by Stephen Deazley, Artistic Director
Love Singing is underway! Five professional songwriters have been ‘blind date’ matched with five community choirs and we’re delighted and excited to announce we’ll be partnering with a diverse range of organisations and individuals across Scotland, from Moray, West Highlands, Falkirk, Lanarkshire and Perth & Kinross.
Here’s who we’ll be working with:
Sing Mor is a small Scottish folk/roots project in rural Lochaber near Fort William. It’s a fledgling singing project only 18 months old but they are managing to run online weekly sessions and creating some lovely vocal recordings together. Their song leader describes herself as self-taught and avidly learning on the hoof. Through the accessible nature of zoom, they now have regular singers from the West of Scotland and the Islands. Sing Mor will be working with Debbie Armour, one half of the Scottish folk duo Burd Ellen, who are sonic adventurers combining innovation with a deep love of traditional song.
Stonehouse Male Voice Choir is one of longest formed groups which began in a builder’s yard in Stonehouse in Lanarkshire in 1936 as a lunch time sing. Traditionally they sing in 4 parts. With over 40 members the choir has managed to run some sessions using familiar repertoire but feel there is more to be done to try and bring more of their members on board and tackle the digital isolation some of their group are facing. As they haven’t learned anything new in lockdown they are excited to take up this challenge. They will be collaborating with highly respected songwriter Penny Stone. One of the most active song leaders in the Scottish sector, Penny uses singing to support people living with chronic health conditions such as Parkinson’s and dementia and is passionate about peace and social and environmental justice.
Fochabers Community Sing near Elgin in Moray is a project run by Lizzie with the support of her musician partner. She has been a music teacher and music therapist and is now delivering fun and accessible community focused projects in her local area. Since the first lockdown, they have turned their hands to making instructional videos of specially arranged songs, contemporary and pop, asking people to send in their own recorded versions and mixing them into joyful music films for people to share. Their songwriter collaborator is emerging artist Zac Scott. Zac is a Glasgow based acoustic singer-songwriter with a pop sensibility who has spent the past two years writing and recording a unique collection of songs inspired by Scotland and Iceland, leading to the release of his debut album in 2020.
Earnsong is a project from Comrie in Perth & Kinross who describe themselves as a close and supportive community. They have worked hard to embrace new digital platforms, they love harmony and are up for anything. Challenge us! is what they said on their application. To keep local spirits up since March 2020, they have been making musical video gifts to share with friends and residents in their local care home. Earnsong will work with Djana Gabrielle, a French-Cameroonian singer-songwriter who has been honing her craft on the Scottish music scene for a few years. Djana was a 2019 Celtic Connections Danny Kyle Stage Winner.
Freedom Of Mind Community Choir is a welcoming, inclusive and supportive project in Falkirk that provide opportunities for their members to focus on the benefits of singing for good mental health. They have been working hard to address digital exclusion during the pandemic and creating weekly learning videos. They will be working on a new collaboration with Hannah Fredsgaard who was born in Denmark and is now living in Glasgow. Hannah is a singer, songwriter, composer and audio documentary maker. Rooted in storytelling, her work encompasses folklore, memory, voice and intimacy, and we’re very excited to see how her collaboration with Freedom of Mind Choir develops.
The recruitment process for choirs was fascinating and moving in equal measures. We received 25 choir applications each with their own style, a strong sense of identity, purpose and musical interests. The work and efforts that everyone is doing in this difficult time is so inspiring, producing videos and running online sessions, phone calls to stay connected, newsletters, songwriting, homemade DVDs, intergenerational and family projects, filmed musical gifts for friends and family living in care settings – all are testament to the importance of community singing to our health and creative well-being. We got a real sense of determination, resilience, personal and collective motivation and great acts of kindness – there were more than a few tears on our ‘at-home’ desks during the selection process.
A big thanks to all our applicants. It was great to be introduced to such a range of choirs and songwriters from the length and breadth of Scotland. This country has more than its fair share of diverse songwriting talent and such a long history of musical innovation especially in folk and indie music, it’s always punched well beyond its weight. We were truly inspired, and sad to have to select only five.
So off we go! We are very excited to be taking the first steps towards five brand new collaborations. No one knows yet what will come out of it – we hope some great songs, of course. But also much more than that: inspiration to keep singing, meeting new friends and making new choir connections, a lot of fun, and I dare say a large amount of technical challenges on the way. We’ll let you know how things are going and with lots of stylistic variety – pop, roots, alt-folk, Americana – we really hope there will be something for everyone, songs to share and inspire your own singing journeys.