Most people know me today as an author, both of contemporary novels as Miranda Dickinson, and most recently as a debut crime novelist, writing as MJ White. But there is another great love in my life that has been around longer than the words: my music.
I grew up with a pair of folk singers as parents. Consequently my early years were spent being taken to Mum and Dad’s gigs across the West Midlands, in village halls and W.I. meetings, harvest festivals and church events, singing with them and playing guitar for my ‘turns’. From there I joined bands in my teens, singing with the band at my church and then doing vocals for friends’ bands. I joined the band RAiN in the late 1990s, first as a songwriter and then as lead vocalist, and we recorded two EPs as well as touring across the UK.
I’ve performed with bands of all shapes and sizes, from duos to nine-piece event bands, and recorded with local, national and international producers including Chris Smith, Reuben Halsey and Chris Eaton. Until the pandemic hit, I sang with events band The Peppermints and did regular session singing work, in addition to writing my own music. I recorded my self-funded debut solo album, About Time in 2010, and in 2011 wrote and recorded a book soundtrack EP for my third novel, It Started With a Kiss, with The Peppermints (aka The Pinstripes in the book). My music has been heard as far afield as Australia, Africa, the USA and even on cruise ships! (no idea how that happened!)
Below are some images from my gigs around the UK…
TAKE A LITTLE TOUR THROUGH MY TUNES!
Below are some of my songs for you to enjoy. Scroll down to see them and some videos, too.
About Time also featured two of the songs I co-wrote with internationally renowned chill-out composer and producer Reuben Halsey. Here’s Running Home – the first song we worked on together. Roo wrote the music and I wrote the melody and lyrics. All of the vocals you can hear are me!
If you’ve ever watched any of my vlogs, you will have heard the title track from my album, About Time – it’s the story of my life in 1 minute and 24 seconds!
I’ve also written songs and music for other people. The song below, Restless is the title track I wrote the lyrics for and recorded for a short film, Caged…
You can hear my music on Soundcloud and buy it at Bandcamp – I will be adding About Time and the It Started With a Kiss EP soon. Below are a couple of the songs from the album…
Years after all those folk gigs with Mum and Dad, I’ve found a new love for folk music. This video was recorded on Porthmeor Beach in Cornwall, when the sea fog rolled in and I had the beach to myself!
And finally, here is the film about the making of the It Started With a Kiss book soundtrack – including my band and, right at the end, the song my protagonist Romily writes with her bandmate and studio owner Jack, in the book…
When the pandemic hit, all of my gigs and session work ended. During the last two years, I’ve been writing a lot of new songs and my hope is to get to record them. I’d also love to start gigging again – nothing beats playing live and I miss it so much. I’m going to try to find more session singing work and pursue my music more. It’s been neglected for too long…
If you enjoyed this, let me know in the comments! x
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