Sing for West Cumbria!
SoundWave, our Cumbrian Youth Music Action Zone want us all to join forces in song to help raise the spirits of those affected by the recent flooding in the region.
SoundWave and its team know only too well the devastating effects the floods have had on the local West Cumbrian community and they were keen to help out when Scott McKenzie, a local songwriter contacted them. Scott composed an original song about the floods and wants to involve as many people as possible in recording it. It doesn't matter what age you are and whether or not you haven't sung for ages and that you probably don't know the song. There'll be a chance to have a practice before the rehearsal and the more the merrier!
The song is called ‘What Can Be Done?’ and the chorus captures the mood of local people – battered by the floods but not beaten.
“We can see this overcome. If we stand together we all stand as one.
We can see this overcome. We can change this; we will be strong.”
Scott and SoundWave are planning to hold a number of ‘mass sing’ events involving hundreds of local people as an impromptu choir to help get the message across.
“I wrote the song while I was stuck in the traffic jam outside Cockermouth next to the flooded river a few days ago,” says Scott, of local band Eventual Breakdown. “I wanted to write something that could maybe help people get through the hardships we’re facing at the moment, and I thought maybe it could be a way of helping to raise some cash for the flood fund.”
“It’s been frustrating and distressing to see the impact of the awful flooding in west Cumbria,” says SoundWave creative Director Dave Camlin, “and we’re delighted to be involved in something like this which is going to give our communities the chance to have their voices heard in song. I think Scott’s song captures the west Cumbrian community spirit really well. People have suffered enormously through this disaster, but the overall sense is that people are determined to recover and move forward.”
“We’d love to see Scott’s song taken up as an anthem,” adds Dave, “with schools and communities across west Cumbria learning it to sing together, and get footage of it distributed as widely as possible via the internet so that people outside of west Cumbria can see the strength and determination of local people to re-build our communities. We’re also helping Eventual Breakdown to record the song as a single, featuring local community groups, children and young people, and all proceeds from sales of the single will go to the flood fund.”
How can you get involved?
1. SHARE IT! Download the full set of lyrics, music and the demo version of the chorus from www.soundwave.org.uk or www.allerdale.gov.uk. Post the links on your own websites / Facebook / Twitter sites etc. and tell all your friends about it!
2. RECORD IT! Join us to record the song with Scott’s band Eventual Breakdown. We want to get at least 200 people to the recording session, so please tell all your friends. Thursday 3 December from 6.00pm, Mitchell's Lakeland Livestock Centre
(on the main A66 roundabout just to the south of Cockermouth and there are RAC direction signs as you approach the venue.)
Bring all your family, young and old - the more the merrier! 6pm - rehearsal, 7pm - recording.
3. SING IT! We’re planning to hold a number of ‘Mass Sing’ events over the next few weeks where we can get even more people singing the song and demonstrate our community solidarity! We want to see the whole of West Cumbria re-united in song, so please put these dates firmly in your diary, and come and be part of something special!
The first live airing of the song will be performed by Eventual Breakdown with ‘Sing Owt’ and Friends on Friday 4 December from 6.30pm - Cockermouth Market Place; Christmas Lights switch-on.
For further information visit www.soundwave.org.uk
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