Vykyng plays session at Groat office
A TRAVELLING musician popped in to the Groat office in Wick on Tuesday to play some of his new songs and talk about what inspires him.
Ahead of his appearance at Mr C's Bar in Thurso on Friday evening, the artiste know as The Vykyng is currently in the county and heading to, appropriately enough, the Up Helly Aa festival in Shetland.
"My name is actually Matt Anderson but I prefer to be known as The Vykyng," said the 38-year-old singer-songwriter.
Matt was born into a military family during the Falklands War, and went on to join the British Army himself before considering signing up with the French Foreign Legion.
While waiting in France to sign up, Matt was given a guitar and lived with travelling people. It was a period that profoundly changed him and he started writing his own songs as therapy to deal with personal problems.
"I'm based in Ripon in Yorkshire but I've been travelling all my life it seems," he said.

"I feel massively connected to my Scottish roots and I've been visiting ancient sites in Scotland where there are standing stones, brochs and cairns.
"I feel really drawn to these places and been making a YouTube vlog [video log] of it all."
The music of The Vykyng has evolved from "the rollercoaster ride" of Matt's life and is a mix of foot-stomping Americana, gritty blues and his own driving rhythm that blends it all together.
He has produced his first album, Release the Demons, followed by an acoustic album Music from the Soul and is working on his latest, Learning to Live with the Crazy.
"I started writing as poetry and then they just turned into songs. Sometimes I brainstorm and this turns into a piece of art and I go on to write a song based on this painting."
Matt is on his way to the Up Helly Aa Viking festival in Shetland soon but in the meantime he has been scouring Caithness looking for Neolithic cairns, brochs, standing stones and ancient rock art to further inspire him.
"There's something about these places that I'm incredibly drawn to. It's like something ancient and mystical and deep within me."
The Vykyng will be playing at Mr C's Bar, Thurso, on Friday (January 24) from 9.30pm. Entry is free.
His YouTube channel can be seen here.