Album will put culture bid on track to success
Twelve aspiring music stars capture spirit of Paisley
A special album to mark Paisley’s bid to be UK City of Culture 2021 has been recorded.
Twelve aspiring music stars have written songs to capture what Paisley means to them and their compositions make up Paisley 2021: The Album.
This was launched earlier this week, with performances by all the artists involved taking place in the Spiegeltent, County Square, at The Spree festival, with former River City star Tom Urie acting as compere.
The only stipulation was that the songs had to be about the town or Renfrewshire and had to be an original work.
Profits from the record, which was funded by a grant from the Paisley 2021 Culture, Events and Heritage fund, will be shared equally among the 12 singersongwriters.
Alan McEwan, from Paisley’s Brick Lane Studios, recorded the album and spearheaded the project.
He said: “When we put the call out for local musicians to submit original songs we didn’t know what the demand would be like.
“But we had about 25 applications from people who wanted to be part of the album and whittled it down to 12.
“The album is very diverse – we’ve got traditional and folk music to rock and pop and even a world percussion band.
“There’s a real variety of music talking about Paisley’s past, present and future and the initial feedback is fantastic.”
“It’s a great way of supporting local musicians as it’s giving them an income from their time on the project and its giving them exposure as well.
“They’re getting music videos and air play as part of the project. Celtic Music Radio are making it album of the week next week.”
Arhythmia Grooves, featuring Samadhisoundscapes, kicked off the evening with Threads and other artists performing included Mandulu and Hephzibah, who were one of the support acts for Paolo Nutini at his sell out show at Paisley Abbey last Friday.
Paisley-based singer songwriter Matt Fotheringham, aka the Highway Chile, showcased Patterns, while three-piece The Pilgrim Society, from the University of the West of Scotland, played their song Welcome to Paisley.
Acoustic pop artist Linzi Clark, 24, loved every minute of her time on stage and hailed the opportunity to write her Paisley 2021 album track, called Gallow Green.
This is based on how seven people were found guilty in the infamous witch trials of 1697. They were sentenced to death in the last mass execution for witchcraft in western Europe.
There were other songs by Dogtooth, music composer Alan Fleming Baird who recorded the The Secret Tear (Tannahill) and by Evelyn Laurie, whose song Keep Your Eye on Paisley was warmly received.
Evelyn said: “I was honoured to add my voice to this album as making music is what Paisley is all about.
“The town has always been full of talent. When I was a college student in Paisley everyone played music – we just didn’t realise that was culture.”
Maria McMillan, Christy Scott and Seve Smith all also showcased their original work before the Hellfire Club, featuring Meadows, rounded off the night’s entertainment with their track The Bungalow Bar in tribute to the popular music venue.
An initial release of 1,000 copies of the album – complete with artwork designed by West College Scotland students – have gone on sale at £8 each and are available from Feel the Groove and The Music Centre, the InCube shop and Brick Lane Studios, all in Paisley.
Paisley 2021 bid director Jean Cameron said: “The album is a fantastic way of helping to nurture fledgling local talent and to give them a stage, as well as supporting the Paisley 2021 UK City of Culture bid.”
Paisley is the only Scottish place to be included on the shortlist for UK City of Culture 2021 with a decision on the winner to be announced in December by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, which is running the competition.