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Callum grew up in a house filled with music, his ears bombarded with everything from Dylan to AC/DC, Steve Earle to Bolan, even Django to Deano but somehow, all those eclectic sounds strangely made sense. He picked up a guitar at 10 and was soon busking on the streets of Norwich, honing his craft and “earning a few quid on a good day”.
Fast forward a few years, and Callum went on to study at Access to Music before heading south at 18 to enrol on (and pass with Merit) a BA (hons) in Contemporary Music course at the renowned ACM in Guildford.
That’s where things really took off. He was playing in all kinds of bands and duos, bouncing between genres and finding his voice not just as a musician and band member, but as a solo artist too.
Now, Callum’s got hundreds of gigs under his belt and he’s had music played on numerous radio stations, including four different songs on BBC Introducing. He’s played at dozens of festivals including Latitude, Weyfest, Selbourne, Chesham Fringe, Broadstairs Folk Week, and Rickmansworth Folk Festival. Oh, and he even warmed up the crowd for Ward Thomas! (In fact if there’s a half decent sound system and a tent and some bunting, Callum probably won’t be far away).
Last year saw the release of a “double” single, and the positive response it generated gave him the push to record his first solo album in his home studio. (which is actually a tiny single bedroom equipped with second hand gear he’s accumulated since the covid lock down). It has taken 11 months of hard work, late nights (and gallons of coffee) to record and produce with Callum singing all lead and backing vocals and playing every instrument you hear. There are stripped back tracks featuring one guitar and one vocal through to tracks featuring a whole band set up. Eventually he emerged blinking back into the daylight…….. The result is The Album ….“Shadows in an Empty Room”.
There are 11 original tracks loosely orbiting the Americana/contemporary folk galaxy, plus one wild card: a cover song dedicated to his musical heroes, Feeder.
Next year Callum aims to spend more time out on the road performing and searching out new opportunities but he certainly intends to be back in the studio recording new material.
SHADOWS IN AN EMPTY ROOM is available on CD from Callum via Facebook / Instagram @Callummusic1 and is also available on most streaming platforms from December 5th.
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