Living music
I started playing the guitar even before the Beatles had their first American hit. In the many years since, music has played an important role in my life. It has provided me with a living, introduced me to some remarkable friends and been a constant source of comfort. It’s a privilege to have been part of some very special projects. And now, at an age that most people are considering joys and benefits of a quiet retirement, I’m more excited about arranging, producing and performing music than I have been in many years and I’m looking forward to a wide range of new adventures.
What I do
I have always been passionate about acoustic music and I play fingerstyle guitar enthusiastically; professionally, I am more frequently found with an acoustic or electric bass guitar in my hands. I also enjoy arranging songs (particularly vocals). I started working as a producer in recording studios many years ago and have helped make commercials, film soundtracks, albums and more. For several years, I reduced the number of annual live concerts in order to concentrate on my career as a copywriter. Now it’s time to rededicate myself to making joyful noises with my instruments.
The Chicken Ruckus
In the autumn of 2024, I started playing the acoustic bass guitar in a band called The Chicken Ruckus. My talented colleagues, Severin Erni (5-string banjo), Sacha Häusler (mandolins and guitar), and Anna Messerli (fiddle) all live in Switzerland’s Berner Seeland region and since I joined, we’ve played at pubs and folk clubs all over the country. It’s a fun, gratifying project with high-energy performances of a repertoire drawn from folk, old-time, Irish and bluegrass music. See what the band is up to these days at https://www.thechickenruckus.ch/ Plans are in the works for an album project in 2026. Stay tuned!
Taradiddle
I’ve been enjoying a rather unusual musical adventure with Taradiddle, a mostly-acoustic vocal-driven folk trio featuring Franz Andres Morrissey and Mo Brändli. We play regularly in Switzerland but have also enjoyed our tours in the UK. We’re grateful that the folk enthusiasts there have supported us so generously and are looking forward to going back – the next British tour is currently in the works. If you check out the website at https://taradiddle.ch/, you will learn all about Taradiddle and have a chance to order our album Better Times, which we recorded with some of our favorite musicians at Red Kite Studio.
Red Kite Studio
My dear friend Martin Levan (shown here with Billy Gewin) has built an incredible career as a recording engineer and producer and theatrical sound designer. Over more than four decades, he has recorded artists from a broad range of genres: Iron Maiden, Ralph McTell, John Martyn, June Tabor, Leveret and many more. He also created the original sound design for some of the most successful musicals of all time including Phantom of the Opera, Sunset Boulevard, Cats, Kiss of the Spider Woman and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. I consider myself privileged to have co-produced albums by Taradiddle and Rick Harris with Martin at his beautiful Red Kite Studio in Wales and am looking forward to going back with my colleagues in The Chicken Ruckus.
Check out the studio and learn more about Martin and his work at http://www.martinlevan.com/
Making music with – and writing about – the amazing John McEuen
Some of the more gratifying recent musical experiences involved performing with and writing about John McEuen. John, who is one of the world’s most influential acoustic musicians, has distinguished himself in a long career, notably with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and more recently with his String Wizards. He has also written an entertaining (and moving) memoir called The Life I’ve Picked, A Banjo Player’s Nitty Gritty Journey. In August of 2018, it was a treat to have him play at a small venue in Pieterlen, Switzerland, the town where I live and it was even more thrilling to get to be part of the show. I also had the opportunity to publish quite a long article about him in the British music journal RnR Magazine. I’ve had the privilege of playing with John and his wife Marilyn in Switzerland, Germany and the USA. Life is good!