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Daily Record
Daily Record
National
Taylor Murray

Simon is a hit with the Buddies

Simon Sims has amassed 9,500 followers on the social-media platform after he began busking on the streets of Paisley following the pandemic, to bring cheer to depressed Buddies.

Now he hopes to land himself a record deal and start a new career after he travelled to Scotland from Kenya, before gathering an online stream of fans who love his singing.

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Simon shares his content on social media to bring cheer to new audiences, as he mixed singing with his studies.

He began busking in the town to help residents through troubled times and paid tribute to locals, saying: “The people of Paisley are close to my heart as they were there and accepted me for who I was.

“Paisley people love music and that is what they appreciated when I sang. They didn’t judge me by anything other than my music.”

Their appreciation of his work has led to Simon broadening his horizons and bringing his talents to a new audience.

He added: “Busking in Paisley helped me to build my courage to who I am today and to go into Glasgow now and perform it down to Paisley.”

Simon, who arrived in the town in January last year, is also undertaking a Discipleship Training course at the Youth with a Mission (YWAM) base in Paisley.

The course aims to help people discover their passions and explore religion at the same time.

But when he isn’t studying, Simon is out on the streets busking away as he looks to secure himself a record deal and make a career as a singer full time.

He continued: “When I first started off I was nervous as I wasn’t sure how people would take to my music, but everyone that passed by appreciated what I was doing. I was shy, to begin with, due to the town and people, however, they all made me feel at home.”

Although Simon started in Paisley, he has now built up his confidence and performs mostly in Glasgow, however, he has said that he is always asked about returning to the town to perform as people in the Paisley town centre miss his singing.

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