Much can happen in the span of five years.
Off on a new adventure... I am an artist in all things. Whether painting on canvas, viewing the world through a camera lens, or expressing my view of the world in the written word, visual art is nothing more than arranging bits and non-bits before the eye. Music is the same for the ears. It is all positive and negative space. A few months ago I was gifted a midi keyboard and with music software on the computer, I can now illustrate music. I do this under the guise of Ember and Ash.
Ember and Ash is less of a band, and more of an artistic construct. The original idea was to have a repository to release previously unreleased songs, or to give over production of unfinished remnants of songs to another E&A member to complete or repurpose. It is that, but has evolved into something much more, as now new music is being composed under the E&A banner. Along with David Carr, Jr. and my son, Christopher Ryan Hunter, and the occasional guest musician, I am creating musical compositions. Originally, my only intent was to play around with the remnant compositions from David and Christopher, but as I became familiar with the music software, I found that I could compose wholly new music of my own. I play no musical instrument with any proficiency. I hear a melody or a beat, play a few keystrokes on the midi keyboard, and then edit visually in the key editor until I hear what I see or see what I hear. I call these compositions “Hand-Crafted Audio Designs,” rather than songs. I may at some point add vocals to the music and create songs, but for now I am composing instrumental works. The key take away is that as with all my art, the journey is at least as important, and sometimes more important, as the destination.
Ember and Ash music may be by one or another member, or two, or all three. Each member’s talents are different in compositional style and instrumentation, and each member brings a distinct perspective to the music. David Carr, Jr. [AKA 5step] is the most seasoned member, performing for over 50 years, with his first full album released in 1995. Christopher Ryan Hunter [AKA lcn1] is the youngest member, but still with more than 25 years behind him composing and recording music. As of this writing, I have only been composing music for a few months. If you visit the Ember and Ash YouTube channel, you can hear the distinctness of each individual member, as well as the distinct blend when a couple of us join together in the composition. Much of the music is instrumental, some ambient, some breakneck rhythms, but Ember and Ash is not a cover band, and every composition is original. The compositions may fit in one genre or another at any given time, or fit no genre at all. It’s all about the art.
Thanks,
John Lee Hunter
EMBERANDASH Publishing (ASCAP)
