A young pianist was ‘buzzing’ to play at Sir Paul McCartney’s childhood home in celebration of the Beatles legend's 80th birthday.
Josh Elms, 20, from Liverpool was invited to play at The Forthlin Sessions – a series of performances from unsigned music acts ‘bringing live music back to the birthplace of the Beatles’, at Sir Paul's former home at 20 Forthlin Road, Allerton.
The musician, together with LIPA alumni Jan Holberg and Ronnie Romero, had Sir Paul's special backing to perform a cover of his song ‘My Valentine’ on his own piano, in the front room of his former home.
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Josh, who works full-time but plays piano in his spare time, said: "Jan messaged me on Instagram saying he’d been given the opportunity to put together a small team to play in Paul McCartney’s childhood home. I hadn’t met him before and we had no mutual followers so I was intrigued.
"He found me by searching for pianists in Liverpool and saw me playing on YouTube. I was buzzing.”
The trio were forced to abandon a rehearsal the night before the session when Jan, who was flying from Norway for the performance, had problems with his flights.
However, they knew their parts well and, on the day, rehearsed three or four times before recording.
Josh said: “The setup was overwhelming – huge cameras and lighting equipment – it was all very exciting. We took four takes of the song and decided unanimously to use the fourth.”
“It was challenging to be part of a small team with such a short amount of rehearsal time, but it was so much fun and the video that came out of it was very rewarding. It’s always a good feeling to be able to say you’ve played in places like Liverpool Town Hall and St Georges Hall, so to add 20 Forthlin Road to the list is really cool.”
The recording was streamed on the National Trust 's YouTube channel on June 18 – Sir Paul’s 80 th birthday.
Sir Paul's brother Mike McCartney said: “I’m delighted that the home our kid and I grew up in is still – sixty years on - able to inspire a new generation of musicians through The Forthlin Sessions. It’s been fantastic hearing live music once again coming from our childhood home. We want our little house to keep inspiring people for generations to come.”
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