In my news report from 10th August '24 (below) I described how I bought and fixed up a charity shop Spanish guitar, and played CLOSE TO YOU by The Carpenters.

I am in Spain now, so how am I getting on with it... Do I Still love it? Have I learned any more tunes? YES, and YES!  I have changed the strings again since last time and it sounds even better than before! I am loving that guitar and plan to learn more pieces to play on it.

In this video I has a go at playing AMAZING GRACE, a gospel favourite of mine. At the begining you can hear a drilling noise where a neighbour was doing a some building work? It was my best take so decided not to do another take....I had already played it 5 times! 

Anyway, I am fairly happy with my performance. Hopefully when I do another performance my neighbour will have completed their building work! I Hope you like it  :-)

Lead vocalist Jaiiyay just sent me a vid from the gig i did in Canning Town last December with the Lord Street Band. (See News below 7 Dec). A lovely reminder of a fabulous gig, with a generous funky band. Thanks soooo much Jaiiyay, thanks sooooo much Lord street Band! 

Well that was fun, eleven videos completed at our swanky apartment in Canning Town! I am really happy how the videos turned out and how my editing skills, and audio production skills have improved. My singing has improved too. I am pleasantly surprised at the improvement in my guitar playing, something I was not expecting. 

Soon we will be leaving our apartment in Canning Town and heading to Spain for a couple months. Hopefully our home in London will be fully repaired when we return. Will I do more videos when I go to Spain? ....Yes, loads of beautiful scenic locations to choose from including beaches! Will need to take a few bits out with me and buy some bits too....Amazon ES is my friend! 

A new year is nearly upon us, so my thoughts turn to 2025.  Looking back I can see that I have mostly based in my home studio writing and releasing music. However, I am happiest when I am playing live, my gig in Canning Town reminded me how much I have missed playing live (see news below). So playing live will be my focus for 2025. 

Anyway, all the best for 2025, I will see you on the other side! :-)

Ok, we are still stuck in an appartment in Canning Town but that can't stop the music! The 'Canning Town Sessions' are going really well (see news below). I have done nine videos so far and I think I will have time to do one more. I have learned so much listening back to my singing and playing. Editing skills have improved too! 

I met HARRY DEMMON, a brilliant singer guitarist at the IBIS HOTEL in Canning Town where they have a Thursday guest solo artists. We got chatting and a few days later he messaged me to ask if I would like to play a couple songs with his band LORD STREET at Victoria Dock. 

I went along expecting to play a couple songs, but Harry let me play an entire set and I had an absolute blast! LORD STREET are seriously funky & soulful as the video shows. It really cheered me up!

Well, there I was in August getting all excited about forming a blues band with my pal Manu, when out of the blue my home gets flooded! My wife and I have been in various temporary accommodation since late August and we are still not back in our home! (Hopefully back early next year). We are currently in a really nice apartment in Canning Town....curtesy of our insurers waiting for our home to be repaired.......

Soooooo I'am in Canning Town, I have a guitar, a small practice amp, a microphone, and a laptop. I decided to try to make some high quality videos using our swanky apartment as a suitable backdrop! I have made three vids so far and plan to do more seeing as we will be here for quite a while!

I thought it might fun to try and incorporate some looping of drums in the vids which is something new for me. Thinking of calling the vids 'The Canning Town Sessions' ? Anyway, hope you like my latest vid ROLLING AND TUMBLING from the 'Canning Town Sessions' Enjoy!

So, I was having a 'spring clean' of my computer hard drive when I came across a long forgotten promo vid for my old band 'CLYDE & THE BLUE GROOVES. It was great to see my old buddies and reminded me how much fun we had & the great music we played.

A few weeks later I got a phone call from BLUE GROOVES bass player MANU, to say he was attending a local pub jam and would I fancy coming along? So of course I said yes! Well, It just like all times as we locked into our familiar telepathic groove! 

A few days later he called again and said 'Are you thinking what I'am thinking'? We both laughed and agreed that we need to get back together and play some blues in a band! 

The two of us got together shortly afterwards to run through a few tunes, and discuss possible band formats/personnel. Early days, but the old magic is still there, and we excited at the prospect of playing Blues together again. Stay tuned!!!  :-)

SAIFU is a noted blues guitarist and friend of mine for 15 years now. Although I have not shared a stage with him for a while, we still keep in touch via facebook messenger from time to time. One day I got a message from him to say he had made a sketch of me and posted it on his facebook profile. He asked did I mind, and did I like it?

So I went to his profile page and saw the fabulous colour sketch of my with the the words 'Clyde is the most beautiful soulful brother I know'. 

I had a few reactions when I first saw the picture. Firstly, I absolutely loved it! It seemed to capture my essence and my wife Sophia loved it too, (always a good sign!). Secondly, I was quite touched by the kind words. To be described as 'Soulful & beautiful' is just fabulous. Finally, I was amazed to learn that SAIFU is fabulous artist, his facebook profile is all about his artwork, and very little to do with music!  

