New Woolston Track on the Horizon

New Woolston Track on the Horizon

Hot off the back of his latest single “I Believe In You”, Kiwi musician Peter Woolston is set to release the title track from his latest album, Hope On My Horizon.

But “Hope On My Horizon” doesn’t hope to earn a Kiwi musician local or international acclaim; its driving purpose is to raise money and awareness for Mercy Ships NZ, a worldclass floating hospital that provides lifechanging medical care to thousands of people living in Africa – for free.

In 2013 Woolston stepped aboard Mercy Ships NZ as their Musical Ambassador. As part of his role, Woolston is ‘rocking the boat’ by donating 50% of all sales of the title track from his new album to the floating hospital.

If you feel like the track sounds a little familiar, you’re not wrong. Woolston gave fans a sneak peek by releasing the music video last month. The video takes viewers behind the scenes of an actual Mercy Ship, and offers up a real – often confronting and incredibly humbling – picture of the staggering need and desperation of third world people who don’t have access to the medical care the Western world takes for granted.

Mercy Ships is Africa’s medical Godsend. Since 1978, the floating hospital has performed more than one billion dollars’ worth of lifechanging medical services on hundreds of thousands of the world’s poorest people – all for free.

Yup, you read that right. Mercy Ships is powered by voluntary medical professionals from more than 40 nations all over the world, including New Zealand. The medical staff and almost all crew pay their way and perform vital – often lifesaving – medical services including cleft lip and palate corrections, cataract removals, straightening of crossed eyes, and orthopaedic and facial reconstruction, all at no charge to the patient.

But nothing comes for free these days – and that’s where Woolston comes in.

“When I first discovered Mercy Ships, I was dumbfounded at the selflessness of the people who volunteer their time, effort and worldclass skills to the people of Africa,” he says. “We live in a time where it’s not common to see that kind of selflessness anymore; we’re too caught up in our own lives to really notice what’s going on in other parts of the world.

“It got me thinking, though. I’m not a doctor so it’s not like I can donate a few months of my time to performing lifechanging surgeries. I’m a musician. What can I possibly do to help Mercy Ships?

“When Mercy Ships NZ invited me aboard their mission as their Musical Ambassador, I couldn’t say no. Finally, here was an opportunity for me to donate my time, effort and skills to Mercy too.”

Drawing comparisons to artists like Jon Foreman, Bono and Martin Smith, Hope On My Horizon counts its blessings and sees the glass as half full rather than half empty. If the title track doesn’t quench your thirst for new insightful Kiwi music, the full album will be released next month.

For more information about Mercy Ships, visit www.mercyships.org.nz. For more information about Peter Woolston and Hope On My Horizon, visit www.peterwoolstonmusic.com/hopeonmyhorizon.

ENDS

© Scoop Media