Empty Nest
“Taking acoustic rock to new levels” ⭑⭑⭑⭑ Maverick
“Not sure what to file it under but that’s part of the pleasure” ⭑⭑⭑⭑ RnR
The first stories
‘Time Keeps Rolling’ was the first song that I wrote that made me cry. That’s a good thing, Boo said. I’d been thinking about my father-in-law, and how he used to play Paul Robeson’s Ol’ Man River every Sunday afternoon, just before lunch.
Time Keeps Rolling - film by Gareth Rhys Jones
Where it began
I was given a songwriting course by my wife for my 50th birthday, having not really written a song since I was a teenager. I was terrified, almost turning back when I got to the drive of the Moniack Mhor Writing Centre. Thank goodness I didn’t. That week and the people I met there changed my life. No, really.
Perhaps…
… my best years are gone. When there was a chance of happiness. But I wouldn’t want them back. Not with the fire in me now.”
This quote from Samuel Beckett hung on the wall where I was a grad student in my early 20s, and stayed with me. I’d never seen such a cool old guy before, and it seemed to fit the new fire I was feeling all these years later.
Who is Paul the Bag?
When the reviews came in for Empty Nest, a couple of writers referred to the apocryphal story behind this song. Someone even came up to me at at the album launch and complained that I was misleading people. Here’s the thing, Paul The Bag is real, at least in his own head. And he broke my hand to prove it. The full story is in the Tales section.