SWAMPY delta blues duo Sister Gavin and The Gator are hoping to spread a healing message following the release of their debut track this month.

The Clackmannanshire pair unveiled Walking Free on Friday, February 19, showcasing their unique brand of pained blues and jazz-based expressionism.

The Gator, also known as Iain Donald, and his sister Adele Gavin, are well-known in the Forth Valley area after a series of charity events through lockdown. They also host weekly live streams on Sunday afternoons.

And while the pair had always been willing collaborators, both felt it was high time they put out some original music they had cooked up through lockdown.

At the same time, they will be hoping to spread the gospel of the blues to a new audience.

"The blues can be uplifting," Donald tells The Weekender. "A lot of people think a blues song would be a sad song – it's not.

"We have an incredibly diverse taste in music, but our real heart in music is in blues. It is a genre of music that really isn't covered as well as it should be. It's more of a feeling than a style of music – everyone has had the blues.

"We're making it our mission to let younger people hear it more. It deserves a wider audience. It is such a great sound when it's done properly."

Donald adds: "My hero, Steve Earle, he wrote this song My Old Friend The Blues with the premise that blues is happy music, because you might go through all that hurt, and strain and struggle but, as an artist, what you produce at the end of it all makes you feel better.

"You can heal, and it is the music that helps you heal. It's also about the future – you can have a bad day, but that doesn't mean the next 365 days will be the same."

The first release from Sister Gavin and The Gator has been well-received already some in the industry already taking notice.

Walking Free also benefitted from the insight of Michael Messer – a contemporary of the late Johnny Cash – who has rolled up his sleeves to assist the pair.

The track itself is all about finding a little bit of strength or faith to get through a difficult situation. For many, if not all, the current circumstances around the global is as difficult a situation as any.

Donald adds: "At the start of lockdown we started doing some charity events. But what happened then was that we started writing new music together.

"We wrote a song based on the fact that it doesn't really matter what you believe in – religion or whatever. At the moment, everyone is looking for something to believe in because we are all locked in this strange situation."

"Adele comes from a different musical background to me. She's very technical and is able as a jazz singer, but has a big heart for singing with that pure emotion. Adele is so phenomenally talented – a great singer.

"For me, I started as a bass player, but I'm very much a slide guitarist. But the two styles together created this really amazing and almost rustic style of music.

"It's almost gospel sounding, which is unusual because neither of us really have any stereotypical religious beliefs – we do have beliefs, but different to most."

Walking Free is available to stream online now.