New Music From Scotland
SNOW PATROL AND THE SATURDAY SONGWRITERS RELEASE THE FIRESIDE SESSIONS EP
Snow Patrol have announced details of a brand-new EP. Written and recorded during lockdown, The Fireside Sessions was released on August 21st and is made up of five songs written with the band’s fans during a series of streams on Instagram Live dubbed ‘Saturday Songwrite’. In a nod to this collaboration, The Fireside Sessions will be released under the banner of Snow Patrol And The Saturday Songwriters. The EP was produced by Iain Archer. It was released digitally and on CD and was preceded by the single “Reaching Out To You” on July 30th. The band are partnering with the Trussell Trust Charity for the EP and all
proceeds from the project will go to the antipoverty charity. Speaking about how The Fireside Sessions came about, frontman Gary Lightbody says, “During lockdown I wrote a song each Saturday on Instagram Live. People from all over the world participated and each week there was 4 or 5 thousand people involved over the course of the hour: The Saturday Songwriters. They would suggest chords and lyrics and I would put them all together and add in a few of my own where appropriate but my unwritten rule was that there would be lyrics from a Saturday Songwriter in each line of the song. We did it for 11 weeks and wrote 12 songs together. It was a lot of fun.” Completing the EP’s tracklisting alongside “Reaching Out To You” are “On The Edge Of All This”, “The Curve Of Earth”, “Dance With Me” and “Light Years”. The Fireside Sessions follow’s last year’s Reworked album, which saw the quintet offer up alternate versions of iconic tracks alongside some deep cuts. Reworked reached Number 3 in the UK charts. The Trussell Trust supports a nationwide network of food banks to provide emergency support to people locked in poverty, and campaign for change to end the need for food banks in the UK. Food banks have seen a
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Rock and Blues International • September 2020
huge increase in need for emergency support during the coronavirus outbreak. The Trussell Trust reports a soaring 89% increase in need for emergency food parcels during April 2020 compared to the same month last year, including a 107% rise in parcels given to children. The number of families with children receiving parcels has doubled compared to the same period last year. Wherever possible, food banks are continuing to provide emergency support to people in their community in the safest way possible. Many have had to make significant changes to the way they work in order to protect the health of everyone at the food bank – whether that’s people who need the food bank, people volunteering, or people donating. The Trussell Trust is here to end the need for food banks in UK.They support a UK-wide network of more than 1,200 food bank centres and together we provide emergency food and support to people locked in poverty, and campaign for change to end the need for food banks in the UK. The Trussell Trust’s food bank network brings together volunteers, staff and supporters of all faiths and none to make a difference. Local churches play a vital part in this work, with around 12,000 churches actively involved in donating food, and providing venues, volunteers and financial support for food banks. You can read more about The Trussell Trust www.trusselltrust.org
