Page 11 - April 2021

Helena Mace Singer/Songwriter and Radio Presenter
at Radiodowntown.ca
WASH AWAY THE YEARS – MY FIRST SELF PENNED ALBUM
In 2016 I picked up a guitar for the first time since I was a child. I couldn’t play then and I still couldn’t then, apart from about 2 chords, A and D. I had spent time watching a TV show called Nashville and I had loved watching the song writing process on the show and I had missed writing. I had lyrics stored away from over the years but I decided to write a song with my very unskilled guitar playing. I learned an additional chord (E) and wrote a song in about an hour which I had then named, Spring forever.
I nervously took this song into the studio and with the help of my producer, Matt Black, at Hangover Hill recording Studios in the South Coast of England, Spring forever was turned into a country track which I renamed, Wash away the years. It was the first time I had written a full melody as well as the lyrics. This gave me a taste of what I could do and with my limited guitar skills, I wrote more songs. This gave birth to Broken Tears, If I’d known you back then, I found love, For the last time and I revisited 2 songs that had co written with a bass player from my previous band and proceeded to record, Close to Midnight and Discovering Planets. The album then included a song written by my Dad, Rob Atkins called Moon Goddess finalising the production of my Wash away the years album. This album also had the amazing Matt Black on Piano, Si Genaro on the harmonica on Broken Tears and Chris Payn on electric for Close to midnight. Suddenly this album was coming together, becoming a reality....
On finalising this album, i was lucky enough to meet a fantastic musician in the studio called Tom Leary, a fiddle player who had played with bands such as Lindisfarne, Fairport Convention as well as recently touring with the great Joe Brown and he thought it would be fun to add some fiddle to the single, Wash away the Years which made the song grow to a whole new level.
I sent the new version of Wash away the years to 11
some country radio stations and it was immediately added to playlists in the UK including the BBC and later in the USA. I was then invited to perform it on SKY TV and then released an entire album and it sold out of my limited edition CD’s pretty fast. I still to this day need to order more, although the album is still available on download.
This album marked the day when I realised that I could do this, I had a taste for writing and I had more in me to come....
Watch this space for the next article where I will be talking about the follow up album, Chasing dreams...
www.helenamace.com www.hangoverhill.co.uk www.feastoffiddles.co.uk
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www.helenamace.com