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I get as much of a buzz going in a recording studio these days as I did when I made a demo with my first band...later to be released on cassette only! I love getting the chance to play on records that are very different to the music I usually play, you always learn something new. I made a record this year with two friends, and called 'Before the Ruin'. Roddy is the lead singer in the brilliant Scottish rock band . When we went in the studio we didn't really know what the record was going to sound like, we had 12 songs that we loved, great musicians with us and loads of enthusiasm.

I personally think you have to be careful mixing rock music and folk music, obviously lots of groups have been very successful doing this and have made great records. I think there is a big danger when the two genres meet that it can often sound like watered down folk music and really bad rock. I was chuffed to be asked to play on new album '22 Dreams' this year. There is a song on there called 'Where Ere You Go' that Paul wrote...it sounds like a classic old folk song, really beautiful. I think it's a brilliant example of having a great love of different kinds of music but being true to yourself. With Roddy and Kris I really didn't want to make an album that sounded like folk musicians trying to rock out or Roddy trying to be a folk singer. Hopefully we made a record where you can hear influences from lots of different kinds of music and a record where we weren't trying to be something we're not....

I'm writing this last bit of the blog the day after the recording...it was a brilliant day in the studio. When I arrived there sat at the kitchen table was the band listening to traditional singers on the stereo and playing me songs by and that I had never heard before. We went in the studio and they played me their new songs. I think they are a perfect example of a group that loves all kinds of music and you hear their love of folk music in the melodies but they have always stayed true to themselves.