Sitting in Doha Airport waiting to connect back to London, it occurs to me that 2012 has been busy and I haven't bothered to write about it!

   Naughty me. I'll try to catch up. I've just performed at the opening of the new Hard Rock Cafe in Dubai with Bananarama. Just the other day I was on stage with the wonderful Rachel Morrison for the first time in many years when I got to sit in with Bliss at the Blues Kitchen. And next week I'll be in Germany with Tony Hadley along with my colleagues Andy Carr and Simon Merry, who accompanied me on this trip and ABC's recent foray to the Porsche Music Festival in Stuttgart. No rest for the wicked...

      Thanks to Brandon Bakshi at BMI for organising a great weekend of writing and recording in Kingston, Jamaica  for the second year running. A dozen or so writers from the UK, US and Jamica had a creative and productive time, coming up with 22 trtacks in 5 days across a vast spectrum of music. Participants included Italee Wartson, Don Yute, The Bombay Dub Orchestra, Jessica Bennett, Tony Grund, Patrick "Jester" Jordan , Dizzle and, of course, Wrench. Much ackee was consumed. A swift trip into Metropolis Studio with Rumer was then followed by a trip to the amazing ICP studios in Brussels to contribute guuitars and a few BVs to mmy old friend Greg Darling's new album. Got to hook up briefly with Julian Lennon, whose fab new single "I Thought It Was Me" is out now. Then it was off to Key West in Florida to hook up with my old Warmfuzz buddy Ian Shaw who has relocated there to record some blues. It's a dirtey job, but someone's gotta do it.
      I hope I;ll be able to report on release details for my next album - I've been in talks with a number of people looking for the best partners in the venture. It's been done for ages, so let's get it out there!
    

  How can another year have passed so quickly? The start of 2012 sees me looking back at a mad second half of 2011.