Album Notes

"Cosmic Yonder" is the first professionally recorded project from Cleveland Ohio based singer/songwriter Matt Harmon. An old school concept album, Cosmic Yonder tells the story of a dream. A man goes to sleep after an argument with his lover, he dreams of the sun, its rises and sets remind him of the ups and downs of love. The subsequent songs speak to those ups and downs, and lead to the dreamer making a connection between the cycles of planetary revolution and the cycles of the emotional ride that is the human experience.

Difficult to file under one single genre, this record represents Matt Harmon's compositional debut. The first track, "Lullaby", puts the dreamer to sleep. A classical string trio accompanies Matt's acoustic guitar and voice. The same instrumental configuration wakes him back up, as the last three tracks "Saturn's Rings", "But then Again", and "Reveille", reveal the album's meaning and leave the dreamer optimistically refreshed, and ready to tackle a new day.

In between the contemporary sounds of Matt's string arrangements, the scenes of this dream span styles from Alternative Folk ("Rises and Sets", "Missing You Still") Rock-n-Roll ("Free as a Child", "American Dream") Acoustic Swing ("We Oughta Know") Island Groove ("Return the Blue") and outright Jam Band("Happy Song"). The musicianship on this record is top-notch, and the songs, while different from one another in terms of feel and style, blend smoothly into one, intelligently written, coherent album, intended to be listened to the old fashioned way...from start to finish.

The Players:

Matt Harmon.......................Guitar and Vocals
Joe Hunter...........................Piano/Keyboards
Gary Naherny......................Drums
Ray DeForest......................Upright and Electric Bass
Dave Pethtel.......................Banjo
Tara Hanish........................Cello
Andrea Belding..................Violin
Jennifer Han Welsch........Viola
Jake Fader..........................Finger Snaps, Tambourines and Power Chords on Happy Song

Credits:

Recorded and Mixed by Jake Fader at Elevation Recording Studio - Cleveland, Ohio
Mastered by Paul Hamann at Suma Recording Studio - Painesville, Ohio
Origional Artwork by Rick Lewin
Graphic Design by Heidi Rolf

All music and lyrics written and arranged by Matt Harmon
©2011 Matt Harmon Music (ASCAP) All rights reserved