The Evening Mist music CD
is another example of my listening to the feedback from people who had
been deeply touched by the music. Whether they borrowed it from a
friend, bought it in a local gift shop, or heard it at the Florence
Renaissance Faire, more and more people were telling me that I should
consider recording a CD that was entirely about relaxation……ZZZZZZZZZZZ!.
Seriously - I had gotten letters from marriage counselors, dentists, a
couple of psychologists and even massage therapists who were using, or
asking permission to use, music from my CDs in their sessions or office
lobbies. What a compliment to the healing power of God of light and
spirit. The message therapists in particular were telling me, that as
much as they liked using the Cathedral Whispers and Forever
Light CDs for their therapy sessions, they could really use a CD
where all of the songs were of a veeerrrryy sloooww teeeemmmpoooo-
Well, this presented a bit of a different situation for me, in
that I had previously relied solely on prayer and spirit to kind of tell
me what music I should do next, and what songs would follow what songs.
This was a case where live human beings were saying - here's what you
should do next. In the end, I realized that prayer, spirit and the live
human beings were one and the same this time. And Evening Mist:
Relaxing the Mind and Body was the result.
Once I adjusted to the idea of producing a music CD that was
solely for the purpose of total relaxation and healing, the music layout
and form came easily. The inspiration was the consideration of a garden.
The most relaxing, healing image I kept seeing in my mind was that of a
quiet garden; personal, serene and different shades of green. How easy
it would be to relax and calm your mind when you imagine stepping out
from under the stress and troubles of the day into a quiet garden, a
garden that only you the listener knows. A garden that is your own
personal inner space…a garden whose dimensions and beauty are limited
only by the depth of imagination of the individual mind and heart…
whether real or imagined, the music can put you there… anytime of day
or night, any place you happen to be.
The music itself is specifically composed and structured so as to
create that garden for you in sound. Each song begins and ends with
natural environmental sounds you might hear in any garden… but the
music does even more… the songs themselves and their titles were
specifically designed and selected to so as to actually walk you through
a brief period of time from place to place in that garden. The beauty is
that you, the listener, get to choose the places at which you stop for a
bit. Listening to this CD, Healing Rains will literally help you
step outside into a garden with the thunder overhead and the rain and
mist falling around or near you. As the rain moves off, thunder remains
and the Evening Mist hangs suspended in the air, thick with the
smell of flowers and plants. Crickets come out and Fire and Grace
leads you to a small fire, crackling in a pit near a small bench or
table where you linger. A strong breeze begins to blow, casting Shadows
on the Wind across your garden. The wind gets stronger and blows the
rain clouds along until finally, one by one, stars begin to peek out in
the early evening night sky, until you feel as though you have gone Back
to the Stars. Soon enough, your walk through your Moonlit Garden
pauses along a small, running creek fresh with clean, cool waters. Birds
sing in the night breeze as you continue your walk along Quiet
Pathways. Finally, a bit of thunder echoes in the distance as you
look up at the stars, tiny bright Points of Light. I feel
refreshed already just talking about with you.
In laying the framework for this CD, I considered some of the
slower pieces from previous CDs as a starting place (since listeners had
already indicated their favorites), and settled on several selections
from the Forever Light CD, namely Fire and Grace, Back
to the Stars and Healing Rains, as well as the piece, Points
of Light, from the Points of Light Christmas CD. To
this base of music, I composed four new pieces that would complete the
idea, making this CD a kind of hybrid compilation album, though not a
compilation in the truest sense. Total running music time on this CD is
about 70 minutes, with about 38 to 40 of those minutes being new music
compositions.
Final Thoughts: As usual, there is a story that goes with the
selection and design of the cover art for the Evening Mist
CD. My thought was that I wanted a strong, nurturing visual image on the
cover that would easily identify the music to a nature walk or garden
setting. I chose a rain forest, which I heard afterwards has inferences
for many people to earth spirit or connection from which God fashioned
us. Plus there are the strong deep and lighter shades of green which
help signify health, healing and nurturing. There is also the idea of
water which makes the forest deep and green, and which also promotes the
feeling of being clean, of having lives free of stress and clutter. At
the same time, I had the fun and bright idea (it turns out) of designing
a cover (Evening Mist: Music to relax and Bathe By) that
would appeal to those who might like to fill a nice tub with hot water
at the end of a hard day and take a long soak, all the while listening
to a soothing garden walk in sound. Same music, different cover and
different niche market. The second cover was almost an afterthought. As
usual the listeners won, and I have out sold the rain forest cover with
my hot tub relaxation cover two to one. To each his own .
