After many years of doubt and procrastination, The Rayne has emerged as my musical identity. 

The Rayne comprises me and my wonderful team of collaborators, at home here in Yorkshire, throughout the UK and overseas.

With The Rayne, I’m seeking to craft songs that draw on the sounds of the classic songwriters of the 1970s and 1980s, whilst mixing in a contemporary and unique flavour of my own.

My Story

At first, it was all about football

As a kid, growing up in the north of England, football was “it” for me. I loved it, and would take every opportunity I could to play football, to go to “the match” with my dad, to watch it on the TV and to read about it in magazines. Everyone said I was “football crazy” and I was convinced that football would be my life as I grew up.

But then my eyesight began to fade, and with that, so did my dreams of making a life in football. My eye conditions made it increasingly difficult for me to see the ball, to watch a game or to read those magazines. I was quietly but most definitely devastated; and I withdrew from most of my friendships – them having been almost entirely based on playing, watching and talking about football.

At the same time, I was also off school for a series of months as I could no longer see to read the board in class or the school books. I found myself withdrawing further and confining myself to the house. But then my parents did a truly wonderful thing and unearthed an old radio-cassette player for me; I was soon enthralled.

A Journey of Discovery

Stuck at home but now armed with that radio-cassette player, I began to discover the delights of Radio 1 and the music of the early 1980s. I must have sat there for hours and hours listening to that radio-cassette player, figuring out my initial likes and dislikes amongst what I was hearing. Howard Jones, David Bowie, Billy Joel, The Pretenders and the Eurythmics were just some of my favourites then.

At the same time, I became curious about my two older brothers’ record collections, and was introduced to the wondrous sounds of the Beatles, the Kinks, Elton John, Thin Lizzy, Meat Loaf and many others. They were so great at sharing their love of music, and encouraging mine.

A Passion to Play Guitar

When I was very little, my brothers were both “forced” to take piano lessons, and resisted them the best way they could. My eldest brother’s piano lessons ended when he broke his wrist; my middle brother’s lessons ended when he managed to persuade mum and dad to allow him to switch to guitar. And so it was that a guitar entered our household!

I began to pick up my brother’s nylon string guitar and try to emulate what I was hearing on the radio. My attempts were terrible, but a fire had been lit inside of me.

At that time, I had a regular stream of eye clinic appointments in Newcastle, and these became ideal opportunities for me to drag my mum to the city’s guitar shops. Gradually, I impressed upon her my “need” for an electric guitar and, after months of campaigning, a bargain was made. Mum and dad agreed to get me a Les Paul style electric guitar and amp, as a combined birthday and Christmas present; and I was made to agree that I would take lessons and “stick with it”.

Losing my mum and then my eyesight

A couple of years later, my mum began to fall ill. She wrestled with kidney failure for almost a year but then pneumonia set in and there was no way back. At only age 55, her life was cut tragically short. Devastated and lost without her, my dad, my brothers and I tried to find ways to grieve, deprived of mum’s calm, loving and stabilising force at the heart of our household.

During the course of those years, I was slowly continuing to lose my sight and, by age 18, I was totally blind.  Looking back, I realise that those years were such difficult times. I see now how vital the love of my family and friends and my passion for music were in carrying me through.

Music and life

Through my teenage years I began to play in bands and, once at college and then university, the bands got better and better, and sometimes we’d even get paid!

However, after university, I was fearful of trying to make a life of my music and I felt a great pressure to get a “proper” job. This I did, but music always continued to be a great source of joy.

One important outlet for my music during those years was The Love Department – a musical collaboration with my middle brother and our poet and musician friend Andrew.  We found great joy in combining Andrew’s lyrics with my music and then recording 3 or 4 track Eps over the course of intense weekends; one day, some of those recordings must see the light of day.

A second important outlet was the band we formed at work – a transport-themed covers band we call Supertram.  With Supertram, I’ve had the great pleasure of performing fantastic songs – such as Fast Car, Long Train Runnin’ and Walk on By – playing with some great musicians and appearing at some wonderful venues, including the iconic Leeds University Refectory.

A third important outlet has been singing and performing with my family.  .  My wife and I have 2 wonderful daughters and music has always been a big part of our family life. When they were babies, I would sing Beatles and Kinks songs to settle them to sleep; then later, the four of us would have sessions after dinner, sitting in the kitchen singing our family renditions of Don’t Stop Believin’ or American Pie. More recently, it’s been a great pleasure to help them take their first steps with  learning the guitar. Equally, as my dad’s dementia developed and began to make conversations more difficult, I’d take my ukulele in to his care home and we’d find great connection and joy through singing the songs of Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland and others.

Music begins to take centre-stage again

Then, in 2020I discovered The Songwriting Academy, and I felt like I’d found my community and an opportunity to take my musical journey in a new direction. With the amazing help and support of the mentors, staff and my fellow students, I began the process of sharing my music more widely. 

I spent a lot of time thinking about an artist name to release under, before realising that my artist name could be a great means of honouring and saying thank you to my mum; thanking her for her patience as I dragged her to all of those guitar shops in Newcastle and for her love, support and encouragement as I began to learn to play that first electric guitar. I also realised that it could serve as a means of me acknowledging the sadness I feel that she got to witness so little of the flourishing of that seed that she did so much to nurture.

Rayne was my mum’s family name. Having adopted this in my artist name, not only do I have cause to think of her every time I think about my music, I’d like to think that it means that a part of her lives on through my music.

The Rayne’s debut single was released in March 2022, closely followed by five further singles during the course of 2022. During 2023 there will be a further series of singles, culminating in the release of the debut album.