Kevin McKidd: Grey's Anatomy musical / Speyside Sessions update

The stars of Grey's Anatomy showed off their singing skills on Sunday (18 March) for a one-off musical performance of the medical TV drama.

Creator Shonda Rhimes was joined by 10 cast members, including Chandra Wilson, Kevin McKidd, Jessica Capshaw and Sandra Oh, for the live benefit concert at the University of California, Los Angeles (Ucla).

It featured 11 songs, many of which were from the show's musical episode last March (2011), and the event, hosted by Oh and Eric Dane, raised money for the Actors Fund, a nonprofit organisation that provides care and services to entertainment industry professionals.

Rhimes told the audience, "I believe in the joy I get from watching TV, film and theatre, and a $25 donation to the Actors Fund would be saying you believe in the arts, too."

Source: Contact Music

Also reported by Music Rooms and (in much more detail) by Hollywood Reporter 

Update on Speyside Sessions

Hollywood star Kevin McKidd is producing charity album with Scots musicians

The actor, from Elgin, has joined forces with musicians in the north-east to form the Speyside Sessions collective in producing an album of Scottish folk music.

What began as a casual folk music session with friends and family has become a major project to release an album which will raise funds for the Save the Children charity.

Gathering at Hogmanay, the musicians recorded the album in less than a week, with the help of producer Nick Lloyd-Webber - son of Andrew Lloyd-Webber - and sound engineer Bryan Tolland, known from Scots band Del Amitri.

A post on the Speyside Sessions Facebook page reads: "In less than a week 29 tracks were recorded with a huge variety and mix of performers, from local budding musicians, phenomenal singers who'd never before recorded their voice and even jaded folkies whom until this session, thought they'd hung up their mandolins for good.

"The joy, magic and spontaneity of this week has been captured forever on a soon-to-be released album for charity."

The album is expected to be released in June.

Douglas Hamilton, Save the Children’s head of Scotland, said: "We’re delighted that Kevin McKidd has chosen to raise funds for Save the Children through the sale of the upcoming Speyside Sessions album.

"Kevin has been a supporter of Save the Children for a number of years and we are extremely grateful for the work he does for us.

"We look forward to hearing the album when it is released in June."

McKidd was brought up in Elgin and was a member of the Moray Youth Theatre, before he went on to study engineering at the University of Edinburgh.

It was while at university, and after joining the student theatre company, Bedlam Theatre, that he decided to make the move into acting full-time.

He stars as Dr Owen Hunt in hit US series Grey's Anatomy and has added his voice to the upcoming Disney/Pixar animation Brave, set in the Scottish Highlands.

Source: STV