With 'The Pilgrims Way', there was actually very little research involved. Lindisfarne was a place both my wife and I loved and it was really created from a simple low whistle melody. I also included 'Foley' sounds to help in the immersion for the listener. Having got some initial positive feedback from some musical friends, I decided to try and create a series of pieces based around Lindisfarne. Given it's history and unique natural setting, there seemed plenty of material to go at.

'The Vikings' was in direct contrast to the dreamy first piece. I came across a Latin Phrase spoken by priests as a prayer of protection from the scourge of Viking raids. It helped me get into the mindset required for this piece. I chanced upon some 'Foley' material of some actual Viking re-enactors from freesound and used this to create a very short, brooding piece that explodes into an electric guitar solo before just being suddenly left with a voiceover of me chanting the Latin phrase against the backdrop of the sound of the sea.

Often Viking raids were short and bloody and I wanted to try and capture how an attack like this could change everything for the vulnerable monks. Faith was their shield but could it really protect them from these savages from the sea ?

'A Light In The Darkness' came about as a result of really getting into the religious history of Lindisfarne. Having read about the work of a monk named Eadfrith who is credited with creating the Lindisfarne Gospels, I really wanted to reflect on the original Irish foundations of the community despite the later Romanisation of the Celtic church. The track title comes about from me thinking about it being a beacon of civilisation, a rallying point, during the Early Middle Ages whist a far chunk of the UK was under Viking rule and Christianity had again been pushed to the margins of the UK.

Thinking Irish music lead to the inclusion of harp, bodhrán, uilleann pipes and a bit of whistle, all over a bed of strings and choir. The Foley sound of somebody writing with a quill pen set the scene and once I had the basic melody I was away. I took advice from a harpist on how they play chords and read up on Uilleann pipe drones too.

'The North Shore' came about as a contrasting natural world track to the previous more historical offerings. I really wanted to include a track focussing on this particular part of Lindisfarne. It is part of the island that is often overlooked by tourists if they are on a timescale dictated by the tides. The sand often flows in waves over the beach and my description of it as a magical interface' between land and sea, a place apart from the hustle and bustle of life where your soul can find peace for a while, is very apt.

I often enjoy creating guitar music based around altered tunings, particularly DADGAD, where the strings are tuned to different pitches. By using a technique of emphasising open string drones, it can create full and quite hypnotic patterns to the ear. Once this pattern was established, the use of low whistle, violin as a counter melody, strings, choir and supporting drones created a reflective atmosphere. Towards the end, I added a simple vocal phrasing that topped off the piece and the inclusion of 'suitable 'Foley' sounds completed the picture.

'Flight Of Fancy' was a pivotal moment for me as I started to incorporate a more hybrid orchestral feel into the material. This was in large part influenced by getting into composing orchestral pieces, reading books, watching online videos and undertaking some courses about orchestration.

It was very much a bittersweet track to create as the title harks back to an original instrumental played by a band I was in in the early 80's. The keyboard player of that band is sadly no longer with us, so I decided to try and reinvent the spirit of that time as a musical tribute to him. The main guitar figure is very close to the original one I created for that track.

The idea for the piece is based around the concept of flying like a bird, maybe from the North Shore itself and had me breaking the piece down into three sections. Even the concept of thinking of it as a piece as opposed to a track, was a mental shift into a more thematic orchestral way of thinking.

Sunrise (0:00 - 0:58) As the title suggests, it is my musical imagining of sunrise on the beach with all the grandeur of a new day dawning. A big orchestral sound and timpani seemed the way to go.

The Shoreline At Dawn (0:59 - 2:28) Part Two has a much more muted sound as nature begins to stir with the dawn and musically this part acts as a linking section between parts one and three.

Into The Air (2:29 - 6:42) Finally we are into the air and I wanted to give a feeling of flying by the use of rising chords sequences and a string ostinato (a recurring rhythmic or melodic pattern). I also wanted to give a nod to the original Flight of Fancy so it has a variation of the main guitar riff I played back in the early 80's, some interwoven guitar and keyboard parts and harmony with underlying jazzy drum and bass parts.

'The Rainbow Arch' again takes the listener into the history of the island by focusing on the surviving medieval priory on Lindisfarne. The title of the track is derived from the name given to a rib of the crossing vault that survived when the tower above it collapsed. You often need a focal point when composing and for me it's description and seeing it on a visit to Lindisfarne conjured up a religious and mystical sort of vibe.

I came up with a descriptive phrase, "The bell is rung for mass and the monks assemble. Whilst singing the chant they gaze up at the rainbow arch and their spirits soar". I wanted to get inside that feeling of the monks in this holy place and was inspired by this surviving archway to do multiple parts singing the 'Kyrie Eleison' with different vocal timbres and link that into a rapture type section.

A big use was made of pedal notes,and features strings, violin, flute, a choir backing, synthesizer pad (quite Floyd -like) and Uilleann pipes. There was no historical reason to use the pipes as the Irish monks were long gone. It was more to do with the mixture of sounds in this piece. It felt right to my ears.

