In September 2012, I went on a train journey across the US with my friend Louise. We started in New York, and travelled to San Francisco, via Washington DC, New Orleans, Memphis, and Chicago. In Memphis, we stayed with a girl called Amy-Noelle: a friend of a friend of a friend. When it became apparent that we really needed a car in Memphis to be able to get anywhere, Amy-Noelle was kind enough to oblige. She was, however, slightly less enthusiastic about taking us to our fina

Many of my favourite songs were released in the 1960s. Nina Simone’s I Put A Spell On You. Beach Boys’ God Only Knows. Dusty Springfield’s If You Go Away. And Sam Cooke’s A Change is Gonna Come: one of the greatest songs of all time. There are some vocal performances that I never get tired of. Otis Redding on Try a Little Tenderness, for example: quite possibly one of the best interpretations of a song, ever. But Sam Cooke’s performance on this song is really wonderful. There

I spend quite a lot of time outside work playing music: singing, writing songs, recordings songs, playing gigs. When I'm at home, I always pick up my guitar - whether it's for 10mins or an hour. Sometimes playing and singing can be really fun. Sometimes it can be really relaxing. But there is a bigger reason why I like it so much. More on that in a second. The Arts Council England funds a lot of organisations that produce wonderful art exhibitions, plays and music concerts. I