The day may come where the flower of musicianhood fails, where age conquers once-great players leaving only a distant echo of their talent. The day may come, but not this day, and not last night at Portsmouth Guildhall.  

Richard Thompson belied his 75 years, nearly 60 of which have been spent ...

I'd love to say X is for XTC, a longtime favourite of mine but they really wouldn't be to Dave's taste, so they don't feature in Dead Man Singing. It's also tempting to go for El Rayo-X, David Lindley's band (and an album that makes the list of Dave's 100 records), but I've already raved about his b...

The official publication of Foul and Fair on July 28th is still a couple of months away, but thanks to the skilful production management of safe-hands Dan at The Book Guild, the first edition run has already been printed and delivered to their warehouse, as you can see from my lovely box of advance ...

W is for Wallinger, Karl. Sadly recently deceased, he was still alive when I decided he was going to have an important role in Dead Man Singing. His band, World Party, released their second album Goodbye Jumbo in 1990 and it’s an absolute gem. You can read my thoughts on his death and his care...

V is for Van Morrison. His double live album It’s Too Late to Stop Now features in the list of 100 albums that Dave takes with him for his new post-death life. Despite this, Van himself doesn’t really feature in Dead Man Singing, apart from a passing reference when Dave hears something o...