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I am really pleased to announce the release of a new album – Made In Sheffield. It is creative collaboration with musician Andy Selman. I first met Andy because he played guitar in a band that my wife Wilma sings with called Redback. He was playing at an evening where I was reading some of the Sheffield Poems and suggested he might create musical accompaniments. We started just before lockdown and continued via email and zoom to create fourteen tracks. I think they are a testament to the city we both love, to the creative juices that have kept flowing, and to the friendship that artistic endeavour creates. Here are our thoughts in this new venture.

Andy Selman – Music

When I was young, I used to ride my bike from Ecclesfield to Brightside and listen to the rhythm of the steel works. The drop forge hammers and the steady pulse of the engines. They would idle for about 10 seconds while the ingot was turned and then BANG! Then there’s the sound of the blues bands I saw in the West Street pubs and the electronic and new wave bands at the Limit and Leadmill. I can never look up at Park Hill without hearing early Heaven’s 17 in my head. Now I spend many a day walking alongside Sheffield’s five rivers. I sit by the mill ponds and think about folk music. Adrian has brought many memories back to me with this collection of poems. I hope the tunes enhance the way Adrian has captured the essence and heart of Sheffield.

Adrian Scott – Poems

I wanted to discover what Sheffield was all about. I had grown up here and that meant I didn’t really pay attention to the place. Poetry seemed a good way to try and capture a city, that and a camera. Over the past few years, I have walked all over the city, like one of those artists who make their art out of found objects. I have tried to get under the skin of Sheffield, to understand how we got here, what here looks like and by implication what the future might look like? The images and encounters that created these poems and the photos on the cover are a very personal answer to those questions. Andy heard me recite Sheffield Born and Bred and asked if I would mind if he put music to the words, I was delighted. I think our collaboration has enriched us both during the lockdowns of 2020-21, and we have created something of value to ourselves and hopefully to our city.