IT was his dream to pursue a career in music and a jail term at Barlinnie saw him pick up a guitar for the first time in years.

Now Ryan Kershaw has caught the attention of a unique record label, Conviction Records, and following the launch of a fund earlier this year he has now recorded his first couple of tracks in a studio.

Around £600 was raised which was enough for the label to get Ryan into a recording studio for the first time to record his music.

Now Ryan and the label are looking to raise more funds to help him complete his first EP. He has recorded two songs, which he wrote himself, Tiger in the Well and The Labyrinth in Our Love.

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Ryan said: “Music means everything to me since I was a child of about nine of 10-years-old. It kept me going while I was in prison. It kept me going and I played for eight hours a day.

"In the studio the backing vocals and piano make a big difference and it is something I have never done before. I never thought in a million years I would be able to turn round and say I've got a record deal. Things are going to go up from here."

Ryan was sentenced to six months in jail after ordering a pepper spray online.

He began strumming away during his jail term and started to pen his own songs. That background gave him a unique opportunity to work with Conviction Records, a record label whose aim is to help ex-offenders set up by former journalist Jill Brown, a singer-songwriter.

The 37-year-old played in bands in his younger days and studied music performance and promotion at college.

A difficult industry to break into, Mr Kershaw ended up putting his singer-songwriting ambitions on hold and concentrated on supporting his wife and young family.

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However, in what he describes as an unexplainable moment in his life, Mr Kershaw was jailed for six months in 2019 after pleading guilty to purchasing a banned pepper spray online.

He said: “Everyone makes mistakes at some point in their lives and this was mine.”

Ms Brown had been running music and song-writing classes in Glasgow's Barlinnie jail when covid restrictions brought them to a halt.

She said: “We are still looking to raise £2500 which would help Ryan complete his album. The label is all about offering an alternative to criminality and working alongside people to help them achieve something positive.”

To help Ryan go to https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/conviction-records-take-off