One of the busiest local South Coast-based professional musicians, Rich Baxter’s career came to a grinding halt when the government put the UK in Lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Like many musicians Rich was put in a very difficult position; however he did not let it get him down; he used his time wisely and started work on his second solo record, the follow-up to his 12 track debut the “Land Of The Living”. One of the new tracks “Lockdown Turnaround” is inspired by the difficult situation that we find ourselves in during the prolonged incarceration in our homes. Rich has decided to release the tune ahead of the album release, with all proceeds going towards the ‘Dorset County Hospital COVID-19 Appeal’ as a way of supporting all the sterling work that the NHS is doing for all of us in this difficult time.
Rich explained: “The track itself; I recorded it all by myself at home on my standalone 32 track recorder with my usual “play live” approach, rather than using any samples or copying and editing parts. The only thing I couldn’t do was the guitar solo and as my guitarist, Leigh Crowe did not have anything to record on, he sent it to me via a Whatsapp message and I think his solo came out pretty well considering”. “The song will be part of my new album that I have recorded 100% in lockdown. I’m 9 songs into the recordings with a few more to go, the album is appropriately titled as “Album 2″ and you can find all the early versions of the tracks on my SoundCloud page”.
During the lockdown period, Rich has been putting on gigs in his driveway every Sunday, which have apparently been going down a storm in the Bournemouth street where he lives. He was reluctant at first, but when he was given encouragement from his neighbours he could not refuse. This, along with the fact that he was missing playing live music to an audience. The first one went down so well, Rich was contacted by local BBC radio station Solent for an interview. It seems in these very testing times every neighbourhood needs their own local musician to keep spirits high, just like Vera Lynn did during wartime.
The song is an Americana-influenced piece featuring toe-tapping rhythms, acoustic guitar and harmonica; along with Leigh Crowe’s now-infamous WhatsApp guitar solo. It chugs along with an infectious chorus and lyrics that thoroughly details all that we are currently going through, it could, in fact, provide future generations with an insight into what happened to those involved with the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.
You can donate to the Dorset County Hospital COVID-19 Appeal here.
Links
https://soundcloud.com/richbaxter
http://www.facebook.com/richbaxtermusic
Words by David Chinery (Chinners).
