Just What the World Needs...Another Folk Musician
PART ONE... I can’t really remember when I first became interested in Folk music, although my interest in the stringed instruments I was destined to play began at around the age of 7 or 8, the same time the Beatles were making such 
a big impression on the world. I remember at junior school we had some books with pictures of Mandolins, Lutes and other instruments in them and I just loved to look at the pictures and imagine what it would be like if I could play something so exotic. I also remember seeing snatches of the Dubliners on TV around this time and liking their music.
My mother had always played the piano we had in the front room and so I was exposed to music from an early age. There were some old songbooks in the piano stool that I would often look through and read the words, songs like ‘The Lincolnshire Poacher’, ‘Twankydillo’ and others about ‘Dem Darkies sweatin’ it out in de cotton fields’. I realised quite early on that pop music wasn’t really my thing, although I did like the odd record but I always seemed drawn by the unusual fringe records that were on ‘Top of the Pops’ once and then sank without trace. I remember loving the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band with Viv Stanshall and Neill Innes but most other bands output just left me cold.
My mother had a cousin who lived in London, my ‘Uncle’ Squire Clayton, I always referred to him as ‘Uncle’ Squire despite the fact he wasn’t really. Anyway, he worked for the Ministry of Food and was a University educated chap and listened to a lot of classical music and it was while staying at his house in Pinner that I first learned of the existance of the Russian instrument, the Balalaika. Squire had some recordings of the Ossipov State Orchestra playing stuff like, ‘The Volga Boatman’s Song’ and ‘Stenka Raisen’. I was very taken with the fact this instrument was triangular and again wished I could get my hands on one just for the novelty value.