Caithness accordion star Brandon McPhee has released his first song in single Let's Start Again and is excited about getting out live with new tour
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Though accordion-player Brandon McPhee is itching to get out on tour starting at Eden Court on Wednesday, the release of his single Let’s Start Again is one sign he has been busy while working at home.
Brandon, from Castletown in Caithness, is very pleased with his first song and the lyrics reflect the tough times and changing world we all had to learn to cope with during the worst times of lockdown.
Though Brandon has written hundreds of tunes since his career began at just 11, Let’s Start Again is the first song he has written. His imagination has ventured to new worlds, as he suggests escaping from “protesting climate change” and “people so hostile and full of rage”, to go to another planet! There’s also a romantic twist “Come follow me on my rocket ship and we could be a team!”
“The theory of the song came in lockdown because, with the news, there wasn’t much positivity around anywhere and all these things were happening, there was obviously Covid, people fighting. And the internet and social media has moved on too and I don’t think it’s all for the better, either.
“I decided I would love to do a song about that, so I put my thoughts together and came up with Let’s Start Again. It’s basically about leaving Earth behind!”
In lockdown Brandon also recorded “a couple of hundred different tracks” for future albums and published a music book. He and his band continued to do their own TV shows for Spotlight TV, which is taking a break after six years of weekly episodes.
“There was no relaxing!” Brandon laughs.
The band is Robert Cameron on drums, Manson Grant on keyboards, Jamie Anderson from Orkney on acoustic guitar and Geoff McCook on lead guitar. The live set will have songs and tunes, Scottish, folk and country music and “a whole mix of things”.
Brandon and his band play Eden Court on Wednesday (June 22), single Let’s Start Again is out on digital, streaming services and from https://panrecords.myshopify.com Full interview: whatson-north.co.uk
