In Concert
Mother Earth
Fest/Retreat
Sept 3, 2004
Friday night
Gemini Sun Records
1912 N. Orchard Floor 2
Chicago, IL 60614
Phone: 312-787-8186 ~ Fax: 312-787-8128
geminisunrecords@rcn.com Web Address: www.geminisunrecords.com
Classically trained, and with a reputation as one of the world’s best selling flutists, keyboardists, and percussionists, Nicholas Gunn is in the upper echelon of contemporary instrumentalists. Having sold more than two million albums, making him a double platinum artist, he now heads his own label, Gemini Sun Records, and has released four new albums with this label in under a year. During his esteemed career, he has also been involved with other top instrumental oriented labels including Real Music, and his previous label, Anagram Records. He has now teamed up with business partners, Joel Geist and Karyn Bishoff, to form Gemini Sun Records, and plans are already in motion to expand the label and to explore new musical genres and media.
Having been born in England, Nicholas studied for several years at Great Britain’s prestigious Royal School of Music before moving to the United States to finish his education. In the early Nineties, Gunn’s debut recording Afternoon in Sedona, inspired by his travels throughout the southwest, was released and was a best-seller at national retail chains such as Natural Wonders and the Nature Company. Nicholas’ seven subsequent albums each became a bestseller and went straight to the Billboard New Age charts, where they maintained success. The Music of the Grand Canyon was on the Billboard New Age charts for 32 weeks.
The National Park series, in which Nicholas celebrates our nation’s protected nature reserves has also enabled Nicholas to engage in another project, to assist in the preservation of the natural wilderness that has always served to inspire him. For this series, comprised of The Music of the Grand Canyon, Return to Grand Canyon, and his new release, Through the Great Smoky Mountains, Nicholas donates ten percent of the proceeds from each album back to organizations that are working to protect and preserve these National treasures. To date, Nicholas has donated over $130,000.
On his Recordings, Gunn, who handles the arrangements and production, performs primarily on the concert classical C flute, but also plays bamboo flutes, wooden and tin whistles, synthesizers and a wide variety of drums and percussion instruments (and he occasionally adds background singing and chanting). But he also brings in special guest musicians which have included Yanni violinist Karen Briggs, cellist Sachi McHenry Patitucci, acoustic guitarists Zavier and John Bishoff (who also plays in his live back up band), and various vocalists including Holland Zander (Robin Zander of Cheap Trick’s daughter), Casandra Sheard, Robert Miano, and Navajo Razor Saltboy. Gunn also adds subtle sounds of nature to help capture the spirit and mood of the inspiration for a particular song.
Nicholas Gunn’s love for music has had a strong presence in his life since he was a child growing up in Rochester, England. His grandfather was a professional pedal steel guitarist, and Nicholas was fascinated by this. When Nicholas was young he saw classical flautist James Gallway perform on television and he told his parent’s he wanted to study flute. His music teacher was Mick Judson, a member of the Royal Marines Band and an instructor at the Royal School of Music, where Nicholas was soon enrolled (he traveled to London periodically for grade level testing). One of his fondest and scariest moments was at age nine sitting with Mick as part of the pit orchestra for the stage musical “Oliver.” At that time, Gunn’s favorite classical composer was Rachmaninoff. Nicholas’ father introduced him to the pop and rock music of the day---The Beatles, Elton John, ELO, Queen, Supertramp. “I have always been attracted to music with a strong sense of melody rather than more obscure stuff.”
Nicholas’ family moved to Southern California and in school there he played flute in concert bands and wind ensembles, but also learned to play drums and percussion in the marching bands. “It’s interesting now to look back at that early musical training and see how it came to serve me well in my recording career. By learning two of music’s basic elements, --- rhythm through percussion and melody through flute-- it gave me a solid foundation for creating the sounds on my albums,” Gunn explains.
