I am a writer, journalist and music critic. I have experience in news and features, interviews and reviews, and also PR, copywriting and music management. I am now expanding myself and my writing into columns, reviews, liner notes, books and researching, and broadcasting.

I write to express my love of music and the centrality of music to everyday human life. We use music to bring people together, to uncover the truth and emotion of life. As a very special way of viewing the world, it is a fusion of ideas, location, locality and atmosphere. I view music as art and tradition and a personal journey. I am interested in the relationship between languages, both musical and spoken, musical form, and identity. Music represents solidarity between people, tradition and modernity, and I want to capture this. Philosophy, history and human rights lie underneath everything.

My background is in the academic study of music. I undertook an MA in Folklore and Cultural Tradition at the University of Sheffield in 2004, concentrating on folk and country music, completing a dissertation on the subject of conceptions of traditionality in bluegrass music. As a result of my studies, I conducted a number of writing assignments, with my work being published in academic journals. Additionally, I gave presentations at a number of high profile conferences throughout the UK, focusing on music, religion and language.  I wish to bring forward the knowledge and awareness I gained through my studies into my professional life and writing.