Album Notes

This album contains a selection of evocative pieces that conjure up dreams, fantasies, memories and images. It does for me at least and I hope you will agree. From ballads and lullabies, impressions of the ancient shores of Scarborough, the frozen landscape and music of the hurdy-gurdy man and the inspired breeze that carries Spider Jack.

Let my music take you on a journey that will engage your senses, your heart and your soul.

It’s amazing how plans can change mid-flight! This is true for the making of this CD. Starting out, I had concrete plans to create a solo CD, but this all started to change, even at the first recording session. I became amazed at the possibilities of recording. There are things that simply cannot be achieved live.

I thought “why does this have to be a CD of solo guitar music? Why can’t it simply be a disk of good music, regardless of the technicalities?” I thought of interesting sounds, effects and textures that could be created in the studio and I embraced this. The whole process has been a real eye-opener for me.

A variety of instruments feature on this CD. My cedar-top classical guitar made in 2007 by Simon Marty (Sydney) is used predominantly. An Esteve acoustic-bass (tracks 2, 9 & 11) and a Yamaha Silent Guitar (track 17) has also been used. Dora Maria (violin) uses an instrument made by Harry Vatiliotis. A bansuri features in Languish, while an antique German zither is used to create some of the effects in the intro to Die Leiermann. A handful of percussion instruments have also been used, in addition to a selection of pre-recorded sounds from nature.