Third Global Music Awardfor

Source:Island

exceptionally talented Sri Lankan

Saliya Salgado (also known as Sal) was in the spotlight, in our scene, in July, this year…and he is back in the news, again!

I’m told that Sal, who is based in Germany, is, so far, the only Sri Lankan born musician to win multiple GLOBAL MUSIC AWARDS for original music.

The first Global Music Award came his way, in 2019, for his very first creation ‘Forgiving.’ The song also won the VDM-Plus German Award 2019.

A year later (2020), he found fame coming his way, again, when his second song ‘Ama’ picked up a Global Music Award.

And, we had Sal in the spotlight in our issue of July 20th, 2021 – Fame for Sri Lankan…in Europe.

Although the pandemic has caused problems for the music scene, the world over, Sal continues to create award-winning songs; his third effort, ‘Out There, The Sun Is Shining,’ has given this exceptionally talented artiste his third Global Music Award.

The award winners, ‘Forgiving,’ ‘Ama,’ and ‘Out There, The Sun Is Shining,’ were written, composed and produced by Sal, in his private recording studio, in Germany.

What makes Sal standout, from the rest, is that he wrote the lyrics, composed the melody and music, and sang all the lead, and backing vocals, and played all the instruments himself (except the drums, which were programmed, with Sal at the controls…doing the needful). And, what’s more, he recorded, mixed and mastered all three tracks – all by himself, in his studio in Germany.

Sal says due to his busy schedule, and mobility, as a musician and sound engineer, he had to put the creative side, of his talents, on ice, for a very long time.

“However, I kept working on my originals whenever I had the opportunity to do so.”

In fact, Sal started his song writing career, way back, in 1986, in Sri Lanka, when he was asked to write a Sinhala song for Piero Carlo Perondi, who, according to Sal, was the first European to sing, and produce, Sinhala songs, in Sri Lanka.

“Perondi was impressed with my first song, which I wrote for him, and then we both agreed to produce a cassette album called ‘Sihalayo,’which was released in1988, and included the song ‘Polsambole,’ which turned out to be very popular with music lovers,” said Sal.

“Unfortunately, we had to cancel all promotions, and live concerts, at that point in time, due to the riots in Sri Lanka.”

Sal says he is determined to write more original songs, both in English and Sinhala.

He is currently working on some Sinhala songs and hopes to release them in 2022.