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Dale Wright has spent 30 years filling St Brendan’s church with music and has now made a more permanent musical contribution to the parish.

The organ-player and leader of the St Brendan’s 11am Music Group has produced a CD featuring music to accompany a range of church services across the region.

Mr Wright said inspiration for the album came from parishioner requests for recordings of the group’s Sunday performances.

He said up until now, when the musicians weren’t able to play, the service would go ahead without music.

‘‘That’s where it all started. There are a lot of church services that haven’t got music so they can actually use this (the CD),’’ Mr Wright said.

‘‘It caters for the ordinary time, it caters for Advent and it caters for Lent ... and special feasts.

‘‘(The songs) come from a religious base, but they are modern, contemporary pieces of music.’’

The music was recorded on site at the church, with vocals added to the tracks in the studio.

Mr Wright said it was a considerable effort by all parties to bring it together.

‘‘The pianos were in one room, the organ was there of course, the drums were put in another part of the church and they were miked up,’’ he said.

‘‘We actually played from nine o’clock in the morning to six o’clock at night, non-stop, all the songs.’’

For Mr Wright, the most rewarding part was the sense of camaraderie and generosity.

‘‘They give their time freely,’’ Mr Wright said.

‘‘It’s really about the friendship and the enthusiasm and fun of doing it with a great team of wonderful human beings.’’

It wasn’t all smooth sailing however — the process has taken much longer than Mr Wright had expected.

‘‘It’s been fun (but) sometimes frustrating because I would hear the CD and then I’d go back to the recording studios and go, ‘no, I’m not quite happy with that, I need to bring back this vocalist to do that or I need a harmony in this part’,’’ he said.

‘‘I think I might have frustrated some of them, but I’ve got it off the ground.’’

Now all Mr Wright can do is wait for the final touches to be completed. He hopes the album will be ready in time for Christmas and is already taking orders.

‘‘When I see the final thing and I can close the books up on it, it’ll be great. It’s been a long, long time.’’