I've been calling seriously since about 2004, although I had been calling on and off before that since 2000. CUSRC and The Round gave me my first local public gigs, calling with various scratch bands at first, but later with bands like Fiddlin' Around, Junction 24, The Gloworms and Chalktown. In 2005, I took over as regular caller for a local band, The Scampering Rogues, doing several community events until their original caller returned.
In 2006, I got my first big booking, with Stömp at IVFDF, and since then Stömp have asked me to call for them at Faversham Hop Festival, Unicorn Ceilidhs (twice in 2007) and Great Western Ceilidhs.
Since working with Chalktown, we've done Unicorn and the M27 MegaBop. Paul Scourfield has also asked me to work with his other band, The Mad River Band, at Sproughton and St Osier.
An accident of double booking found me calling with Climax at Sproughton Ceilidhs in 2008, and a string of bookings has followed.
I'm flexible and willing to work with any band, and I'm quite happy to travel. If you have particular requirements for your event, I'm keen to help out and honest enough to speak my mind.
My prefered style of calling is direct and fast; I'm not a standup comedian. I tend to choose straightforward dances, with a mix of familiar and unusual ones, but I'm not above putting in a tricky dance or two if the crowd are up for it. I love sicilian circle dances and hornpipes; I will call mixer dances if I'm asked to, but not as a rule. I try to always name the dance as I ask for sets to form; I'll always mention if the dance has strip-the-willow, a basket or some kind of stepping in it.
I'm a keen contra dancer, and occasionally a contra dance will slip into my repertoire, but the real influence is from contra callers like Cis Hinkle and Lisa Greenleaf, who have influenced my style of calling.
I'm also a keen Scottish dancer, and a few Scottish dances drift into my repertoire, but mostly I keep those for when I'm booked for a Scottish event. Yes, I do have a kilt.
A final influence I'm willing to admit is Cambridgeshire Feast dances. Ask me about them, when you see me.
At some point I'll add some quotes and people to ask for references here.
Andrew Swaine wrote a short introduction for The Round website, several years ago, which I've reproduced here.