It didn’t take Tom Mitchell long to recruit a producer for his debut album ... all he had to do was ring his dad. SAM WONFOR talks to a father and son in perfect tune

AT NINE weeks-old, Jack Mitchell is already showing signs of good musical taste.

It takes a particular brand of rock ‘n’ roll baby attitude to pull off an AC/DC T-shirt with aplomb. But Jack needn’t worry. It’s a knocking bet he’s got oodles of it built into his genetic make-up.

Jack is the son of singer/songwriter Tom Mitchell, who is the son of Billy Mitchell, the former frontman of Lindisfarne and Jack The Lad, who continues to pack ’em in as a solo performer (and pantomime stalwart to boot).

“I do sing to him and he seems to love it. He’s already been playing the piano,” says 26-year-old Tom, cradling his little boy as we sit around the kitchen table in Cullercoats.

“Maybe he will follow in the family tradition. Who knows?”

Tom has certainly followed in his dad’s tuneful footsteps. Having decided he wanted to pursue his musical ambitions in his early 20s, he’s been gigging and recording ever since, and has recently released his debut long-player, Paper Thin Walls.

Recorded with a large slice of fatherly advice (Billy produced the album), it is a collection of songs by artists such as James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen, Loudon Wainwright III and the late Lindisfarne founder Alan Hull. Many of those were the soundtrack to Tom’s childhood.

“Music was a really strong memory,” says Tom, who lives with partner Shelly Dalziel and Jack in Earsdon, North Tyneside, and works for the Percy Hedley Foundation in the same borough.

“Music was always on in the house – James Taylor, Loudon Wainwright, lots of singer/songwriters. And I went to lots of dad’s gigs, roadying too.”

“We’d have the occasional Von Trapp family singalong, usually after a few beers and glasses of wine,” Billy, adds, referring to the rest of the family – brothers Jamie and Scott, sister Sarah, and wife Suzie.

“They all play guitar and Scott plays piano.”

“We’d play all sorts including The Beatles and Crowded House. Four Seasons in One Day would usually make an appearance at about three in the morning and have the neighbours banging on the wall.” Tom tends to take his performances out to the wider public these days.

He’s been gigging solo (although is sometimes accompanied by his dad and/or brother Scott) around the region and further afield for the past five years.

But when it came to putting the songs down in the studio, Tom says he wouldn’t have wanted anyone else with him, other than his dad.

But while I can feel a lump in my throat forming at the sentiment, he quips: “Anybody else would want paying!”