Atkinsongs

For SONGS, go to the Listen page, or go to Bandcamp (see right). For ART (including album art) go to the Look page. On the Listen page, mainly Atkinsongs but also guest spots for Suzanne Harper, John Every, Andy Harding and Chester Songwriters Group.

  ATKINSONGS - THE STORY

Time held me green and dying
Though I sang in my chains like the sea.
                                            Dylan Thomas, Fern Hill

     My song-making story began, as did that of many others, in 1965 when I was 15 and bought my first Bob Dylan record. At 17, of an early melody, my Mum said 'that's the kind of tune the milkman sings.' With that wind beneath my wings, I was on my way, and now have more than 470 songs, some 280 recorded, the majority at home, initially on quarter-inch tape, then cassette, and latterly, digitally. The 23 albums include 3 compilations and one of covers of Atkinsongs by other artists. 
    Today it is easy to record, release, and promote your song, something that only record companies could do when I began my song-making journey. Unsurprisingly, thousands are doing just that, and latterly, perhaps wanting to escape the crowds, I have sought things new: supporting other songwriters, in Chester Songwriters (Listen) and Timeless Talent (left). At Chester's Raven Folk Club (left), I am encouraged to learn others' songs, and as a member of a multi-genre U3A group I am writing piano scores of my own and other tunes. All this opens new musical terrain, beyond the limited landscapes of my own songs.   
    My song-making has made me rich, if not in money terms, in many other ways. The people - the 'good cause' donators, the lift-givers, my fellow music-makers, those who listen to and sing my songs, those (such as Dora, right) who play them on their radio shows, stream them, buy my CDs and vinyl, the ones who keep the home fires burning. An Autobisongraphy it is, the song capturing the person, the place, the moment, that generated it. Yet the best are not anchored there, they live on and reflect new moments, relationships, places. experiences. Recently, I have found value in the quantity and variety of my material enabling me to 'read the room' when performing live and to come up with a set for the audience not for me. I think my Mum would be happy with how far I have flown with the wind she put beneath my wings. 

What They Say...........
I like very much your music, your lyrics, your performance, your simplicity and beauty in your works........The essential is there: songs that go right to the heart, he has taken particular care to scribble the history of each song, their date of genesis, we measure the long path travelled to arrive at this secret and intimate realisation (The Beggar and the Sand).......It's the best folk/SSW album (First Take) I've heard in along time. I'm so happy to have this album!!! The price was expensive but the pressing is top notch (it's rarely the case nowadays). It is worth every penny.....I bought one, and I'm hooked....(The Beggar and the Sand)........I put your 5 CDs in the player and Wow! I was floored by how consistently excellent your songs are.....right up there with my favourite songwriters......Your music was the perfect soundtrack for a long drive to Scotland.......Great work Dave, I will continue play and enjoy it for many months.

Canadian treats? Right, Debussy's beautiful music is a perfect complement to images of an awesome encounter with the Aurora Borealis whilst daughter Amy's wonderful video (below) has a Bald Eagle Dancing to the the Blue Danube Waltz at Vancouver.