The Swan Song Project charity’s podcast reaches 100 episodes

A podcast from Leeds based charity, The Swan Song Project, which helps terminally ill and bereaved people write and record an original song has reached its 100th episode.

The charity was founded by songwriter Ben Buddy Slack in 2017 after losing his grandmother and regretting not writing a song with her.

He started writing songs with patients at hospices across Leeds and Bradford and now the charity has a team of songwriters and works with people all across the country.

The charity’s slogan is “Celebrating Lives, Making Memories and Leaving Legacies” and its aim is to help as many people as possible to leave their legacy in song.

At the start of the pandemic in 2020 the charity was unable to visit hospices where all of its work had been taking place. As a result, the charity began interviewing songwriters for what has become The Swan Song Project Podcast.

Each episode features a different songwriter who shares one of their songs and how they wrote it, a songwriting tip and a song that is meaningful to them relating to bereavement.

Ben says: “I had the idea for the podcast quite a while before we started it but I just didn’t have the time for it.

“The lockdown gave me the opportunity to try it and it worked really well. A lot of songwriters were sat at home as well, so it was easy to get a lot of episodes recorded.

“At Swan Song we want to help people feel confident about writing their song so we thought hearing how professional songwriters work would be inspiring.

“I am also always moved by hearing people’s stories of how music has helped them through bereavement. It feels very special to share them and hopefully helps others who are struggling with bereavements of their own.”

A range of songwriters have featured in the podcast including Mike Scott (The Waterboys), Frank Turner, Emily Barker, Larry Love (Alabama 3), Ruth Lyon and Justin Sullivan (New Model Army).

The Swan Song Project is now preparing to release its 100th episode which will feature two people who have written songs with the help of the Project, rather than a usual professional songwriter.

The episode features Richard Gibson who wrote a song for his son Leo who died by suicide in 2021. The song is called “Forever Young (Boy Wonder).

Richard said: “Music was a big part of his life and when I heard about the Swan Song Project I immediately thought that writing a song would be the perfect way to honour his memory.”

Also featured, is Mari Isdale who is 39 and living with terminal cancer. Mari wrote a song for her family called “To the stars and back”.

Mari said: “This song has been the best thing I have done to express my love and appreciation of my family…It’s celebration of us and helps to give happiness in the face of sadness.”

Ben added: “It feels very special to have got to episode 100 of the podcast and we really wanted to make it a special episode. Richard and Mari were both great guests and shared very openly about their experiences. I hope our listeners enjoy it and feel inspired by it. I certainly was inspired recording it.”

Episode 100 of The Swan Song Project Podcast will be released on Tuesday 3 September and will be available on all podcast platforms.