Introducing Holy Name Chants

 

Pardon this post out of the blue, but I thought you might be interested in my Holy Name Chants project released earlier this month. I really like how these songs turned out!

Chant music has a long history. Think Gregorian chant in the Middle Ages, but also the chanting of mantras in the Eastern religions like Buddhism and Hinduism, a traditional that goes back thousands of years. The point of the chant is to calm and quiet the mind and focus on a few sacred words. In modern times, the Catholic group Taize has had a lot of success with their form of chant music. In some Buddhist sects, the initiate is given their own personal mantra to repeat as a way to achieve stillness. One of the most famous Buddhist mantras is Om mane padme hum. In Hare Krishna circles, devotees gather to sing many different versions of the “maha mantra” as a way to call upon the mercy and energy of Lord Krishna.

 My Holy Name Chants project is a mix of religious traditions and musical styles. Each is designed to calm the mind and focus the attention on a few sacred words. Most of the chants feature synthesizers and drum beats, but  From Out of the Depths is based on Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata.”Most of the chants feature two vocal parts, if not three or more. (And yes, that’s me singing; I tried to get some folks to help out with the vocals, to no avail, so I decided to do them myself - and throw a lot of filters on them to disguise my voice as much as elecronically possible since I normally sound like Bob Dylan being strangled by a goatherder.)

You can find Holy Name Chants on digital platforms like Spotify, iTunes, Amazon Music, Youtube, Apple Music, Pandora and other services. Search for me by name, “Rex Wilgus.” The songs are free to stream for subscribers of different services; you can also buy a digital copy of the album. My music is released under my own record label, Wilgus World Productions, so whatever you stream or purchase supports me directly; all streams and purchases are much appreciated!

Thanks for listening!

Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/artist/2geDlzfDAdBVy4Kf9YDL81

Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA-cJhBiTPuiN6TiOPaIbYQ
or
https://www.youtube.com/@nickwilgus

My website
https://sites.google.com/site/wilgusworld/home