Yesterday I had the privilege to sing at the inauguration of Mike Day, the new Lord Mayor of Swansea. At the heart of Mike’s Inauguration was the message ‘Rise Up and Serve’. I just hope that its more than just a song I helped write, I hope it proves to be a call to action for me…and you!
As people around the world prepare for International Dylan Thomas Day maybe we in his home town are missing a trick. We should realise what an asset Dylan should be to our city His name and work really does help reach out to the world encouraging tourism and interest in our Ugly Lovely Town… and who knows, somewhere along the line, we might fall in love with the words as well.
It’s not actually as good as getting to play for the Swans, but its a pretty second best being part of the Swansea City team.
If you are going to be a success you really need a good name, in more senses than one. I’ve always struggled a bit with Maldwyn and I’m not sure Mal is any better..but Tyreman Sam really has a flying start!
I’m often asked when writing songs which comes first, the music or the lyrics. Sometimes it’s neither…sometimes it’s the phone call.
This is the story of the commission to write a song fit for a Queen.
I used to think the saddest day in the Christian Calendar was Good Friday but these days I’m not so sure. I now think the saddest day of Holy Week is Holy Saturday or maybe that should be Hopeless Saturday. But there is good news…Sunday’s coming!
After a very long trip my friend Chris walked into what you would probably describe as a fairly modern looking, normal, average church. It took him a couple of minutes to work out exactly what was wrong with the scene before him.
Then it struck him, the room was full of old men, women and children…there were no young men. It was only then that he really realised the implications of being on the border of a war zone.
Now I often say that when people go to my website and read my CV the only person they won’t have heard of is me. It’s a bit like that with the Heritage Charts. This week I’m ahead of the Temptations, Boo Radleys and Matt Goss just behind Micky Dolenz, Tears for Fears and The Blow Monkeys!!!
This week marked the second anniversary of the first Corona Virus lockdown. I must admit the past 2 years have somehow blurred into each other. There have been momentous family events that have left their mark, but I really do have to think carefully when trying to remember things like; which year of lockdown did my father pass away and when did I start performing in public again. As I read the headlines on social media and saw the news reports this week marking the second anniversary of Lockdown I also held in my hand a test with the dreaded 2 lines showing I was corona virus positive.
It was Joseph Stalin, who said ‘One death a tragedy, a million deaths a statistic.’ Many commentators have said that Putin should fear the mothers of Russian soldiers more than the sanctions of the West because each death is a tragedy for that mother.
