If you live in Totnes, then you already know The R.G. Morrison. You may not know that is his name, but you know him as Rupert, one of the pillars of our community here, the guy who runs the Drift Record Shop, one of the best and last record stores in the country and world, let alone our little Devonshire market town. It’s one of the things that makes Totnes great, and was one of the first things I noticed when I first arrived here. In fact, Drift and Soundart Radio were two major factors in me deciding this was a reasonable place to settle down. Probably Dartington Music College was a third, but that closed just after I landed.

It was only a matter of time, and me suspiciously skulking around the shop, before the R.G. and I befriended one another. And as it turns out he is my main local friend who knows what the other half of my life is like when I’m away from here, out on the road on the indie rock tour circuit. He already knew my albums with both Jeffrey Lewis and Johnny Flynn before I arrived. He booked Jeff and also my friends The Wave Pictures to play in-stores at Drift. And we both recently became dads at around the same time too.

My point here is he’s got a band, and has released some critically acclaimed albums of his own. He’s just recently released an LP on Static Caravan called Diamond Valley, and its had some great reviews. And I am happy to say I’ve joined the band now, but that was just after the album was recorded so unfortunately I’m not on it. Nonetheless, I’d highly recommend it. It’s one of the few albums that my wife and I agree on. But check it out for yourself. It seems you can still have a cheeky listen here on the website for a limited time only.

Hopefully we’ll be playing these songs at some gigs or festivals later in the year. Otherwise we’re going to start a dirty electronic euro house band to feed our children.