Reviews

A friend recently got in touch with me on Facebook, saying he ran across a review of my latest album (Breathe Deep) on The Phantom Tollbooth. Intrigued, I went looking for it and sure enough found it was posted on June 16th, 2009. Here's an excerpt from the review, and you can link to the full review HERE:
  "What makes this album, Breathe Deep, so good is Hiram's penmanship. He is a great songwriter/wordsmith. Combine that with the airy guitar-based folk of his musical style, it makes for an enjoyable listen... It is poetic, musical, and honest. Hiram has put together an excellent album full of hope you can sit down and contemplate your navel to, or just play for enjoyment." 4/5 stars! - Robert Boynton, The Phantom Tollbooth
I just ran a Google search for 'hiram ring breathe deep review' and found another great review HERE on Adequacy.net - excerpt below:
   "Ring’s debut record suggest that there’s no suffering or turmoil that can’t be at least neutralized a little bit through some inspirational six-string strumming and a dose of hopefulness... there’s a heartwarming sincerity to be found in his fragile tenor and in the percussive beating of the guitar... If you feel like your life is in the doldrums, Hiram Ring’s music can probably help dig you out... His music, like his faith, is all about finding and embracing the light that can come out of dark places." Adam Costa, Adequacy.net
At the moment I'm packing for Germany, where I'll be joining a team from my church in teaching conversational English to German highschoolers for three weeks. I'll be video blogging on my YouTube site, and will try to keep this blog updated as well. When I get back, work will continue on the Sacred Songs project I started with Matthew Monticchio - we're also working on updating a Pageant Music blog, and I'll let you know when we get that up and running.

Vlog Day 22 - Greenville and Leopard Forest

Michele took me to Blue Ridge Brewing for lunch because of the ketchup. She was not joking either - the ketchup is AMAzing, as the first video demonstrates. We talked about the recent album review for 'Breathe Deep' (HERE) and how hard it is to strike the balance between being culturally relevant and maintaining excellence without giving in to the culture around you. She then showed me around some of the rest of Greenville, most notably the park that was recently renovated and the Warehouse Theater where she is part of an improv troupe and today was auditioning for a Shakespeare play. Michele said that only recently has competition between the theaters here become less cutthroat and more friendly - it's good to hear that community is being built instead of animosity.

Michele had arranged for me to go to an open mic in the evening at Leopard Forest Coffee in the town of Travelers Rest, so after a nap I headed over there. Jacob Johnson, who runs the open mic, turned out to be a great guy and a gifted musician, and I had a lot of fun listening as well as playing. I played 4 songs, the last of which, 'One Girl for Me' is on the video below, and people were really into the music. Leopard Forest Coffee itself is a really neat place - they get all their coffee from a single farm in Zimbabwe where it is specially grown (relatives of the owner), and have won numerous awards. The coffee is amazing, the atmosphere was welcoming and gracious.