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The music of Fairfield band Stormy Heaven is a spicy brew of styles, textures, and emotional landscapes. A sound this broad in its scope belies a lot of shifts and changes in its evolution. And now Stormy Heaven is back to play its first gig in Fairfield in almost a year.
Veteran area songwriter and performer Sharon Bousquet assembled the band in April 1995 for a couple of gigs, and since the experience went so well, the group decided to stay together to see where the ride would take them. The journey has been an exciting one of creative expression, and the original Stormy Heaven played over 60 dates and pressed a self-titled CD in 1996, which is still available at 21st Century Bookstore.
But late 1996 brought changes to the band. Bousquet, the founding mother, decided to move on and devote her time to her new child, but the rest of the band--Thomas Gates on drums, Chris Maclean on bass, Greg Wadsworth on guitar, and Joe McManus on fiddle--loved playing together and wanted to continue the sound of Stormy Heaven.
They mounted a national search for a new vocalist, one that could take up where Sharon left off. They weren't having much luck until singer Michelle Morgan moved back to town, but at her audition they all knew they were going to have a good time. The new Stormy Heaven had begun.
With drum master Gates and his "way big ears" keeping the groove with Maclean's tasteful bass lines, Wadsworth and McManus' intricate harmonies on guitar and violin, and now Morgan's soul-inspired vocals, the band was ready to go. They began to write new material immediately, and a new flavor emerged. "We're still doing some of the old Stormy Heaven songs," says McManus, "but we're doing new ones, too. Our sound is evolving by itself, incorporating an even broader range of styles and influences."
The lyrical content of the songs is as diverse as the musical backgrounds the players draw on.
"Do what's right for you/let it stand in the light," a line from one of Bousquet's songs, is echoed in the newer "I want you/to show me your real Self." Stormy Heaven weaves its sound into one that truly represents a broad spectrum of styles infused into a whole, symbolic of its goal as a band.
The underlying philosophy of the band is "self-empowerment and creating the experience of life that you want." Stormy Heaven's philosophy and musical styles have blended their sound into something that defies simple classification. With a palette that incorporates soul, blues, shuffles, swing, and jazz, even the tag "electro-acoustic cosmo pop" lacks enough scope to contain its unique and progressive sound.
But making music is more than just musical creativity, it's a whole industry. "The idea of creating our reality underlies the way we operate businesswise, as well," says Wadsworth. "We're not just a band, we're a corporation. We have a business plan and hold weekly meetings. We're entrepreneurs in every sense of the word." Wadsworth holds a Master's degree in business, Maclean holds a Doctorate in Physiology and is a highly skilled salesman, McManus is a graphic artist with a B.F.A. degree, and Gates has well over 20 years in the music business to draw on. Morgan is the resident computer geek. Check out her work at the band's website, <www.stormy. imp.net>.
With all these skills, Stormy Heaven approaches its musical career with an eye on the business end. With a goal as lofty as "reaching a worldwide audience and making a positive contribution to society," the band can't afford to sit back and wait for a talent scout to come seek them out. "We've got press kits, head shots, agents, the works," says Gates. "It doesn't just happen all by itself. It's a lot of work."
"But I love gigging," says Wadsworth. "I love everything about a live performance, from the anticipation and the advance work, to the pie you eat on the way home afterwards." The whole band agrees: having business savvy is necessary, but it's a means to the end of playing live. "I live to perform. I don't call myself a musician as much as a performer," says Morgan. "Players don't exist without audiences."
The band's favorite gigs so far were at Jesse's Embers in West Des Moines. "We did two dates there, and they were both simulcast on KFMG and were well promoted. We had fun, people loved us, and we ate well," says Wadsworth. "But having said that, our best gig ever was at the Bob Marley festival in August of '96. It was one of our last gigs with Sharon. We'd been playing all summer long, we were tight musically. There were between 4,000 and 5,000 people there. Playing for large audiences is always a blast."
With over 20,000 people expected this year, RAGBRAI promises to be the event of the decade in Fairfield. So come out to Central Park on Friday, July 25, from 2:30-4:00 and see Stormy Heaven play with all its heart and soul. You'll be treated to an experience that will stay with you long after the music's through.
For more information about Stormy Heaven, check out their website at <www.stormy.imp.net> or call Cirrus Music Productions at (515) 469-5505.
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