For all those who know, well...you can skip this bit if you like, but for the benefit of those who are new to all this then permit me to introduce myself.

I was 20 years old when I was part of the British Band 'Little Angels'. We signed to Polydor records in the spring of 88 and spent nearly 10 years making records together. We achieved 10 top forty hits in the UK and a number one album in the British album charts. We toured with Van Halen, Guns N' Roses, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Bryan Adams, ZZ Top to name a few and worked with some of the biggest names in the business at the time.

We attempted to become a band that would be remembered for high octane heartfelt rock that also could cross musical boundaries whilst still keeping it's integrity. Did we achieve it? Well that's not for me to say, but I'd like to think that all those (of you) who came to the gigs, bought the albums and became part of the adventure almost as much as we did, felt so and had a ball along the way!

The most amazing thing for me throughout it all was the commitment of YOU lot. Always there, always willing. From the beginnings of our "Rock 'n' Roll Education Tour"; through to the final show at the Royal Albert Hall, we walked a path of true commitment to our music and fans. This is what I am most proud of. When I look back across the band's existence there are many moments that stick in my mind.

Singing on stage at Hammersmith Apollo with Roger Daltrey (above), touring with Van Halen and Bon Jovi. The stadium shows we did with ZZ Top and Bryan Adams, especially Wembley. Going in at number one with the "Jam" album. Singing Beatles songs in the green room at TOTP's with Paul McCartney...the list goes on. I'm sure a lot of you reading this have similar memories. There is so much to mention and not enough space here to do so.   That was then.

But what about the lost years between the demise of the Angels and now? Where have I been? What have I been doing...?

After the Albert Hall I decided to take some time off to consider my options and talk to various people about my future. I was determined to continue as a singer/songwriter in one form or another, but felt I needed some time out. So I packed my bags and traveled for a while, taking time to let the end of what had been my life for over ten years sink in. Eventually I started to work on new material with a variety of people including one time Angel's collaborator, Cliff Wade (Jam album) and Pete Thomas (Elvis Costello and the Attractions). I demo'd material and finally put in place all the necessary parts for making my first solo album that would emerge on an independent label called Cottage Industry. The project was to go under the moniker of: Toby and The Whole Truth, the album: IGNORANCE IS BLISS.

It was during the planning of this album that I met  Roger Davis. Roger had been the bass player in 80's metal-ers 'Marshall Law' who had in fact spent one tour with the Angels opening. He has remained a loyal and generous friend throughout the years and is playing bass in my band today. I have nothing but respect for Roger, he is simply one of the greatest musicians I have had the pleasure of working with, and relish the thought of playing on stage with him. The other musicians were; Russell Godwin on guitar, Pete Thomas on drums and a variety of guests that are too long to list here.

The “Ignorance Is Bliss” album was recorded largely in my cottage deep in the Surrey countryside. We recorded guitars in my bathroom and I cut vocal tracks in a booth constructed out of two old doors! After completing most of the drum tracks at Pete Thomas's studio (The Bonaparte rooms in Richmond) we then de-camped to a barn across the road from my place. It had once been a granary and still contained most of the machinery. We literally set up the desk and all the other studio gear amidst it all and finally completed the overdubs in the spring of 94.

From there I set off for Bryan Adams' studio in West Vancouver to mix, employing Steve Harris to do the job. Steve had been a young engineer who worked on the early Angels' recording sessions and had grown with us through the years, so it was a natural progressive step to have him use his (by now) considerable expertise and instincts to mix what was my most personal statement to date. (You may be interested to know that Steve is now an extremely successful producer in his own right, working with U2, Dave Matthews Band and Counting Crows among others.) I was not disappointed with the results and returned to England very happy. It was then a case of releasing the album and touring as much as I could. Simple eh? Not so.

Unfortunately for me the course of the music biz then began to run awry. I found myself deserted by my manager with little explanation and at the helm of a project that had only begun to form itself. I decided to push on despite the seemingly impossible problems that were beginning to emerge. Also I had a tour booked and we were invited by 'Thunder' to open for them on their current tour. There was no going back.

To cut a long story short, the tour was a disaster! I had underestimated the workload involved due to my manager's departure, and quickly became ill with a serious virus that eventually developed into pneumonia.

