Maybe you could join us? You know, if you want. Have a listen... This is my first original music release since my days in Penfold, over twenty years ago. I'm releasing under the artist name Saffron Drive, which many friends and family will find significant. I've had it in mind for this kind of project, it rolls off the tongue quite nicely, and it suggests flavour, links with faraway places and for
ward movement, which I quite like. This starts with a song written at the start of the first UK lockdown in April 2020, when almost all of my business disappeared overnight (I'm a freelance sound engineer, theatre technician and musician). On the plus side, I found myself spending much more time with my son Joe, who was only a few months old at the time, and being at home meant that I got to see his first smiles, first laughs and many other firsts that I would probably have missed. In normal times, it's unlikely that his first word would have been "daddy". The song was set aside for several months due to other priorities, and I finally recorded it at the end of January 2021, playing all the instruments and recording the first of my vocals here in our lovely studio. I knew that it deserved a better vocal though, and so I put it out to the community as something that anyone could contribute to, as a way to bring a sense of togetherness in these weird, isolated days. The final version of the song contains 49 tracks of lead and backing vocals contributed by fourteen different singers. A huge thanks goes out to Adam Brown, Simon Cooper, John Cox, Tom Gorringe, Eleanor Hodgson, Beth Hubbard, Karen Broughton, Lynne O'Malley, Jessica Sharp, Rachel Thomas, Dale Michael Vaughan, Laura Whitfield and Jon Chapman, who also played harmonica and mastered the recording. It's available to listen to and purchase via the following link: https://saffrondrive.bandcamp.com/track/coming-home
I'd love to be altruistic and make this a charity single, but here's the truth of the matter. I'm running almost all of my business now on a nine-year-old Apple computer, and if it dies, I'm screwed. It's the centre of my recording studio, but over the last year it has also become the portal for my online workshops and tutorials. It's something that in normal circumstances would have been on the priority list for replacement last year, but, you know, 2020. So please listen, and I hope you enjoy the song, and the coming together of so many wonderful voices. If so, please share the link, and if you can, chuck a quid or so into the Bandcamp hat and help me to be able to continue making music with you all. Cheers,
Chris x
