BROADCASTS.com

I was born in Cambridge in 1962. I grew up in the Wirral, that finger of land between Liverpool and Wales. I was the eldest of four children: an introverted teenager who liked reading and playing chess. In 1980 I returned to Cambridge to study English Literature at the University there.
Since 1988 I’ve been working full time for my present employer, the Legal Aid Agency. Living alone I had plenty of time to become a left wing activist, to read and expand my knowledge, and to go and see live music.
In 2002 I married a Californian woman, and became vegetarian. The marriage didn’t last and from 2008, now single again, I began putting my energies into music blogging.
The book project grew out of the music blog. I started on it in 2013, and in 2018 after a mammoth effort all achieved while continuing to work full time, Around the World in 575 Songs was finally published.
“I wanted to do each and every country justice. That’s why there are four volumes.”
Over four volumes I cover 200 countries in 200 chapters. It’s not so much a guide, as an excursion through the music and cultural history of every country in the world. On the accompanying website all 575 featured songs are streamed.
By the time of publication I’d already confided in family, close friends and managers at work about my intention to transition. I socially transitioned in April 2019, since when I’ve been living as a woman.