Sweet Music & Other Stories

Absent Voices are go this week (and most weeks, it has to be said...)!
This picture shows Nicole Ritchie, flanked by Absent Voices resident minstrels, Yvonne Lyon and Kevin McDermott. They are at Whinhill Primary School in Greenock.
Nicole is a music graduate and community worker from Dundee and she was Yvonne's 'shadow' for the day, so tagged along to eeeriwig in on the workshops which Yvonne and fellow Absent Voices artist, Anne McKay are doing over six Mondays with pupils at the school.
Yvonne and Annie's fellow Absent Voices artist-in-residence, Kevin (known to many through his role as the frontman with The Kevin McDermott Orchestra) is also a regular visitor to Whinhill now, helping the children to explore Inverclyde's industrial heritage in the shape of the sugar industry.
Together with the young people, Yvonne has been crafting a song inspired by fellow Absent Voices' artist Ryan King's granda, called The Swanky Docker.
More about this at a later date...
Nicole is looking for ideas as she's recently secured Creative Scotland funding to expand music activities at Hot Chocolate, an arts based youth project in Dundee.
You can see the children's sugar shed-inspired artwork on our Absent Voices Facebook page and our Absent Voices website
Chocolate and sugar - it all makes for sweet-sounding school daze.