The village where I live, Spondon, is a welcoming place with a great community atmosphere, more pubs than you could ever imagine and a very good bakery.  One thing Spondon also has is a plethora of musical talent.

I was approached by the Spondon Community Association to create an album of artists from Spondon to be launched today (22 June) at a special Spondon Day that’s taking place around the village.

My job was to basically co-ordinate the CD and record everyone. Initially, I wanted to get a whole array of different talent from pop to acoustic to hip hop to classical, but it soon because very obvious that the album was going to be largely singer/songwriter based.

This actually made things easier as most of the songs were recorded over two consecutive Saturdays in May.  The recording was quite free and easy; each artist had an hour to come in, play their song, make any embellishments they like and then shoot off to make way for the next.  I didn’t spend too long placing microphones; it was about capturing the performance.

SPONDON_COVER_FINAL[1]

Some songs were written especially for the CD, such as Terry Wood’s Leafy Lane In Spondon and Graham Clark’s ode to pubs Spondon Cheers.  Others, such as Branka Surla’s Spondon Holiday, were adapted from cover versions.

Aside from that, we have choirs, some pop, some big band, some a cappella.  And, tucked away after a sneaky semi-instrumental thrashy feelgood track that I managed to get on there, is Tez Livin’s Ey Up Me Duck Em All, which I think is a great commentary on what a lot of people are thinking about the UK at the moment.

The album (13 tracks) is available to download from Bandcamp for £5.