I'll Be Bernie, You Be Elton

I’m deeply honoured to be featured on I'll Be Bernie, You Be Elton, a double CD selection of songs co-written by poet Paul Cookson with artists including myself as well as Don Powell (Slade, Don Powell's Occasional Flames), Miles Hunt (The Wonder Stuff), Henry Priestman (The Christians), Stan Cullimore (The Housemartins), Martin Stephenson (Daintees), Brooks Williams, Plumhall, Michael Weston King, Les Glover, Pete Riley and others!

My own contribution, “Monochrome To Bronze”, is a poem by Paul in haiku form that I set to music and recorded with the help of the wonderful Martin Stansbury of Cacophony Cottage Studio, who not only recorded my vocal and keyboard (and mixed and mastered the track) but also added some rather inspired percussion, including paper crumpled into the microphone and a tiny carved wooden guitar scraped against the side of a papier-mâché Skeksi head (made by my son Eli for a Halloween costume some years ago).

The album is due out on May 1st and will be launched with a special performance in Retford on Saturday April 29 — sadly I can’t be there as that’s the second night of my UK tour and I’ll be doing a gig of my own down in Somerset! You can order the CD directly from Paul via his website: http://paulcooksonpoet.co.uk/product/ill-be-bernie-you-be-elton-double-cd