New album dedicated to memory of Alan Cormie - godfather of the Fife punk scene

The well known and much loved musician hailed from Glenrothes and lived in Kirkcaldy.

He played in many bands, and led punk outfit, Crimedesk, for over 40years, before joining The Aye Hobos.

With them he fulfilled a life long ambition by playing the same stage supporting one of his favourite bands, The Skids, at the Glen Pavilion in Dunfermline in 2019.

But the band was left devastated at his passing after a short illness.

Alan was a huge figure on the Kingdom’s live music scene, and was thrilled at the album finally going into production.

The band formed three years ago and its debut album, entitled ‘Cunk It Up’ came on the back of a successful online fundraising campaign set up by lead singer James Ward after finding out a brain aneurysm he’d suffered in 2011 had recurred.

He underwent surgery in March 2020, and set up the collection whilst awaiting his second round of surgery.

He said: “Finding out the aneurysm was still in my brain, growing, and that I needed surgery again was a worry.

“But I thought of the surgery as essential maintenance, like taking your car to the garage. It was nothing like the first aneurysm.

Concentrating on getting the album done was something to focus on instead of worrying about the surgery.

“ I wanted to get back on my feet so I could be there at the front line with the band.”

Tragedy struck when Alan passed away as the band waited on the album’s release.

Said James: “We’re all still in shock at Alan’s passing.

“Like the rest of us, Alan couldn’t have been any happier that we were finally getting this album made. Having an album out on vinyl was a particular dream of his. Dedicating Cunk It Up to Alan ‘Alabama’ Cormie is something we all wanted to do.”

James’ illness was the push which got him into music having played in bands since there 1980s.

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“Finally, we had the line-up we’d been working towards for years - Graeme Smed Smith on bass, myself on keyboard and lead vocals, Scotty Boy Watson on drums and Alan Cormie on guitar. To lose Alan is devastating.”

The Dunfermline band play a mixture of country and punk, a type of music it termed ‘cunk’ hence the name of the debut album.

Like all other bands, it was hit badly by lockdown closing all venues and halting all live gigs.

That meant self-funding the album wasn’t possible, so James turned to the online fundraiser.

He added: “It was going to be our big year.

“We had to cancel shows in Germany, England and Ireland.

“Because of the pandemic, the band wasn’t working so the money wasn’t coming in but we still wanted to get the album made.”

The band used the online platform Collection Pot and hit its target inside 20 days.

“We’re so grateful to everyone who donated and that we managed to make the album as a four piece with Alan. It’s even more precious to us now.”

The album will be launched on CD and vinyl in summer via their Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/hoboland/

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