Ellesmere

You know how it is… You get a message on Facebook from a well known rock star asking you to give them money or buy them Apple cards etc.

Well this one was different!

A few years ago I got a message from Mr Roberto Vitelli wanting to introduce himself and asking if I would be interested in singing on his forthcoming album. Naturally, my imposter syndrome kicked in and at first I had doubts after listening to his work online. Bloody hell! This was really proggy!

I realised that Robert Berry (who worked with Keith Emerson) had sung on one of his albums and the people he had worked with read like a who’s who of prog music. Could I really reach those heights? Well, nothing ventured etc.

I asked Roberto to send me a song over and I would have a crack at it, fully expecting a “thanks but no thanks,” after he heard me sing on it. I had worked with great musicians before obviously, but this seemed to be a different level than that. The song duly arrived and I loaded it into my DAW. I soon fell in love with the song which was then called North Pole, but after Roberto had given me instructions to “change lyrics if you like” became, Northwards.

On the album, this comes after a wonderfull instrumental overture orchestrated by Mr Clive Nolan (of Arena fame), which sets the scene beautifully. The song drives with a powerful keyboard riff, which makes for a great album opener. Vocal wise the song suited my range and although Roberto had laid down a guide vocal, I added harmony vocals to that.

Incredibly, Roberto loved it and was so encouraging that it really bonded me to try my best to make the album a success.