THE STORY SO FAR
In the early days of Covid 19 and the lockdown back in March, Mustangs and Milk Men main man Adam Norsworthy sent out a message to musos on Facebook to see who might be interested in contributing to a ‘virtual’ song. He had an instant response and the contributors recorded their bits remotely and sent it to Adam to splice it all together. The result was a cracking recording called Isolation Blues.
This inspired an idea in his friend Mike Rivers, host of the Crawdadday Club Richmond, that this could be taken a stage further by creating a virtual album, and after talking initially to Adam, he also asked Mark Ede (of BIGiAM PR, and manager to Jo Harman and other artists) to get involved with a view to challenging friends and contacts in their music community to write and record a song related to the lockdown.
The response was overwhelming with many artists from the blues & roots community contributing songs. The trio had a very tough task choosing a final selection, but in the end among the acts chosen were The Della Grants, Ash Wilson, Emma Wilson, Georgia Van Etten and Sonja Allen. The song that inspired it all, Isolation Blues, rounds off the album.
With the mastering magic of Jon Astley also on board (The Who, Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, Tom Jones and Jools Holland to name just a few) the final 17-track album was released on June 13th.
With songs ranging from acoustic folk blues through jazz to singer-songwriter pop, back to full on electric blues rock Songs Of Isolation is a remarkable collection of music that documents a unique moment in our time. It is an album that digs deep into the sadness and difficulties that we all face during these uncertain times. Sometimes melancholic, often uplifting, the music mirrors the feelings that only excellent musicians and songwriters can express in song. It is a present-day musical history of our times.
It is indicative of the generosity of the music community that everyone involved has generously donated their songs and time freely in aid of the chosen charity, +Heroes, a small charity set up by NHS staff for NHS staff to help them obtain much needed PPE, childcare, food, and support both emotional and financial.
Dr Dominic Pimenta, trustee of +HEROES” said, “We are incredibly grateful to be supported in our mission to protect the welfare and wellbeing of NHS workers by the Crawdaddy Club and their incredible charity album, Songs of Isolation. Donations received will fund childcare grants, PPE and food drops to NHS workers in need all over the country. Please donate today."