"Namaste" is the standard greeting in Nepal and means something like "the light in me salutes the light in you".

The Picker says: "There are a couple of Nepal-inspired songs on the CD - one about Pasang my Sherpa mate, and another with a Yeti in it. The rest is a mixture of old Picker favourites with a lot of new stuff."

The songs are all original and highly eclectic. A couple are funny, some are sad, but many celebrate human achievement.

Themes include: cricket, polar exploration, bonus-earning bankers who are also expense account fiddling MPs, Friends Re-United, Victorian wall-paper manufacturers, global warming, karate-trained nurses and drinks and hangover cures of the world.

Historical heroes like Tom Crean, James Connolly and Harold Larwood rub shoulders with Mary, the karate-kicking nurse, Pasang, the inspirational sherpa, a lovesick yeti, and a lonely salesman. The saga of the New Year celebrations at the United Nations building mentions virtually every known alcoholic drink, slang term for drunkenness and hangover cure on the planet.

There is a twelve page booklet in full colour containing all the lyrics. The 12 tracks represent the last 40 years or so; four of them go back to the early part of the Picker's career, but the other 8 are relatively recent compositions, mostly in the last year.

The Picker is lead crooner and plays acoustic guitar - mainly the Avalon Eclipse, but occasionally a McIlroy AC25 and a venerable Fylde Oberon. Adding their considerable musical flair are the members of the Grey Picker Band: Paddy Young on electric guitar and harmonies, Christy Young on harmonies, Simon Grobey on mandolin and Harrison ("H.K.") Rodd on bouzouki. Geoffrey Sinclair has managed to insinuate a banjo on a couple of tracks.

The whole thing was engineered at Blank Tape Studios in Sheffield by Tom Chester.

TO BUY NAMASTE for £7.49 + £1.50 p&p go to the shop page: http://thegreypicker.moonfruit.com/#/shop/4542461781

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