A singer from Radlett has released his debut solo album after a musical career in which he has worked with different musicians.

The album, aptly called A Long Time Coming, is a 10-track collection that was released by singer Billy Brown last month after developing a solo career and local fanbase.

Prior to this, in 2011, Billy was inspired by a charity concert from ska band The Specials in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust and so created a charity album of Specials covers by modern-day artists.

Two years later that project turned into Specialized, a fully-fledged charitable organisation with backing from some of the biggest names in reggae and ska, an annual festival and numerous gigs and albums released in support of the charity.

Billy then released a cover of the Junior Murvin classic Police and Thieves in December 2013 in aid of Teenage Cancer Trust. The single become the charity’s fastest-selling single in less than two months.

Billy’s solo work comes off the back of various musical successes with other musicians. He was the singer, songwriter and rhythm guitarist for a band called Friends of Gavin during the ‘80s. With this band he played all over the UK as well as in Holland and France, supporting the likes of R.E.M., Ian Dury, The Damned and Boomtown Rats.

He later worked with an artist called Jimmy Brown, who goes by the name of Orchestra JB. Billy ended up co-writing a song called Come Alive, a club hit all over Europe, as well as featuring on backing vocals and harmonica. Come Alive was subsequently featured on many compilation albums, such as Warehouse Raves and Spiritually Ibiza, and still gets radio play to this day.

Billy then took a step back from music for a few years, slowly returning through open mic nights in St Albans and developing a local fanbase.

A Long Time Coming is an acoustic album with a raw feel, available iTunes, Amazon and even on CD via eBay.