Hi
I'm Tone's wife, Cathy. Tone taught me to play guitar, and it's one of the most wonderful things anyone has ever done for me, so thank you again love <3 I was always a difficult student, and he has the patience of a saint. Well, he must have, to have dealt with me so well when I was learning the guitar, I was a nightmare!
I come from a musical family, and I started playing the piano at a very young age, but singing and songwriting were something I just didn't think I could do. After Tone had been teaching me the guitar for long enough that I didn't sound like complete sh*t, I wrote my first song. I was very nervous playing it to Tone, I didn't know what his reaction would be. He surprised me by saying the song was wonderful and he said my voice was beautiful and why hadn't he known? I was chuffed to bits, and told him I didn't know I could sing.
Since then we've written songs together and separately, but I blow hot and cold with music....I find it both a blessing and a curse, and the thing is, I hardly ever write a song any more that I'm happy with. In fact, it's only very recently that I've even been playing and singing again with any kind of enthusiasm, and that's because it's such a battle. I know this sounds very over dramatic, and maybe it is, but it's just the truth....I want to write songs, sing and play, but I seem endlessly stuck and then that does my head in so much so that in the end, I just put the guitar down, think 'forget it' and then don't pick it up again for ages.
My father had a huge amount of success in music and I know now that this is one of the reasons I'm finding it difficult. It's almost like I'm not 'allowed' or something, or the self critical voice, (which I guess is ultimately partly his) gets played on a tape loop in my head, and then naturally nothing I write is going to be any good. I used to write good songs, so I should be able to now, but I can't.
Any thoughts would be so greatly appreciated!
Thank you
Cathy x