A blues band from Hampshire wants to help people diagnosed with cancer by donating a share of its royalties from the sales of its new album to a major regional cancer Trust.
The Mark Gamblin Band has just been signed to Acorn Music Group (Acorn Records and Acorn Publishing) and the new album ‘Down to the station’ will be released on world wide downloads including iTunes on 7 April 2011.
25% percent of the profit from the sales of the blues album will be donated to Wessex Cancer Trust, which has in the past helped raise much needed cash for the Chemotheapy Unit at St Mary’s Hospital, Newport.
This year the Trust celebrates its 30th Anniversary and in that time has raised nearly £20 million to help support and improve cancer services in the Wessex region.
The Mark Gamblin Band was formed in 2004 by five talented musicians from the Portsmouth and Southampton area, passionate about modern Electric Chicago Blues.
The band’s line up consists of Mark Gamblin vocals and lead guitar, Chris Jayne on rhythm guitar, Andy Lee on keyboards, Graham Fallow on drums, and Lloyd Arrow on Bass.
“It’s fantastic to be signed to a record company that has such a distinguished catalogue of published songs” says Mark Gamblin, songwriter and guitarist.
The new album ‘Down to the station’ has a versatile upbeat sound and influences from Freddie King, Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan. The album has 15 tracks including ‘Down to the station’ a typical Chicago blues song, ‘Rain Down’ an instrumental with jazz overtones, ‘In the Morning’ another Chicago blues song, ‘Four Small Steps’ a slow instrumental, and ‘I Met A Girl’ a reel raucous bluesy rocker.
“Many demos end up in the bin, but the Mark Gamblin Band was one of the best blues demos we have ever had” says Mark Olrog, Head of A&R at Acorn Music Group (Acorn Records and Acorn Publishing) known for their interests in material recorded by such diverse artists as Van Morrison, Susan Vega, John Lennon and many more from every decade and genre of music.
The Trust’s Chief Executive, Kim Lawford said: “The Wessex Cancer Trust are delighted to be associated with a talented band and are looking forward to tuning into a successful year together as we celebrate our 30th Anniversary”.
The Wessex Cancer Trust provides help and support for children, teenagers and adults living with cancer including promoting research into cancer and to advance education into its causes, prevention and treatment. The Trust has raised nearly £20 million to improve cancer care throughout the Wessex region including the Isle of Wight, Channel Islands, Wiltshire, Hampshire and Dorset since it was founded in 1981.
