Chiswick Voices Needed For Charity Song

Glastonbury duo bid for Top 40 single for leukaemia funding

Alternative folk duo The Portraits, who played at last year's Glastonbury Festival, have appealed for local voices to sing on the recording of their new single to raise money for leukaemia research.

The duo will perform at St Michael and All Angels Church in Chiswick in May and hope to reach the top 40 with their song, ‘The Rest Of Time’.

The track, written about the power we each have to save a life, will accompany an urgent call for people to sign up to the Bone Marrow register at a time when many potential recipients still die before finding a donor match.

They intend to perform the new song at their Chiswick concert, where the audience themselves will record one of many layers of voices – with an aim to reach 2000 participants – to be used on the final version of the single, planned for release later in 2014.

For Chiswick-based pianist and songwriter Jeremy Millington, the subject of the song and the cause are close to his heart following the death of his father Graham from Leukaemia a decade ago.

“My dad could have had more time,” Jeremy says, “if the doctors had found a bone marrow match for him, which they tragically couldn’t. I have always wanted to do something to raise awareness of the need for people to become donors to prevent others suffering the same loss that my family and I did.”

“Success as an independent musician is a game of numbers and of being realistic about what you can achieve. We are repeating our Chiswick recording plan across the country over the next few months, ending up with a huge collage of voices. With so many involved, credited, and having an interest in its success, we’re confident our song can land a place in the singles chart. The publicity generated has the potential to save lives and show that regular people can achieve something incredible.”

The Portraits were formed in 2005 by husband and wife Lorraine and Jeremy Millington, from Galway and Bristol respectively. They have been based in Chiswick since 2010. They will return to play Glastonbury once more in 2014. The duo were crowned Best International Artist 2011 by respected U.S. station Radio Crystal Blue, and their new album, ‘Life In Sepia’, was released on CD and download formats on 2nd December, 2013.

The Portraits play accompanied by string players at St Michael and All Angels Church, Bath Road, London W4 1TT in aid of the Anthony Nolan Trust on 16th May 2014.

Support act TBC. Doors open 8.00pm. Tickets £4 adv from theportraitsmusic.com/live or £5 on the door. Under 12s go free. Music starts 8.15pm.

April 11, 2014