GREENFIELD musician Neil Marland is proof that it’s never too late to live out your musical dreams.

For after performing as both a solo artist and with other bands in and around Oldham for many years, he is releasing his first album.

Over Oceans features 10 songs which Neil has written over the years plus a couple of new songs which were specially penned for the album.

“I had well over 20 songs which I’d written over the last 15 or 16 years to choose from,” said Neil, “but I just need a couple to tie the whole thing together.”

Over Oceans was recorded at the Sound Dune studio in Crosby run by Geoff Sewell.

“Working with Geoff was a really good experience,” said Neil. “Although I normally play acoustically, I knew in my head how I wanted the songs to sound on album and Geoff understood that.”

Neil called on musician friends to add their talents to the album and even secured the services of some strings for a couple of the songs.

“Obviously we were working to a budget, he said, “but it just shows what can be achieved. I was involved in everything - I haven had rough sketches of how I wanted the artwork to look so to be able to have the finished product in your hands is a hell of an achievement.”

Neil is looking at holding a launch event for the album which has led to him creating his own band, which takes its name from the album. Guitarist James Whittaker and pianist Callum Gray along with Neil himself now make up Over Oceans.

“We’ve been rehearsing together for five weeks now and already we’ve got a number of the songs on the album ready to take out live,” said Neil. “We’re aiming to perform live in December.”

For Neil, producing the album has special significance.

“I’m nearly 50 and my son is in a band,” he said. “People tend to think that music should be about youth and I’m delighted to prove that’s not the case. I think it just shows it’s never too late to follow your dream.

“Thankfully it’s a lot easier to get music out there now with all the digital platforms.

Over Oceans is available on Apple Music, Deezer and Spotify and physical copies of the CD are available from the band’s Facebook page.