Ian’s Blog 18th February 2024

 My cousin Robert has sent an email to me with his thoughts about my Cornish and Devonian album:-

Hi Ian,

At last! Once again sorry it has taken me so long to send you my thoughts on Cornish and Devonian, I have indeed been a little tardy. But better late than never, I hope! This album definitely took a bit of getting used to but after a while I found there was more on there that I liked than didn't. But I definitely had to spend longer listening to it than I might normally do to get to know it, a process that was helped by the fact that most of the songs are relatively short punchy songs. But for me the only really outstanding song is Cornwall's Forgotten Heroine which really caught my ear.

1. John de Vere - Initially I didn't think I was going to like this, but as they sometimes do the song has grown on me. Not necessarily a melody that readily appeals to me but the accompaniment has a nice beat and base line and a nice blend of instruments. I think the song comes to life in the instrumental break with some nice guitars. Quite an interesting story as well.

2. Sir Walter Raleigh - I like the intro to this. The song has a nice upbeat tone and although a relatively simple accompaniment it is melodic and nicely put together. It's quite a short song but easy to like.

3. The Siege of Plymouth - A bit like track 1 really, this isn't a melody that appeals that much to me, but overall I quite like the song. Ths slide guitar is interesting to listen to, not something one hears very often, although I'm sure I've heard it elsewhere recently in your music but haven't been able to find where! It's not something that I think I would like to listen to continuously but the way you use it in this song is good I think. This is another song with an interesting story. While tending to tune into the melody of a song in the first instance it is impossible to ignore the stories some of your songs tell.

4. The Battle of Torrington - This song is an easy listen. It's another one that had to grow on me but once tuned in I found quite a bit of interest going on. The accompaniment is another nice blend of instruments and the song has an interesting intro and outro.

5. William Scoresby - Again I didn't take to this initially and it's not a favourite of mine. But on listening to it I have found it to be an interesting song which is a bit different and unusual. It has some nice instrumental touches which I like along with a nice intro and instrumental break.

6. Eighty Four Years of Age - I'm a bit neutral on this one. It has quite a nice rhythm and again a nice bit of bass guitar, and I do like the guitar in the instrumental break. So I don't think it's a bad song.

7. Cornwall's Forgotten Heroine - Another nice intro to this song. I like the melody of this one and it has a really nice guitar accompaniment. Another good vocal from Jules and overall it is a very nice song, the best on the album I think.

8. Rumours of War - This isn't one for me I'm afraid.

9. Captain Richard Scott - Another song I'm a bit neutral on but again it's not a bad song and is quite easy to listen to. I quite like the melody and guitar led accompaniment.

10. From Torquay Joyce Packe - This is another quite unusual song. It didn't appeal that much to start with but it definitely grew on me. There are some nice instrumental touches which catch the ear.

My notes seemed a bit sparse at times but that may be a reflection on the fact that I made most of them in the middle of the night Sunday/Monday when I couldn't sleep! Hard to know sometimes what to do at 4am if you're not in the mood to read, but it was a very good opportunity to start this. I had struggled to make time during the day. I get quite frustrated on the one hand having plenty of time on my hands but on the other not always knowing where it all goes, maybe you know what I mean now that you too have had plenty of time to get used to retirement.

All the best for now,

Rob.