Soul Roads is a unique compilation of original music that represents the seven primary development stages of life; birth, childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, mid-life, elderly, and passing on. The album contains fifteen compositions, two for each of the seven stages, from the perspectives of both World and Spirit, and an Overture.
Soul Roads is based on the belief that within each stage of our lives we experience a multitude of emotions. The songs on the album touch these emotions through imagery, metaphors, and music in an understanding and sensitive manner intended to affect each person uniquely.
One of the distinctive features of Soul Roads is that as life is filled with variety, so too is the diverse mix of music included in Soul Roads. Song styles include contemporary folk, boogie-woogie, lullaby, blues, swing, jazz, new age, and others.
Soul Roads Musicians:
Jerry Boynton
Jerry "JB" Boynton was born in California and later moved to Texas. JB has been picking at anything with strings on it since the early age of 10. As JB tells the story, “I use to wait until my older brother left for the evening, and then I would sneak into his room and pull out this junky old guitar out from under the bed and play it for hours!” JB finally got his first guitar, a Sears Silverton, when in high school and started playing in alley bands whenever he got the chance. JB eventually studied music in college and toured with various bands throughout the south-east playing bass guitar. His band experience includes jazz, rock, folk, gospel, and as he says, “even rubber bands”. “I love playing and love the company of others who share the passion for making music.” JB has worked as a session musician for albums with diverse styles from Acid to Acoustic Rock. Today, you can find JB playing with various local artists in the Colorado area, recording, and teaching the craft of playing guitar to others in his home studio in Longmont, Colorado.
J. Scott Crossen
Scott grew up in Michigan and Wisconsin and began singing when he was four years old. He wrote his first song when he was fifteen, two months before getting his first guitar. “I remember that I wanted to learn to play so much that my fingers were raw after the second week and so I’d put pieces of band-aids on my fingertips so I could keep playing. It didn’t work too well.” Scott is mostly self-taught but managed and still manages to learn from other musicians whenever the opportunity arises. Scott also spent time on the road performing in clubs around the country before permanently settling in Colorado. Beyond writing and producing music, Scott writes poetry and may be offering selections of his poetry in the future from the Soul Roads Web site.
Jay Harper
Jay grew up in California and has been mastering music since 1997. Three of those years were spent at Bernie Grundman Mastering, developing his ears, learning tips and developing techniques. Jay studied music with an emphasis in the recording arts from California State University, Chico. He’s also been an active live sound, remote recording and studio engineer since 1990. When Jay moved to Colorado, he worked as the Studio Manager for the University of Colorado, Denver Recording Arts facility. Jay plays bass guitar, percussion, and drums. He has done everything from live sound on the road, film shoots, multi-track sessions, to mastering and duplication for many well known bands and albums. Currently, Jay is a Product Specialist for Digidesign.
Joceyln Holst
Jocelyn is originally from Colorado where she began singing before she could walk or talk. From the time Jocelyn was five years old, she has performed in many Fine Arts Guild music productions, dinner theaters and eventually studied acting in college. Besides Jocelyn’s beautiful voice, she plays guitar, flute, and the rare and wonderful didgeridoo. Jocelyn has traveled extensively and feels fortunate to have been able to perform and share her love of jazz music while in Seattle, France, the U.K. and Australia, as well as performing at Walt Disney World in Florida. Jocelyn also writes music and is currently part of an all female rock/blues project called, My Sister Outlaw.
Larry Morrison
Larry grew up in Texas and began his music career at the age of eight, learning to play drums and lead guitar. When Larry turned thirteen, he began teaching himself to play piano and wrote his first song. Larry is a versatile musician and has played many instruments in a variety of bands over his long career. Some time after moving to Colorado, Larry also worked as a DJ for a local public radio station where he hosted and composed theme music for live theatrical and talk show radio programs, including NPR. Larry currently writes music for theater and choral productions and performs publicly in the Boulder, Colorado area.
Tom White-O'Connor
Tom grew up in New Jersey and is now a singer and songwriter from Boulder, Colorado. Tom began playing guitar and the harmonica over 30 years ago. According to Tom, “I’d come home after school and put on records like John Mayall, Mississippi Fred MacDowell, and Hot Tuna and play along with the album. Life had two main requirements in those days, tennis shoes for pickup basketball games, and a blues harp for jam opportunities." Tom started writing music in high school and focuses on positive and humorous themes in his music. He is also a public speaker and a career life coach in Boulder, Colorado.
Read more...