Album Notes

In December 2008 Gareth Davies-Jones was asked to be involved in the making of a podcast for the season of Advent by well-regarded UK producer Mary Colwell. Called "The Prisoner & The Budgerigar" the podcast dealt with the experiences of an inmate in Bristol jail called Les Tanner. Les talked about looking forward to his parole and shared the story of how he looked after a small bird which gave him hope for the future and a new start. Inter-woven with the audio of Les and the prison chaplin Father Robert King was Gareth's beautiful acoustic guitar and vocal arrangement of the classic Christmas Carol "In The Bleak Mid Winter". Mary Colwell skillfully brought all the pieces together to make this a very special seasonal podcast capturing perfectly the sense of promise and expectancy that Advent stands for.

Since it's release the podcast has gone on to win several prestigious awards including the Sony Radio Award 2009 for Best Internet Programme, The New York Festival Gold Medal for Best Internet Radio and The Jerusalem Award for Best Internet Audio. Now for the first time Gareth's version of "In The Bleak Mid Winter" featured on the award-winning podcast is available commercially.