A Paisley musician put the lockdown on live music to good use by writing more than 50 songs.
Al Mitchell has been playing instruments and writing songs for as long as he can remember alongside his day job as a music teacher at the Kibble.
Evenings and weekends are spent gigging around Paisley and Renfrewshire but when the pandemic stopped all that, he didn’t rest.
Instead he spent time writing new songs and recording them at his home studio.
Now he’s ready to release his first single, Hey Stranger, on Friday.
Al said: “I turned my flat into a recording studio so I can write and record in my spare time.
“I’ve written 50 songs in the last year. I wasn’t gigging for a while because of lockdown so I was writing rather than performing. It’s the most productive I’ve ever been.”
Don't miss the latest headlines from around Renfrewshire. Sign up to our newsletters here.
Al, 50, plays mostly covers when he performs locally but he’s been throwing in a couple of his own songs which have gone down well.
That, and the encouragement of his friends, has led him to release Hey Stranger, on Friday, March 4.
“It’s one of my favourites,” said Al. “My friends have told me I should release it, they’ve said it’s the best one. It’s gone down really well when I’ve played it.
“It’s quite a summery song about wanting to get to know someone.”
Al has played in various bands but now gigs mostly as a solo artist. He was in the band Moon in the early 2000s and their music was used by MTV on its reality TV show, The Real World.
He said: “We released three albums and we were about to go to America but it never happened. I’ve almost been successful a couple of times.
“Our whole album was used on the 10th season of The Real World, Back to New York.”
Al has worked at Kibble for 17 years and said he doesn’t dream of stardom.
“Teaching music is amazing,” said Al. “Music brings out the best in people.
“I work with some great people, fantastic kids as well.
“I love working at Kibble. I don’t have any aspirations to be on Top of the Pops, I’m a songwriter.
“If I can make a bit of money out of it then great. I just get pleasure from making music.
Hey Stranger will be able to download on all the usual digital platforms from this Friday.
Download the FREE Renfrewshire Live app now for all the latest news, features and sport in your area. Available on both Android and Apple. Download here: smarturl.it/RenfrewLiveSocial
