From Slab to Studio in 22 days

Musician, Andy Williamson (39) inherited Polycystic Kidney Disease from his mother Avis, who received a transplant in Newcastle in 1993. In his early twenties, he was told that it might mean he would need dialysis or a transplant in later life, but not to worry about it until his 40s or 50s. So it was a bit of a shock in March 2006 when he 'crash landed' in Guy's Hospital with a GFR of 6, and he had to cancel a skiing holiday to start haemodialysis immediately. His friend, pianist Maff Potts dropped in a few weeks later during one of his dialysis sessions, and was shocked to see Andy, who he knew as one of life's daredevil characters (as anyone who saw them play together with the Honkin' Hep Cats will know), confined to a bed, hooked up to a dialysis machine. Over the months that followed, Maff got in touch with the Living Donor Coordinator at Guy's and found out what being a donor involved. As he told Eddie Mair on the PM programme on Radio 4 in July, "When I visited Andy and saw him on dialysis, it wasn't a difficult decision at all. I had two healthy kidneys but only needed one; my mate on the other hand had none and needed his life back. Offering him one of mine in that situation was a no-brainer."

Their transplant went ahead on Tuesday 7 August 2007. Three days later, the pair gave an impromptu concert in Guy's hospital (search www.youtube.com for 'maff andy' to see some of it). While Maff was at home recovering, he started writing a song. It needed some words, and Andy suggested he look at www.livelifethengivelife.co.uk for inspiration. In fact, that was enough - 'Live Life Then Give Life' was a perfect phrase for the groove Maff had written. Maff took the bull by the horns, booked the Cold Room Studio in Oxford, and called in some musician friends and family for a session on 29 August. He and Andy finished off the song, and the result is going to be released in November by Flat Five Records, with all royalties going to the charity 'Live Life Then Give Life'. The central message of the song is 'Sign Up to the Organ Donor Register'. In promoting it, the pair are also hoping to inspire more people to put themselves forward as living donors

To hear the song, and to become a 'friend' of 'Big Buzzard and the Organ Grinders', visit www.myspace.com/organgrinders.