30/10/18 ~ New album out now “Grail Songs”

My new album Grail Songs is now available here as a CD and a download. There are 12 original new tracks, with the total running time a super 77 minutes… almost 2 album’s worth!

Guesting, are 2 Hungarians: female backing vocalist Yloush (Székely Ilus), and Géza Kremnitzky of the folk-duo Hungarikum Együttes, who provides extra guitar and mandolin. I’m now based predominantly in Budapest, and the whole album was inspired by, composed, recorded and pressed in Hungary! The artwork for the beautiful CD digi-pack was also graphically designed by 2 Hungarians, Szabolcs Dávid, and Christian artist András Simon.

The songs are spiritually-themed expressions of love, loss, sacrifice, magic and mystery on the path of higher truth.

1. Dance with me (5.13)
2. I need to be loved (9.06)
3. The giver (5.38)
4. Budapest (6.33)
5. I can’t take you out of my heart (5.49)
6. All my mistakes (6.55)
7. I’m so sorry (5.33)
8. White and gold (7.52)
9. Wedding day (5.42)
10. The letter (4.25)
11. Carry me home (9.02)
12. Song of peace (5.48)

Total running time: 77.38

30/10/18 ~ Latest YouTubes

~ Take this love
~ All my mistakes
~ Avila concert highlights
~ White and gold
~ Stay close
~ Carry me home
~ Budapest
~ The giver
~ I’m so sorry
~ Song of peace/Pachelbel’s Canon
~ I need to be loved
~ Hallelujah
~ Sailing on the silk blue sea
~ Dance with me
~ Until we meet again
~ Magic

30/10/18 ~ Filming and recording with Hungarian actress and singer Katinka Egres

Katinka and I have begun to evolve a mini-CD project that was her inspiration… to record some duets around the theme of the word ‘Hallelujah’ in the title! I have a new song called ‘Hallelujah prayer’; there is Leonard Cohen’s iconic ‘Hallelujah’, and there is the Pachelbel Canon which I’ve set to a Hallelujah chorus in the past.

That’s for starters! We have already made a YouTube for the song ‘Dance with me’ from my album Grail Songs, which is almost like a Renaissance ballad of courtly love where Truth sings to Love! Katinka has made several films, including appearing with Brad Pitt in a zombie film, and recently with Kiera Knightly. Her best known film in Hungary is where she plays the feisty gypsy girl Böske in Megy a Gõzös (The Train Keeps a-Rollin’). The word ‘Hallelujah’ means God is present.

30/10/18 ~ Book of lyrics in English & Hungarian, with CD’s, photos, biography and artwork!

If I can get the funding I would dearly love to present a book of my lyrics (in both English and Hungarian, because those are the places I commute between), that contains a CD of selected tracks, and also a CD of the spoken word in Hungarian, set to gentle background music.

This would be a large hard-back book, and would also have photos, graphic art-work and biographical details. Maybe it’s a kind of life’s-work project! Volume one, at least! I’ve been producing songs for 31 years now, and have over 300! Many songs have already been translated by Yloush, but if she’s unable to complete it with me, I have other possible translators. So a lot has already been done, but I would need more funding to complete it!

30/10/18 ~ Five other albums currently in the making!!!!!

My various projects tend to be rivers that can change their course, but they all still lead to the sea! I had almost finished an album of duets with my friend, colleague and female backing vocalist Yloush (Székely Ilus), called God Gave us Flowers… where we sang some cracking cover versions… buy Yloush needed to shift the focus more to her own things, and so it will no longer be an Asha & Yloush album, but a solo album with her singing backing vocals on some tracks.

We were also embarked on making an album of songs in Hungarian (her native tongue, and Hungary is now where I’m predominantly based), called Songs of Truth & Grace, but I’m not quite sure what will happen there now. Maybe we can resurrect it a bit later, or maybe other Hungarian singers can contribute. We have five songs already recorded. My plan was to do the musical arrangements and play the music, but to support the Hungarian singing rather than take the lead as it’s not my native tongue. Some of the songs are traditional Hungarian folk songs, and some are my own songs translated into Hungarian.

And as it’s turning out, I’m collecting piano versions of some of my latest songs, and also instrumental versions… plus new piano and instrumental compositions… so I hope to have both a new solo piano album, and a new solo instrumental album released in 2019. These both are very exciting projects for me. It’s so tempting to write lyrics for everything I compose, but sometimes the music alone is enough, and I have to practice restraint. I don’t have titles yet for these two projects.

And finally I’m already five songs into a new solo studio album called “Sirius”, which will probably be finished by next spring!

15/01/18 ~ Poems and translations

There is now a page on my site with some poems I have written, several of which have been set to music and imagery on YouTube. And my musical friend and neighbour Yloush also translates some of my songs into Hungarian (as I live there!) Several of these translated songs also appear on YouTube, but it’s a long project… I have over 300 songs and rising. This may be completed by 2060, by which time I will be over 100! I take my cue from the pianist Arthur Rubinstein who, reputedly, on being given a new 15-year contract to record by Sony when he was 90, complained that it was not long enough.

Eventually, I would like to publish a book (or books) with my lyrics, and volumes of poetry... both in English and Hungarian… when I can afford it!

15/01/18 ~ Kindness button!!!

You may notice that I have a ‘Kindness button’ here (top right on the home page, with a ‘K’ in a heart as an icon). Any contributions you may ever feel inspired to offer, help enormously to manifest the songs and films you see here. The big costs I have are for the studio time, and the pressing of the discs, and the smaller costs are for travel, accommodation, artwork, website updates and maintenance, and insurances. From start to finish a new album might cost about £5000 to get it from my heart to the market-place, but my main motives are to create music for love, art, truth and spirit, not to get rich! I have a basic infra-structure so my CD’s and downloads sell (here on my site, and through distribution, and sites like i-tunes, amazon, spotify and so on), but it only just about covers the costs or… more often... falls a little short. This is the way of the artist! I am an amateur in the truest sense… from the words ‘ama te’… to do something for higher love, but my products are very professionally produced.

To provide for my family I earn income from being a transpersonal psychotherapist. The music has to pay for itself! And yet somehow I’ve managed to create over 30 albums in 30 years, and to make over 333 films (lots of ‘3’s’!!) Occasionally benefactors help out, and this has been a great blessing. So if you are touched by my songs and feel so inspired, then all contributions to costs are gratefully received! And you will be loved not only by me, but also loved in heaven! You know it makes sense!