Kevin’s lounge music tour
Musician hits the road - & some fans’ living rooms - to raise cash for charity
MUSICIAN Kevin McDermott has told how a brush with homelessness inspired a whistlestop, 10-gig tour - all in one day.
The Glaswegian singersongwriter made a series of flying visits to fans’ living rooms and pubs – and raised more than £1000 for charity.
Kevin drove 100 miles, delighting intimate audiences at venues in the likes of Glasgow, Kilsyth and Howwood, Renfrewshire, with 20-minute acoustic sets.
His Boxing Day “tour” included a gig in his local, The Viking in Maryhill, Glasgow.
Kevin, 54, said: “I don’t want to put myself forward as any kind of champion for homelessness but it is something I detest.
“I guess I wanted to do my bit, to underline a bit of mindfulness of the issue and to engage with other people and help them do their bit too.
“It all kicked off on social media and the requests came in thick and fast. I said I’d go within a 20-mile radius of Maryhill and we got a fair few miles in. “People were streaming the gigs live and publishing photos so I think it went down pretty well.” Kevin found fame with The Kevin McDermott Orchestra but he revealed how a downturn in his own fortunes in the 1990s led to him wondering if he might end up on the street. He said: “The long and short of it is that the bank took my home from me and I was lucky enough to sleep on my folks’ couch.
“I was technically homeless for a year but I was lucky to have the support of friends and I was always to able to have a secure roof over my head.
“I was never anywhere near the desperate stage that some people get to.”
Cash raised from his mini-tour was donated to The Lodging House Mission, a Christian charity based close to the Barrowland ballroom in the city’s east end. are let down when they need the help the most.
“Since I started trying to help homeless veterans, I’ve helped seven former soldiers get homes.
“It’s very rewarding and it would be great to create a veterans’ village to get these guys and girls off the streets.
“This is a project, ultimately, to home our veterans, giving them a safe and secure future.”
Chris, 43, from Bo’ness, West Lothian, who runs Wizz Properties Ltd, also gave a homeless ex-squaddie a rent-free home and job offer after a heartwarming appeal on social media.
John Paul Gillespie, a former private in the Royal Logistic Corps, said: “What Chris did for me has changed my life.
“I was sofa-surfing, moving from house to house, staying here and there and relying on the generosity of pals.
Chris added: “I have been quite successful so I wanted to do my bit where I could. This is my way of giving something back to those who need it most.”