With Brian living in Ireland and my busy schedule here in the states, it was going to be impossible to release a quality recording to go with Steve Lawhead's first installment of the King Raven Trilogy in 2006. So, we went with a plan of doing an EP (standing for "Extended Play" from the days when music was put out as "Singles"). The second EP releases concurrently with Book 2 of the Lawhead series in the Fall 2007. Then, when the third book arrives, we will do another four songs and package all of the music in one proper CD... if we're still releasing CDs at that time! Go to Stephen Lawhead's site.

The Selah service was an experiment by myself along with friends, David and Kathy Hastings in developing a contemplative worship service in a small church in the Seattle, WA area. The word is found in various places throughout the Psalms and is thought to have something to do with a musical "rest" or "pause." It's become a real passion of mine as I now lead many Selah services in lots of different settings ranging from churches and retreats to the Youth Specialties National Youthworkers conventions. The CDs Benediction, Vespers, A Thin Silence and Standing Still originate from my experience with Selah and the SAM Vol. 1 is an experiment in bringing Selah to the "podcast world." You can find out all about Selah at our dedicated website: www.selahservice.com.

The theme behind the Brendan CD (and Navigatio) was the voyage of St. Brendan which was probably a literal voyage that a Celtic monk made in the Sixth century. The story is also an inspiring analogy of each person of faith's own voyage through life and this is the theme that I mostly pursued with the songs on both of these recordings. "Brendan's Prayer" is about arriving at a moment of personal illumination, but realizing that until one has reached their ultimate destination, there is still ground to cover.

In faith, there seems to be a very fine line between despair and hope, those who remain hopeful and continue on in hope, find their faith growing with the journey. The song's lyrics may seem despairing at first listen, but the melody that's woven into the music throughout is from the Celtic hymn, "The King Of Love" which contains these lyrics: "The King of Love, my shepherd is, Whose goodness never fails me, upon His shoulders gently laid, my heart will soon be home." The song is one of my personal favorites and I often perform it in my concerts. While it's called "Brendan's Prayer," it could be called "Jeff's Prayer," too.

In 1990, I went to Prague, Czechoslovakia with friends. Europe was in the midst of major changes and the "Eastern" part of Europe had just opened up to the "West." Prague was being invaded by tourists from all over the world. Life was one big improvisation for its inhabitants as they adapted to the expectations of their more affluent visitors. Because of this, one had to be spontaneous as a tourist, too! In one of the large squares of the city, there is a beautiful monument to the early reformer, Jan Huss. Late one night, we all were sitting under it reveling in the beauty of the place. The square was empty except for a few couples - one of which began to dance. One of my friends was smoking his pipe which drew the attention of a drunken fellow who harmlessly walked over to our group, sat down beside us, took a big sniff and said, "Perfekto." I don't think any of the rest of us that night could have stated it more profoundly and that was the beginning of the idea behind the song.

A Quiet Knowing - Canticles For The Heart was created as part of a large project in collaboration with the poetry of Ruth Bell Graham (Mrs. Billy Graham). I got involved with this project through a friend of mine who was Mrs. Graham’s editor at the time. It was decided to release the music by itself on the ArkMusic label in early 2000. There was a related video project filmed of myself, Brian Dunning, John Fitzpatrick & Tim Ellis performing with stories and poems of Mrs. Graham's read by the Graham's eldest daughter, Gigi Graham Tchividjian. In addition, A Quiet Knowing Christmas came out in 2001 and features the same musicians performing instrumental arrangements of carols.

Actually, most of the treated photos from Psalmus are from the French abbeys/churches of Moissac, Chartres and Venasque. There are also some images from Salisbury Cathedral in England. The tidal water sound that's part of the instrumental, "Place Of Resurrection" was recording on Iona, though.

