I AM A JAMAICAN BORN SINGER/SONGWRITER/MULTI-INSTRUMENTAL MUSICIAN, I WAS FIRST INSPIRED BY MUSIC WAY BACK IN JAMAICA WHEN MY UNCLE MADE A FLUTE FROM A BAMBOO REED AND BLEW IT. I ARRIVED IN ENGLAND AT A LATE AGE AND THE AUTHORITIES COULD NOT UNDERSTAND ME SO THEY SENT ME TO A SCHOOL FOR AUTISTIC CHILDREN THEN LATER TO A SPECIAL BOARDING SCHOOL IN THE COUNTRY. I LEFT SCHOOL WITH NO EDUCATION AND ATTENDED MY MOTHER'S PENTECOSTAL CHURCH. WHILE I WAS IN THE CHURCH I STARTED PLAYING THE GUITAR UNTIL AGAINST ALL ODDS I LEARNED TO MASTER IT. I TAUGHT MYSELF TO PLAY CLASSICAL MUSIC AND VARIOUS DIFFERENT STYLES FROM BOOKS. LATER ON IN LIFE I LEFT THE CHURCH AND WENT ON TO PLAY WITH A FEW BANDS IN MY LOCAL AREA UNTIL ONE DAY I MET SOMEONE AT A GIG WHO ASKED ME IF I KNEW A GUITARIST WHO WANTED TO PLAY WITH A BAND IN SWITZERLAND. I WAS THAT GUITARIST WHO ENDED UP FLYING TO ZURICH PLAYING WITH THAT BAND. WE TOURED ALL AROUND SWITZERLAND,GERMANY,DENMARK,ITALY,NORWAY. AFTER 2 YEARS I FELT LIKE QUITTING SO I CAME BACK TO LONDON AND THOUGHT IT WAS ALL OVER UNTIL I WAS LATER INVITED BACK TO SWITZERLAND BY ANOTHER BAND. WE WERE PLAYING IN ALL THE AMERICAN ARMY BASES AND CLUB CIRCUIT UNTIL AFTER 3 MONTHS I REALLY WAS FED UP, SO I CAME BACK TO LONDON. I MANAGED TO STAY IN ENGLAND FOR 12 YEARS DOING DIFFERENT KIND OF THINGS LIKE SCULPTURE AND ART EXHIBITING MY WORK IN THE UK DOING WORKSHOPS,SELLING THINGS AND ALSO KEEPING THE MUSIC GOING DOING THE ODD GIG HERE AND THERE. EVENTUALLY I MOVED DOWN TO THE SOUTH WEST OF ENGLAND IN THE DEEP RURAL COUNTRY SIDE AND I LIVED THERE FOR ALMOST 7 YEARS UNTIL I HEARD A VOICE WITHIN ME SAY; "GO TO ISRAEL" I GAVE AWAY MY VAN AND ALL MY LITTLE POSSESSIONS UNTIL ALL I HAD WAS MY GUITAR,BAG AND A PORTABLE STUDIO. I WENT UP TO LONDON AND BUSKED ON THE STREETS FOR A WEEK OR SO UNTIL I HAD MY FARE. I BOUGHT A YEARS OPEN TICKET AND TOLD MY GIRLFRIEND THAT I WAS ONLY GOING FOR 3 MONTHS. SOON I WAS ON THE PLANE TO ISRAEL AND WAS MET BY A FRIEND I KNEW WHO TOOK ME UP TO THE NORTH OF THE COUNTRY. I STAYED THERE UNTIL I COULD TAKE IT NO MORE, SO ONE NIGHT AT 12 MIDNIGHT I JUST PACKED MY BAG AND WENT OUT INTO THE NIGHT NOT KNOWING WHERE I WAS GOING, BUT KNEW THAT GOD WOULD HELP ME. AS I WALKED DOWN THE DARK STREET I REMEMBERED THIS OLD ABANDONED HOUSE ON A QUIET STREET, SO I WENT THERE AND STAYED THERE FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS, I HAD SOME CANDLES SO I WAS OK, FOR WATER I BOUGHT IT FROM A CORNER SHOP, SO WASHING MYSELF WAS IN A MINIMAL WAY, BUT I STAYED CLEAN. WHEN WE DON'T HAVE MUCH, WE TEND TO USE THE LITTLE WE HAVE IN SUCH ASTOUNDING WAYS, AND THATS WHAT I DID, AND I SURVIVED. THERE WERE LOTS OF ORANGE, PEAR AND AVOCADO TREES IN THE YARD. AFTER A FEW DAYS STAYING IN THAT MOSQUITO RIDDEN HOUSE I TOOK A BUS TO TEL-AVIV, WHERE I BUSKED, BOUGHT MYSELF A TENT AND LIVED ON THE BEACH FOR 3 MONTHS. ONE DAY SOMEONE TOLD ME OF A BEAUTIFUL PLACE IN JERUSALEM CALLED "LIFTA" THEY SAID THAT ITS A PLACE THAT YOU CAN ONLY GET THERE BY FOOT OR A DONKEY, IT SOUNDED GREAT...AFTER A COUPLE OF DAYS I PACKED UP MY TENT AND WENT TO JERUSALEM, AGAIN IT WAS AT NIGHT TIME. WHEN