31.1.26
After an exciting 2025, I entered 2026 with a couple of really lovely shows, the most recent of which saw me making my first trip up to Blackpool for the West Coast Folk Festival. The festival is held each year at The Winter Gardens and I played on the Acoustic Stage in a beautiful room to a lovely audience. The whole event felt really warm and welcoming and such a great way to start the year.
​
I will be spending much of the next few months, in and out of the studio as I continue to work on my debut album. I'm excited to announce there will be some new music released a little later in the year which I can't wait to share. It has been a creative joy and dream to see these songs coming to life, and I am beyond thrilled with the musical collaborations that have come about through the making of this.
​
I have more shows and events lined up into 2026 and I'm looking forwards to of course writing more songs along the way!
​
​
17.1.25 Magic at St James
​
In the village where I grew up, among the North Yorkshire Moors, is St James church, the setting for a magical evening of Christmas music last month. I had the idea of a Christmas concert a little while ago, when thinking of ways in which to fundraise for SUDEPAction, an epilepsy charity which means much to my family. We lost my sister Joanna to SUDEP (sudden unexpected death in epilepsy) in 2000 and since then my family have tried to raise awareness of and funding for the charity.
It was a beautiful evening. The church was full, mulled cider and mince pies were ready and the atmosphere warm, as friends, family and local people gathered together to enjoy a festive evening of song. The splendid harmonies from local musicians Faye and Rob were a wonderful addition- 'Winter Wonderland', 'In the Bleak Midwinter', 'Sleighride' and 'The Coventry Carol', to name a few of our collaborations. I loved putting together the set list which also included a few original songs - 'Sunbeam', about the winter dances of years gone by, and 'In December', a song written in the darkest of times, when Winter seemed so long and the Summer so far away.
​
I think however, the magic of the evening peaked perfectly when my daughter and niece joined me onstage to sing 'Here we come a Waissailing' and 'When Santa got stuck up the Chimney' - in all honesty they were the stars of the show!
​
It was a wonderful evening, raising a good amount for charity and bringing people together in such a special way - I hope we can do it again next year!
​
If you want to find out more about the charity you can visit their website here:
For my record 'Winter Dreaming', featuring some of the songs from the evening, visit band camp, here:
12.1.25 Music and Connection
Happy New Year! Thanks for visiting my site, lovely to have you here! Here, I hope to share a little more personal insight into the songs and my writing process, what inspires me and how I arrive at lyrics and melody. I'll also be chronicling some of my favourite performances and other sweet musical moments. It'll be nice to reach people and connect in this way and I hope you enjoy finding out a bit more.
Happy reading!
