Old Man Thompson - Tales from the Arbour

 

Old Man Thompson was a prolific songwriter based in Scotland. Although he moved around the world and lived in many locations, he eventually came to rest in the great Kingdom of Fife in Scotland. The family home at Gable's End is now the location of the song archive that houses Old Man Thompson's entire recorded output - mainly on old tapes and cassettes.

From time to time his estate release newly digitised copies of his songs, posting them online for friends an family to enjoy. You will see from these initial releases that OMT was always at pains to reflect the natural environment in his songs and music, drawing in particular, on the time spent in his latter years at his beloved Gable's End with his partner Gretchen Blunt.

Here is an example track, visit the Old Man Thompson Bandcamp page for more recordings and info.

Enjoy!

Front Lines - an album of original songs by veterans

2022 Sees the end of a nine month long song writing project with Stand Easy Productions.

Beginning way back in January, I made contact with Stand Easy participants across Scotland to write and produce an album's worth of new songs. The song ideas and lyrics were written by the group and an eclectic mix of styles and genres resulted from the musical tastes of the writers themselves. This album has everything from folk ballads to full on wig-out guitar rock and gentle spoken word poetry and prose. For my part I did a great deal of driving to the homes of veterans based everywhere from Glasgow and Falkirk up to Kirriemuir, Dunkeld and Carnoustie.

It took quite some time for the songs to take shape and there was a fair bit of back-and-forth relaying of recordings and lyrical ideas. This operation took almost nine months to complete along with the recording and post production sections but I'm extremely pleased with the results. It never ceases to amaze me how non-songwriters can, with a little guidance, produce such great and original works. Some of the songs are based on personal experiences and are very moving whilst others are written purely to accommodate the style of music we were aiming for - but the sentiments are always powerful and relevant.

All songs are produced by myself and the following participants:

Iain Kinloch, Alf Megson, Susan Dunham, Billy McWilliams,Caron Benecke,
Gary McQuade, Stephen Watt, Colin Carrol.

You can find out more about Stand Easy Productions and the work they do here

Here's a link to the Bandcamp album playlist, have a listen and I hope you enjoy!