My guest today is dear friend and an ex-colleague, Derrick Mc Court.

Derrick and I first met in 2001 when he joined Microsoft in Ireland. Our paths crossed many times and in many ways over the years and it has always been a pleasure to spend time with him.

Today he is General Manager of the Customer Success Unit in Microsoft UK and sits on the UK Board. A quick look at his LinkedIn Profile will show the considerable skills he has but for me the most significant thing is that in amongst all the corporate madness he has managed to remain impressively grounded and that comes across in our chat.

Derrick has three passions which are key to him keeping his feet on the ground the first of which is his family. He was born in 1969 and grew up in Belfast during ‘The Troubles’ which he reflects on in a typically thoughtful and moving way. For the past 15 years home has been in Edinburgh where he lives with his wife and their two boys Conner and Joe. His eldest boy Jamie got married last week and his daughter Lucy lives in London and works in I.T.

The second passion, as you will hear is music and at festivals like Download that is shared with Connor and Joe.

His final passion is running, and he is well on the way to completing the ‘Big 6’ Marathons and getting his ‘Six Star Finisher Medal’. Music and Playlists are clearly an important part of his running regime hence the title of the episode.

Derrick’s song selections are:

70’s I’ve Got A Feeling The Beatles

80’s Alive And Kicking Simple Minds

90’s Paranoid Android Radiohead

00’s I Predict A Riot Kaiser Chiefs

10’s X-Ray Visons Clutch

20’s Mr. Motivator Idles

Enjoy 😊

If you would like to be on the show then please contact me at musictalkspod@outlook.com

Please follow and like Music Talks on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/musictalkspod .

You can also find me on Twitter @musictalkspod .

My guest in this episode is Lynn Asher ( www.lynnasher.com ) who was introduced to Music Talks by a recent guest Paul Webb (Ep 92).

Lynn is a native of Portland Maine but she had a childhood dream to move to California. It took some time to fulfil her dream but this year Lynn celebrates 30 years living in California and her musical career spans a similar timescale.

Despite being a ‘late bloomer’ Lynn has performed and recorded with many big names in the music business including:

· Big Brother & The Holding Company

· Jerry Harrison - Talking Heads,

· Bob Weir- Grateful Dead

· Narada Michael Walden - Producer - Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Barbra Streisand. Drummer for Mahavishnu Orchestra, Jeff Beck, Aretha Franklin, & Journey.

Lynn writes her own original material, one of which is the song choice for the 2000’s and was also the assistant to Tracy Chapman for a time. As you will hear at the start of the episode there was also a live appearance with a big musical hero of mine ……

In 2009, Lynn became a vocal coach and it has become a real passion, particularly working with young singers, one of which provides her song choice for the 2020’s (www.annaharrell.net )

Lynn’s story is a great musical journey but there is also a personal journey and adversity to be dealt with. In Lynn’s case this was dealing with Breast Cancer on three occasions, and I hope you find her insight into how she thought and dealt with that as inspirational as I did.

Lynn’s song choices are.

60’s - Hey Jude - The Beatles

70’s - You Should Be Dancing - Bee Gees

80’s - You Can Sleep While I Drive - Melissa Etheridge

90’s - Why - Annie Lennox

00’s - Now That You’re Gone - Lynn Asher

10’s - Freedom - (From ‘Django Unchained’)

20’s - Night Light - Anna Harrell

If you would like to be on the show then please contact me at musictalkspod@outlook.com

Please follow and like Music Talks on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/musictalkspod .

You can also find me on Twitter @musictalkspod .

My guest in this episode is Claire Sanderson who was introduced to the show by an early guest and now a dear friend, Ian Braisby.

Claire was born and grew up in Cornwall with her parents and two elder brothers. She describes her childhood as being ‘surrounded by all types of music’ and that breadth is reflected in her song choices and the much longer list she sent to me. Her song choices are:

80’s I Should Be So Lucky Kylie Minogue

90’s I’ll Do Anything For Love (But I Wont Do That) Meat Loaf

00’s Song For The Road David Ford

10’s F**kin’ Perfect Pink

20’s I’ll See You In My Dreams Bruce Springsteen

At 18 Claire moved to Cardiff to study Music at the University and has had the good sense to stay in the city ever since. By day she is a Civil Servant, but flexible working enables her to follow her passion for music as a serious amateur musician who plays in an orchestra and sings in a choir. She also recently started doing on-line talks about music which you can find at

https://events.restless.co.uk/event-calendar/?categories=music

Music has been a constant in Claire’s life, and it has provided both comfort and joy. But she also talks very openly about the challenges she faced in studying and playing at the highest level and there are great lessons for all of us in that story.

A recent convert to the delights of Bruce Frederick Springsteen the episode closes with a poignant song choice from his most recent album ‘Letter To You’ and a Music Talks first where we play two versions of the same song !

Enjoy 😊

If you would like to be on the show then please contact me at musictalkspod@outlook.com

Please follow and like Music Talks on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/musictalkspod .

You can also find me on Twitter @musictalkspod .