Books & CDs...

A Book of Folk Carols is a collection of the carols sung at the annual Folk Carol Service in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, over more than 30 years.

It contains over 50 “traditional carols”, in the true sense of both words – composed by the common folk of the time and passed on from one generation to another by hearing, learning and changing over the years, and based upon dance music played by the local band.

Paul McDowell and the late Professor Kenneth MacKinnon researched manuscripts, tunes and many other old items over a long period. You will find several carols which have probably never been sung outside Leigh-on-Sea for hundreds of years, along with some old favourites. The carols come complete with tunes and freshly written accompaniments for you to sing and play on piano, guitar or with your own dance band!

It is illustrated by my wife Kate (then Kate Baxter) and was published in 2004, with a slightly revised reprint in 2011. The price is £7.99 and it's available direct from me, from lulu.com or from online booksellers. Bookshops should be able to order it too.

Seven of the carols (Sans Day carol, Cherry tree carol, Sunny bank, Hymn of the three kings, Shepherds arise, While shepherds watched and Padstow farewell shanty) were featured in BBC Radio 2's Keeping Tradition Alive at Christmas, recorded in Leigh-on-Sea and broadcast on Christmas Eve 2009.

The Stream Ever Flowing: Charles Wesley and his brother John set the country alight with their desire to let everyone know that the invitation of the God of love is open to all. Charles’s passionate and powerful words still speak to us today, a reason why Wesley hymns continue to be used in the 21st century.

This is a collection of Charles Wesley’s lesser-known hymns – 100 that are not included in the then-current Methodist hymn book Hymns and Psalms (nor in the more recent Singing the Faith). Although Charles was born 300 years ago, his creative stream of 9,000 poems has left an influence that still flows on.

Some of the hymns will be found in previous, or non-British editions, of Methodist hymn books; some will be found in none. All of them are set to music so that you can, in the words of John Wesley, “sing lustily and with a good courage”.

It is illustrated by my wife Kate (then Kate Baxter) and was published in 2007. The price is £9.99 and it's available direct from me, from lulu.com or from online booksellers.

I play accordion on several tracks including the excellent and wonderfully-named "The Pope went down to Nagasaki".

Released at Christmas 2019. Featuring several carols by contemporary composers, some of which have been commissioned especially for the St Peter's Singers by the Richard III Society, some recorded for the first time and a mixture of familiar and less familiar music for Advent and Christmas. I sing bass on all the choral tracks.

A double album of old and new work. I play accordion on the newer (2013 and later) tracks.

I play accordion on several tracks.

I play accordion on several tracks and also join in the backing vocals for 'Tell 'em about the dream, Martin'.

Songs from the Chartist Hymn Book.
"How long shall babes of tender years
be doomed to toil for lazy Peers -
the locusts of our land?"
Stirring stuff. I play accordion on several tracks.

I play accordion on track 13, The Owl Service's version of 'King Henry VII and the Shipwrights'.

My band. The CD is available at £8 direct from me, and there are even cassettes. Downloads of the whole album (featuring five bonus tracks) can be purchased from iTunes.