Neil’s lyric ability puts him into song contest semi-finals

Neil’s lyric ability puts him into song contest semi-finals

2 December 2015

A MUSIC therapist whose songwriting has been inspired by his work with traumatised ex-servicemen is in the semi-finals of a prestigious music competition.

Neil Foster’s ‘Early Light’ has caught the eye of the UK Songwriting Contest judges, which include Grammy, Emmy, BRIT and CMA award-winning album producers and artists.

The song features in an album of original songs Neil has just released, which are inspired by people who have been isolated by illness, mental health problems, trauma or disability — people he has met and worked with in his role as a music therapist and community musician.

The Killyleagh man will hear in the new year if he has made the final selection.

Neil recently moved back to Co Down after working as a music therapist in England, which included a spell in a rehabilitation centre with former security services personnel and combat veterans.

“I have worked in recent years with people who were traumatised or suffering from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder,” he said.

“I came to songwriting recently and this song I have written is about finding hope beyond being trapped in a war zone.”

Neil said it occurred to him that that the trauma of former soldiers and servicemen wasn’t always given the attention it deserved.

“I’m working with these guys who are 50, 60, 70 and I started thinking, these are the young guys I would have seen on the streets here in the 1970s and 80s. They would have been 19 or 20.

“When I started looking at their histories before the army and their family backgrounds, some already had difficult backgrounds or their parents were in the forces.

“They ended up finding a brotherhood. It moved me.”

Neil, who has carried out research on music therapy in acute cancer care and worked with patients with dementia and autism, said music provided a way for a “dynamic conversation without words.”

“It is such a primary route of communication,” he said.

“One of the things I have also heard about music therapy from hospital staff is that it really helps the staff themselves who are so stressed.”

Neil now wants to continue music therapy and community music work while devoting more time to his songwriting.

“I only trained in my mid thirties a few years ago, before that I was a freelance community 

musician,” he said.

“With regards to the songwriting it is the first time I have entered a competition like this.”

Neil, who performs his own material with an acoustic guitar accompaniment, is entered into the acoustic and folk song category of the UK Songwriting Contest.

“It means a lot to get to the semi-final,” he said. “It’s nice to get validation from people who have worked in the industry. It is really encouraging for me.”

Judges in the UK Songwriting Contest include the legendary producer Stuart Epps (Elton John, Robbie Williams, Oasis), Britney Spears’ musical director and BRIT Award winner Simon Ellis, top producer and arranger Dr Richard Niles (Paul McCartney, Kylie Minogue, Take That, Mariah Carey), and Sting’s producer and Double Grammy and Emmy winner, Kipper Eldridge.

Many entrants have been published, signed or produced, by top industry figures who follow this event closely looking for new talent. Simon Cowell, for example, recently signed one of the winners.

Neil’s music can be viewed online at: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/neilfoster and at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSbBiZe0RdI and https://neilfoster.bandcamp.com