Many people who learn to play the guitar do so to emulate a guitar hero – Hendrix, Clapton, Slash and the like. I learned to play so I could sing. I was always much more interested in the structures, chord sequences and the lyrics of the songs I wanted to sing and soon became really interested in songwriters such as Ray Davies, Pete Townsend and Gerry Rafferty. Their skill in both lyric writing and structure always fascinated me as well as their use of harmonies and backing vocals. I’ve also always been drawn to artists who can combine great songs with great performance and great vocals – such as Hall & Oates, Crowded House, Ry Cooder and Bonnie Raitt as well as truly original songwriters such as John Hiatt and Ron Sexsmith. I’ve been writing songs ever since I started playing the guitar professionally in the 1970’s (and I’m still waiting for the phone call confirming the record deal I was offered after winning a Melody Maker competition at that time). Over the last 30 years I have written many songs that I have been encouraged to “do something with”. However as many people know, turning the thoughts in your head into the recordings you dream of is a difficult journey. “Real Surprise” is a collection of some of these songs and includes as many different styles and moods as we could get on one CD. Song writing is a very personal thing and it is easy to make excuses about why you never got round to doing anything with your songs. I would really like to thank Lisa, Simon and Mark for their encouragement and blowing my excuses away in the way they have.