A group of inspiring East Dunbartonshire musicians are dreaming of hitting the big time as they prepare to launch their debut album.
‘Pictures of Reality’ is the first album from Sounds of the Gallery – an inclusive group of musicians, some of whom have autism or learning disabilities.
The band, based out of Kirkintilloch’s Kelvinbank Resource Centre, meet each week to perform music together and socialise.
And thanks to a generous award of £1080 from Glasgow Airport’s FlightPath Fund they were able to realise their dream of going into a studio for a professional recording of instrumental pieces and songs created by the band over the past two-and-a-half years.
After finishing the mixing and mastering process themselves, Sounds of the Gallery will now launch their album with a free performance of their music and songs at the Lillie Art Gallery in Milngavie at 5.30pm on Thursday 26 October. The event is open to the public to attend and copies of the album will be available to buy.
The band, who headlined this year's Big Helix Picnic at the Helix Park in Falkirk, are supported by East Dunbartonshire Health and Social Care Partnership’s (HSCP) Local Area Co-ordinators service.
HSCP Chief Officer Susan Manion said, “This innovative project has had a really positive impact on the lives of the band members, who have grown in self-confidence, built friendships and improved their communication skills.
“The emphasis of the Sounds of the Gallery project has always been on creating new songs and new pieces of instrumental music so that the participants have hands-on experience of making creative and artistic decisions, and then are able to gain the skills to turn these into finished performances and recordings.
“So it’s fantastic to hear that every one of the songs that feature on the album have been written, composed and arranged by the inspiring members of the group, some as young as 18, assisted by the band's Musical Director, Chris Furness.
“Everyone in the band is very grateful to Glasgow Airport's Flightpath Fund which helped pay for the production of the album and I would encourage people to get along to the launch event and pick up a copy of Pictures of Reality for themselves.”
Peter Carroll, who sits on Glasgow Airport’s FlightPath Fund committee, added, “It is well documented that active participation in music-making has beneficial effects on memory, social skills and general well-being and it's excellent that the Sounds of the Gallery project has allowed these young people to access these benefits for themselves.
“The committee was really impressed with the Sounds of the Gallery application and we were only too happy to support them in making their dreams of producing an album a reality.
“I hope the band go from strength-to-strength and continue to hit the high notes in the future.”
There are spaces for new members of the adult/young people group. If you would like to join, or if you know someone who would be interested, please contact George Burt or Ashleigh Grant-Ng on 0300 1234510 or email george.burt@eastdunbarton.gov.uk / ashleigh.grant-ng@eastdunbarton.gov.uk
To apply for funding support from Glasgow Airport, simply visit https://www.glasgowairport.com/community/flightpath-fund/ to download your application form and email to flightpath@glasgowairport.com
Follow us on Twitter @EDCouncil or like us on Facebook for the latest updates.