My guest in this episode is Nicki Cockburn.

Nicki now lives in Cardiff but was born in 1978 in Zimbabwe. At 5 months old, after her Mum insisted on a second opinion, she was diagnosed as being blind. For sighted people like me that would feel like a massive burden and challenge but in talking about it Nicki says “I’m really happy with it, you have to adapt’ and “it’s been a problem for a lot of people, but never for me”.

Nicki doesn’t shy away from discussing some of the challenges and prejudice she has faced but her indomitable spirit shines through our whole conversation and I found it deeply inspirational, and I trust you will too.

The other thing that shines through is Nicki’s deep love of music which has been a positive force in her life for so long. She references over 70 artists in our chat and it’s not everyone that can go from ‘The Chicken Song’ through Jaco Pastorius to Rage Against the Machine!

Nicki isn’t just a listener she is also a musician. Her musical journey has gone through Piano, Flute and Guitar before she arrived in early 40’s at the Bass Guitar, which describes as ‘her instrument’ and one of her song choices specifically reflect that.

Her song choices are :

70’s Your My Best Friend Don Williams

80’s Rio Duran Duran

90’s The Car Song Elastica

00’s Bass Tribute Victor Wooten

10’s Trust In You Lauren Dagle

20’s Too Good For Giving Up Liam Gallagher

Enjoy :-)

If you would like to be on the show then please contact me at musictalkspod@outlook.com

Please follow and like Music Talks on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/musictalkspod .

You can also find me on Twitter @musictalkspod .

My guest today is dear friend and an ex-colleague, Derrick Mc Court.

Derrick and I first met in 2001 when he joined Microsoft in Ireland. Our paths crossed many times and in many ways over the years and it has always been a pleasure to spend time with him.

Today he is General Manager of the Customer Success Unit in Microsoft UK and sits on the UK Board. A quick look at his LinkedIn Profile will show the considerable skills he has but for me the most significant thing is that in amongst all the corporate madness he has managed to remain impressively grounded and that comes across in our chat.

Derrick has three passions which are key to him keeping his feet on the ground the first of which is his family. He was born in 1969 and grew up in Belfast during ‘The Troubles’ which he reflects on in a typically thoughtful and moving way. For the past 15 years home has been in Edinburgh where he lives with his wife and their two boys Conner and Joe. His eldest boy Jamie got married last week and his daughter Lucy lives in London and works in I.T.

The second passion, as you will hear is music and at festivals like Download that is shared with Connor and Joe.

His final passion is running, and he is well on the way to completing the ‘Big 6’ Marathons and getting his ‘Six Star Finisher Medal’. Music and Playlists are clearly an important part of his running regime hence the title of the episode.

Derrick’s song selections are:

70’s I’ve Got A Feeling The Beatles

80’s Alive And Kicking Simple Minds

90’s Paranoid Android Radiohead

00’s I Predict A Riot Kaiser Chiefs

10’s X-Ray Visons Clutch

20’s Mr. Motivator Idles

Enjoy 😊

If you would like to be on the show then please contact me at musictalkspod@outlook.com

Please follow and like Music Talks on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/musictalkspod .

You can also find me on Twitter @musictalkspod .

My guest in this episode is Lynn Asher ( www.lynnasher.com ) who was introduced to Music Talks by a recent guest Paul Webb (Ep 92).

Lynn is a native of Portland Maine but she had a childhood dream to move to California. It took some time to fulfil her dream but this year Lynn celebrates 30 years living in California and her musical career spans a similar timescale.

Despite being a ‘late bloomer’ Lynn has performed and recorded with many big names in the music business including:

· Big Brother & The Holding Company

· Jerry Harrison - Talking Heads,

· Bob Weir- Grateful Dead

· Narada Michael Walden - Producer - Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Barbra Streisand. Drummer for Mahavishnu Orchestra, Jeff Beck, Aretha Franklin, & Journey.

Lynn writes her own original material, one of which is the song choice for the 2000’s and was also the assistant to Tracy Chapman for a time. As you will hear at the start of the episode there was also a live appearance with a big musical hero of mine ……

In 2009, Lynn became a vocal coach and it has become a real passion, particularly working with young singers, one of which provides her song choice for the 2020’s (www.annaharrell.net )

Lynn’s story is a great musical journey but there is also a personal journey and adversity to be dealt with. In Lynn’s case this was dealing with Breast Cancer on three occasions, and I hope you find her insight into how she thought and dealt with that as inspirational as I did.

Lynn’s song choices are.

60’s - Hey Jude - The Beatles

70’s - You Should Be Dancing - Bee Gees

80’s - You Can Sleep While I Drive - Melissa Etheridge

90’s - Why - Annie Lennox

00’s - Now That You’re Gone - Lynn Asher

10’s - Freedom - (From ‘Django Unchained’)

20’s - Night Light - Anna Harrell

If you would like to be on the show then please contact me at musictalkspod@outlook.com

Please follow and like Music Talks on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/musictalkspod .

You can also find me on Twitter @musictalkspod .