Laura Sullivan moves beyond grief in her powerful and personal new instrumental track and video Rest Your Sorrow, Movement 1 — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
A preview of the Grammy®-winning California pianist and composer’s forthcoming album Pieces Of Forever, the lushly exquisite and meticulously crafted Rest Your Sorrow, Movement 1 gently guides the listener on a stirring emotional journey, evolving elegantly from a sombre, desolate setting into a place of hope and optimism. Which is exactly what Sullivan intended.
“My goal in this composition was to create a sense of coming out of darkness into the light,” she confirms. “I hope when you hear the music, and watch the accompanying video, you will viscerally feel a shift in your emotion like swimming in cold water and finding a warm spot.
“The illusion of time is our obstacle. Life is like a river. The beginning, the middle, and the end are always present, and are in all things, at every moment. We cannot understand the light, without knowing the darkness. In knowing this, may we find comfort, and rest for our sorrow.”
The contemporary classical artist’s own recent journey from sorrow to comfort is chronicled in Pieces Of Forever, an ambitious hybrid work inspired by the lives of her parents. “Creating this has been a journey of great love for me,” she says. “My mother was a classically trained pianist, and my father played country guitar and harmonica. In their honor I’m creating this music with elements of both genres.”
Laura lost her mother many years ago from cancer. Her father passed away last summer during the bleak Covid-19 pandemic lockdown after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s. He still remembered how to play his favourite songs on the harmonica and the guitar even after most of his words had escaped him.
“This album is about honoring the lives of my parents, the music they made, what they taught me, and their love,” Sullivan says. “I sure hope my parents would like my new album and trusting they have already heard it. This comes with so much love.”
Composed and arranged by Sullivan, Pieces Of Forever’s mix of contemporary classical and ambient Americana was produced by Eric Sullivan. Other instrumentalists include Gawain Mathews (guitar), Chloe Mendola (cello), Liz Hanks (cello), Bryan Daste (pedal steel), Charles Butler (banjo), Adam Burney (marmonica), Caroline McCaskey (musical saw) and Kristin Weber (violin). Along with playing piano on every track, Sullivan performs one song on her father’s harmonica.
Pieces Of Forever will be released Sept. 24. Watch Rest Your Sorrow, Movement 1 above, hear more from Laura Sullivan below, and connect with her on her website, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
