Denny singer's home gigs raise over £2000 for Strathcarron Hospice

Shut in his house with no live gigs on the horizon due to coronavirus restrictions, Denny singer songwriter Liam McGrandles initially thought he would use his musical talents to put on a show for a bit of fun, entertain a few punters online and possibly even earn a small amount of money as a bonus to make up for the income he lost when the gigs went belly up.

Family man Liam, who has played to packed audiences all over Scotland, including Celtic Park, went live last Saturday night, streaming his performance on Facebook.

Attracting almost 2000 watchers from 8pm onwards, Liam advised his fans he was adding a link to his PayPal, saying: “This is a free gig, but if you could spare anything it would be really appreciated.”

Despite building up a large and loyal following through his years of performing, Liam still did not realise just how much cash would be coming in during the night, as he launched into a string of originals and covers – including Roughcast and Rain, which is his musical love letter to his hometown.

Three hours – and a fair few beverages – later he ended the evening’s entertainment with a stirring rendition of the Gerry and the Pacemakers anthem You’ll Never Walk Along.

The singer was astounded when he clocked the final total.

Far too much cash for Liam to even think about pocketing for himself, he and wife Fiona – who had been helping him throughout his online gig, passing on song requests and goodwill messages – put their heads together and came up with a solution to this monetary dilemma.

The couple agreed there were more needy people in the area who could use the money more than they could at this time and decided to donate the cash to Strathcarron Hospice.

And, after the success of the Saturday night gig Liam launched into another live online gig on Mother’s Day, this time telling fans and watchers any money raised would be going to Strathcarron Hospice.

After the two live performances he had raised an amazing £2367.

In a message to Liam and Fiona, Strathcarron stated: “This kind donation can cover the cost of 99 hours of nursing care for terminally ill patients. Thanks for helping to make this possible.”

Liam is not the only locally notable performer who has been utilising social media to entertain people – Barbara Bryceland has been belting out numbers over the web, while mum-to-be Dionne Hickey, who is confined to the house for the next 12 weeks, performing a clubland party night from her own kitchen.