A GROUP of young people from Helensburgh had a once-in-a-lifetime experience on Sunday when they met music legend Nile Rodgers.

The Burgh youngsters spent 40 minutes backstage with the singer and songwriter during the second day of the Fiesta X Fold music festival in Glasgow.

The private session was arranged after a request by Stuart Duncan, a trustee of local charity Helensburgh Heroes, inviting the Chic legend to visit the Burgh during his spell in Scotland as part of the Heroes’ series of ‘Tales from the Big Chair’ events, aimed at inspiring younger people to be the next Helensburgh heroes.

Best known for his work since the 1970s with Chic, with whom he appeared on both nights of the festival, Rodgers has also worked as a producer and performer with more contemporary artists such as Sam Smith, Lady Gaga, Laura Mvula, Pharrell Williams and Daft Punk, with whom he co-wrote the 2013 summer smash hit ‘Get Lucky’.

Stuart said: “I approached Nile through his management team and he was keen to participate in a session.

“We were all hoping that he might be able to visit the centre, and we waited until the final minute, but his schedule presented impossible logistical challenges.

“We were then invited to be his personal guests for the day to host the Big Chair session backstage at the festival.

“We then had the challenge of arranging this within 48 hours but I’m delighted to say that we made it.”

Following a late appeal, several young people applied to join the charity for the event, including talented aspiring local musicians Louis Page and Emma Murdoch, and with the help of several parents made the journey to the festival venue at Kelvingrove Park on Sunday afternoon.

Whilst the crowds out front were enjoying the music of Goldfrapp, the Helensburgh group were sat backstage chatting with Nile about his philosophy, his ideas and his personal journey.

Despite his crazy personal schedule, curating the actual festival and later headlining with Chic, Nile spent nearly an hour with the group answering questions.

He was very relaxed, charming and extremely frank when talking about his own personal journey. Nile covered everything from his choice of guitar, his song writing techniques to the artists that he has either produced or recorded with.

He finished the session with the following advice to any young person wishing to be a musician, artist or performer: “Truly love your art, be determined and embrace the failure.”

Stuart added: “Nile’s management team stated that they were delighted to have been able to host the session and that both Nile and the Chic Organisation hoped the younger members of the group were even more inspired with life and to get out and go for it.

The charity’s ‘Tales from the Big Chair’ programme involves a guest speaker discussing their life and experiences in an ‘Actor’s Studio’ format, and closes with a short Q&A session.

The series began in April with a talk by former Faslane commodore Eric Thompson, and more big name speakers, from Helensburgh and far beyond, are being lined up for future events.

The talk series is part of the charity’s ongoing efforts to inspire the young people of today – and tomorrow – to follow in the footsteps of some of the area’s big achievers of the past.

The charity’s Helensburgh Heroes Centre, combining an exhibition space telling the stories of the area’s past and present heroes with a 1950s ‘diner’ style cafe, opened to the public in December.

The Stuart Duncan explained: ‘We are currently developing a wide ranging events programme at the Centre that caters for the whole community including our Tales from the Big Chair programme. This involves a guest speaker discussing their life and experiences in a ‘Actors Studio’ format and closes with a short Q&A session. Our guest speakers will be drawn from a wide range of backgrounds and industries but all of them are inspiring.”

Stuart added: “We are so pleased with the responses that we are receiving to our requests from Big Chair potential guests and to the charity’s overall objectives. I think the community will be genuinely delighted with our future programme.”

Helensburgh Heroes director Phil Worms added: “It was an incredible experience.

“We all sat round a bench talking to him for 40 minutes – I can’t believe how much time Nile had for them.

“The parents who came along were just as engaged as the young people. I can remember Chic from the late 1970s but the younger generation recognised him too as the guy who played with Daft Punk – and when they were exposed to Chic’s back catalogue, they just loved it!”

The next event in Helensburgh Heroes’ ‘Tales from the Big Chair’ series takes place on Thursday, July 12: turn to page 6 to find out more information about the evening.

experience of meeting and chatting with music legend Nile Rodgers of Chic fame when he recently curated the Fiesta X Fold musical festival in Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Park.

The private back stage session was arranged by the Chic Organisation, following a request made by Stuart Duncan, Trustee, on behalf of the charity Helensburgh Heroes.

Following a late appeal, several young people applied to join the Charity for the event, including talented aspiring local musicians Louis Page and Emma Murdoch, and with the help of several parents made the journey from the Centre to Kelvingrove on Sunday afternoon.

Whilst the crowds out front were enjoying the music of Goldfrapp, the Helensburgh group were sat backstage chatting with Nile about his philosophy, his ideas and his personal journey. Despite his crazy personal schedule, curating the actual festival and later headlining with Chic, Nile spent nearly an hour with the group answering questions. He was very relaxed, charming and extremely frank when talking about his own personal journey. Nile covered everything from his choice of guitar, his song writing techniques to the artists that he has either produced or recorded with.

He finished the session with the following advice to any young person wishing to be a musician, artist or performer “Truly love your art, be determined and embrace the failure.”

The group were then invited to stay for the performances of Emeli Sande, who Nile had revealed was working in the Abbey Road studios with him on new material, and Chic before departing home.

It was an incredible experience for all of those that attended and one which the Charity hopes to replicate many times over as it announces future events.

The next Tales From the Big Chair event is on Thursday 12th July at the Centre and hosts author Robin Lloyd-Jones who will be speaking about his life and his latest book ‘Autumn Voices’. Tickets are available from the Centre or in the Heroes website.