Musician’s Ayr song a hit as he pays tribute to busker

James McKay, 27, wants people to be proud where they come from because he certainly is.

The former Queen Margaret Academy pupil has been writing songs for years but never has one resonated with so many.

He shared his rough demo of his ‘Auld Ayr’ track online last week and couldn’t believe the response with hundreds of shares and likes on Facebook.

James told the Advertiser: “I wrote the song in 2016 whilst in Holland, I was studying over there on an exchange from University.

“I was out the night before, I was hungover and feeling a bit home sick, I wrote it and recorded it on voices notes on my phone.

“A few weeks back I noticed I still had the wee demo, so I thought I’m going to do something with it.

“I never expected it to get as many shares and likes as it did. It’s just fantastic.”

The song features nods to Ayr’s most sought after spots and is of what James remembers whilst one verse was a nod to the late High Street busker Michael Hynes.

James, who has also spent time strumming his guitar as shoppers pass by , said: “I always threw money into his guitar case, sometimes you would look and see he’d have next to nothing

“I busk myself in Ayr – nowhere near as much as him though.

“He became part of the culture; he was part of the town for so long

“I had to put him in there, how could not write about him.”

James who used to be the singer in popular mod-rock band the Tripps, took on a more homely style by putting on his Ayrshire voice.

And he hopes the song makes others feel good about coming from or coming back to their little auld town.

He said: “It’s brilliant that people from Ayr love the song, it puts the town in a good light, too many people are quick to bring it down.

“I had people who live in Australia to get in touch saying it made them miss home.

“It’s about growing up and what you see when you go through the town.

“It’s full of wee tip offs to the town, wee bits and bobs.

“I was inspired by some posts on Rembering Auld Ayr, I saw they were posting ages ago.

“Ayr’s quite unique that has a top of the town and bottom of the town, I even just included a line in about that.”

James who is a carer in South Lodge nursing home, was also glad to bring the people of Ayr a distraction away from the coronavirus outbreak.

He added: “I was working the whole time with lockdown, it was tough times – we got through

“I used to upload covers and went live a couple of times just to keep people’s minds off it, it’s nice to be talking about something other than the virus.

“It’s the best thing when you get a wee reaction – the messages you get it’s brilliant.”