Just goes to show you can be friends with someone for a long time and still not know everything that is significant about them! :-)

I have always loved the sound of Spanish Nylon guitars. In this vid I describe how i got lucky at charity shop in Spain. 

My TV was on the blink and a good friend who works at MABS charity shop said that they a good selection of TVs which I might like to check out?

I think you already know how this ended? Yep, I had a change of plan when I spotted the Spanish guitar. Of I bought it, and fixed it up!

What about a TV you ask? Well, I can live a TV on the blink for a bit longer now that I am engrossed playing my new guitar! 

In the vid I had a go at playing CLOSE TO YOU which was a bit hit for Karen Carpenter back in the 1960's. Enjoy!

I must have posted hundreds of performance vids on Youtube, Insta, TikTok etc. None of them has performed as well as my rendition of BORN UNDER A BAD SIGN by my blues hero ALBERT KING.

Prior to this video my best number of 'Likes' on YouTube was around 450, .....and usually I get a LOT less! BORN UNDER A BAD SIGN is currently at 2144 'Likes' since it was published on June 19th.

Now I know 'Likes' are not everything, and 2144 is a relatively small number compared to many Youtubers, but I cant deny the 'glow' that I am getting from this number, and from the positive comments too.

Interestingly, Its also my best performing video on TikTok. I just wish I knew the 'formula' in this video so I can repeat its success. Perhaps someone out there can tell me why its doing well? !!! :-) :-) :-) 

Many thanks to presenter Steve Quirk for playing my track AM I LOSING YOU on COLOURFUL RADIO and for his kind words and support. Steve is a legend in the broadcast music industry and you should 100% check out his brilliant radio shows! https://www.colourful.com/shows/steve

My latest single AM I LOSING YOU is the last song to be updated from the 'LOST TAPES' recorded in 1990's ( see below NEWS 21st/March/'23). Originally it was a slow song... a bit of a dirge if I'am being honest! I decided to give it an upbeat 'Dance Party' vibe which is completely at odds with the anguished lyrics! :-). 

I Have really enjoyed updating the 'LOST TAPES' but now its time to compose something brand new. Interestingly, the only LOST TAPES track to have any guitar on it is LET ME DRY YOUR EYES (see below NEWS 21st/Jan/'23)....Time for some guitar music perhaps ??? :-)

As promised, I have split my interview with Judith Jacobs into 15 Episodes (see below, News 22/Feb/'24). Episode 7 entitled RANDY CRAWFORD can be seen here. It describes my disbelief, when a couple weeks after joining SAY WHAT band, the manager announced that we would be joining RANDY CRAWFORD on her uk tour.....I was totally gobsmacked! The episode series is called PORTRAIT OF AN INDEPENDENT MUSICIAN, and all 15 episodes can be viewed using this link:  Episode playlist  Enjoy!

I have always wanted to do a radio interview. When the wonderful DJ Judith Jacobs invited me to do a telephone interview she did not have to ask twice! Originally scheduled for 20mins and a quick play of my track FALLING DEEPER, it ended up being a 50mins wide ranginging interview about my musical life to date, and a plug for another track of mine too! (I LIKE YOUR SMILE). So chuffed and grateful to Judith for having me on her show. I filmed myself being interviewed by Judith, so keep an eye out for that on my Youtube channel in the weeks ahead (YT link on page footer). Thinking of splitting the interview video into episodes posting it as a series? .... eg: (1)Early Years, (2)Claim to fame, (3)Tales of Randy Crawford, (4)The Uni Years, etc ! Stay tuned!!!!

Was great to have airplay for my track FALLING DEEPER on COLOURFUL RADIO with DJ Steve Quirk. Iphones at the ready, I was in Spain with friends when my track came on the radio. So it became a bit of a listening party celebration in the sunshine.  Many thanks to Steve Quirk for playing my track, and for his very kind words. Life doesn't get much better than this!  :-)

Getting airplay is sooooo hard! So I was chuffed when DJ Gary Spence emailed to say that he loved my track FALLING DEEPER and would be playing it on his Thurday afternoon show! I duly tuned in and only had to wait a few munutes before my track was played along with some very kind words. The show was great so I carried on listening long after my track was played. Thank you DJ Gary!

Still going to reach out to more radio stations and really try and get some momentum going behing FALLING DEEPER....It is after all possibly my finest release to date! :-)

When I finished recording HEAVENS ABOVE my thoughts turned to album artwork. My good friend and brilliant artist Rob Thom agreed to do the artwork & asked for suitable picture. I already had a picture in mind taken ten yrs ago! 

My wife & I have been regular visitors to the SE coast of Mucia in Spain for many yrs now, & have taken literally 100s of photos of this beautiful part of Spain. We regularly stroll the MAR MENOR beach in the day, but one evening we strolled at sunset and had a pit stop at a cafe. 

The lighting and view was simply magical as you can see. Cloudy moonlight reflecting off the water, and a beach that looked like the surface of the moon, all taken with an iPhone. The perfect artwork picture for HEAVENS ABOVE!