I WAS A MESS! The tour was cancelled and it inevitably led to me splitting the band and being forced to re-consider my future once again. Not a good time. From that point on I began the task of regrouping my ideas and intentions. Was I to become simply a singer/songwriter and try again? Or was it better to work with other writers to try and establish myself as a writer for others?

I decided that I needed to relax a little and let the process take its own time. A very wise man once told me that there is no boat to miss in the music biz, you are as good as your next success. Time waits for quality. I believe this and always knew that when the time was right, and if the songs were right and I believed in the integrity of my music, people would see it and respond. Music fans are not stupid. They like what they like and don't need to be told what is good and bad.

So I moved back to Yorkshire, built a studio and sat in it composing for around a year. Within that year I worked with Roger quite intensively as well as Mark 'Kipper' Eldridge (Sting's collaborator and co-producer of his last album), and Elliott Kennedy (well known “pop” writer).

It was at this point I met Matt Eldridge (Mark “Kipper's” brother) who is now my drummer. I had been invited to attend a Bryan Adams gig in Huddersfield and was inspired by Bryan to get a fully fledged band back together, so Matt made up the numbers as I once again got back in the rehearsal room to write and arrange more material for a potential second studio solo album.

It's worth mentioning at this point that I re-established my relationship with Phil Hopwood who had worked with the band in the original “Too Posh Too Mosh” era and who has been tireless in his attempts to get doors opened for me and remains one of my closest friends. (As a side step to all this I was approached by Van Halen's camp, albeit quite casually, and suddenly was being considered for the singing job due to the vacancy left by Sammy Hagar! How about that for a curve ball?!) It obviously didn't work out, but it was flattering to be considered all the same.

During this period we worked as a three piece and demo'd for various companies including Sony and Island Records. I also had the absolute pleasure of working with the producer 'Head' that had previously worked with PJ Harvey and U2 as well as Feeder and Tricky. That experience re-taught me the art of good recording. He put us in a studio in Yeovil and recorded us as a band! No overdubs, so we had to work hard at the performance. The result of this two year period was lots of demo sessions and plenty of songs available for a potential second album - most of which have still made the final 'A' list for this new set of recordings I am (will be) making.

After all of this time of pushing to get back in the frame, we were still no closer to a deal so I reluctantly decided to call a halt to the recording and try and use what we had to further the project.

By this point I was living in Bristol and my wife and I had a baby on the way, so I decided to look into other areas of the entertainment game to try something new and to get out and meet other people that didn't have anything to do with the music biz. A chance look in a Surrey paper whilst staying with friends suddenly introduced me to the possibility of entering the film world.

The ad read 'Wanted: Local men for Ridley Scott's new Movie GLADIATOR ( below) shooting in the Bourne Woods....' I subsequently attended the casting call and got the job much to my amazement. It meant travelling up the M4 every week, but hell it was Ridley Scott!!! This was hog heaven for me, film has been a passion of mine since child hood and so to work on film sets and eventually with some of the greatest directors of our time really was a dream made reality. This was the distraction I had been looking for, and for nearly three years it helped keep my passion for creativity alive as well as affording me the luxury of having plenty of time to concentrate on getting my music right.

Also it gave me a distinctly distant view of my career and strangely aided me to face a lot of my demons.

I went on to work on many features including “Sleepy Hollow”, “End Of The Affair”, “Angela's Ashes”, “The Visitors” (I actually spent two days 'arresting' Jean Reno in a scene in a medieval castle which may not sound like much, but to me that's akin to meeting Jesus) as well as many TV productions such as “Casualty”(!), “Warriors” and “Playing The Field” among others.

At a time when my film career was picking up (I had got a job as Christopher Lambert's stand-in/double in Highlander 4 can you believe) I started to get serious inquiries about the demos I had been circulating with the help of Phil Hopwood. I told Phil to keep plugging away and got on with the job of playing with swords on the roof of a multi-storey car park in east London. I then was invited to join the team for a year-long shoot of an American war series 'Band of Brothers' The rumour was Spielberg (his company DreamWorks was part funding with HBO and the BBC) was going to direct! So I signed up quickly and spent the whole of 1999 in Hatfield running around with a rubber gun, jumping into trenches and getting blown up. Great fun. Spielberg didn't end up directing but I did get to meet him in the fuselage of an American WW2 troop plane! (This series aired on BBC 2 in October/November 2001), you may have seen it!

