My Isle of Peace

Imagine if you will, the sun is just setting over the beach. Beautiful streaks of purple and reddish orange reaching out like delicate fingers across the evening sky. As you sit under a comforting shelter, a gentle rain begins to give delicate and tantalizing sounds. A great sense of peace and god's love wraps you and brings you a meditative comfort.

As the rain clears, the gulls settle at the calming dusk. Here, there is only peace. Here, there is only beauty. Here there is only you and me, my love. I see your radiant beauty shimmering in  the evening light as you dance to the song of love. Our souls enraptured in melody, your heart in mine.

You are my love, my beauty...you are My Isle of Peace.

Come listen to the music track on SoundCloud at http://soundcloud.com/clinton-stevens/my-isle-of-peace

Dedicated to my soulmate and love of my life. To my wife, Kimberly

Melancholy Odyssey

Wow, what an insane week I've had. Tonight was the first night in 10 days I haven't been utterly too exhausted to sit at the piano and compose...and compose I did :D. My wife, Kimberly is opening a Fashion Boutique "Haute Swan" here in Virginia Beach. I have been working hard at getting her store built out in my spare time. My day-job has been insane as it is the end of my company's Fiscal Year. So I've been working insane hours on top of helping with the Haute Swan. The last two weeks has presented it's fair share of ups, downs, hills, valleys, challenges, and rewards.

But I'd do it all over again, in fact, I'd do anything for my wife and my family. So I have tried to express my whirlwind week and emotional experience of the last two weeks into my new track "Melancholy Odyssey". Based on the last two weeks, I'd say it is aptly named.

You can hear my new creation at http://soundcloud.com/clinton-stevens/melancholy-odyssey. I have thoroughly enjoyed being able to sit down behind the piano and composing again, and I hope you equally enjoy listening.

Thank you for stopping by.

Until next time, be well and do good things for others :D.

Interesting Times

It's been an interesting couple of days for me. I haven't had much chance to compose music over the last couple days, which is now making me want to sit at the piano. My wife is opening a new store and that has been eating at all of my families free time, but I am very excited for her and hope that the store takes off with smashing success.

Today is Friday! The good thing about Friday is I don't have to wake up early on Saturday. This in turn means I can stay up late and compose. I wonder what will come out of the piano tonight? Good or bad, sweet or sour, you can rest assured that whatever I create, I will be posting it for anyone who wishes to hear.

This week has provided me alot of inspiration to work worth. Ranging from a Bar Mitzvah we attended for our friend's son, to Kimberly's store, to all of the crazy developments at my place of work. Who knows what music will flow...we'll find out :D.

Until next time, be well and do good things for others.

This Heart of Hearts

Life, a great roller coaster ride with thrilling loops, steep drops and high rises. Everywhere you look, emotion springs from life. The good lord has truly blessed me with mercy, patience and love.

There have been times in my life where I thought I would never crawl up from the deep hole I was in. Other times in my life have been so blessed I felt I was on top of the world. I have, for the better part of my life,  been a very private and emotionally guarded person. Always cautious to let others close to my real self. I was slowly climbing the top of the roller coaster.

Then, the steep drop and double loop. At first very scary, so much vulnerability exposed. My heart pounding, my blood pumping, the world moving at me so fast. So many entered my life during that drop, and so many were there for the exciting loops and turns that followed. I fell in love with my wife...my most precious and best part of me. We have our children, incredible blessings and spirits of joy.

It was just a matter of time before the music I had put away locked in the closet would make it's way out.

This Heart of Hearts is my tribute to the life my family and friends have helped me find. My tribute to the pain of losing ones I love, and gaining new love in my life. It is my tribute to my children who warm my heart. It is my tribute to the good lord, my tribute to my savior, Jesus Christ.

Regardless of the shape your roller coaster has taken, the spirituality you may have found in your life, or might have yet to discover, I hope you find something to take from this new track. Enjoy!!!

You can hear "This Heart of Hearts" and my other music at http://soundcloud.com/clinton-stevens/this-heart-of-hearts . You can also follow me on Twitter at @clintonstevens.

My Musical Re-Awakening

I love to write music, probably much the same way that some enjoy writing journals, sculpting, or oil painting. For me, composing has recently become both therapeutic and slightly addictive. I started playing piano when I was 18. I am self-taught with a remedial ability to read sheet music. By profession I am a business analytics architect so music is something I enjoy doing in my past-time.

I spent 4 years during my time in the U.S. Air Force moonlighting as a professional performing musician, during which time, I adopted a variety of playing styles through my exposure in bands playing Jazz, Latin, and R

Lighthouse: A Great Collaboration

 Lighthouse

Well, folks, I have had my first experience remotely collaborating on a music piece. It has been a lot easier to pull of then I would have expected. With modern professional tools, good internet and SoundCloud, it was a snap technically.

But I digress. Eve Williams and I have labored to produce a collaborative Piano/Vocal track. I am very happy with the outcome, and hope you will be too. Let me start by saying that Eve is a very talented vocalist with a great voice.

Our collaboration started with me composing and arranging a piano track. I used my MacBookPro, Logic Pro 9 and my Alesis QS8 to lay down the track. I mastered modified the EQ slightly to remove a couple of peaking points, and mastered my bounce to .WAV format. So now, the piano instrumental track was laid, next stop, time for Eve to do her magic.

I uploaded the piano track to my SoundCloud profile, but set it as a private track and added Eve Williams as the only person that could access the track. This worked out great, since the .WAV was over 50MB large and couldn't easily be sent via email. We corresponded via a email to hash out the details, Eve went to work on the vocals and lyrics. Using her Pro Tools she recorded her vocal track over my piano, mastered and sent the music back. Awesome sound music was born.

Given that we are in different countries on completely different continents, I thought it was very cool to be able to pull something like this off.

I shared our collaboration with my wife, Kimberly, and and our kids. They loved the piece. After some more correspondence, Eve and I decided to go ahead and push the new track to SoundCloud. If you'd like to hear our creation, you can do so at http://soundcloud.com/clinton-stevens/lighthouse-featuring-vocals-by.

Also, I'm an Eve Williams fan (I've favorited several tracks). Her music can be found on SoundCloud as well at http://soundcloud.com/evewilliams

Well that's all for now folks, hope you enjoy.

Fire from Ashes

Well, this week has had a fair share of trials and opportunities for character growth. I have found that when life around me mounts with stress and tribulations, music makes a great records keeper. I often find it much easier to express my feelings through music, and so I have written Fire from Ashes. It is my latest creation and expresses how I feel during some of those lost and trying times. Fire from Ashes, though, is a tale of triumph over failure, victory over loss, and release from pain.

For me victory and release can be especially difficult when your family or those close to you hurt you. You know beyond everything, the hurt they may cause is not enduring, but it is hurt nonetheless. Even when the hurt or pain may leave you spent to ashes, the fire of love and forgiveness will find a way to light from those ashes. As a christian, I put my faith in the good Lord to heal all wounds, and so he does.

You can hear my latest music on SoundCloud at http://soundcloud.com/clinton-stevens. You can also purchase and download my music at http://clintstevens.bandcamp.com.

Fire and Ashes is available for streaming at http://soundcloud.com/clinton-stevens/fire-from-ashes. Until next time, be well, and god bless.