Winning Whispering’s Album of the Year

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The date (then): February 1st, 2010. Whisperings Solo Piano Radio announced that Set on a Hill was officially their Album of the Year! The date (now): February 3rd, and it still has yet to sink in! First, a little history. I was extremely surprised when I originally sent the album to founder David Nevue last year. I really didn’t hear too much from him (being that he is a full time concert pianist, father, husband, worship leader, promoter of solo piano music and, most importantly, all around good guy) which was understandable. He reviews an average of 100 cds a year. When was the last time you actually LISTENED to 100 cds from start to finish? Exactly! I eventually saw a posting on a social network where he not only added songs from ‘Set’, but also nominated it for Album of the Year. For me, that was more than anything I had ever even anticipated. If you read about the creating of the album, you’ll understand that it was purely a necessity in the making. It wasn’t to "make it big" (whatever THAT may be) or to advance my name into a new audience, but because I had wanted to sit down at a piano and play the music that I was longing to exhale. It was an act of worship and of catharsis. All of that to say, the February 1st date quickly approached and I had truly placed it out of my mind. Mainly because I didn’t want to even role play the "acceptance speech" that I would present to my wife over the flowers & Twix bar (my fav) that she would eventually reward. I love my wife. But there were SO many really, really talented pianist and really, really beautiful albums that were nominated. I thought one in particular was going to take the crown without question. (Which is also why I placed it out of my mind by that point.) It’s just SUCH a beautiful album and I was ever so happy for this person to have the express route to Cloud 9. Although, hindsight I would of never gotten the King Size Twix bar…..hum. "Chad, FOCUS!!" (Sorry). When I got the news from David, I was absolutely dumbfounded! I cannot even begin to express my feelings. In my career behind the 88’s, I have had some wonderful highlights. However, I must say this is by far was the Top.

"You’re the top! You’re the Coliseum. You’re the top! You’re the Louver Museum. You’re a melody from a symphony by Strauss You’re a Bendel bonnet, A Shakespeare’s sonnet, You’re Mickey Mouse."

(Cole Porter - You’re the Top)

So, even though Set on a Hill was awarded Whisperings Album of the Year, I would like to do something different. I want to honor and recognize those who were also nominated. Because if you dig deeper, this is what you’ll find out about the Whisperings Community. It’s exactly that; a community. It has not the competitive spirit or that of "who can outplay the other", but of encouragement, of sharing and doing what we love to do; create. We’re each different, both at the piano and away. But at the end of the day we simply want to expose solo piano to the listening world.

So, without further ado, here are the nominations for Whisperings Album of the Year 2009; click each name/title to view additional information about each artist. You never know, you may find yourself a new favorite.

Christine Brown - Promise Keith Martinson - Today Mario Lopez Santos - Periplos Chad Lawson - Set on a Hill Barry Walsh - The Crossing Christopher Boscole - Presents of Angels The O’Neill Brothers - Songs of Faith

And while Whisperings’ founder David Nevue is not nominated (conflict of interest? No idea. He should be though), please visit his website and on iTunes. What he is doing for the solo piano community is a wonderful, wonderful thing.

So there you go. Please, support these artists. Especially if they are in your local region. Whisperings has artists from every corner of the globe so there is something, somewhere for everyone.