Sunderland musician releases new album inspired by Paul Simon and The Beautiful South

Peter Wight has been making music since the early '90s, initially with bands such as Mojo Pep and Zubi.

These days he ploughs a lone furrow, and his new album, Welcome To The Dance Of The Chilli Chicken Legs, is the first release on Bill Quay-based Ginger Syrup Records.

His label partner Dee Dowling produced the record, and it was mixed and mastered by in-house engineer Brian Emerson.

Wight, 50, who is from Monkwearmouth, but now lives in Newcastle, tackles the well-worn topics of love, loss and social comment.

He says his inspiration came from the likes of Paul Simon, The Beautiful South and '70s folk rockers America.

said: “I had already decided the album would be acoustic-based to provide its tone, but it could have easily been a different kind of album had we gone electric.

"The lyrics cover a number of topics, but the aim of it was to bring together an eclectic set of songs that had a collective acoustic sound.

“There’s jazz, hip-hop, garage, soul, reggae, ska and country on there, all pinned down by that acoustic approach.

"I wrote the album to please myself, like I do with all music. I had no pretensions about it. I write music to move to.

"I have a great band that I would pay to go and see and the harmonies now are fantastic.

"So people will get an energetic performance when they see my band perform this album live with tap along tunes performed by great musicians and topped with mass harmonies.”

Ginger Syrup Records was set up this year, taking inspiration from legendary indie labels such as Factory Records.Wight will be announcing tour dates soon to tie in with the release of the new album.

Welcome To the Dance Of Chili Chicken Legs is out now on down load and CD, and a limited edition run is planned on 12in vinyl.

For more details about Gary Wight, visit www.gingersyrup.co.uk.