Avon Calling - becauseyourseedsgrowupthesameway CD

‘The becauseyourseedsgrowupthesameway recording came about as I was switching phones and browsing through, deleting to save space. I found forgotten voice recordings of songs and poems of young people I know. Listening I was transported to different times and places. A friend’s daughter singing with beauty in a house perched on a sea wall. A friend’s son rapping in the early hours with scratchy blues playing in the background. My own daughter nervously plucking the piano before an exam.
Another friend’s daughter appeared in a beer garden and sung of the horrors of war in Syria, as I hit the red circle on my phone. Looking further through mini DV tapes I found more – some gathered from my work at a children’s charity. A poem of loss caught on the roof of an inner city library whilst sirens wail. A transformative experience of viewing a heron whilst being homeless. I found I had an exciting project right in front of me.
I added sounds, a synth wash here, some guitars and bass there. I love ambient music and so put all these pieces together in a single, beatless patchwork of sound. My gratitude goes out to all the young people involved for allowing me to capture them.”

-  Richard Thomas

Avon Calling ‘beacauseyourseedsgrowupthesameway’ has echoes of ambient pieces like the KLF ‘Chillout’ album but its real power comes from the young people’s voices that run through the recording.

At times it invokes sadness, but also joy, and it is imbued with an emotional power as these are real recordings of young people talking about their experiences in the UK today. From drunken raps to heartfelt confessions, snippets of Hitchock interweave with songs of innocence, this recording has a deep emotional resonance stitched expertly together with Avon Calling (Richard Thomas) musical flourishes.

Richard Thomas has worked with young people through his career spent providing support to vulnerable young people at Barnado’s and worked in various youth clubs in Bristol.

He has also played in a number of bands over the years from the political punk rap of Bristol’s infamous Nosebleed to the jazz post punk sounds of The Hide.

All profits made from this CD goes to AidBoxCommunity in Bristol who provide support, supplies, sanctuary and community to the hundreds of refugees and people seeking asylum in the city.