That's interesting that you should ask about the church bells. I think many people who live in Europe are so used to them that they don't realize how unique they really are. Every time I'm in Europe, I really enjoy hearing the many bells. It's such a symbol of proclamation for me. Each time I hear them, I often imagine how significant these bells would have been to those who lived in times past before the advent of wristwatches, telephones and other modern day technologies of communication and time marking. I've recorded alot of these bells during my travels. The best ones were from Chartres (featured on Great Romantics) which I recorded at point blank range and almost fell off the bell tower because the volume of the first ding and dong were so loud in my headphones! I also like the ones on Psalmus from Rocamadour, France. I really wanted those bells for this project so I had to scout them out a couple of days before so that I knew where and when I could get the best sound. My wife and daughter had to wait around for me alot while I did this. Fortunately, there were alot of tourist shops for them to browse in at Rocamadour! Finally, I enjoy hearing the effected bells featured on Songs From Albion 2 which are from a recording I made from a very small church near my friend, Steve Lawhead's house in Oxford.

I've compiled much of the material from these two albums into a single CD entitled, Early Songs. This release is now available as part of the ArkMusic Special Editions series. Listening to these songs is an 'acquired taste' if you ask me since they were recorded in 1976 and represent some of my first efforts in the studio. I appreciate the fact that they represent a moment in time for many early listeners but for me, as an artist, I still had a long way to go!

At the time we recorded "We Follow A Star," Brian and I were working on a number of songs which were to be a part of an album project called The Wayfarer. Yet, this project never came to be. Instead, many of the songs we were working on then made their way onto other samplers and subsequent albums of ours. Both "We Follow A Star" and the song, "Wayfarer," from Celtic Twilight 2 (Hearts of Space) are included on our ArkMusic compilation, The Enduring Story - A Retrospective.

Sandy, who collaborated with me on numerous early Ark recordings is a missionary with Liebenzell Mission, USA and currently is residing in Hawaii. He continues to write and perform music along with his many responsibilities with Liebenzell.

The original Ark release of Navigatio came out in 1997 on my ArkMusic label. Hearts of Space approached me about the idea of remixing and adding to the original concept for a new release for them. That CD, Prayers of St. Brendan - The Journey Home, subsequently came out in 1998. Unique to Navigatio are the songs, "Encompasser," "Ave Maria (Blessed Is She)," and "Journey Prayer." Unique to the Prayers of St. Brendan recording are "Oceanus" and "Brendan's Prayer." Most all of the material included on both projects was remixed for Prayers. Both CDs remain in print.

The hidden track, "Aidan's Dream" was actually the very first song that I wrote for the Byzantium project. When the first draft of the album was submitted to what was to be the distributer of this CD, Hearts of Space, it was determined that this song, being a vocal composition, wouldn't fit with the mostly instrumental soundtrack. So, "Aidan's Dream" was discarded. Nearly a year later our relationship with HOS changed and the release ended up being on the ArkMusic label. I took another listen to the song and it continued to be one of my favorites as well as a composition that I very much identified with by this time. There are many Bald Eagles here on Camano Island. Everyday, when I would go out walking prior to working on the music, I would often see them flying over head. Then, when my friend Dave Hastings died of cancer, the song became even more important to me. We would often sit on his deck next door and watch the eagles swoop and soar over the bay. I decided to include the song in the final sequence as a tribute to Dave. The two minutes of silence separating the "last" song of the album, "Vows," and "Aidan's Dream" is a symbol of remembrance of our rich friendship.

One of us comes up with an idea for a song and then I usually start putting a basic arrangement together. We used to have to send CDRs back and forth as we developed these ideas, but now we just email music files to one another. Often Brian will record his performances at his home studio in Ireland and later I'll drop those into the song file and produce/mix. But we also still record together when he's over here with me on tour and that, of course, is still the best way. The process is surprisingly efficient these days with everything being on computer. But, I believe it works so well for us since we spent all those years working together in the studio when we both lived in Portland, Oregon.

No, but you can make your own up at iTunes!