Gareth Overton

Gareth grew up playing in brass bands with his dad and brother in Yorkshire, and had childhood piano lessons. In his twenties he bought a trumpet, played in London’s amateur orchestras and big bands, and found his voice in large choirs that sang in famous concert halls. He lived in Brussels for a spell, then moved to Edinburgh. Singing weekends with Teesside folk group The Young’uns gave him a new itch and led to two years of singing with a charismatic choir. 

Although Gareth’s family made music, there weren’t records or radios playing at home so he feels he has big gaps in his hinterland. But coming back to music in midlife has opened a path to writing harmonies, trumpet solos and original songs. “I’ve arrived late to the party, and I’ve got the zeal of a convert. People comment that I’m smiling most of the time I’m singing with Lorraine – I’m really enjoying myself.”

In 2026 Gareth's song "Getting Over Going Under" won the new, fun Wild Song songwriting competition. He also won the Edinburgh Folk Club songwriting competition in 2025 with "It's All Happening Tonight".

Lorraine McCann

Lorraine’s from Dundee and began performing there in the early ‘80s, singing and playing bass in a C&W band which branched out to play pop and rock covers on a ferry from Aberdeen to Shetland. At sea, in the middle of the night, she began to write her own songs. Demos were made but then post-uni life took over and she settled in Edinburgh to work in publishing. She also acted and wrote drama for BBC Radio 4.

In 2018, Lorraine felt the pull towards music again, and especially a longing to find someone to harmonise with. One ad on Gumtree later, she met Gareth. “It’s an endless learning curve for me,” Lorraine says. “Our backgrounds and influences are so different. My ear will always go to pop harmonies, but Gareth writes more sophisticated ones and I love learning them."

As for the trumpet . . . "I didn't even know Gareth played trumpet when we started singing together, but as soon as I heard what he could do I thought, 'Yes! Let's see where this takes us.'"