Singing postie hits the right note for charity

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.berwickshire-news.co.uk/leis ... 5060562.jp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

IF you're stuck for what to get your mum for Mothers' Day, an Eyemouth postman has come up with the perfect gift which he is selling to raise funds for a host of organisations.

John Peakman can be seen every morning delivering letters to people in and around the town but has also gathered a fair bit of attention for his singing as well.

After doing a number of gigs in Berwickshire over the past couple of years John has decided to release an album of tracks and will be performing these at a show at Oblo in Eyemouth on Mothers' Day next Sunday March 22.

Proceeds from the album will be split between three causes, Macmillan Cancer Support, Sick Kids Hospital in Edinburgh and Seashells Nursery in Eyemouth, with the second two being particularly close to John's heart.

"The family spent a lot of time at Sick Kids with my daughter," said John.

"She was there for a while after she was born due to problems with her hip so it's terrific for me to be able to give something back to them after they helped us so much. And my youngest goes to Seashells so I really wanted to raise money for them too.
"I decided on Macmillan Cancer as the other charity as most people have been touched by cancer in one way or another."

John's passion for music was ignited when he first picked up the guitar at the age of 15 and after discovering he could also play the keyboard and was blessed with a good singing voice, John enrolled at Newcastle College, where he completed a music degree in the early 1990s.

He's been in Eyemouth for the last 30 years and after gigging in the likes of The Ship Hotel has got a growing legion of support who are partly responsible for his charitable venture.

"I've done gigs in Eyemouth, Scoutscroft and Coldstream and quite often get people coming up to me asking if they could get a CD of the songs I performed so I thought why not?

"It's the first CD I've ever released, I recorded a tape with a band I was in a few years back but that was just a bit of fun. I recorded the album at my friend Ian's house in Hutton, he has his own recording studio there, Reckless Productions. The album was printed at PFL in Tweedmouth and when they found out the proceeds were going to charity they gave me a really good deal."
Up until a year ago, John used backing tracks for his performances but after being inspired by the influx of a new breed of acoustic singer/songwriters decided to go for a more stripped down sound.

"Music has always been a massive passion of mine and I think it works best with a more back to basics approach. Over the last couple of years there's been a lot of singers releasing acoustic albums and as well as the great guitar players such as Eric Clapton and Marc Knopfler, newer acts like Newton Faulkner have been a big inspiration."

And one of the latter's most famous tracks, 'Dream Catch Me' features on John's album, alongside popular hits from the last couple of years such as 'Human' by The Killers, 'Black and Gold' by Sam Sparro and Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah', which was recently taken to the number one spot by X Factor winner Alexandra Burke. One of John's own songs, 'All Up To You' has also made the cut.
The album, priced at £6, will be available from Oblo on Mothers' Day, where John will be playing from 6-8pm and also from Eyemouth General Store, Occasions and The Smokehouse Gallery.

For further information e-mail John at peakman-70@tiscali.co.uk.

[smokerjim]

He's not the first singing postman.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_Smethurst" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;