Untitled

Once again the lead guitarist in alt-folk legends fishonastick has found himself immersed in a vat of disciplinary hot water. Fans of the very young looking tunesmiths will remember with dismay how Adam Goodwin recently came to blows with lead singer and renowned uber-professional, Michael R Shaw. The spat ultimately led to Goodwin being ejected from the band. The quarrel had begun in the main…

So Wayne sends us a WhatsApp a couple of days before rehearsal last week and says he’s been listening to an old fishonastick recording of a song with loads of slide guitar on it and that he wants to have a go at recording it. The original was frantic and unrelenting in pace and here is the old audio version from a live set at the Iguana back in 2004……. Because we are now all soulful and…

As promised, and exclusive to our email subscribers, please feel free to toddle through an as yet unreleased, one take live recording of a song called DONE. Love, love, love the guitar work from Adam running through this from the 1 minute mark. Wayne’s drumming was ace as usual apart from one tiny error on the very last beat of the tune. I definitely recall mentioning to him that, in general no…

We are supposed to be genetically disposed to protect those closest to us. However, we are only required to do so if they cannot protect themselves. So what happens when that protective inclination has no outlet? You write a song about it.   We are in an emotional bunker. The lame and worldly distractions are the munitions that rain down on us; trying to distract us from just being. It’s the…

Warning AI generated!!!  3 August 2025 No one foresaw the events of Elvis Presley’s final ever ever gig last night. Putting the issue of his no longer existing to one side, the King took to the stage with tears in his ankles and a heavy throbbing in his collars. He gave his adoring fans one last glimpse of the colossal talent that has stood astride the music industry for centuries. What…

How the scene might have looked if it had actually happened. AI generated image of two much more handsome men with better guitars than ours, arguing near a plate of biscuits. Adam Goodwin, the effervescent, limelight hogging, lead guitarist in fishonastick has been sacked for allowing his phone to ring during rehearsals. The awkward moment was caught on camera last Thursday. Halfway through…

When did you first have sex? Put the answer in the comments at the bottom please. I don’t care what kind it was. For there are kinds. I just want to know exactly how old you were when it first happened. For it does usually just happen. I not only want to know how old in years you were, but also ideally to the minute if possible. Thanks. Why? Just nosey mate. Doing a spreadsheet. For most, I…

Missed opportunities. Seizing the day n’all that. Making a difference. 1995 was the naughtiest of the years. If ever a year should be sent to bed early without being allowed to watch its favourite cop series, Starsky and Hutch (obvs) then 1995 was the one. Although, I might be referring to 96, or 2011 or 2016. I forget. We used to outro this song with the BBC snooker theme tune (Dragracer by The…

Wayne is back!! After popping out to get some milk pre-Covid, the big hearted drummer moves amongst us once more. This video is from our first rehearsal together for nearly five years. Adam brought the milk. Victory rehearsalGorse Hill 24.04.25 Victory The Victory of Irene Nemirovsky (1903-1942) I wrote this song after hearing Irene’s daughter being interviewed on the radio in January 2006.…

Don’t you hate it when musicians start telling you what they think about stuff? Lecturing you on what you need to think about this or that? Hoisting themselves all over your airwaves to give you their opinion about the rights or wrongs of the world. Self-righteously lecturing the listener with their first world, unremarkable views which they hold for their own entitled amusement, while people…

Except now we’re rehearsing in the acoustically marvellous Methodist hall in Gorse Hill. After a 5 year hiatus, we’re back and getting ready to promote a new album. This implies that we prepared to promote the last album, but that was a kind of lockdown effort so we couldn’t really. Anyway, a new album is coming and this time we’ll be ready to share the torture around. So how can we continue…

What can you say or do? It’s an imperfect world and we are all flawed. What do you do when your friend does something hideous and contemptible? Stand by? Intervene? Suggest another path? Stay away? Cut them off? Write a song? Also a rare example of a better second verse than the first in my opinion. I also really like the fact that you can hear Adam plugging his guitar in. I’m watching him…

A song about fiddling while the earth burns.

So much has changed since me and Adam started recording on a Tascam 4-track. You could just get an audio cassette, shove it in the machine and you were good to go. Professional recordings were things that happened away from home in soundproofed rooms with desks that had 1000’s of turny buttons and slidy things. These days you can pretty much have all those bells and whistles and more just sat…

Behind the 'How is this helping' Album Cover: The inspired creativity of James Youngjohns.