Peace of Life
My First Album
The "Peace of Life" project was the culmination of thoughts, emotions and life experiences that I put into words and music. It took almost three years to put it all together and while it is not perfect, I sure learned a lot about recording, editing, looping, producing....it was a journey.
To call it a "solo project" is really misleading. I mean, I composed the songs...played the basic keyboard lines and stuff but really, when it came time, I had plenty of help from my friends. There is no way I could have done this by myself.
Rob White, Jenny Flory, Nathan Emond and Brent Mullin all helped make this happen in a big way. Rob played on every track (except "Darkness" and "...CODA"). He is such a good friend, a heck of a bass player and an all around musician. Nathan played on the first three tracks. His guitar riffs filled and completed those tunes. I love what he does on "Peace"...the song would not be right without him! Jenny...what can I say, she made "Hurry Home" and "You Smile Too" perfect! Those lyrics mean a lot to me...I wrote them and tried to sing them. Jenny took them and made them sound right! She is such a huge talent and I love her so much! (in the most appropriate way of course). Brent played the piano solo on "Watching Yours" and the fills on "This is How it is"...He promises to play more on my next project!
It makes me feel good that so many friends have said so many nice things about "Peace of Life"....It really means a lot to me and is encouragement to keep writing. As of today (12/18/2017) I am deep into a follow up project. (After Peace??). I am hopeful that it will be done by this time next year. I will post updates and teasers occasionally....Stay tuned my friends!!
Please listen to my tracks below...download them, hit Spotify for them...I promise to make more soon!!
"Watching Yours" was actually the first song that I put together. I played the main piano part to a click track, layed down three sax tracks and it evolved from there. This song is all about watching your life unfold in front of you...growing up if you will.
"Hurry Home w/ Jenny" was originally an instrumental. I wrote the words but simply sounded awful trying to sing them so, I just went with an instrumental track. When Jenny agreed to sing it, WOW that changed everything! The idea here is you have that desire to be home and enjoy the life that has unfolded.
"PEACE" was a lot of fun to make! It started with the drum loops. I banged some chords over the loops and threw my sax part down. Rob and Nate did the rest. (Well, I laughed and stuff too).
"Darkness Comes" is exactly that....The fact is that we will all hit dark times. Not much to add.
"Not to High" I know what you are thinking but......no, this is all about staying grounded. Know that life is short, count your blessings and never be too high!
"You Smile Too" is another Jenny showcase. I built the song and again tried to sing it but, well, let's just say it was not good. Jenny nailed it! All about the good things in life..."If I could grab a piece of life...and I could pack it away and pull it out whenever I needed to"
"This is How it is" refers to your changing life circumstances. We all grow older, and life throws curves...thats just how it is...
"Coda" was me playing that piano line one night...It sounded cool and I put a sax line to it...when I played it back, it fit perfectly as an ending to "How it is Now".
"Pelican Floyd" Yeah...I may have been drinking on a Florida vacation. It was so peaceful and this bird hung out all day every day...he was cool. I vowed to write a song for him. It took about a month later and I was fooling with the African drum loops. Plunked the chords to it. Put my sax line to it...all of it was done in one take. I listened back and knew it was "Floyd". Rob finished it with his awesome bass line!
"What is Left" is exactly that. At the end of the day, week, month, year or life...what is left in front of you is all you have. Rob White on the upright bass...nice.