A Preston musician’s song is becoming a soundtrack for events in the city.
Karl Eland wrote Our Town to capture some of his fondest memories of Preston’s landmarks and events.
After hearing Our Town when Karl was nominated for the Switch On Star competition, Blog Preston and Preston BID arranged for the track to be played at the Christmas lights event.
The song was later used on the official Switch On video.
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Since then, Our Town has been played during the half-time break at Preston North End’s game against Cardiff City and is expected to be played again tonight (Friday 1 December) for the Queens Park Rangers match.
Speaking about the song, Karl said: “Our Town includes references to the Christmas Lights switch on and Deepdale – as well as including a message about the importance of feeling pride about where you are from and the part it plays in our lives.
“The key theme of the song is that no matter what we do or where we go in our lives, it’s always nice to come back home to a place where everything is familiar with friends and family.”
Karl, who is from Ronaldsway, took up the guitar in his early 20s. After playing in a number of cover bands, he began to write his own material. Gigs in Preston led to appearances further afield, including a recent acoustic tour of Nashville, Tennessee.
For a number of years, London was a second home for Karl after he became a weekend resident act at music venue Proud Camden. More recently Karl has focussed on recording for Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube, and has been releasing material each month.
Karl’s tracks have been played on a number of radio stations in the UK and across Europe, the USA, Canada and Japan. This summer alone, his songs were played in over 30 countries worldwide on over 50 stations.
North End fan Karl, who works in new media, web design and music, told Blog Preston how happy he is to hear Our Town being played at city events.
Karl said: “I feel nothing but pride. I am Preston born and bred and really pleased to represent my hometown with my music.
“Every year I go to the Switch On and consider it to be the start of Christmas build up. I’m also a lifelong PNE fan, and to hear my song being played to large crowds of Prestonians is wonderful.”
You can listen to Our Town on Spotify and watch the Christmas Lights Switch On video on Facebook.
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