So here it is. My first, in what I hope, is a series of blog posts. I’m a freelance musician, composer, and educator, so prepare yourself for content about these subjects and hopefully much more. These posts aim to feature the projects I‘m working on, the projects fellow musicians are working on and, as a lover of Rugby League, there is a strong chance there might be the occasional promotion (and rant) about what is the best sport in the world.

As this is my first official post I should give you a little background about me, (but bearing in mind I’ve never been one to do what I should be doing), I’m not going to do that. Instead, if you keep reading this, and future posts, there’s a strong chance all will be revealed in due course. With that said, my recent book Driving A Cat To Portugal and Building A House When We Get There, (available at all good stockists!) hopefully fills in some of the gaps I’m leaving here. 

Future posts will give me a chance to delve deeper into the things I get up to (or should I say, some of the things I get up to!) but for now, rather than giving you a potted history of me and mine, I’m going to get straight into the following;

• A project I’m currently working on and how it came to be 
• Those involved in the project

The Project 

In February 2025, I was invited by the editor of Algarve Plus, Susi Rogoi-Goodkind, to write an article about the live music scene in The Algarve – Portugal. You can read the article here (pages 26-29). For those of you who haven’t just clicked ‘here’, the article discusses the fact that much of the live music in the Algarve is performed by performers playing covers. Across the Algarve, on any given weekend especially in the summer months, the many oceanic or inland bars and restaurants welcome musicians to play at their venues, on the proviso they play only covers. I’m sure you know the type of thing I’m talking about, a band, (but more often than not), a person with backing tracks, giving yet another version of ‘Valerie’’, ‘Superstition’, ‘Sex On Fire’ or any one of the usual repertoire of songs served up as a typical afternoon or evening of touristic Algarvian entertainment.

However, for those wanting something a little less generic and something a little different, or for those who want to be part of supporting original music, finding not only venues that have an equal passion for new music, but actual bands and artists who are brave enough to produce original music, can sometimes feel like the quest for the Holy Grail. Where are the new bands?

The Algarve Plus article also touches on the potential audiences for these new bands. When a new restaurant opens, with a talented aspiring chef presenting their ideas on food, people flock to see what’s going on. There are no guarantees of great food, service, and reasonable prices, with the inevitable bulging waistline and satisfied smile. When a new supermarket or shopping centre opens, (selling the same things as all the other retail outlets), without any guarantees that the prices will be lower, the produce better and the staff serving you will be more welcoming than the usual place you shop, on opening day the car parks are full. It seems that with anything new, or when people get the chance to have new experiences, they can’t seem to get enough of it without any guarantee they will like what they are being offered. So why is it different with music? Why is there such reluctance from audiences to support new music and in turn encourage venues to do the same? After all, if we don’t support new music and new artists, where will the next generation of musicians come from? In reality, the cost of supporting new music is invariably the price of a couple of pints, (or for the more refined of you a G&T), far cheaper than most new things there are to experience. So why does there seem to be a reluctance to find an excuse for a few drinks with friends while getting the chance to discover new talents? 

The above hopefully tells you what the drivers were and are for what I’m currently working on. So what am I currently working on? The answer is O.W.T.O.

O.W.T.O

O.W.T.O. is the Algarve’s newest original music project and it brings together internationally recognised and award-winning musicians to present new and original music. We want to be a driving force and potentially an inspiration for others to write, develop and perform original music across the Algarve and, who knows, beyond. Lofty ambitions I know but, if you don’t aim high there’s a chance you might never get off the ground.

Future blog posts will delve deeper into the members of O.W.T.O., their careers, personal ambitions, and why they share the same passion as me for musicians to come together to create something bigger than the individual, but for now, let me introduce you to the founding members.

Firstly there’s me. So far I’ve been the writer and producer of the music, (but moving forward I’m hoping to bring in more writers and creative talents). The music draws on my musical influences across cultural divides, but in a nutshell, the tunes have got groove! If you’ve got hips, then I’m looking to get them swaying and moving. Think Motown, Funk, Soul, bits of Jazz, with some, but not many, Rock influences. Bearing in mind I’m hosting this blog on my website, which features some of my work as a drummer, you’ve probably already gathered that I provide the drum grooves for this band.

Next, on guitar, we have Rudy Valentino Jr. Originally from the USA, but with an international career spanning countries, continents, and probably other things beginning with ‘C’ that I can’t think of right now. Rudy has won a Grammy and has played with a host of famous names that on their own would fill a who’s who of musical greats. Rudy has a passion for music that is second to none and he’s got the ‘chops’ (a musical term for serious skills) to prove that when the going gets tough, he can cut it with the best of them.

The final founding member, and bassist, is Timothy, originally from the UK. 

At this point, you’re probably thinking, ‘Why so little about Timothy?’. Well, I secretly (but perhaps not so secretly) think he likes to see himself as a man of mystery with hidden depths and an untold story just waiting to be unleashed on the world. Well folks, stay tuned and mark my words, I’m going to get the lowdown on Mr Timothy and reveal to you just what might be lurking behind those often bad jokes of his!

So that’s O.W.T.O., except, (for those of you old enough to remember Looney Tunes with Bugs Bunny and friends) ‘that’s not all folks’!

When I conceived the concept of O.W.T.O there was also a further driver for its existence. I wanted to bring the international community of musicians in the Algarve together with their Portuguese counterparts. I wanted to give new Portuguese artists a vehicle and a platform for their talents to be heard. With that in mind, I’m pleased to announce that joining O.W.T.O, on this journey, are two new vocal talents who hail from this sun-kissed Iberian peninsula. I’d like to introduce Diogo Ramos and Mariana Barnabe who I hope you will be getting to know more about in future posts. For now, I am grateful for their contributions so far and I look forward to more of what has already been a stunning collaboration.

If you are still reading this, then thank you. The plan is to post something monthly about this and other projects, collaborations (musical or otherwise) and an insight into how one person, together with like-minded souls, can perhaps influence what has always been to create what might be. As I said earlier, lofty ideas, but one has to start somewhere!

For the time being, a date for your diary, Sunday, April 27th 18.30H, because that’s when O.W.T.O will be revealed to the world, or at least to the audience for our first gig. 

More about that next time…. Thanks for reading this first post.