FR017|”Never had a place I can call my own”
Christmas is just round the corner and what better way to celebrate than by releasing yet another album …
Nowhere to Roam is Finding Rhythms’ 17th project to date, and comprises of 10 original tracks written and performed by seven men at HMP Grendon.
Each track tells its own story. Snippets of memories, dreams and plans for the future start with the first track, No Right To Roam, which talks about fighting through the struggle, adapting to current circumstances but not giving up hope for a better future. I think we have all been there at sometime in our lives.
This album goes from pop to folk, with a little dash of house thrown in. With a mix of genres and emotions, this is an album for all to enjoy…. listen here.
But of course, it’s not just about the listening, it’s also about the making of the music. So here is a little feedback from some of the participants on the course…
“I would like to thank you. It blew me away this experience. It was bit of a dream for me, never ever thought I would have a song and work so lovely with all of you. It’s a life time memory for me…”
James*, Project Participant
“ I would like to thank all the Finding Rhythms staff for giving us this good opportunity. From the beginning it’s been a journey but in this short period of time we have created a lot of great things and we had a great group. The last one (music project) was nothing like this, this one (FR Project) has been great, compared to the last one I’ve done, I’ve learnt a lot since this one – creating music, listening to music and writing music is totally different it sounds easy when you’re listening to it. Writing, on the other hand is hard work so that makes me appreciate music even more”
Adam*, Project Participant
“To watch people change in front of your eyes, find talent they did not know they had, it’s hard to put into words”
Johnny, Project participant
“It’s nice to come down here and get a bit of nice space and treated with humility by normal people from the outside world and encouraged to express ourselves in different ways and not be judged and not look at our bad points all the time. It’s a bit of freedom and it’s been nice.”
David*, Project participant
*Names have been changed
This was our first course at HMP Grendon, one of the UK’s only therapy-based prisons, and we look forward to working there again. Learners came to each session with a clear commitment to the course, resulting in astonishing levels of engagement.
The feedback from the Governor and learners has been extraordinary; HMP Grendon’s innovative approaches to working with offenders and their openness to our values and methods made this a really successful project.