Reflected Image’s own Ryan Early writes song with Coast music icons

WHEN Ryan Early needed some music to put behind a documentary he had filmed on a charity bike ride, he penned a few verses and sent them to a singer-songwriter contact who lived near his mother-in-law.

Last Saturday, Ryan sat in as some of the Sunshine Coast’s best musical minds recorded Journey of Friends, the song which grew out of his original heartfelt lines.

Singer-songwriter Mishelle Bradford-Jones, bass player Mark Williams, percussionist Eric Sulman, and guitarist Peter Koppes, from legendary Australian band The Church, laid down various versions of the song in Angus Woodhead’s home studio at Beerwah.

Ryan, who is more comfortable behind the camera or in an editing suite as the proprietor of Buderim-based production company Reflected Image, was quietly happy just to be a part of it all.

“It’s been pretty great for someone who’s never written a song before to end up with Mishelle and Peter, who’s from a top Australian band,” he said.

Journey of Friends will be used in a documentary of the same name about Smiling for Smiddy, a 1600km bike ride from Brisbane to Home Hill in north Queensland. The ride, held in honour of Adam Smiddy, who died in 2006 aged 26 from an aggressive melanoma, has raised a million dollars for cancer-related charities in three years.

Mishelle said she was keen to be involved after reading Ryan’s words and learning about the ride.

“I was very inspired not only by the poem that he had put together but also by the story of Smiddy. Cancer has touched my family as well, and I thought it was an excellent cause and wanted to get on board

Mishelle roped in Peter, a teaching colleague from TAFE, to help with the songwriting, and he roped in Erin and Mark.

“It just started to grow, just from that one poem, which is kind of nice, because it’s that whole friends network,” Mishelle said.

Peter said Ryan’s words had a real “emotional quality” and Journey of Friends had finally got he and Mishelle working together, after much talk about collaborating. He said he had also been keen to work with Eric, who he described as one of the finest percussionists on the Coast, and Mark, who is highly regarded as a bass player and has also taught at TAFE.

Smiling for Smiddy challenge coordinator Rowan Foster said the crew behind the ride were excited by the calibre of musicians involved in the song.

Organisers hope Journey of Friends will screen on Queensland television in the near future.