Pallion Lad Dave Murray: Musician launches CD remembering his childhood in Sunderland community

Folk album Pallion Lad is steeped in the history of the area with songs named Rag Man, Pyrex, Bookie’s Runner, Did Ya Ever Gan to the Mecca and more.

The CD is the latest music to be created by Dave Murray, a retired Sunderland Council youth worker, who’s well-known for Sunderland Music Workshops which fostered the talents of members of Field Music, The Futureheads and many more.

Dave said: “The aim of the album is to remind people of how it was back in the ‘60s ‘70s’ 80s and ‘90s, but rather in a book or a talk, I have self penned every song lyric and put the memories to music through my own memories of being a child back then. I want to tell young people today of how it was back then. Most of them have never heard of a Bookie’s Runner but back then you’d have one on every corner who’d go to the bookies. It was all illegal though.”

Dave is joined on the album by fellow musicians Ricky Murray, producer John Timney on drums and mandolin, Shannon Powell on backing vocals, Adam Cornell on double bass and Ged McCormack on fiddle.

The musician, who was born in Eyre Street and still lives in Pallion today, said: “The reason the album is called ‘Pallion Lad Dave Murray’ is because I was brought up there as a child in a community that was built on supporting each other. Sharing food and money was just a way to survive. Families were big back then and times were hard, but it was a time when communities came together.”

Artwork for the CD was created by Dave’s brother Peter Murray and it depicts Sunderland’s shipyards, getting coal from the tracks and other lost scenes.

:: Pallion Lad will be launched at Steels Club in Pallion on Monday, October 28, at 7.30pm with support from YUMA and Nev Clay. Tickets are £3 on the door. The CD will be available on the night and afterwards from Amazon, Spotify and other outlets.