New Isle of Arran EP sung by Olivia Barker

A new EP has just been released of four songs all sung by Olivia Barker, the title track for which is Isle of Arran, a song recalling memories of childhood holidays on Arran.

 

It has been written and produced by Phil Ryder, who is releasing the CD on Spotify, iTunes and all the online channels.

 

A video of the song is also on Phil’s YouTube channel which features Olivia singing in Brodick and Lamlash with photos to reflect some of the lyrics.

 

The other songs on the EP are They Don’t Know the Heartache, I Knew It Was All Over and Anniversary will be posted on the next three Mondays.

 

Phil plays keyboard and various instrumentalists join him in the backing. The songs will appear under the name Phil Ryder featuring Olivia Barker.

 

Olivia, who lives in Lamlash and graduated in summer 2019 from Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh, in accountancy, is well known on the island as an accomplished singer who received voice training while at Heriot Watt.

 

Prior to the lockdown she sang from time to time at the Pierhead Tavern and at occasional functions on the island.

 

Olivia has now recorded nine of Phil’s songs and is waiting for the lockdown to end so she can record another three songs to finish the album.

 

Three songs have already been released - If You Have Found Love, Someone Else’s Guy and Sauntering in Paris - and videos of Olivia singing them by the beach in Sandbraes outside Phil’s house are also on Phil’s YouTube channel.

 

The next single, sung by Olivia, will be released early next year featuring Something About You and Is This Real Love.

 

Surrey-based Phil is a frequent visitor to Arran where he and his wife Rona have a holiday home in Sandbraes, Whiting Bay. He wrote most of the songs on Arran as he finds it an inspiring place to compose.

 

All Olivia’s vocals were recorded at the Carlton Studio in Glasgow. The backings to the tracks were recorded at the Sonic Studio in Edinburgh and the Mayfair Studio in Churt in Surrey.

 

Separately an album of Phil's songs was recently released Wrong Side of Town which contains Only When the Last Tree sung by Terry Brown.

 

Phil was inspired to write it seeing a poster in the EasMor Library about the over-use of the earth’s resources. The poem on the poster was attributed to the Cree Indians.

 

Also Phil recently released an EP Damaged World sung by himself. The title track is about the damage that plastic is doing to sea-life, again inspired by his trips to Arran.

 

Phil will be putting videos of most of the songs onto his YouTube channel in the coming months.

 

Watch the Isle of Arran video at