BBC 6 Music's Tom Robinson has called him a National Treasure - and who are we to disagree.

Especially as for the last 12 years Johnno Casson has been plying his musical trade from Colchester.

In that time he's launched several albums, under various different monikers from Snippet to Old Tramp to his own name; created a gorgeous project which takes music into residential homes; and championed new music on Tom Robinson's Fresh on the Net indepedent music blog.

This weekend he's bringing out another record and by his own admission it's his most personal to date, so much so he couldn't quite work out which of his different musical alias' it should be under.

"It was supposed to be a Snippet album," Johnno tells me. "But then a number of things happened which made it a lot more reflective.

"Originally it came out of the loss of my mum as well as my struggle with ME, but then it became about the loss of the producer I've been working with for the last eight years, Wim Oudijk."

At first Johnno and Wim's friendship started up over a mutual love of pop music from the left field and although they never met in person, when the Dutch-based producer died last year, Johnno was naturally gutted.

"I can safely say I had never met anyone quite like Wim," he adds, "and I doubt I ever will again. You hear people say 'he was one of a kind' a lot, but on this occasion the phrase is perfect for this unique gentleman — they truly broke the mould with Wim.

"When we first met on-line I was so taken by his wonderful nature, sense of humour and sense of fun that I was surprised when he eventually asked me whether he could produce a version of one of my songs.

"I hadn’t realised he was a long term music artist and producer of international repute as I had been too busy laughing with him and swapping stories of life and music. I was delighted to work with him and we started a lovely collaborative relationship that saw Wim produce a great many of my releases as Snippet and Johnno Casson."

When Wim died the pair were halfway through his new album.

"I put the angel wings on the front cover because I really needed his help to finish the record," Johnno tells me. "I couldn't do it without him."

The result, Melancholy Future Pop Music, once again shows just what great a songwriter Johnno is, except this time he's properly wearing his heart on his sleeve.

"There's observations," he smiles, "but quite a bit of personal stuff in there as well. A lot of it is about my battles with ME, which has been a long term issue and continues to be so to this day. But's there's also a bit of the rattling against the system, most of which is done with a little wink.

"Because of that melancholy streak it's definitely more of a Johnno album than a Snippet one. With Snippet there's that expectation of getting more bounce to the ounce and while that is there, it's a little bit too reflective to be completely Snippet."

Born and brought up in Hackney, Johnno has been performing since a very early age, and toured with an 11-piece funk Latin band before forming Deep Joy, which came out of the London club scene of the Nineties.

"I worked out the other day," he begins, "that I've been played on the radio for the last 30 years, from pirate radio stations to Radio One.

"I'm fortunate that I'm still being played. Already Tom (Robinson) has given one of the tracks on the new album a spin and it's also being supported by BBC Introducing so that's a great start already."

The tunes will get another airing this weekend when Future Melancholy Pop Music gets its official launch in true Johnno style with an afternoon of delightful live wonky pop music that as Johnno says 'you can put inside your heart and call upon on special occasions'.

Joining Johnno this Sunday will be Imoni, otherwise known as exciting young Colchester singer/songwriter, Naomi Omuoreh, who is already starting to wow some big names with her soulful voice and songs of life and love.

There's also Geoff Darby, aka Brightlingsea’s wizard of the washboard, and Cara Bruns, one of Colchester most talented and in demand musicians, who plays with the likes of Surfquake, Park and Ride, and Martin Newell's Hosepipe Band.

Following the launch, and never one to wrest on his musical laurels, Johnno will be back leading his Warm and Toasty Club, which having started off in the Colchester Arts Centre has now grown into a large community project, called Coast to Coast, taking place in residential homes across the north east Essex coast.

"Even when they started off at the Colchester Arts Centre," he says, "Warm and Toasty was always about bringing the community together, whether that was through music or history and culture, or just people telling their stories.

"Since going into the community itself it has really taken off. We're still doing the shows at the arts centre, with the next one taking place next month, but as a part of that show we will have songwriter Marina Florance performing three songs she has written based on the memories of people she has visited in these retirement homes."

Johnno Casson's Future Melancholy Pop Music album launch takes place at the Minories tea rooms this Sunday, April 9, from 2pm.

Entry is £5 on the doors, which open at 1.30pm.

The next Warm and Toasty Club is at the Colchester Arts Centre on May 28 at 1.30pm.

For more information go to www.johnnocasson.co.uk or thewarmandtoastyclub.weebly.com