The Abode Of The Blessed

[Christopher Stewart]

Believe it or not (and if you do, please help me believe it too), but I just published an album. It's a 4-song EP entitled « The Abode Of The Blessed » that I recorded in an overnight session last weekend and produced this past week.

But first things first. Before I go into more details about the music, here's the abridged version of what happened since my last post.

After publishing «  Takers Economy  » at the end of August, I spent most of the following two months distributing and promoting it on the internet. The task was daunting and the progress was slow at first, but the process eventually yielded positive results.

Then I took a little time off, and I do mean off. I escaped to the countryside for about two weeks, where I mostly rested and dreamt about the next phase of my life. There was a lot of music making in those reveries. Far away from the city, I especially enjoyed the silence and the night skies. It had been a long while since I had last seen that many stars.

The return to civilization did not unfold quite as I had expected, and I finally had a chance to compose more music, and was even offered the opportunity to record some of it, which I gratefully accepted. The last few years had been dedicated to writing novels and essays, and so it felt very good to come back to music again. Indeed, I experienced it as a kind of rebirth, and so it was only apt that the classical guitar I had access to during this unexpected passage was a Renaissance model.

Over the course of my residency thus far, I wrote sixteen new compositions, eight songs and eight instrumentals, that I hope to release as a full-length album in the near future. I would have liked to produce them all here, but the tight recording window forced me to choose only a few.

The original plan was to record at least five of the compositions, and keep the four best tracks for the present EP. However, time constraints and technology determined which songs ultimately made it on the album.

The music is miles away from what I usually write. The pieces are basically folk songs that I believe most will categorize in the « singer-songwriter » genre. There are no intricate arrangements, it's just my voice and the nylon-string guitar. One thing for sure, it's a definite change of pace from the prog rock extravaganzas that I typically come up with.

Life being what it is, it looks like that will have to be it for now. I must run, really.

The album is available in various e-formats via Bandcamp. The description follows below. Thanks in advance for your support. I hope you enjoy the songs !

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Does heaven really exist ?

Some insist that it does, yet others seem to think that there cannot be such a place.

I have been searching for paradise for most of my life, and on several occasions I actually thought I had discovered it, but in hindsight I'm not sure I can claim to have been very successful. Or in any case, that's what I used to reckon until I tried to resign myself to the unacceptable conclusion that it was merely a fanciful invention, and considered that I would never find it. That's about when I happened to stumble upon its hall.

I definitely wasn't looking for anything of the sort when I was offered to stay in this surprising location. Nor was I quite certain of where I was at first. However, after various eye-opening occurrences, it finally struck me that I very possibly have reached the vestibule to heaven. Apparently, the blessed come and go to this uncanny domain, some to rest for a while, and others to perform their angelic duties.

I haven't been officially admitted to paradise yet, so I'm only speculating, but it would appear that some of the guests here are waiting to be granted access. Or more precisely, we have a challenge to overcome before we are allowed to move onward.

« The Abode Of The Blessed  » documents my unexpected sojourn in this enchanting mansion, this antechamber of the promised land, were I received much support, was taught important lessons, and experienced many validations of prior understandings.

The songs depict the task that I must discharge, some of the dwellers, and their own trials and tribulations. The music aims to provide inspiration and encouragement to those who have to go through a similar process.

All in all, having seen this place that feels like a gateway to paradise, it looks very likely that there's a heaven. So here I am, advancing into the unknown, all the while attempting to leave footprints behind so you can find your way too.

Onward, beautiful dreamer !