Description

Bubbles were bouncing around the rim of my coffee mug on the morning of March 17, 2020.  It was early, just shy of 5:00AM.  My heart was heavy as I read the latest news on the pandemic sweeping across the country.  I felt helpless and hopeless with each new update on the rapid spread of Covid-19.

I decided to take my worries to a creative sanctuary.  More than 20-years ago I transformed our attic in Cary, NC into a music studio.  It was one of the best decisions I ever made.  That studio has been the birthplace of twelve albums.  The latest just well may be my favorite.

Celtic Peace, to be released on May 1, is truly a heartfelt product of the pandemic.  My goal was pretty simple – to create a cohesive work of art to counteract the bleak drumbeat of 2020.  

I tapped into fledgling melodies inspired by trips to Scotland and Ireland in recent years.  These raw tunes had been preserved on my iPhone using the Voice Memos feature.  By early summer I had 15 different tunes with fairly solid structure.

I was drawn to some high-end orchestral software to help me add polish and depth to the tunes.  I found myself adding layers of new musical textures including harmonium, harp, brass and sul tasto strings.

The album is drenched in emotion.  Sometimes I was in tears composing, playing and listening.  Reviewer Keith Hannaleck picked up on the depth of the emotion in writing:  “Celtic Peace is an instrumental masterpiece of joy, sadness and beauty.  At times you can hear all of those emotions within one track.”

The songs will transport you to some of my favorite places in Scotland and Ireland including Iona, Ben Nevis, Glencoe, The Burren, Edinburgh and Skara Brae.