The Mate. The Legend. The Rock Cod.

A true friend is gone. Gone but never forgotten. Colin Tench was a real inspiration and a driving force behind everything I ever did. He was the most hard-working musician I have ever met. Words can’t begin to explain what this man meant to me, to us, to our group of friends.

He was the first one to believe in me, as a musician, in a time when I didn’t believe in myself. He was confident in my musicianship and pushed me like no other person did. I’m completely shattered. He was the fucking boss. Life is unfair.

He made me a better musician. He lives in all of us. Rest in peace you nincompoop. Only the good die young.

Since 2011, Colin and I had worked on three albums together, Wish You Could Hear, Return to Mingulay and Corvus Stone II. so I asked him to join in the multitudinary ensemble that was “Wötan: the Untold Story“. He recorded guitars for 7 tracks of that album, making it our fourth collaboration together.  The Overture was released on september 2015, but Colin was not on it.

In 2017, I asked him to be the main guitar player for my lastest album “World Citizen,” which he agreed to as soon as he had finished “minor Masterpiece“. I decided its first single would be “August” and to be released on January 2018.

In the last minute, after hearing of his passing, I wanted to cancel the release altogether, but after much deliberation we decided there would be no better way to honour him than to release it in his memory. Colin was the person who basically kickstarted my career, and “August” would be the first time in seven years his guitar playing wasn’t on an album of mine.

I stripped “August” down to its core, removing  every single guitar and re-worked it to be more intimate and nostalgic. “August” was meant to be a farewell. A warm goodbye in a cold winter morning in Argentina (August being the coldest month in the southern hemisphere). A journey through the different stages of grief. I wrote a farewell before knowing who I was saying goodbye to.

Now I know. Godspeed, my good friend.

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And so, today heard the news. Did you hear what they say?
The knight on the hill is sleeping
Sleep well dear friend. Your music is here to stay
The magic still fills my ears

So, as we bid farewell again
Sir Raymond from the Abbey, rode away

Heard the news
Did you hear? Did you hear what they say?
I’m flying, we’re flying, 9641 Sunset in my mind
The news is sad and the heat is on

So, as we bid farewell again
And it seems, you can leave after all

Heard the news
Lemmy say I don’t wanna hear the news today
The deck is stacked so heavy, it’s a crime
The pit boss, took the Ace away.
Rest well friend

So today heard the news. Did you hear what they’ve been saying?
It’s all too sad, so very sad
They say he’s gone, Mr Jones
They say he’s gone, Mr Jones

He took us far, beyond the stars, Mr Jones
And so we say, farewell dear friends
Too many friends, Our wild eye’d boy, is stardust
Mr Jones