'By Castle Walls' was another historically-based piece, this time looking at how the walled garden outside Lindisfarne came about.Now owned by the National Trust, originally it was a walled garden that was first constructed by troops manning the castle, presumably as far back as the 1500s or 1600s, to grow food.

In 1902, the Country Life magazine founder and owner Edward Hudson took out a lease from the Crown on Lindisfarne Castle and commissioned his friend, the architect Edwin Lutyens, to transform the Castle into a holiday home in which Hudson could entertain during his summer visits. In 1911, Hudson decided to restore the old walled garden to use as a place to enjoy. Lutyens brought in his regular collaborator, Gertrude Jekyll to undertake the design work.

In my head I had the idea of trying to capture the feeling of guests of Hudson, (or modern day visitors) walking around the garden on a late Summer afternoon, possibly stopping to listen to the bees, busy at work, collecting honey.

The poem 'By Castle Walls' came out of that thought which then inspired the musical direction of the piece.

I imagined the first part, idyllic, tranquil, moving to section where you just focus in on the bees and everyday life slips away for a while. This is followed by a grander 'promenade ending', where I imagined Hudson's guests strolling around in the late afternoon sun.

The use of buzzing bees as a 'Foley' sound was again important in getting the listener into the first section before the grander ending.

'A Taste Of Metheglin' was really enjoyable to create and I loved getting this cinematic-style Celtic Fantasy together. I really got carried away with my research into the Common Brittonic language to get some interesting 'Foley' sounds. Since I wanted a family-vibe, it also features my long suffering wife who over time has become a quasi- Foley artist and harmony part singer for me to do the female parts.

The Metheglin of the title is the oil that makes the celebration happen and is a type of spiced mead, so basically fermented honey with spices added. It also obliquely connects to Lindisfarne mead and also the bees featured in 'By Castle Walls'.

I wanted to give the listener the feeling they had been dropped into an ancient Lindisfarne Celtic Festival or feast day and I hoped the language and children's laughter would aid in the immersion. Finally in this project I got to do a fair bit of bouzouki playing which was a nice bonus for me.

'High on the Heugh' was a way of bringing both historical and natural world elements into the same piece of music.

The initial ascent is all based around the climbing motif that takes the listener to the top of the Heugh. I quite often use the Alto Flute in my music, this time balanced against a Cello line to stop things becoming to light and airy. It acts to ground the listener, maybe even reflecting on the nature of the geology of the Heugh itself.

As I've acquired more experience in creating instrumentals I've really got into using discrete sections, even in a relatively short piece of music. The main focus of the piece, after the ascent, was based around thinking about the vanished fishing industry. The concertina was an obvious choice as a lead instrument to explore this idea as it was often used by sailors. An unusual choice of percussion at this point was the use of water pumpkins (water drums), for their earthy sound.

The hornpipe section is a much more lively section, including a bouzouki solo, supported by the driving pulse of the bodhrán before the final melancholic reprise. This final melancholic ending guides the listener back to the present day and also gives the track a pleasing story arc.

'Causeway Dreams' was a real challenge for me in some ways. I wanted to finish the album with a strong piece of music and somehow add in some material from previous tracks.

I hit upon the idea of using vocal snippets from earlier pieces, using the concept of the water itself somehow holding echoes of past times and the call of the natural world. It was a convenient way to reprise some of the 'Foley' sounds from the rest of the album, a worthy goal for the last track of this project.

As I've acquired more experience in creating instrumentals I've really got into using discrete sections, even in a relatively short piece of music. This was the approach taken with Causeway Dreams, leading to the headache of bringing together six different sections, each with their own character and instrumentation. In the end it was a bit of a devil to mix, but I feel it was worth the effort ;-)

The six sections are:-

1) Into the Depths - The journey begins by plunging the listener below the water of the covered causeway, an alien world where the natural world, history and spiritual feelings all fuse together in the restless sea. The power of the sea is very much a feature in this first section. There is peril for the unwary, man cannot control this element of nature, only react to it's moods.

2) In a Place of Wonder - This lighter section featuring harp and flute introduces a feeling of wonder as you remain below the water with the creatures that call the sea their home.

3) Island Echoes - Still below the water you begin to hear echoes of 'Foley' sounds from previous tracks in the project brought together in this underwater realm, suggesting a merging of history and nature, an 'island memory', captured in the surrounding water of the island. At the end of this section you begin to ascend back towards the emerging causeway.

4) A Meeting of Worlds - As you emerge from the water you are in that moment of balance between the two worlds. The voice you first heard in 'The Pilgrims Way' is ready to lead you home. This section is very short, but also very important, as it acts as a musical nexus or balance point in the whole piece of music.

5) Travelling Home - As the sea finally recedes, the rolling feel of acoustic DADGAD guitar and low whistle feature to lead the listener as you travel across the now fully uncovered causeway back towards the Northumbrian mainland.

6) The Call of the Coast - As you travel further along the causeway, you hear the sound of Northumbrian pipes over a boisterous bodhrán backing. The mainland is calling to you but the voice you first heard in the Pilgrims Way soars as a final reminder of this special place. I wanted to get a contrast to the smallpipes and the use of voice in this final section was a good emotional and also mixing choice as they complemented each other.