When I purchased the domain name “websiteandsound.com” back in the late 90’s, still the early days of the web, I expected that I would fuse my musical and coding abilities into a career that encompassed both aspects of my talents.
As my career evolved over the years, I found that the musical aspects have remained in the realm of personal satisfaction and creative freedom. Consequently, this website has remained a portfolio and calling card for the web development aspects only. However, I have also come to realize that my creative pursuit of music absolutely benefits what I have to offer as a programmer. After all, it is no mystery that playing a musical instrument has positive effects on the brain, as well as itself being an excellent exercise in mindful meditation. It has come to my attention that there are perceived correlations between coding and musical abilities, apparently studied and discussed ad nauseum,
So, in honor of the original intent behind WebsiteAndSound, I include some of my favorite examples of my work as composer, guitarist, keyboardist, producer/engineer, and sometimes even lyricist for my progressive rock outfit, Shadow Circus.
1.) Overture
One of my favorites, this track opens the 2012 release “On a Dark and Stormy Night”, a concept album inspired by Madeleine L’Engle’s science fantasy classic, A Wrinkle in Time, which had a profound influence on me when I read it as a child.
This instrumental hints at the various melodic themes that occur throughout the album, each of which represent a key character or event from the novel. I composed the piece, and performed the orchestral introduction, electric and acoustic guitars. As with all tracks from this album, I also acted as the engineer and producer, with help from the extremely talented James Byron Schoen.
2.) Daddy’s Gone
This track immediately follows “Overture”. In the manner of many concept albums, most of the songs blend into one another, as a sequence of songs forming one larger, coherent piece. This song would be considered the “radio cut”, being a short, melodic and catchy ballad. I performed the electric and 12-string acoustic guitars, and also penned the lyrics and melody for the chorus. Towards the end, you will hear one of my favorite guitar solos to play:
I will continue to fill this page with examples of my work. If you would like to hear more, please visit the audio page on the official Shadow Circus Website.