Captivated by the folk musicians of the 1960s, particularly John Martyn, he began playing and performing as a teenager and ran The Portcullis Club in Berkhamsted.
[1] At the beginning of the 1980s, Webb met classical and flamenco guitarist Simon James and founded Acoustic Alchemy as a duo, recording a self-financed, self-produced album in 1981.
James left the partnership to study flamenco guitar in Spain, leaving Webb to promote the record.
The duo worked for Virgin Airlines, recording in-flight music for trans-Atlantic flights, then signed to MCA, which released their 1987 debut album Red Dust & Spanish Lace.
The album included assistance from percussionist Mario Aragandoña and drummer Bart Smaak and was the first of many to be produced by German audio engineer Klaus Genuit at Hansa Haus Studios in Bonn.