Jimmy's CD to help fund street kids

JIMMY Gunn’s been singing nearly all his life and now – hoping to raise funds for Indonesian street kids – he’s revamped favourite tracks from 30 years of songwriting for a new CD.

It’s called Flyfree and is the name of one of the schools set up by charity Safehaven founded by Jimmy’s sister Val Whyte.

Val, who lives outside Huntly, was inspired to do what she could to help after after visiting Java in Indonesia following the devastating tsunami that hit the region in 2006.

Some of the money raised by the CD will go to the charity.

Martin Stephenson singer and mainman of 80s band The Daintees helped Jimmy record the 10-tracker and is the producer. He also put Jimmy in touch with his Isle of Wight artist friend Rob Sweeney, whose painting is the album's front cover.

After seven months of working on the project over the summer, the Invergordon musician launched it at the MacCallum Centre in Alness last Friday (Nov 15). A digital version of the album is available online.

For Jimmy – who has been a welder and painter at Nigg in the past, though now works as a social carer – working with Martin has given him the chance to renew some of his older songs.

He said: “I gathered some of my favourite songs together and re-recorded them with Martin.

“I met Martin in the Crazy Horse Cafe in Invergordon around the time I was starting that and he said he’d help me. He also plays on the album, as do some local musicians – Davy Cowan, harmonica player Stevie Smith, Mir Campbell, Dorec a belle accordionist Liza Mulholland plus Martin’s friend Jim Hornsby on lapsteel and extra electric guitar, my singing partner Brian Skinner on keybaords and vocals plus Chris Aitchison on drums and backing vocals on Song For South Africa, Colin Campbell."

The musical styles on the album vary from blues and country to folk, Scottish dance band and calypso.

And with inspirational people having often triggered Jimmy’s ideas for songs, there are many devotional songs – plus two reworkings of favourite psalms of Jimmy's on the album, Psalms 63 and 107.

The oldest song of Jimmy’s on the album is called Reach Out Your Hands.

Many of them were inspired by “people who were hurting”, says Jimmy.

A Moment In Time was written about a man on an oil rig who was near to despair, but in A Song For Africa which came from Jimmy’s own visit to Africa and the Xhosa people and a leader called Xcolani.

“He was a bright light.

“One of my favourite songs is called Alison and I wrote it for Alison Macdonald, the daughter who disappeared in Kashmir in 1981 of minister Kenny Macdonald.

“It’s a song that nearly didn’t happen. I’d thrown it in the bin because I couldn’t make it work. But I rescued it, tried again and now it’s one of my favourites.

“I work at songwriting – I still have to work at it through I’ve been doing it for so long. I believe it’s a gift, but you have to keep working at it!”

Over the years, Jimmy has performed singing Scottish music, was part of a Scottish country dance band, but now often appears in churches across the north with Brian Skinner who also performs regularly with Jimmy.

To find out more about Jimmy's music and to buy a copy of the album online, go to: jimmygunn.bandcamp.com