Ed Goodale: “The Gift” To Launch at Glastonbury in Support of Joe Strummer Foundation
Ed Goodale to launch new live album at Glastonbury Festival – ‘The Gift’ recorded at 2017 Marillion convention in Holland – £2 from every sale donated to Joe Strummer Foundation.
Singer/songwriter Ed Goodale will launch his first live album at Glastonbury 2017 with a set on the famous festival’s Strummerville Stage. The new live album, titled ‘The Gift’, was recorded in Holland at the country’s biannual Marillion Weekend in March, with Ed’s brother Ollie on percussion. Having been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, which he refers to as ‘a gift’, Ed Goodale has been a long-time supporter of The National Autistic Society. He released his first single, ‘Symptoms’ in 2014, with half of the proceeds going to the charity.
Ed says ‘It took a while for me and my family to find out I was on the spectrum and it was tough when I was young. My Mum and Dad spent almost as much time at school as I did trying to help me along.’ Ed’s release was to shut himself away in his bedroom and strum away on a guitar he had been given one Christmas. ‘I loved it’ says Ed, ‘I was producing music and it sounded good, I wrote about my life and how I saw the world’.
In 2011 Ed announced to the family that he was going to become a singer/songwriter and he boldly stepped onto the local festival Open Mic’ stage and sang a song he wrote. Ed crossed a line that day. The first words I ever performed says Ed were ‘Sometimes dreams come true but only if you believe and want them too’; here we are six years later having recorded a live album in front of people from 46 different countries in Holland and launching it at Glastonbury Festival’.
‘I have been so lucky to find a path in life’ Ed continues ‘I have used my gift to get on in life and along the way we have met so many great people with similar creativity, poets, comedians, artists, musicians, it is so rewarding and to do it all alongside my brother Ollie is just perfect’. Ed is determined to continue to keep giving something back and £2 from every sale of ‘The Gift’ live album will be donated to The Joe Strummer Foundation.
Commenting on why he chose to record a live album when still only 20 Ed said: “Ollie and I love playing live and however hard you try, capturing the energy and fun we have on stage cannot be done in a studio. Live is where the music scene is at and ‘The Gift’ is true to my songs and our music. If we can give something back through the Joe Strummer Foundation on top of that, all the better.”
The charity, set up in memory of the iconic leader of The Clash, provides opportunities to musicians as well as supporting projects around the world that create empowerment through music. Jamie Webb from The Joe Strummer Foundation said ‘Ed is a tremendous talent and the live performance he puts on with brother Ollie is full of energy and fun; we are delighted to be welcoming them to the Strummerville Stage at Glastonbury 2017. The fact that Ed & Ollie are donating £2 from every sale of ‘The Gift’ to our charity shows they are not just good musicians, they are good guys as well’.
