During the Alison Krauss Windy City tour in 2018, Alison suggested I record an album of peaceful, meditative guitar pieces. I took her suggestion to heart. Order the cd or download here.

Usually in the mornings I spend some time in reading and reflection. For this album I'd pull my guitar out after this peaceful, reflective time. A period of experimentation would lead into an idea for a melody, mostly simple and peaceful, which would then lead into an idea for an arrangement. The melodies are variously inspired by the morning sunlight on our fields in Tennessee, walks in the Yorkshire countryside, a river in Scotland behind Huntly Castle, writers George MacDonald, John Donne, and C.S. Lewis, melodies of Stephen Foster, and ballad books from the 1800s. 

By late morning I would be adding another guitar, or shruti (a simple, accordion-like instrument). The idea was to let everything flow into the music from that early morning feeling of peace, focusing on simplicity, tone, and nuance, with the intention that listeners would be able to take away some of that peace for themselves. 

Some stellar voices added background vocals. Suzanne Cox, Sierra Hull, Kate Rusby, Damien O'Kane, and my daughter, Erica Block, all added some lovely, ethereal parts to the mix. 

For vintage guitar aficionados: most of the recording was made using my 1938 Martin D28, used on the AKUS albums Lonely Runs Both Ways and Paper Airplane.

A Light So Fair will be released Nov 29th digitally. CDs will be shipped on Dec 3rd. You can listen to two whole tracks, "Hope Sings" and "The River Deveron," clips of the others, and preorder at the RonBlock.Com Store