A NEW charity CD showcasing the best of homegrown talent will be hitting the shelves of South Lakeland music stores in December.

Sounds of the Northwest is still in the making but the polished product will feature music from around 20 local performers.

Masterminded by Dalton twenty something Dave Martindale, proceeds from the album will go to St Mary's Hospice and the Furness branch of the Leukaemia Research Fund.

Snatching sounds as diverse as the computer-generated music of Cambell Innes and Ambleside's Phil Bottomley to Kendal band 5 Divinity Avenue, the album has been four months in the making.

"It was an idea I'd had for a while to make a CD of local unsigned musicians and give the profits to charity; and I realised if I wanted to do I should just get on with it," said Dave.

"The motivations for doing this weren't ever going to be financial. It's always been about promoting the local music scene and raising money for charity."

After contacting a few friends and with the help of an advert in Kendal music shop The Sound of Music the project dominoed.

Those working on the album now include Dalton's The Prophets, Pitchfork Disneys, Sadie Hawkins Dance, singer songwriter Rosie Hillman, a cappella Furness folk outfit Stanza, budding Barrow rock band Work in Progress, Karafolkie, folk man Phil Taylor and his dulcimer, the computer aided Howie and Nick Witham as well as his own drum 'n' bass, house and techno offerings.

The music technology graduate, who has been spending near 60 hours a week putting the CD together, said: "I've always been excited by the underground scene and since I started this project I've been really impressed by the range of music people are making around here.

"For the album I wanted to replicate an accurate representation of the things going on and it really opened my eyes."

The CD should be available from Circa and Eclectic in Kendal and from certain St Mary's Hospice shops.