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Mathew Priest

Songwriter/Producer/Performer

Mathew is the founding member of chart-topping band Dodgy. Since his career started in 1991, Mathew has found chart success many times with hits such as 'Good Enough', 'Staying Out For the Summer', and 'In A Room', selling over 2 million records worldwide. 'Good Enough' was the most widely played song on British radio in 1996. Nowadays Mathew combines his own musical career with managing and producing a multitude of artists. He DJs on BBC London and 6Music, makes regular appearances on TV's 'Never Mind the Buzzcocks', writes a monthly page for Rhythm magazine, and helps take care of his inspiration for the 'Silver Balloon' songs, his 6 year-old son Oscar.

Jon Snow

Narrator of 'Poochki and the Silver Balloon' and 'Bear Town Carnival' bedtime story tracks

Jon is one of Britain’s most well known and respected broadcasters. He is the Channel Four News anchorman and is often celebrated for his taste in flamboyant neckties. Throughout an illustrious career Jon has interviewed many of the world’s top statesmen, politicians and celebrities. He donated his fee for narrating the story to the New Horizons charity for homeless teenagers, of which he is patron.  When asked to comment on his new role as narrator of fairy stories, Jon said, "bears and lost balloons don’t feature highly in a newsreader’s scripts, but it’s nice to be asked to do something different. When my children were young they were always curious about where balloons they released ended up. If you can stand listening to the old bloke narrating the story, it’s a pretty good tale.”

Beccy Byrne

Female Vocalist

Beccy recently spent a couple of years touring extensively as part of the band Catatonia.

Her career as a vocalist and keyboard player has seen her in the studio and on stage with artists such as Robbie Williams, Pulp, and Paul Heaton of ‘The Beautiful South’.

Beccy studied at Newcastle College of Music specializing in Jazz and Popular Music. She has also worked as a piano and singing teacher, and now spends her time balancing her role as a mother to two young sons, with her career in the pop world.

Patrick Byrne

Songwriter/Producer/Performer

Patrick Byrne has been making quite a name for himself for several years now with his band ‘Byrne’. His debut album, ‘Slowly and Gloriously’ received rave reviews from the music world, with the NME magazine giving him a rare 8/10 for his “happy/sad psychedelic-pop”.

Patrick’s collaboration with Mathew on the Silver Balloon CD has produced some fantastically unique, and entertaining songs, all tried and tested on Patrick’s two children!

Kerry Blackburn

Author of the bedtime story tracks and co-creator of 'My Silver Balloon'

Kerry is the author of the bedtime story tracks, ‘Poochki and the Silver Balloon' and 'Bear Town Carnival'. Kerry was a journalist for more than 20 years, starting her career in local newspapers, moving on to the BBC as a reporter and producer, and finally to the UK's leading serious news programme, Channel 4 News. Kerry gave up her job as a Senior Editor at the Channel in 2004, to concentrate on bringing up her baby son Ethan and to work on growing Silver Balloon with her husband Neil. Now that Ethan is at school, Kerry has returned to journalism and is working as an Independent Editorial Adviser to the BBC Trust. Kerry and her family have recently relocated to the Sunshine Coast in Australia, from where they hope to build a Pacific base for Silver Balloon.

Neil Blackburn

Co-creator of 'My Silver Balloon' and Co-author of 'Bear Town Carnival'.

After working for several blue-chip companies, Neil co-founded the UK's foremost internet moderation company, Chat Moderators, in 1999, employing human moderators to ensure the safety of chat rooms and message forums. The company built up an impressive portfolio of clients as diverse as the Government, ITV’s Pop Idol, Liverpool Football Club and the Beatles. Neil has served on the Government’s Internet Taskforce, where he advised on child protection on the web. The birth of his first child, Ethan, in December 2002, gave Neil the idea of commissioning original music for children. Neil also co-wrote the bedtime story track on the second album. Like his wife, Kerry, Neil is hoping the move to Australia will enable Silver Balloon to better serve its increasing customer base in the Asia-Pacific region.