The audio sample above is a 90 second sample taken from the complete Light of Hope track.

Award winning single, Light of Hope!

I’m thrilled to announce that my single, ‘Light of Hope’ recently won the award for Best Acoustic Single for 2022, at the One World Music Awards. I’m extremely grateful for this recognition and very proud that this piece has been acknowledged in this way.

‘Light of Hope’ is the Sister track to another single of mine called ‘Illumination’, which I released back in November 2021. They’re related musically, however where Illumination was more of an instrumentally expansive piece, ‘Light of Hope’ is a classical guitar duet enhanced with some moody lap steel slide guitar, orchestral string arrangements and subtle keyboard textures. The slide guitar I used was very much inspired by the amazing sound that David Gilmour uses throughout many of the Pink Floyd recordings.

I originally composed the entire chord progression for ‘Light of Hope’ before I even started composing Illumination. I started recording the first classical guitar part on ‘Light of Hope’ and when listening back to it, became completely sidetracked by a separate musical idea that built on the first two chords only. I then doubled these chords higher up the guitar neck and thought, ummm that has potential, I like that mood very much, and before I knew it, Illumination grew and evolved into the piece it is now.

So ‘Light of Hope’ had to be patient and wait for my undivided attention once again for its completion. This piece now completes this series of singles from the past two years and finalises a collection of tracks that hold a profound place in my heart.

Composing music during this time has been therapeutic for me on many levels, as we’ve all been forced to navigate a time in our lives like no other. Musically, I feel like I’ve been able to break new ground, in terms of musical ideas and performance, but more importantly, I feel that I’ve been able to capture a depth of feeling in these songs that is deeply satisfying both musically and emotionally.

From ‘Gratitude’, the first single in this series, right through to ‘Light of Hope’, It’s been a hugely rewarding sonic journey for me and I hope my music has brought some welcome peace and stillness into your world as well.

Collectively we’ve all weathered a storm of physical, emotional, financial and psychological upheaval and some of us have experienced all of these put together. As the final piece in this series, I sincerely wish that ‘Light of Hope’ brings some welcome peace into your day and a chance to take a breath, find your centre and move forward with a sense of optimism for brighter times ahead.

Thanks so much for listening and for your ongoing support, it’s always deeply appreciated!  

Warm wishes,  Ian 🙏🏻