Former Newbury College Performing Arts student Nick Strong and his band mate Stephen Millyard are hoping for Christmas success with the launch of their new holiday hit The Big Red Guy.
The duo, who go by the band name Juliette, usually perform cover songs at local gigs but wrote The Big Red Guy a few years ago as part of a competition for former local radio station, Newbury Sound.
I had this Christmas song for a couple of years, but never really did anything with it said Nick, a former Newbury College student who now runs the popular Air Hair Co salon in Newbury town centre.
All of the money made from the sale of the single will go to Friends of PICU in Southampton, a charity that supports children and their families by providing vital equipment and services that are not always provided by the statutory authorities at the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at Southampton University Hospital. The charity is close to Nick's heart after they provided care for the son of a close friend and the band has previously raised about £70,000 for the cause.
Every year we said we will put it out this year', but this year we said we'll go for it with this charity in mind.
The Big Red Guy was recorded by Sam Winfield and engineered by Tom Millar at Studio 91 and it features local singer songwriter Joe Hicks on guitar. The album can be downloaded on Spotify, iTunes and Amazon Music.
To find out more about Juliette, visit their Facebook page and for more information on Performing Arts courses at Newbury College, a joint venture with Kingsclere Performing Arts College, visit www.newbury-college.ac.uk/performance