On leaving school he joined his first band in 1971, by pretending he could play bass. This band was short lived and so was Alan's first venture into live music. He went on to work on the rigs at the age of 18 and stayed there for the next 14 years! But he continued to practice guitar and often took one offshore with him. He dabbled in writing songs for 'the lads' and composing instrumentals but never did anything serious.

He started collecting instruments and has/had and played mandolin, violin, balalaika, g-banjo, 6 and 12 string acoustic guitar, 6 string electric and electric bass. In 1983, he seriously damaged two fingers on his left hand, which effectively finished his stringed instrument playing. After leaving the rigs in 1986 he roadied for his brother in laws band 'Cool Zone', a band now known throughout the north east as 'Bessy and the Zinc Buckets'.

Alan had always had a very keen interest in keyboard playing from being a small child plonking on his grannies 'joanna', and as a teenager had discovered Keith Emerson and Rick Wakeman who both really inspired him. He became fascinated by the MOOG synthesiser, the Hammond organ and other new types of electronic keyboards. Oh to be able to play like that. Alan would often borrow 'Broonies' (Paul Brown - Cool Zone's keyboard player) keyboards on the pretense that he was 'programming' them for him. Secretly, he was teaching himself to play. In the early 90's he bought himself his first keyboard, a CASIO ! Wow! He practiced and practiced and in 1998 joined a song writing workshop at the Customs House, South Shields. Over the next 8 weeks working with other would be's and some more well known's (Stevey Taylor of 'Angelic Upstarts' fame) he wrote a number of songs, with the help of a fine teacher and his new found musical pals. These songs were performed by the 'band' (Customs House Song Writers) at the Customs House as a show case event and then again at the South Shields Amphitheatre as part of the Cookson Festival. The songs were also recorded and a CD was produced.

In 2000, after moving to Durham, he joined up with some pals from work and formed Demolition Baby who later became Born Awkward a band that wrote and played all of its own music. Over the next 5 years, the band played in pubs across Durham, and produced a CD. The band split amicably in 2006.