Locked-down musician is still entertaining fans

HIS gig may have been cancelled, but that hasn’t stopped local musician Alan Turner from playing tunes and raising money for the NHS.

The Th13ves lead singer has been using the lockdown conditions to entertain fans as far afield as Australia and Canada from his home, as well as raising nearly £400 for the local NHS. Alan, 38, took to the mic on Saturday playing cover and original songs after requests from friends and family.

Now he is using the streams to generate donations as well as raising awareness of a young mum’s cancer battle.

Alan said: “A few friends and family were messaging me, so I thought why not? I’ve got a set-up at home and I’ve really missed playing live so I thought I’d try to keep people entertained during these strange times we’re all facing.

“I decided to fundraise for the NHS as I think the staff are the backbone of this country.

“They don’t get nearly enough recognition and I think we all know how underfunded they are for the jobs they carry out every day in normal circumstances. “During this crisis they are saving lives while putting their own lives at risk, so if I can do anything for them – staying at home being one – and then raise money to help support whatever they need, I’ll quite happily do my bit.

“I was blown away by the number of people watching. There was a lot of support from Dundee and the Highlands, and I even had friends from Australia and Canada tuning in, so it was quiet surreal.”

The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in the cancellation of numerous gigs around the city with Th13ves having their comeback gig at the end of this month postponed. Alan added: “Life is just different – scary, unpredictable and worrying, but you try not to dwell and get sucked in by what you’re reading and seeing online.

“I work from home anyway, so

I’m lucky enough to be able to continue in my job, but I’ve got kids so it’s a challenge to juggle that now.

“My band was in the studio a few weeks before lockdown so we’ve got our new single ready to release. We were looking at May for that.

“Our comeback headline gig at the end of April has unfortunately been rescheduled. We’ve been working really hard towards that date, but we’ll just have to wait a little longer to get back into it.” The lives of Ninewells nurse

Jill Steedman and her husband Robert were rocked when she discovered two breast lumps in May last year, shortly after the birth of their son, Reuben.

The mum-of-two’s family are now appealing to raise vital funding for private treatment which Alan has also been campaigning for during his live gigs.

He said: “I know Jill’s sister Lyndsey, she’s been a friend for a long time and her sister’s story really got me.

“I have a young family too so I wanted to do what I could in terms of raising awareness and funds to try to get her the treatment she needs.

“What I love about Dundee is that everyone always comes together in times like this. Everyone is trying to do their bit to help – Dundee is beautiful like that.”

Alan will continue his selfisolating gigs on Saturday, with anyone on Facebook able to join. He added: “It will give me time to prepare a little better, as my guitar string broke mid-set and my other guitars were out of tune. I’ll be much more prepared this time.

“I’m going to try a different format though and get people more involved online.

“It’s quite simple – you just need to have a Facebook account, log in and search for ‘alanturnerlcs’. “My live stream is public so you can watch from there.

“The link for donations to the NHS will be also be on my public page too and the link for Jill’s fundraising is on my page too. “So far £398 has been raised for the NHS, which is amazing, so thank you to everyone.

“See you all in a few weeks. Stay safe and stay home.”

Alan during his live stream.