IN AWE is Spiritually Inspired New Music by Guitarist and Composer-Producer John Gregorius, Out Now on Spotted Peccary
A sense of wonder permeates this album through its acknowledgment of oneself as a part of something greater.
Gregorius finds deep inspiration in the natural surroundings of his home in the Sonoran desert, crafting musical spaces in the spirit of mystery, simplicity, communion, and contemplative thought.
Spotted Peccary Music of Portland, OR
The Tucson-based artist’s new album features guest artists vocalist Kim Daniels, bassist Sean O’Bryan Smith, drummer Mitch Ross, and Benjamin Fleury-Steiner.
Spirituality has always been central to my purpose and music... I have no need to defend a specific doctrine anymore, but just celebrate that the same Divine Presence has always been here.”
PORTLAND, OR, USA, May 20, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- In Awe, John Gregorius’ fourth album for Spotted Peccary Music, is a sonic pilgrimage, a moving meditation, an album of both dynamism and peace. These nine compositions blend sweeping ambience, gentle rhythms and sterling guitar work as only John Gregorius can. An album of personal growth and spiritual discovery, In Awe was inspired by long periods of meditation, and the connection that can be found through immersion in the natural world. A sense of wonder permeates this album through its acknowledgment of oneself as a part of something greater. — John Gregorius
In Awe finds Gregorius taking his trademark ambient guitar sound in new compositional directions, using more verse, chorus and bridge structures to evoke a journey through the desert or along the shoreline. On the track “Light,” Gregorius’ guitar glimmers like the silver crests of sun-kissed waves. On “Here Now,” a yearning hook recurs like a question left unanswered. Wistful acoustic flourishes entwine and disentwine from the melody at the song’s stunning bridge. And beneath, drums – like footsteps in sand – march toward realization. “Open,” finds a subsumed kick drum emboldening movement, adventure, and exploration. Then – as quickly as it comes – the kick drum subsides. It leaves an aural clearing, like stepping through overgrown branches to find a sunlit meadow: a place to stand still and marvel.
Gregorius begins all his compositions with a guitar, a looper, and reverb. Each of these rich, immersive pieces was built from this simple foundation, with guitar loops forming much of the album’s background ambience. He recorded most of the album on an Ovation 1867, and a Paul Reed Smith electric tuned in Robert Fripp’s New Standard Tuning. The album features collaborations with vocalist Kim Daniels, bassist Sean O’Bryan Smith, and drummer Mitch Ross, as well as a synth bed from Benjamin Fleury-Steiner on “Everyday Miracle.”
In an early review, Robin James wrote, “These melodic instrumentals are each illuminated and uplifting, with an evident deep moral seriousness and an artistry, a creativity informed by faith, which expresses a very conscious and deliberate assumption of religion, implying a spiritual ecstasy in which our mind is suspended and God's Spirit takes its place.”
In Awe springs from the idea that everything is miraculous. The result is a joyous blend of acoustic and electric, digital and analog, and – in Gregorius’ words: a “thank you for the beauty around us, and for the deeper purpose we can experience.”
"Spirituality has always been central to my purpose and music. In growing spiritually, I’m finding science and spirituality to be symbiotic and more miraculous with every discovery..." Gregorius continues, "I have no need to defend a specific doctrine anymore, but just celebrate that the same Divine Presence has always been here and available to all."
IN AWE is available in your choice of digital download format, either MP3 (320KBPS), 16-bit DC quality, or 24-bit studio master.
ABOUT JOHN GREGORIUS: Working from his home studio near Tucson, Arizona, guitarist and composer John Gregorius creates his own wonderful blend of guitar based ambient, acoustic, and melodic music that grows naturally out of a search for meaning within life’s mysteries. A master of finger style acoustic and processed electric guitar, Gregorius finds deep inspiration in the natural surroundings of his home in the Sonoran desert, crafting musical spaces in the spirit of mystery, simplicity, communion, and contemplative thought that allow the listener to slow down, feel comfortable, relax and truly appreciate the beauty of life’s often overlooked interludes. In Awe is John Gregorius’ fourth solo release on the Spotted Peccary label. His previous offerings on the label include Full of Life (SPM-1803), Still Voice (SPM-1802), Heaven & Earth (SPM-1801). https://johngregorius.bandcamp.com/album/in-awe
For more information, images, or to interview John Gregorius, please contact Beth Hilton at Spotted Peccary Music via email to: Beth@SpottedPeccary.com
Buy/Stream IN AWE: https://spottedpeccary.com/shop/in-awe/
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Official Album Preview: IN AWE by John Gregorius
