New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Acoustic Ocean) -
Acoustic Ocean's Peggy Morgan and Bette Phelan are both longtime musicians, but also yoga instructors, therapists/counselors in several fields, and developers of a unique therapeutic protocol called SoundBodyMind that combines hands-on healing, hypnotherapy and vocal sounding.

Their music is meant to be enjoyed as a listening experience, but it also is beneficial in supporting relaxation, meditation, healing, sleep, massage, yoga and exercise. According to Phelan, 'We made Light Returning to help people access those parts of themselves that are in need of healing, and to bring about a greater sense of balance and harmony in their lives, often facilitating an emotional release.'

Acoustic Ocean's music can be purchased at their website (acousticoceanmusic.com), top online stores such as CDbaby.com and Amazon.com, and at numerous digital download locations including iTunes.com and Rhapsody.com. Light Returning is already a Top 10 airplay album on the international New Age/Zone Music Reporter chart.

This is an hour-long album of eight original compositions that are primarily acoustic and instrumental (occasionally incorporating some wordless vocalizing). These are musical meditations composed by Morgan on Celtic harp and then expanded and enriched by Phelan into deeply-layered arrangements featuring guitars, hammered and mountain dulcimers, piano, bass, mandolin and the occasional sounds of cello, saxophone, flute and other instruments blended with soothing ocean waves and bird-songs to convey the feeling of the Hawaiian Islands where Acoustic Ocean is based.

'Throughout history humans have faced times of danger, excitement, adrenalin rush and 'fight or flight' for survival,' explains Morgan. 'But those times are supposed to be quickly over and followed by long stretches of 'rest and repair.' In our modern world, however, we often stay pumped up to an abnormal hyper-tension level of stimulation, and sometimes we get stuck there. We need to find ways to relax and unwind, find our true selves, and heal. The music on Light Returning is meant to help expedite that.'

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A preview of the Sonic Circuits Festival of Experimental Music is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday. Musicians may use batteries or ingenuity, but instruments will not be plugged in. Performers will include sound mechanic Neil Feather playing his invention, the Futura Ultra-Retro synthesizer; Mike Tamburo on the hammered dulcimer; percussionist and songwriter Pilesar; minimalist pop duo Avocado Happy Hour; guitarist Layne Garrett; and self-taught musician Ize B. Pickin. The concert is at Pyramid Atlantic Arts Center, 8320 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring. Tickets are $8. Call 202-420-9553

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fter the 1972 flameout of Creedence Clearwater Revival, ending its short reign as America's most popular rock band, John Fogerty launched a solo career in a surprising way. His debut effort was titled "The Blue Ridge Rangers" and consisted of country and folk-rooted songs he'd always loved. Suddenly without a band behind him, Fogerty played all the instruments and sang all the vocals himself. ¶ He didn't even put his name on it: The album jacket showed silhouettes of what appeared to be five guys wearing cowboy hats, playing guitars, fiddle and upright bass. They were all Fogerty, superimposed on a spacious, open landscape. ¶

Now, 36 years after that album was released, he's resurrected the concept with a new collection, "The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again." ¶ "There probably wasn't a month that went by in all that time that I wouldn't hear a song and think, 'Oh, that'd be great for another Blue Ridge Rangers record,' " said Fogerty, a ball of energy while talking about music last week in the living room of the Beverly Hills home he shares with his wife, Julie, and their two teenage sons.

"I'd thought about doing another one; it's just one of those things I never got around to actually doing," he said. "Then one day Julie came to me said, 'Why don't you make another Blue Ridge Rangers record?' Well, it's like your wife walks up to you with all your fishing gear in her hands and says, 'Here, why don't you go fishing for a few days?' "

This time, however, Fogerty wasn't interested in secluding himself in a recording studio and doing everything on his own as he had done more than 35 years ago. For the new album, released this week, he rounded up some of the most respected names in roots/Americana music to help, including guitarists Buddy Miller and Herb Pedersen, steel guitarist Greg Leisz and drummer Jay Bellerose.

(LA Times)

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