PAST HIGHLIGHTS

Over the past few years, Flautist Becky Shears and I have played live and chatted on Hope FM (Bournemouth) and Forest FM 92.3 (Verwood) and I've made several solo appearances on Hope FM, on Premier Christian Radio (London) and on BBC Radio Solent (Southampton).   The great thing about radio broadcasting these days is that the programmes are also streamed live on the internet so can be heard anywhere in the world.  We've also played at Wimborne Folk Festival and at a whole variety of concerts, churches and social occasions in Dorset.