Towards the end of the shoot, I had a verbal offer from a publishing company called 'Strictly Confidential' a new company allied to 'Play It Again Sam' Records and the EDEL group of companies. Mike Chadwick (part of the team that made Vital distribution so successful - they distributed Oasis among others) was keen on my songs. I was thrilled that someone would put their hands in their pockets and give me a platform to re-establish my self. No big talk and hollow promises, actual cash and a place to call home for my songs. For this, I will never be able to thank Mike. It went beyond mere money; this was support, trust, acknowledgement, encouragement and tangible evidence of his commitment.

I then set about writing again, and this period led to me meeting Nick Dunne, my guitar player. He had been a guitar player in many bands the Angels bumped into in the early days, most notably 'Creed' no, not that one, but a more modest outfit with the same name. That band also featured another guitar player - Grant Kirkhope the trumpet player in the big bad horns! Small world. We did some recording, and although it was fun it didn't come anywhere near doing what I wanted it to do, it cemented our friendship and I saw in Nick a real hunger to get out there and play. In fact his constant playing around the country helped me think again about touring.

So we are now at the beginning of 2001, and I was to endure yet another period of waiting whilst the new demo's made the rounds. Once again waiting for phone calls and feedback from the Industry. It had begun to feel like the same old treadmill. Me, the artist waiting for some faceless pundit to either seal my doom or give me a break! I had had enough of the politics, the posturing for position, the endless shallow discussions about what is and is not 'cred' and 'cool'.

It took yet another Bryan Adams show, to make me finally see sense.

I was invited, along with a bunch of friends, to an open air gig in Nottingham, CITY IN THE PARK to be precise, organized by one of this countries most successful and respected promotion experts and club land guru, Andy Copping, the genius behind ROCK CITY and one of my oldest music biz mates. Since the end of the Angels Andy had developed his promoter arm to spectacular effect and was increasing his notoriety throughout the industry as a dynamic no-nonsense operator. I met him at the show and spent the day reminiscing with quite a few old friends who happened to be there. I walked the crowd and apart from spotting Angels shirts among the throng and the occasional person recognizing me, started to get back that feeling of what it felt like to play live. My blood was up and I couldn't help the feeling of desperation to be back on the stage doing what I always felt was my best skill, ENTERTAINING!

I left the gig with mixed emotions; I had a family and starting again was a huge task, but at the same time knowing to the marrow of my bones that it was my destiny!

I give most credit to my wife, who has stuck by me the whole way, encouraging me and trying to help me understand my self. Never has she discouraged, in fact when times were at their toughest I was the one refusing to see the right course of action to take, even though it often stared me in the face! Stubborn you see.

Taking back control has taught me one thing; don't give up! Keep going forward and never let anyone convince you that they know better when it comes to understanding your own instinctive feelings and urges. The corporate managers and, usually, non-musical money men who control the music business don't have all the answers, indeed their genius, if they actually have any, is in waiting for others to 'create' and acting upon it. The creative among us are the most delicate and paradoxically the most powerful beings on the planet. Without the thinkers, the doers are nowhere.

It is with all this in mind that I invite you all to join me in my new adventure. It has long been an intention of mine to get back on the road and re-kindle the feelings of playing live and also record and release new material. It's no exaggeration when I say that I have, over the last five years, written and demo'd over seventy songs. So I haven't been idle.

The trouble with being an artist is that it controls you and not the other way round and so I really have no choice, I love music and what it does to us. I feel blessed to be able to create it in the first place let alone have people turn up to the shows and buy my music. I don't take anything for granted but I know this is what I am, for good or bad. I live in Yorkshire still and have no desire to leave, but every desire to play the globe again. I am currently writing music for new releases and have an amazing team around me to help make the journey easier. Bottom line is this: if you like Rock and Roll driven by passion and energy, songs about life and loss, then perhaps I will appeal. I sincerely hope so.