Album Notes

Here's a CD that will take you a place of peaceful serenity... that special place in your heart you go for refreshing renewal. Music for your comfort moments: a long bath, romantic dinner ambience, mediation, reading a good book by the fireplace. Your own space and time, when the outside world disappears for awhile.

Sunflower Serenity ...Watercolor Odyssey (solos with nature sounds) is the third CD from the Candlelight Guitarist, with over 60 relaxing minutes of music for total serenity. It features 16 original solos, softly accompanied by soothing streams, the ocean and other nature sounds of the Pacific Northwest and California.

REVIEW BY: "The Rebecca Review" (www.SeasonedWithLove.com)
Guitar solos invite you into a place of deep relaxation where you can renew your spirit. Bradley Powell's "Sunflower Serenity" is the first in a series called Watercolor Odysey that explores life's journey.

This healing and warm melodious experience is filled with heart healing energy. Dreamy guitar takes center stage as a rich landscape of sounds creates a moment of reflection. The tracks melt beautifully together to create an escape into serenity.

Bradley Powell's flawless playing allows you to completely relax into sleep or relax into an evening of candlelight and romance. I've fallen into a peaceful sleep while listening to this music and have also spent relaxing afternoons reading while The Candlelight Guitarist wove an intricate tapestry of sounds to nurture my heart. Bradley Powell's music soothes the soul and leads you into a tranquil space of musical paradise.
~The Rebecca Review

NEW AGE REPORTER (review excerpts):
Like his two previous efforts [Powell] once again effortlessly spins out relaxing instrumental music which is easy to embrace from the first listen...as gentle soothing background music (especially since it's enhanced with assorted nature sounds from the Pacific northwest and Laguna Beach, California), this is a near perfect listening experience.
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gentle melodicism, flowing with just enough energy but still infused with peace and a feeling of calm (this is particularly noticeable on "A Place to Find Peace").
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Powell can also inject a little liveliness (yet still subdued so as to not disturb the overall tone of the album), as he does on "Seven Sunflowers" which has a lilting playfulness to it. "Robin’s Aria" is wistful and romantic, tinted with the glow from a setting sun perhaps, while the whimsically titled "My Imaginary Hammock" oozes a feeling of relaxing and even luxuriating in a pleasant state of laziness.
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"Blackberry Courante" is one of my faves on the CD, with a fanciful air to it, as Powell's fingers dance lightly over the fretboard expressing such unbridled joy that it's hard to resist smiling. And one can only kick up one's heels at the aptly titled lucky "Teddy Bear's Joyful Jig (Gigue)." However, despite the recognizable classical flavor, acoustic guitar lovers who normally shy away from that type of music should not be dissuaded because, in Powell's sure hands, you may not even realize you’re listening to music influenced from a long time ago.
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His music is almost always positive in nature, even when there is a tint of melancholy or reflection. It's simply music that makes you feel good, period.
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Bradley Powell spins out acoustic guitar instrumentals that evoke sun-sparkled lake vistas, majestic pine trees, birds on the wing, and sunsets to die for. While I miss some of the other instrumentation from his two previous albums, when searching for the soundtrack to a relaxing afternoon (especially if you find yourself on a screen porch on the Gunflint Trail in northern Minnesota), I don't think you could do much better than this wonderful album. Solidly recommended.
~reviewed by Bill Binkelman (Binkelman's Corner) for NewAgeReporter.com - 1/26/07

The album was digitally recorded in stereo, in Washington State (San Juan Islands region, Guemes Island, Anacortes, Friday Creek near Lake Samish, Mount Rainer National Park at Paradise Creek, Nisqually River, Nickel Creek, and Maple Creek) and in California at Lytle Creek (San Bernardino National Forest) and Wood's Cove at Laguna Beach. All the nature sounds were selected for their relaxing ambience.

ABOUT THE ARTIST
The Candlelight Guitarist® is Bradley Powell. Inspired by the Beatles as child, Brad began guitar lessons at age ten, and the following year he was awarded first place at the Southwestern Youth Music Festival for a guitar solo. At fifteen, Brad became a protégé of jazz guitarist Joe Pass, and later studied classical guitar from Vincenzo Macaluso, with master classes at CSUN under Dr. Ronald Purcell and Andrés Segovia. Brad was twice featured at the Hollywood Bowl, performing Gerald Wilson's "Sonata for Guitar and Orchestra" with the composer conducting, and also under the baton of Richard Carpenter, performing a suite of Carpenters' hits. Mentored in composition by David Rose ("Little House On The Praire"), Brad has composed music for TV shows, including "Hill Street Blues." He lives in a small mountain town in California.