After a short career as an actor, during which he starred in the “Freddie’s Nightmare” TV show, and as a model in print and commercials for Bugle Boy and Ford Motor Company, Nicholas took the acquired money and invested it into recording equipment. For the next five years he immersed himself in learning recording techniques, arranging, production, and how to play synthesizers. “I was really driven and sometimes spent 16 to 20 hours straight in my home studio. It was tough, but ultimately rewarding.” His musical tastes broadened as he began to listen to artists such as Sting, Vangelis and Andreas Vollenweider.
Gunn has been involved in many other projects in addition to his own releases. He performed on and co-produced albums for his former wife Cheryl Gunn (Vanity of Venus and The Sun at Midnight) and pianist Loren Gold (All Around Me). In addition, Nicholas’ music has been featured on more than 20 compilation albums and has served as high- fidelity demo music for the speaker company Bose Audio, with who he has licensed many of his titles. Nicholas’ music has also been used by the Mercedes Benz and Chrysler Corporations.
The releases under Gemini Sun Records include A Christmas Classic, Through the Great Smoky Mountains- A Musical Journey, The Great Southwest, and Return to Grand Canyon. When it came time to record the new Through the Great Smoky Mountains album, Nicholas did what he has done for several of his previous albums, and visited the park itself for inspiration. “It was wintertime and huge snowflakes were gently falling. I stood there and it was so peaceful, but also exciting and inspirational. I couldn’t wait to get in the studio and begin recording. I did a lot of driving along the Blue Ridge Highway just to marvel at the incredible scenery. It’s a very diverse park. It’s very lush and green with lots of flowing water including streams and the Wall of a Thousand Drips where all these tiny cascades come out of a rock formation.” Gunn has returned several times with a camera crew to complete filming for the accompanying DVD “Through the Great Smoky Mountains- A Visual Journey,” to be released in 2003. This companion-piece to the album, is somewhat like a “nature video“, but it also features Nicholas performing throughout the park. It is being produced in 5.1 surround sound, using state of the art technology.
Nicholas has also released his very first ever Christmas album, “A Christmas Classic.” This album, released this September, is already getting rave reviews and an overwhelmingly positive response, including being named Christmas Album of the Year by the Borders Books and Music Chain. The album includes traditional favorites such as Joy to the World as well as moving classical pieces such as Ave Maria (sung by Holland Zander), and even two new original tracks.
Also to be re-released under Gemini Sun this year are Return to Grand Canyon and The Great Southwest. For these albums, Gunn again explores his passion for the southwest. The Great Southwest is actually a compilation of 11 tracks from previous albums, which he re-recorded, sometimes expanding and re-arranging them, and then added two new tracks.
“I want my music to accomplish several things,” Gunn explains. “I want the music to stand on it’s own as an enjoyable experience with good melodies and arrangements. I believe that it captures the feeling and spirit that inspired it. I am happy to donate part of the proceeds from some of my albums to help preserve our natural landscapes, but really it is the fans that are buying my albums that are personally contributing. Most of all I hope my music helps people to concentrate on the positive effects of nature and our wilderness areas in order to help counterbalance all the negative things going on in our world.”
A CD Release of his latest Album "Breathe" Coincides with the Mother Earth Fest dates. The music and his performance will have the additional sound of Latin Drums giving a more Latin and World Music sound.
John Bishoff:
John Bishoff plays acoustic nylon string guitar with Nicholas Gunn, and has
recorded with Nicholas on his two most recent releases, “Through the Great Smoky
Mountains”, “A Christmas Classic.” and the up coming "Breathe".
John has been a professional musician for over thirty years and was recently honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from Rockford, Illinois’ RAMI (Rockford Area Music Industry) Committee. John has recorded with many groups over the course of his career, including The Intruders in the 60’s who scored a local top ten record with his song, “The World You’ve Created”, and the band, Emery Christiansen who released the album “Between Planes” on Mountain Railroad Records in 1982. He has played and toured with numerous groups over the years and opened for such classic acts as Roy Orbison, The Everly Brothers, and The Lovin’ Spoonful. He has also composed and played on jingles for such national chains as Old Chicago.
Karyn Bishoff:
John's
daughter Karyn Bishoff is manager of Gemini Sun Records
Contact: karing@wellife.org
608-256-0080
Proudly Presented By
Tri-Unity Wellife, LLC