The Bard #2: New song for Ayr will send its share of album profits back to Ayrshire good causes

Finn Moray -The Bard #2

Aberdeen / Ayr, November 2025

A Scottish songwriter has created a new song for Ayr and has pledged to use it in a practical way to support local people.

The track, The Bard #2, is part of AON, the debut album from Finn Moray, the creative song writing name of David Sheret. Through the Finn Moray Social Compact, fifty per cent of all net profits from the album will be directed to community, culture and wellbeing groups linked to the places in the songs, including Ayr and across Ayrshire.

AON came out of a very hard six weeks in spring 2025 for David. He lost his dad, respected Scottish horseman Willie Sheret MBE, a close friend and the family’s wee dog. That loss forced a simple choice about how he spent his time and what his life was actually for.

The project begins with a free-to-download song, The Tree on the Sun. It began life as a poem David wrote more than ten years ago, which he later read at the funeral of his father in May this year. Turning that poem into a song was his way of honouring his dad and others he had lost, and it made him realise that his writing could do more than tell his own story. The Tree on the Sun became the starting point for a wider body of work that honours people and places across Scotland and looks to give something back to the communities behind them.

“Losing my dad, my friend Paul and Jax so close together changed everything,” says David. “Life is short. My dad lived happy and present, and he loved giving back. AON is my way of trying to live more like that, turning my writing into something that genuinely helps other people.”

The Bard #2: a rock anthem for Robert Burns, Ayr and the village of Alloway

The Bard #2 is a rock song for Ayrshire and for Ayr in particular. Not a nostalgic ballad or a polite tribute, but a full-throttled, electrified celebration of the original rock and roll star of Scottish culture, Robert Burns.

Burns was born in Alloway, the village that now sits within Ayr and is still affectionately spoken of by locals simply as “the village”. From that small place came a writer whose work still shapes how Scotland thinks, feels and speaks, and whose words are revered around the world.

Before modern rock icons, there was Burns, a genius of words, rhythm and rebellion, a man who wrote with fire, lived with passion and left behind a legacy that runs through Ayr, Ayrshire and far beyond. He was brilliant and flawed, gifted and human. He did not walk through life untouched by trouble. He wrestled with love, desire, doubt and contradiction and made it all sound beautiful.

“As someone who grew up in Ayrshire, this song is really personal.” says Finn. “It is not about perfection. It is about why we love him. Burns was not a saint, but he was magnificent. What we admire in him, what Bard #2 tries to honour, is not just his genius but his relatability. His ability to capture joy, heartbreak and defiance in a way that still feels fresh, vital and utterly alive.”

Burns is stitched into the fabric of Ayr and of Scotland as a whole. People do not just read him; they raise a glass to him, they sing his words, and they hear him in the way they speak, think and feel. For Finn, he stands for something deeper than literature, a very Scottish instinct to celebrate the flawed genius, the person who gives art, laughter and insight while struggling with the same burdens as everyone else.

“In many ways, Burns embodies the very people AON seeks to honour,” Finn says. “Not those placed beyond reach, but those who reflect our own flaws and fire, only louder, braver, gifted and lyrical. Bard #2 is a love letter to that spirit, a loud, proud anthem for the kind of greatness that does not come wrapped in perfection. It is rock and roll for the eighteenth century with a modern twist, rooted in Ayr and in the village of Alloway, where it all began.”

AON: The Call and The Gathering

AON is a body of work in two parts. AON: THE CALL is part one. It is Finn’s interpretation of the songs he heard in his head. He wrote them, shaped and arranged the chords, structured the sequencing and then used digital audio workstations and AI tools to help organise, refine and support the creative process. These tools allowed him to build the foundation of the sound he imagined. The final sonic identity was shaped with the expertise of Argentinian Latin Grammy Award-winning producer Mariano Beyoglonian, who helped Finn mix and master the songs into the form he always intended.

AON: THE GATHERING is part two. It is the echo that follows AON: THE CALL. It is what happens when other artists bring their own experience to these songs, see what Finn saw in their own way and reinterpret and enhance the work. After the launch of AON THE CALL, Finn will be running a competition in every region to find undiscovered talent who can take on the song for their area, reinterpret it in their own style and use THE GATHERING as a platform to shine, further baking the work into each region and community.

For the income that comes from the core catalogue, including AON: THE CALL, the Social Compact is simple. After costs, fifty per cent of net profit is committed to good causes in the regions connected to Finn Moray. These causes will be chosen and kept under review by a small external advisory committee with representation from across Scotland, set up to guide all Finn Moray community profits so that funds are directed where they can make the greatest difference. The other fifty per cent is retained to keep Finn, his collaborators and the project sustainable.

When AON: THE GATHERING begins, communities continue to receive fifty per cent of net profits. Finn voluntarily reduces his own share to twenty-five per cent and assigns the other twenty-five per cent to the artists who perform on AON: THE GATHERING. This artist pot is shared equally among the singers selected to record the songs so that each participant receives a clear and fair percentage that reflects the number of artists involved. It is what Finn Moray stands for at heart.

“This is about fairness,” Finn says. “If someone from Ayr or Ayrshire takes The Bard #2, pours their own story into it and carries it to their own audience, they should feel the project respects that.”

Call for Ayr and Ayrshire groups and artists

Finn and his team are now looking to connect with organisations in Ayr, Alloway and Ayrshire that already give back and need support, from local culture and music groups to wellbeing projects, support spaces and small initiatives that hold folk who might otherwise fall through the gaps.

Fans can visit the Finn Moray website and sign up as FINNATICS, telling the team who they are and what they do. In return, FINNATICS will be the first to hear about new releases, special editions and live shows, and will receive access to discounted tickets and merch that are not available to the general public.

Those who have talent and would like to shine can also sign up for the chance to become a FINNATIC SINGER and find out more about how to audition for AON’s live album, THE GATHERING.

A musical map of Scotland

AON is built as a “living musical map of Scotland”, with original songs written for places that matter to him and his family, including Ayr, Bridge of Don, Inverness, Aberchirder (Foggie), Dunfermline, St Andrews, Cumbernauld, Anderston, Lerwick, Darvel, Yetholm, Dunbeath, Aberdeen, Bridgeton and Holyrood. The plan is to keep adding more songs over time and to share the benefits with each community.

“None of this belongs to me alone,” says Finn. “I am the person who started it. The rest is up to anyone who chooses to take part, including folk in Ayr, in Alloway and across Ayrshire.”

How to listen and get involved

The Tree on the Sun, the free-to-download song that began the project, and the songs from AON: THE CALL, including The Bard #2, will be available on the Finn Moray website. Listeners are invited to spend time with the tracks, share the ones that make them feel good and get in touch to nominate local groups that quietly give back and could use support. Listen to AON: THE CALL excerpts here.

Notes to editors

About Finn Moray

Finn Moray is the creative song writing persona of Scottish artist and entrepreneur David Sheret. Alongside his work in the energy sector, he is building a values-led music project that aims to give back to the communities that inspire his songs.

About AON and the Social Compact

AON is a two-part musical and social project. THE CALL is a collection of original songs written from Finn’s own experience. THE GATHERING will curate reinterpretations of those songs by artists in the regions they are written about. Under the Finn Moray Social Compact, fifty per cent of net profit from the core catalogue is allocated to institutions that already give back. For reinterpretations, net profit is shared fifty per cent to the region, twenty-five per cent to the covering artist and twenty-five per cent to Finn.

Media contact

Artist: Finn Moray (David Sheret)

Email: finn@finnmoray.com

Phone: +44 7718 312121

Website: www.finnmoray.com

Photography of David Sheret: Rory Raitt