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Guest blogger , of the , writes:

The English Acoustic Collective was recently invited by London's to be part of at the on June 20th. Our performances on the day will include the premier of a new piece I'm writing, inspired by the Royal Geographical Society's picture library. The library is online and contains some from all over the world. On first glance, I wasn't immediately sure what I'd write about, but I knew there would be plenty of inspiration there.

Then I remembered a traditional tune I'd played ages ago called 'Coffee and Tea'.Ìý The tune itself was nice enough, but there was something about the 'A' part that hinted at more music waiting to emerge. The name of the tune struck a chord straight away; for me, coffee and tea are daily essentials that play a major part in the creative process.

Looking again at the RGS archive, I was struck by how many images there were, and from so many different times and places, that involved coffee or tea. Tea pickers and plantations in Sri Lanka and India, coffee harvests in South America and the Caribbean, cafes and coffee houses everywhere... even Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay drinking tea during their ascent of Everest.

In my mind was the contrast between these images, and the corporate, big brand chains that we're so used to. But the more inspiring idea was the way that these images showed a common thread among many different times, places and people.

One thing I love about traditional tunes is the way they can capture a snapshot of a place, a person, or an event, and frame it in music. There's something magical in the 32-bar structure that so many traditional tunes share; something that allows the tune to convey just enough information for you to know that it's about something, without it being too impressionistic or descriptive. I've sometimes tried to extend those structures slightly or develop them, but I still work as a traditional musician would, with a tune that is played several times while being developed, harmonised and arranged to form the final piece.

I've been trying to do the same thing in writing 'Coffee and Tea', the new piece that will be premiered on Music Day. To find a way of capturing something of each photo in music. I'm putting together a slideshow of the photos that will be projected as we play the piece, and building the music up in response to that. So rather than working with a manuscript pad or sequencing program, I'm composing usingÌýmovie softwareÌýwith my concertina on my lap.

It's an interesting way for me to approach the music, because it means the images control the timing and structure of the piece and the music responds to it. When we perform the piece, it'll be a real-time response to the images, with all the improvisation and interaction that's integral to our music, but without the repeated tune structures. I'm looking forward to hearing it...

The English Acoustic Collective will be part of Music Day at the Royal Geographical Society, London, on Sunday 20 June 2010.Ìý The event runs from 10am to midnight and admission is free; the EAC will be playing at 1pm and 3.20pm.