Jim Powell wrote his first song which, in retrospect, sounds identical to Rock-a-Hula Baby, at the age of 12. Nearly 55 years later, he is still waiting for his career as a song-writer to take off. Having spent much of his teens and early 20s writing songs, he now does it more sparingly.

In 2010, he worked with independent producer Pete Rowe to record demos of sample songs from two concept albums. The first, From Memphis to Nashville, covers the varied musical styles of the southern states of America and their historical and racial roots. The second, No Man’s Land, is written from the perspective of a woman of about 40, whose life has been a mixture of career success and romantic disaster. Two songs from these sessions are available to play here.

Jim would love to hear from anyone who can see a commercial future for these songs. He is also interested in working with singers, musicians or producers – on the albums mentioned above, on a musical he has written, or on new projects. He is primarily a lyricist. He can write melodies, and wrote them for the two tracks below, but is happy to leave the musical side to others.

What Will Survive of Us is Love [thank you, Philip Larkin] (sung by Matt Kilford and Carrie Rossiter)    

I Can Do Soft (sung by Carrie Rossiter)