Former Northern Ireland international Ian Stewart is the driving force behind a new musical project aimed at raising money to fight motor neurone disease.
Stewart has joined forces with well-known Belfast musician Philip McCarroll to launch a new rock band called The Back Four.
Although he is not in the band - which is a five-piece rather than a four-piece as the name might suggest - Stewart has penned a hat-trick of tracks which will be released later this year.
The band’s first single, This Is Where It All Begins , has now been released on the famous Cherry Red Records label and is available for purchase.
The former QPR and Newcastle United winger revealed the song was actually written in 1985 by guitarist Matthew Ashman of Adam and the Ants, Bow Wow Wow and Transvision Vamp fame and Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook when the pair were in a band called Chiefs of Relief.
A demo cassette of the tune was given to music fan Stewart by his friend Cook in the 1980s and was stored away for decades until the former Northern Ireland international found it in his garage and decided to give it a new lease of life.
The B-side of the track is Kiss Of Life , another Chiefs of Relief creation. Both updated versions of the tracks were recorded at Manor Park Studio in Co Antrim with Neal Calderwood.
Matthew Ashman sadly died in 1995 at the age of 35 and Stewart, who was a friend of the guitarist and singer/songwriter, has dedicated the single to his memory.
A limited edition picture disc can be purchased at thebackfour.bigcartel.com while the tracks can be downloaded and streamed at all the usual sites from today.
Apart from McCarroll, the new ‘supergroup’ of well-known Northern Ireland musicians features Matt Wilson and Eamon Lenehan.
Jonny McGuinness and Phil Edgar, who worked with Sinead O’Connor, are the other members, while John Wilson featured on the B-side.
Stewart, who is Grassroots and Youth Development Manager with the Irish FA Foundation, said: “I set up the band as a vehicle to release songs to raise monies for the MND Association.
"It’s a cause close to my heart because my mum sadly died from this terrible disease last year.”
The MND Association is a charity focused on improving access to care, research and campaigning for people affected by motor neurone disease.
MND is a progressive neurological condition that attacks the motor neurones, or nerves, in the brain and spinal cord.
