Ii had the chance for a short talk withvAlanbabout his fine new album Grey zsky Thinking,nHere's what he said about it. Firstly the interview was a veryvshort one for several reasons, One being Alan was Alone as his partner Anne was out with grandchildren, and Alan said he was feeling stiff and uncomfortable, Withbthat in mindi did not want to overstay my welcome as I was conscious of hiissituation and did not want to make matters worse for him.
Parkinsons is su h acfuel condition, One that steals you life away in different ways that leave you weakened and less able tha you previously were, It is I Imagine a vedy frustrating thing to face, especially when you were as capable as Alan was, This new album Grey Sky Thinking addresses this especially in the lyri s which Alan said he slaved overtones get them right, To the standard he sought for them to convey his feelings for the themes.
Alan says that the album was started several years ago, before his diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease, he was glad to be able to recruit Mike Stobbie (keyboards) and Niall Mattheson ( Guitars) for this album along with Henry Rogers (Drums) and Kim McLean (vocalsl) leaving Alan too provide Vocals, Bass and Guitars and very limited keyboards for the album.
I expressed my sd iration for the album saying how much I had enjoyed hearing it as commenting on the strength of the lyrics which were extremely personal as they deal with things he saw innh8s career as a news reporter or the BBC.
Ii also said how much I had enjoyed being present at his final,show in Glasgow, how wonderful it had been an a very emotional evening, I asked why he didn't have Anne on vocals for the albumnand he said that he ‘d wanted too but that she was unavailable to attend, he thi ks he should have asked zanne for the album as she did so well with the final shows,
Alan did say that hehas plans upto next March these include preparing a document of the final show that was recorded and filmed, Alan plans to release it next year on cd and dvd - I commented that that would be a wonderful project t to have and enjoy.
After this i realised that Alan was tiring, so i chose to draw our conversation to a close, so that he could rest and get warm again, zi wished him well for Christmas and hoped that we could have a further conversation next year.
Author John Wenlock-Smith Friday 6th November 2026.