A Note From Isaac About His New CD 
I am originally from Fayetteville, Arkansas and I deeply miss the hills and valleys of the Ozarks. This CD was a chance for me to look back over my life experiences and share the journeys of my life with you through music.
This recording captures my love of sunsets, water, city skylines, cathedrals and castles, family and friends, and beautiful melodies. I believe the CD is probably as diverse as my life has been. Those who know me well won't be surprised to find that the music is woven together from the threads of the plaintively sacred church hymns I grew up on, a bit of new age piano melodies, a couple songs with healing and meditative environmental sounds (such as rain) in the background, a couple tracks using smooth "jazz-like" percussion mixed in with my love of contemporary piano, and a deep spiritual undercurrent running throughout the project. There is a little bit of everything I enjoy on this recording.
I wanted "Nightfall On Still Water" to be an evening CD set around dusk. It's about the transitions we go through in life and connections we make in our lives. I really wanted it to be a tapestry of my life thus far. Connections are the essence of our life here on this earth. We connect with God, our families, our friends, ourselves, our animals, our planet, and much more. There are inherent commonalities that connect us all together in this world--certain things we all share as human beings.
Early evening is when families share meals together, high school and college students flood the local parks to play volleyball or basketball, lovers hold hands and take long walks together, kids rollerblade with their friends, athletes jog with their pets to stay in shape, and mothers enjoy sitting on park benches having delicious conversation with other mothers while their kids run free and play on the playground. I love everything about evening.
When I lived in Memphis five years ago, oftentimes at evening I would open my window and listen to the sounds of night life. Memphis is a city that has so much life and soulfulness about it. For me, as I sat by my window and listened while cars drove by in the evenings, it was literally a symphony of sounds and smells. Some nights I could hear the crickets and cicadas chirping, other nights I could hear the urban sounds of hip-hop and rap music as cars zoomed by. Occasionally, I could discern a jazzy saxophone somewhere off in the distance. I could smell home cooked meals too! There is something magical about evening. The hustle and bustle of the workday begins to slow down and a peacefulness and reverence begins to settle in--you can literally feel the shift.
Now that I live in Texas,
the summers are too hot to be outdoors for very long. But in the Fall months, if the air is cool and crisp, I enjoy going outside on our back porch and looking up at the stars. I'll take in a deep breath and immerse myself in life...in being alive. Taking time out to simply exist and appreciate where I am in life always centers me and helps me stay grounded. I also appreciate the history of what I've come through to be where I am today.
The cover of the CD really sums up everything I wanted to express on the recording. The cover photo features a shot of the Hernando-Desoto bridge which links West Memphis, Arkansas (across the Mississippi River) with Memphis, Tennessee, connecting the two states together. These are both places where I have lived in my life. The bridge is in the shape of an "M" (see photo below) which many Memphians take pride in saying stands for "Memphis." The bridge is named after the 16th century Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto who explored this stretch of the Mississippi River. (Text continues below photo)
Bridges represent so many different things: they symbolize traveling or journeying, they serve as connectors making it easier for us to cross over the water, they give us a sense of identity with our city such as: The Golden Gate Bridge, The Brooklyn Bridge or London Bridge. Sometimes bridges are reminders of days gone by, for instance, the old plank and cable swinging bridges, or the covered bridges of Madison County, Iowa. They serve a useful purpose in connecting people and places together. I think that is also something I am striving to accomplish with this CD--to connect with people, to take them on a journey and to span the past and present. Bridges and water seem to be all about movement and travel so those concepts run throughout the CD even if they are very subtle.
For me, water has always symbolized deep emotions. I am quite fond of the notion that a body of water can have turbulent waves on the surface but far below in the deeper waters it is still and calm. This is the idea behind the title, "Nightfall On Still Water"--that no matter what appears to be going on in your life, you can always find inner peace.
Also, in choosing the cover of the CD, the lamplights on the Memphis bridge helped portray the idea that there is always light in the world and light is always shining, even in the darkest night. The colors of the sunset merging from azure blue to pink and then to purple illustrate the concept of change and transition being constant.
You'll notice the song, "Nightfall On Still Water" is an upbeat song, quite the opposite of what you might expect from its title. It's a song to dance to, get some movement and energy going for your body. I think there is a freedom at nighttime to be creative and express yourself. It's as if there is more safety in the evening because you're not quite as exposed or transparent as you are during daylight hours. So dance! I would probably never dance in public nowadays because I'm a bit more clumsy than I used to be and I'm heavy set, but in my room at home, if I'm home alone, I'll turn up the stereo and cut loose. The idea here is to find moments in life where you feel safe to let go and be happy and live your life.
The CD also features a track with my sister Megan Alderson. The song, "Oren's Lullaby," is a song I wrote for my baby nephew Oren Alderson who was barely six months old at the time of the recording (I call him my little "boo bear"). It is a lullaby to soothe him to sleep at night.
In summary, "Nightfall On Still Water" is perfect for the drive home during rush hour, for times of relaxation, or simply for quiet meditation and reflection.