Photo by Colin Tennant
Congratulations to Good Man and Friends Choir who won the Newcomer Award category. We asked them the following questions.
Tell us more about yourself / the choir
The choir came together intending to try and raise money for charity as part of Dumfries ‘A Choir for Charity’ event that took place last year. It was a much bigger task than anyone realised, and took so much effort and learning, as very few of the group had ever sung at all. Everyone was delighted and inspired by our second position in the competition. We’ve carried on this year with a few changes of personnel, but a core group intact. The choir leader, music arranger, Nicola Black has arranged specifically for the choir’s voices, but has really encouraged development of confidence in singing, harmony and performance. The choir is made up of work colleagues with a few friends and family. Everyone looks forward to a Wednesday night and the group have become friends.
How long has the choir been singing together?
We started singing together in 2014.
What have you/has the choir got planned in the next 12 months?
WIckerman Festival, Open Stage in New Galloway, 4 performances as part of ‘A Choir for Charity’ as well as fundraising singing opportunities over the summer.
What has been the highlight of the choir’s singing journey?
The performance in November 2014 of ‘A Choir for Charity’. After it the choir felt they had done as well as they possibly could, but were not really expecting to win anything, taking part had been so fulfilling and exciting. Being placed second was just the icing on the cake!
Why did the choir first start singing together?
In 2014 Dumfries held a ‘Choir For Charity’ Event, a large fundraiser over a weekend which raised £24000 for local charities. Dumfries firm, Good Man Home Improvements, had an idea of getting involved. The only trouble was, only 2 of the members had ever sung before. The choir, made up of joiners, plumbers, fitters, a couple of guys from neighbouring firms, and only 2 girls at first, one of them only 16. Our choir leader had never seen anyone as scared as we were on that first meeting. Some of the younger lads couldn’t stop giggling, the group were so nervous and so scared to sing, it sounded terrible.
We soldiered on, not really thinking we could ever do it, but ever so slowly we started to really enjoy the singing.
How does it feel to be the first winner of the award?
It’s so exciting and moving. It’s something that’s spurring us on to get even better.
What are the choir’s favourite songs?
Ob la Di Ob La Da, Happy Together, Tobar Tobar, Cum on Feel the Noize
What styles of singing do you / the choir enjoy most?
The choir has really enjoyed the ‘pop’ style songs, but new Gaelic and gospel songs added to our repertoire have gone down really well.
Read more about Good Man & Friendsat their website
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Friends-of-Huntingtons-Scotland/1452767605039561?fref=ts
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