I GOT THERE I ASKED WHERE LIFTA WAS AND SOMEONE TOLD ME. WHEN I GOT TO THE ENTRANCE I STOPPED AND LOOKED DOWN A VERY STEEP AND DARK PLACE. I MET SOMEONE WHO WAS GOING DOWN AND HE INVITED ME TO COME TO HIS PLACE FOR A TURKISH COFFEE. WHEN WE GOT TO HIS PLACE HE MADE A OPEN FIRE AND WE HAD COFFEE AND STARTED JAMMING PLAYING GUITARS AND SINGING AROUND THE FIRE. WHEN I GOT TIRED I WENT OUTSIDE AND FOUND A PLACE TO PUT UP MY TENT AND I WAS SO TIRED THAT I JUST CRAWLED INSIDE AND FELL ASLEEP. THE NEXT MORNING WHEN I CAME OUT OF MY TENT...IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL, PEACEFUL, BIRDS WHISTLING, FIG TREES. AMAZING PALESTINIAN ABONDONED STONE BUILDINGS, AT LAST I FOUND TRUE PEACE AND VIBRATIONS. I FOUND A NICE SPOT NEAR WHERE I WAS AND PUT UP MY TENT, AND I LIVED THERE FOR ONE WHOLE YEAR UNTIL THE RAINS CAME. BY THIS TIME I WAS ALREADY 3 MONTHS IN ISRAEL, SO I WROTE TO MY GIRLFRIEND IN ENGLAND AND TOLD HER THAT THE BOOK WAS JUST BEGINNING TO OPEN AND THAT I WANTED TO STAY LONGER. I MET SOME GUYS WHO WANTED TO FORM A BAND WITH ME, WE EVENTUALLY FORMED A BAND CALLED "ROOTS AFRICA" WHICH LATER WENT ON TO RELEASE AN ALBUM AND TOURED AROUND ISRAEL DOING GIGS, LIVE TV SHOWS AND ALSO BIG FESTIVALS. I REMEMBER ALL THE OTHER BAND MEMBERS GOING BACK HOME TO THEIR COMFORTABLE MODERN HOMES..AND ME GOING DOWN THE VALLEY AT 5 IN THE MORNINGS AFTER THE GLITZ, GLAMOUR, AND BIG SHOWS, TO SLEEP IN MY HUMBLE TENT WHICH I LOVED, IT WAS ABSOLUTELY GLORIOUS. THERE WAS A POOL THAT I BATHED IN WHICH WAS LOVELY SPRING WATER THAT CAME OUT FROM ROCKS INTO A CAVE, INTO A POOL AND THEN FLOWED DOWN THE VALLEY, THERE WERE WILD FRUITS, FIGS, SWEET CACTUS FRUITS, DATES, PLUMS, WILD GARLIC WHICH I COOKED WITH. I USED TO WALK ONE HOUR INTO THE OLD CITY TO BUY SUGAR, OATS, RICE AND OTHER THINGS BUT EVERYTHING ELSE WAS THERE, SOMETIMES I'D STAY THERE FOR DAYS AND DAYS WRITING SONGS, COMPOSING, MEDITATING AND CHILLING OUT. MANY OF MY SONGS WERE WRITTEN IN JERUSALEM. AFTER 6 MONTHS MY GIRLFRIEND WROTE AND TOLD ME THAT IT WAS BEST FOR US TO PART FOR GOOD, AND I THOUGHT SO TOO, BECAUSE I DIDN'T WANT TO GO BACK TO ENGLAND, SO SOON WE BOTH BECAME HISTORY. EVENTUALLY AFTER 3 AND A HALF YEARS I MET MY ISRAELI WIFE, OR SHE FOUND ME IN TEL-AVIV WHERE I WAS PLAYING WITH THE BAND. WE HAD A CIVIL WEDDING IN LONDON AND A TRADITIONAL JEWISH WEDDING IN ISRAEL, NOW WE HAVE 4 BEAUTIFUL BOYS. WE LIVED IN ISRAEL FOR A WHILE UNTIL LATER MOVING BACK TO LIVE IN ENGLAND. WE SOMETIMES GO TO VISIT OUR FAMILY IN ISRAEL, BUT AT THE MOMENT WE ARE IN THE UK AS I ALSO HAVE FAMILY HERE TOO. WE HOPE TO RETURN BACK TO LIVE IN ISRAEL VERY SOON. AT PRESENT I AM WORKING ON MY MUSIC AND WRITING, AND PUBLISHING MY WORKS ON DIFFERENT SOCIAL NETWORKS. I AM ALSO A SCULPTOR AND I AM INVOLVED IN A FEW EXHIBITIONS IN AND AROUND LONDON, SO WORLD LOOK OUT, BECAUSE I FEEL LIKE A PIECE OF WOOD THAT HAS BEEN SMOULDERING FOR YEARS AND YEARS, AND JUST ABOUT READY TO BREAK OUT INTO SONG AND A WHOLE LOAD OF MUSICAL FLAMES, BUILT UP BY GASSES OF INNOVATION, EXPERIENCE, DETERMINATION, KNOW-WHAT-I-WANT, AND A CAN-DELIVER-ATTITUDE, IF GIVEN THE CHANCE.