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Drivetrain – New Single & Video Release

Just released my new single (and video) “Drivetrain”!  The track combines my love of melodic acoustic guitar and 80’s New Wave.  Growing up, I listened to a huge variety of music — everything from fusion to classical to free jazz – with my main pop influences primarily coming from late 70s to early/mid 80s New Wave.  With “Drivetrain”, I took some of the elements that were already present in my previous music and slightly emphasized them — things like synth textures and parts are more up front.  Thanks for listening and I hope you like the music and the video!

You can stream “Drivetrain” from pretty much any service you’d like.  Here are a few links:

You can stream Drivetrain from pretty much any service you’d like.  Here are a few links:

Apple Music

Spotify

Amazon Music

New Acoustic Pedalboard

Last project of 2023! Put together a new acoustic pedalboard. And not without a few hiccups… I wanted to keep the small form factor of the Pedaltrain Nano+… and I wanted this combo of pedals… so, more than a little bit of a jigsaw puzzle. And to top it off I used an under the board power supply. Bit of a challenge and I’m not happy with the cabling, but the most important thing is it sounds killer! Happy New Year everyone!

Joy to the World – Steve Sheppard Music Reviews

Joy to the World – Steve Sheppard Music Reviews

The music of Jamie Bonk has been in my life as a European radio host since 2012 and the album Necessity, but the artist has been plying his trade for far longer; however I get to review his first new Christmas music in a decade, since the release of The First Noël back in 2013, and it has to be said it is one of the most charming of arrangements of Joy To The World I think I have ever heard.

The whole piece is given a total make over, and beautiful over laid vocals can be heard drifting over the snow tipped mountains of a lush and textured orchestration. Jamie’s signature acoustic guitar of course is a huge part of the composition, and one must say that his performance on it is very uplifting.

This well-known Christmas piece is now a single, and as such its potential to go all the way is real and very tangible. The overall construction and quality of this piece is incredibly attractive and has a popular quality feel to it, one could imagine with ease Jamie playing it live over this festive period, and that experience ending with a rapturous applause, as there can be no doubt that Joy to the World by Jamie Bonk is the perfect of placements on any Christmas playlist this winter.

– Steve Sheppard, Steve Sheppard Music Reviews

Joy to the World (New Single Available Now)

It’s been ten years since I’ve released any Christmas music. Back in 2013, I did a single of “The First Noël“, which featured the fantastically talented Wendy Irvine on vocals. And now, a decade later, I’m happy to have just released my second Christmas single, “Joy to the World”. My arrangement of this classic tune is one the most complex of any song I’ve ever done — lots and lots of instrumental/orchestral and vocal layers intertwine with my nylon string guitar lead. I’m looking to do more productions with this sort of sound in the future — it really is fun getting to use such a huge sound palette. As always, thanks for listening and I hope you like the music!

You can check out the new single here: Joy to the World

The Blessings I Have Known (Live in the Studio)

I wrote “The Blessings I Have Known” to try, in a small way, to express how thankful I am for my incredibly fortunate life. I have someone to love me, a place to call home, pretty much every gift of convenience I could ever think of and so much more. Yes, I have days, just like everyone else, that are a long way from “perfect”. Those less than stellar moments remind me that it makes sense to step back and take a wider view of things. And that’s where I am right now and why I chose to do a live in the studio video of “The Blessings I Have Known”. A special thanks to my mother-in-law Christina for letting me film her garden for this video. Even with the drought we’ve been having here in BC, I think her garden is amazing. As always, thanks for taking the time to watch the video and listen to the music!