Free spirits - new thinking - countless horizons

As a tousle-haired 15-year-old, I once listened to a guy I had never heard of play a song I did not know. He inspired me. It got me started. His name was Bert Jansch. The song was called "Anji." I started out as a bass player but had aspirations to play the acoustic guitar as well as Bert - my first guitar hero and an inspiration for many.

Early in my career, I had two songs ("Ad Mad" and "Billy Boy") recorded by other artists, released by MCA as singles, the beginning of my love of songwriting.

In my songs, I tell stories - work created over years of performing and writing. Thematically, this can include anything from the Mary Celeste mystery, Northern Soul Music, alienation, castaways, the life of photographer David Bailey, advertising, my hometown, aliens, anything goes.

I don't make a conscious effort to blur the boundaries between style/genre, this just happens, probably because of purposefully feeding myself on a performance diet of rock, folk, world, blues, Cajun, reggae, New Orleans jazz, experimental, and showband. Result: I am a music cataloguer's nightmare!

I write songs because, hell, that's what I like doing, but in these times of corporate music influence, independent music making is often the only way to go. You get the freedom but...

I enjoy working with musicians from different cultures and backgrounds. My collaborations include a television appearance with Cai Yayi (Cai Yayi won the first prize in the Folk Song Solo Category in the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod 2010), and appearances with Song Yuzhe (Dawanngang), Li Daiguo, Wang Xiao, FM3, the talented Mongolian horse head fiddle player, Hugejiletu (Ajinai), and the Balkan-influenced, tango-loving violinist, Rael Solis May.

In addition, I have worked with tribal musicians in Mindanao, Philippines - notably Waway Linsahay Saway and members of the Talaandig Tribe (July 2010) as well as working with my own bands, The Sound Hoodlums and Smiling Knives. I have trodden the boards with rock musicians, jazz bands, folk groups, Cajun groups, and just about everything in between. My passion, though, has always been for folk/world/and crossover.

Music has given me great times and got me through some troubled ones. I am pretty sure this is the same for many of us.

I am currently collaborating with singer Mac Austin from White Door, a successful former New Romantic/electronic band, and together we are mashing up styles under the name of Mac & Gar. We have previously performed together in successful rock bands before pursuing individual projects. Our latest release, "Aliens Don't Belong" (May 2024), is the third song we have released, a quirky look at the strangeness of strangers. (Nov 2023) "Hyduc Street," song two, is a homage to our hometown. At the moment, our next work is being created, an opportunity for Mac to showcase his lyric writing as well as his soulful voice on a song with a working title of "Heart and Soul."

In a varied and sometimes colorful career, I have toured China with a multicultural band (Mexican, Mongolian, Chinese), busked on the Chinese underground, been banned from playing festivals by the PRC Communist Party, sung at the opening of a kitchen appliance shop, and appeared second on the bill to a singing dog! In addition, I have also played at major music festivals and events in Mongolia, China, and the UK.

My work follows in the folk tradition of telling stories through song. I try to capture the spirit and emotion of the subject, looking at the world through a different lens, using a little spare poetry to develop the dynamic. In the end, though, it is just about words and music, both of which I hope you enjoy.

Gar