Speyside Sessions backing Kevin McKidd for charity single
‘Leave a Light On’, a beautiful Celtic Ballad, written and performed by Kevin McKidd’s Speyisde Sessions Band of musicians and singers, is released today (Monday, May 4) along with an accompanying JustGiving fundraising page.
The charity single will raise funds for two charities, The Trussell Trust and Help Musicians UK. Donate to just.ly/lalo and download from Google and Spotify
Grey’s Anatomy actor McKidd is male lead vocalist on the single, and sings with Northern Irish singer, Mairead Carlin. The song, ‘Leave a Light On’ has been composed and produced by James D. Reid, and arranged and produced by Mairead’s husband and leading talent Ronan Scolard.
The idea came about when old Elgin chums James and Kevin were having a chat about wanting to do something to help and both had been "very shocked" by reports on empty food banks.
After a chat with (Small Faces and River City) actor Iain Robertson, a plan was hatched to pull together their old team from a highly successful, previous collaboration in 2012, The Speyside Sessions.
The original Speyside Sessions album went straight to No.1 on the iTunes World Music Charts in six different countries: the UK, US, Canada, Australia, Germany & Spain in 2012.
Kevin explained: “I had been looking for an excuse to get the old Speyside Sessions Band back together.
"It has been such a great experience. James has done a great job with writing ‘Leave a Light On’. He and Ronan Scolard had an uphill struggle to mix and produce this song with all the Quarantine restrictions and everyone being apart. But they did it brilliantly!’
“It was Iain Robertson’s idea to raise money for the Trussell Trust and support all of the Food banks across the UK. I hate to give the wee man credit of any kind in case it goes to his already big heid ,but in this case he was dead on and has helped immensely with the whole project.
“Then when we got Mairead on board, she suggested that we help raise money for Help Musicians UK. Another brilliant idea! She has been amazing to collaborate with and so talented. We are so lucky to have her on this single.
“If ever there was a time that we need Music, it’s now. I am very proud of the track and it has been a real honour to sing with Mairead and all of the old Speyside bunch again.”
James knew that many of musicians involved had home studios that it was do-able and so he set his mind to write the song!
He said: “Some songs you have to chisel away at and some just come out as quick as it takes to play them through - this was the latter. But it took a week to get all the musicians to lay down the backing and then another week to get all the vocals in.
"Ronan, our arranger, and Scott Cameron our engineer and mixer then laid the tracks down and synced them. I’m delighted with how great is sounds, given the difficult circumstances. It’s come out as a proper wee Celtic ballad. Kevin sound spectacular on it - but that was never in doubt. I was also thrilled to get Mairead Nesbitt, what an incredible violinist and of course Mairead Carlin voice is exceptional!”
Mairead said: “I was just so delighted to be asked to sing. James called me and explained that Speyside Sessions musicians and singers were re-uniting for it and I jumped at the chance. Trussell Trust is a fantastic charity. I felt that so many musicians are having a tough time just now and Help Musicians UK have been doing great work that I have personally seen in Northern Ireland, I wanted them to get some love too. It’s a beautiful song. I am sure it will raise lots of money for two very deserving charities.
With 13 backing singers, many of them sang into their I-phones from under their stairs, in their kid’s bedrooms and one singer had to wait to sing at night to avoid seagulls joining in on the background! Kevin had to throw together a temporary studio and sang into a very basic mic, going into his laptop. You can see his mic gaffa taped to a upright floor light in the video!
Iain Robertson reminisced: “Kevin and I go way back, having worked together on Small Faces many moons ago. The original Speyside Sessions project holds a special place in my heart, as does this one. I was tasked with getting all of the individual film clips and directing the edit. It has been tricky to pull together within the confines of lockdown, but I’m very happy with the finished product. I know so many people are really struggling just now and I hope that we raise plenty of money to make a difference. This project has also been a reminder that despite the apparent loneliness of isolation, that there are ways to feel as close as ever and I take great hope in that.”
‘Leave a Light On’ is available on Download iTunes and Google Play
Streamed on: Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, YouTube Music, Google Play Music, Amazon, Pandora, Deezer, Tidal, Napster, iHeartRadio, ClaroMusica, Saavn, Anghami, KKBox, NetEase (beta) and many othersDonate to just.ly/lalo and download from Google and Spotify.
