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 two years with a charismatic choir further built his confidence. 

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 resuming his musical journey midlife has led to a new-found creativity that finds an outlet in writing harmonies, trumpet solos and original songs. “I’ve arrived late to the party, and I’ve got the zeal of a convert. I’m smiling most of the time I’m singing with Lorraine – I’m really enjoying myself.”

In 2024 Gareth's song "Can We Do It All Again" was longlisted for the Talent Is Timeless international songwriting competition.

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. I can’t read music and didn’t even know Gareth played trumpet to start with, but as soon as I heard what he could do I thought, yes, let’s run with this! So that’s what we’ve done.”

Lorraine's song "Not The End Of The World" was runner-up in the 2024 Edinburgh Folk Club songwriting competition.