Joe Boyd

Ballads Solace and Take Me Away are now available to stream on Spotify, iTunes, YouTube Music and elsewhere.

Mr Boyd, who plays piano and saxophone, said his parents encouraged him and his sister to play music from a young age. “When I was eight and my sister was six my mum bought a piano and all three of us started to learn at the same time,” he told SLN.

He attended Portobello High School, which had an “absolutely fantastic” music department. He was a star pupil there and obtained band 1 As for both higher and advanced higher music, ranking in the top percentile in Scotland.

But he eschewed a risky career in music for a safer one in law. “I was put off by the lack of prospects. I thought if I do law I can still keep my music up as I want it without being dictated to,” he said.

In addition to the newly released ballads, recorded in 2016, he has also written big band and pop songs and plans to upload more to streaming services. His hopes are for an established artist to take up some of the songs.

Any remuneration he receives from plays in the initial three months will be donated to charities associated with Ukraine.

Mr Boyd’s firm, Joseph G Boyd & Co Court Lawyers, is currently looking for a family/civil court solicitor.