The “Sedona Sessions” could not have happened without John David Balla at the controls, and Jim DeGeorge organizing this extremely complex project and herding all the elements through to completion. Mike Jung handled most of the mixing chores in San Diego.

I want to thank the musicians who decided to do something different and succeeded, even though everyone we knew said it could not be done. Specifically, I want to thank Dylan Jung and Lou Moretti for their work anchoring the rhythm section in Sedona. I would like to thank the individual artists: Barry Keenan; Alex Ogburn; Nathan Saith; Lori-Ann Rella; Nathan Trujillo and Jason Kevin of the band, Redlands; Keith Kavisic; Amy Winter; Jason Vargo; Tim Jessup; Linh Renken and Ceta Singley of the Band, DEEPA; and Courtney Yeates.

Special thanks to Uncle Marc Wolin for helping with equipment, as well as moral and technical support, and to Mike Lattanzi for his support and top-of-the-learning-curve input.

Finally, thanks to Joan Sedita for being such a gracious host in Sedona, and for supporting John through the challenges we overcame to accomplish something worthwhile.

This project was one of the most challenging and exhilarating experiences of my life and I will always remember it fondly.

(Photo above: Singer Jason Vargo, who sang “World Is Broken,” compares notes with drummer Lou Moretti.)

For more photos and videos, and to hear the songs, go to www.TheSedonaSessions.com.

In 2010 Stephen signed a music publishing deal with East of Sideways Music. The company will assist Stephen in promoting the Cathedral of the Senses project and help him attract artists to record songs associated with Cathedral of the Senses. (Click here to hear the songs.)

Also at the signing were Stephen’s attorney, Michael Blaha (far left), and Barry Keenan (far right), president of East of Sideways Music. Besides being the president of East of Sideways, Barry is a well known producer and singer/songwriter.

“I’ve been a big fan of Barry’s for years and love his work,” said Stephen. “We’ve played together now and then and it has always been a lot of fun. We both have high hopes that this material will attract quality artists and we look forward to hearing other people’s interpretations of the songs.”

The way the e-book versions work is that specific parts of the songs appropriate for a particular scene can be heard when the reader touches the e-reader screen or selects a link. 

The Sedona Sessions are tentatively scheduled for the weekend of December 11th.

If you would like to participate you can email us at stephen@CathedralOfTheSenses.com. “Scratch” versions of the songs, as well as lyric and chord sheets, are available for free on this site (http://cathedralofthesenses.com/index.php/music/).

Author, singer, songwriter and poet Stephen Smoke addressed the Southwest Manuscripters on March 15, 2010. A tall man in a black suit and t-shirt, Smoke’s direct but easygoing speaking style is as gentle as, well, a puff of smoke.

Smoke has written nineteen novels and eight nonfiction books. His upcoming novel, Cathedral of the Senses, is a sequel to Trick of the Light. Trick of the Light begins when a private detective is hired by a beautiful, suicidal young woman to find God. The detective’s spiritual journey spirals upward in Cathedral of the Senses.

Smoke began his presentation by reading from “The Gravity of Tears,” a poem he wrote for his deceased dog, Ace. The poem ends with the line “I could not have loved you more.” It was a touching and heartfelt way to begin a presentation.

Smoke was born and raised in Ohio, where after college he opened a coffee house and published a newspaper, The Morning Glory, that was distributed to all the state colleges in Ohio. After writing a rock opera called “White Light Train,” Smoke moved to Los Angeles to become a rock and roll star, but succeeded in becoming (to paraphrase from Bob Dylan) “a complete unknown.” All that changed when a Chinese acupuncturist paid him two hundred dollars per chapter to write a novel called The Atlantean Document, and Smoke realized he had a talent for writing. Smoke modestly claims that he finished eight novels before developing his own style, and his immense body of work (which includes psychological thrillers as well as inspirational mysteries) suggests that he chose the correct vocation.

Proving that he is a true Renaissance man, Smoke concluded his presentation by sharing his music with us. Acoustic guitar in hand, he performed two of the sixteen songs that comprise the soundtrack to Cathedral of the Senses. Yes, Stephen Smoke’s novels have soundtracks. This is a cutting-edge concept that combines fiction and music in delightful ways. His song “Now and Zen” indicates that Smoke is a man on a spiritual journey: “Living life from the inside out, equal parts of now and Zen.”

Thank you, Stephen Smoke, for visiting the Southwest Manuscripters once again. To learn more about Stephen Smoke, check out his website for more information.

–Dan Lambert www.homestead.com/dan_lambert