Z is for Zimmerman, Robert. As Dave says in chapter 1 of Dead Man Singing, back in the early 70s it was required by law that all singer-songwriters include at least one Bob Dylan cover in their repertoire. Dave’s choice, ‘It Ain’t Me Babe’, wasn’t in my first draft but ...

Y is for Yes, cited here as a representative of Progressive rock in general. Prog gets a few mentions in Dead Man Singing (manager Tony has a particular fondness for it, even if main character Dave isn’t so keen).

I was a teenage prog rock fan, and I still listen to bands like Yes, Genesis and...

I’ve never heard of a book tour of football tournaments before, but it seemed like a good idea for Foul and Fair. Back when I managed a grassroots kids’ team, we used to love the summer tournament season. Each team would get several short matches – typically about 10 minutes a game...

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...