In 2012 Welcome to Yorkshire worked with the Grammy Award winning producer from Sheffield, Elliot Kennedy to breathe new life into an old Yorkshire Anthem Ilkla Moor Baht'At.
As part of Rock-up and Sing I was invited to take part. It was an absolute pleasure and education working with such an amazing music producer who seemed equally to be enjoying his new 'instrument' of this huge choir! There were hundreds of us!
We started in the rock-up studio and then took our voices to the hills to make the final video.
Elliot had been working with various voices and organisations across Yorkshire to produce this amazing track in advance of our meet on the Moor for the filming and I'll never forget the moment we heard the song for the first time blasting out over Ilkley Moor.
We all knew that the Grimethorpe Colliery Band, Lesley Garrat and Brian Blessed were involved, but nothing could have prepared us for the totally bonkers rap in the middle by Brian Blessed and the voice of Lesley Garrat soaring over the top Brian's booming voice.
The song starts with a lone boy soprano voice (Eliiot's son Jack) in York Cathedral and builds towards a tumultuous end with hundreds of Yorkshire voices.
It simply has to be heard to be believed and that's why I've written this blog. Listen to the song, watch the video, and share. It's too good to be forgotten so quickly.
