David Clifton

After a childhood filled with music as a choral scholar at Peterborough Cathedral, and studies in art, ceramics and education, David Clifton signed firstly to Red Bus/EMI Records, then with PVK Records in a folk duo. Blues legend and Fleetwood Mac co-founder Peter Green was also signed to the PVK label, joining them for the signing ceremony and celebrations.

An invitation to join indie rock band Sensible Jerseys resulted in a move to London. The band were championed by BBC broadcasting legend John Peel, who played their music regularly on his late night Radio 1 show. They subsequently signed with Virgin records as a result of their first independent single, Right & Wrong, becoming a national turntable favourite. David went on to play guitar, mandolin and sax for WEA/East West singer songwriter Tanita Tikaram, touring extensively in the UK, Europe and the USA . This was followed by European tours, radio, TV and promotion work playing guitar for Irish jazz/blues artist Mary Coughlan.

In the early 1990’s he worked with EMI artist Steve Booker, recording a BASF award winning album with him and touring throughout Ireland and the UK, opening for acts such as Bob Geldof, Suzanne Vega, Clannad, Steve Earle and the Dukes..

Whilst rehearsing for this project, David was introduced to one of Steve’s producers, Andy Piercy, former lead singer of After The Fire. This led to a writing partnership developing contemporary sacred music. They began meeting at Andy’s house in Notting Hill Gate, London to write, and David’s home in Covent Garden soon became the location to record and produce new songs. This resulted in two ground-breaking sacred and spiritual albums of their time; ‘Praise God from whom all blessings flow’ and ‘Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs’, incorporating traditional Liturgy and sacred texts into modern musical contexts.

During the 90’s and through early 2000 he recorded and toured with Virgin Records artist Julia Fordham, playing the UK, Japan, the Far East, Europe and the USA. They also toured with Sarah McLachlan on the Lilleth Fair festival events, and also played USA dates on Sheryl Crow’s world tour.

The rustic surroundings of a 16th century barn studio in Surrey were the location for writing and recording with Grammy award-winning producer Kipper for several of his productions.

Please visit the Little Room website for more information and to hear new releases.

Session work over the years has included projects for a wide range of artists such as Julia Fordham, Pele, Helen Watson, Madness, Micky Hart, Tanita Tikaram, Paul Heaton (Beautiful South), Martin Smith and Delirious, Matt Redman, Chris de Burgh, Robin Mark, Sheila Walsh, Graham Kendrick and Kim Hill amongst many others.

His recorded repertoire crosses many genres, including indie folk, singer-songwriter, ambient experimental guitar, sacred & spiritual and new-simplicity classical music.