[7][9] Having experienced problems in the local area and in school as a young teenager, he spent some time living in London with the father of a friend; finding himself with little to do "apart from watch cricket or play guitar",[3][9] he became proficient in the instrument (as well as the harmonica).

[10] On returning to Scotland he began writing songs, with his growing interest in creating and performing music proving a distraction in his attempts to hold down jobs in various industries over several years.

[1] They began collaborating on a casual basis with Marshall arranging the songs and Crosbie the lyricist, and eventually formed a lo-fi band, The Cinnamons, along with Lori Duncan, Dave Bass and Gav Hunter;[1] with Gerry as frontman, they released a five-song EP in 2010.

[10] In 2014, having sold-out gigs at small venues purely through word of mouth and social media,[14] he was invited to write and perform a song at a rally event in George Square ahead of the referendum on Scottish independence.

[3][9] In summer 2015, Cinnamon supported John Power on tour,[14] released another single, "Kampfire Vampire",[15] and performed to a large crowd on the T-Break Stage at T in the Park,[6][3][16] fulfilling a long-held ambition to play at the festival.

[7] In July 2017, Cinnamon appeared on the King Tut's stage at the TRNSMT festival (a non-camping replacement for T in the Park) on Glasgow Green,[9] again playing to a sizeable and enthusiastic crowd.

[19] In September, he released his first album Erratic Cinematic, funded via the PledgeMusic platform[16] and produced by Chris Marshall,[20] which rose to the number 1 spot in the UK iTunes chart for singer-songwriters[21][22][23] and 6th overall.

[13][10] This achievement – a first for an unsigned artist – later earned him a place in the 'Barrowland Hall of Fame' alongside the likes of Glasgow son Frankie Miller, Noel Gallagher, David Bowie and Ocean Colour Scene.

[30] The early months of 2018 were dominated by a sold-out Scottish tour,[31] followed by several dates across the rest of Britain and Ireland, with some gigs moved to higher capacity venues due to the demand.

[33] On 28 June 2018, two days before the event, the organisers of TRNSMT announced that Cinnamon's performance at the festival had been moved to a later, higher profile time slot (benefitting from J Hus's cancellation).

[41][42] On 12 July, it was announced that he would be performing at the new P&J Live venue in Aberdeen on Saturday 23 November, which subsequently broke the record for highest attendance at a Scottish indoor event at 15,000 attendees, and two shows at the SSE Hydro in his hometown of Glasgow on Friday 20 December.

Alongside the album announcement, Cinnamon revealed that he will play the biggest show of his career at the 50,000+ capacity Hampden Park, becoming the first Scottish act to headline the national stadium.

His 350,000-capacity UK and Ireland tour, originally due to happen in 2020, included shows at Birmingham and Manchester Arenas, London's Alexandra Palace, the 25,000 capacity Malahide Castle, Dublin, and Musgrave Park Stadium, Cork.