We were lucky to catch up with Colin Gordon-Farleigh recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Colin, thanks for joining us today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

Well, I started the creative side of my life when I was very young, writing verse from the age of eight. My first published work was when I was sixteen, and then it grew from there. But it was many years later when I began to write songs, starting out with Worship songs about twenty years ago. I well remember the first secular song that I wrote. It was in December 2006 and my (fairly new) wife was my muse. That first song was titled “When I’m With You” and in 2007 it became the title song for a full album, recorded by a classical singer in the UK. However, my musical roots have always been embedded in Country Music, and over the years since I have progressed further and further into that field. Several of my songs won awards and then, in 2017, on a visit to a friend’s studio on Music Row in Nashville, I was ‘discovered’ as a singer and my life changed.

Whilst I had always enjoyed singing throughout my life, I never imagined myself as an artist. Since that day in Nashville I have recorded and released several albums and singles and won a whole lot of awards.

In May this year, I am to be honoured in Los Angeles by being one of the first artists to be inducted into the Akademia Hall of Fame.

My latest album, “Dreaming In Nashville” wais released on the 29th March.

I will be 81 years old this year, but I still have a lot to give and a lot to do. I’m too busy to even think about getting old!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

In 2005, whilst unwell and away from work for three months, I started to write a lot of Worship Songs, gradually increasing until currently I have around 300, and at the end of 2006 I wrote an easy-listening love-song titled “When I’m With You”. It was recorded a few months later, as part of an album of original songs under the same title. More songs followed and started to be recorded by singers both in the UK and in Nashville.

It was on a visit to Nashville in 2017 to visit Funhouse Studios on Music Row where several of my songs were being recorded, that my singing came to the attention of Ernie Rowell, himself a hit singer and songwriter as well as a record producer.

The result was a 3-track traditional Country EP titled “A Little Bit Country” which was released with some success in 2017. One of the songs in particular, ‘Memory Number One’ earned him the accolade of being presented with an award by Akademia in the USA as their “Best Bluegrass Artist for 2018” and also hit the #1 position on a couple of online radio stations.

I have won many awards for my songs, including being presented with Akademia’s ’Best Bluegrass Artist for 2019’.

A full album, recorded in Nashville and titled ’Second Chances’, was released in August 2018 and my popularity has increased as a bluegrass singer as well as a successful songwriter.

In April 2020, in addition to the award for Akademia’s ‘Best Bluegrass Artist for 2019’, I was awarded the 2020 Artist Vision Award by the same Organisation, which is recognised as a Lifetime Achievement Award. in 2020 and the Rising Star Award from Akademia followed a year later.

A new album was released in 2020 under the title ‘Friends & Heroes’ and features several of my friends singing duets with him. Later that year I released a Christmas EP.

A series of compilation albums under the collective title of ‘My Music ─ My Life’ was launched in 2021 with my songs recorded by various artists. So far there are four albums released with another two to be released later this year.

My last album, “Dreams of A Dreamer” was released in December 2022 and I have a new album, “Dreaming In Nashville” due for release in a couple of weeks time.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I think that as a songwriter, the most rewarding aspect of what I do is not to do with money or fame, but simply the knowledge that in creating something beautiful I am creating a lsting legacy for future generations of people who can discover and enjoy my music. In a nutshell, I guess that my creativity means that my life has been meaningful and not wasted.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Whilst there is no doubt that the Internet has changed things in a positive way for creative artists such as myself, At the same time it has made us poorer in financial terms because it’s so eassy for people to access our music without paying for it. That could ultimately lead to creative artists giving up on their careers.

The best thing that society in general can do to support us is to make sure that they pay for our work , thereby ensuring that it will continue.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sheerjoymusic.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/colin.gordonfarleigh/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Colins_songs
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCowurh0SixQNJHNFIXqJrMQ
• Spotify: https://www.google.com/search?q=colin+gordon-farleigh+on+spotify&rlz=1C1AWFC_enGB895GB948&oq=&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqCQgAECMYJxjqAjIJCAAQIxgnGOoCMgkIARAjGCcY6gIyCQgCECMYJxjqAjIJCAMQIxgnGOoCMgkIBBAjGCcY6gIyCQgFECMYJxjqAjISCAYQLhgnGK8BGMcBGOoCGI4FMgkIBxAjGCcY6gLSAQg4ODBqMGoxNagCCLACAQ&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8