In putting tunes to Ron Baxter's words I just pick up an instrument and start singing; sometimes there'll be something traditional (Ron always writes his verses with a traditional tune in mind - but he never tells you what it is!) but a lot of times it'll be something quite unexpected. Is there a formula? Sometimes I'll improvise a melody to a set words against a drone; the words determine the mode. Quite often I find myself with a tune-less ballad, but it doesn't stay tuneless for long...

Always have a recording machine handy though - I've lost a lot of good tunes to poor memory!

Use the force...