I’ve always found classical music and the rock/metal genre co-related in more ways than one, although it sounds crazy to some people given the drastic difference in the overall mood, yet if you look closer; you’ll find similarities in the musical structure, the layering of sounds, and the complexity of it all. From a degree in classical guitar to 20 years of playing rock and heavy metal, Russ Hewitt seems to have found the perfect balance between both genres before shifting to his current style of Latin, Spanish fusion. The guitar virtuoso has previously “performed and recorded with the Irving Symphony Orchestra, Mansfield Philharmonic, and Bucharest All-Star Orchestra (Romanian Symphony Orchestra).” The artist has a dedicated fan base with over 1K monthly listeners on Spotify only. He is a voting member of the Grammy and Latin Grammy awards. His last album “Cielo Nocturno” released in 2016 received significant recognition by making the ballot for the 59th Grammy Awards. It was nominated for “Best Acoustic Guitar Album 2016’ by the One World Music Awards.
This summer, Hewitt decides to combine his years of experience, varied influences, and styles of interest into a unified album rich in sound, texture, and originality like no other. His latest ten-track album “Chasing Horizons” took four years to finish and has an overall Spanish/Latin theme with various subgenres and styles. In such a short time since its release; the album won 5 Indie Music Channel Awards, three silver medals from Global Music Awards, and Three LIT Music Awards. It also made the ballot in the Best Contemporary Instrumental category for this year’s 65th Grammy Awards. The music will awaken your senses and intrigue your mind with its rich texture, skilled instrumentation, and vibrance of color. The artist’s theoretical solid base and extensive music knowledge allow him to play around with different rhythmic fusions and meters, giving each song a different feel and a groove of its own. For instance, “Sunset Samba” has a samba-style structure, while “Allende” lies within the Rumba Flamenco subgenre. Whereas “Serein’” is in a 5/4 meter, giving it a more relaxed, slight swing mood, unlike “Return to Simitai” which is in 9/8, giving it a more oriental touch with a short consistent drone in the background. Then if you switch to “Chasing Horizons” which is in 7/8 you won’t help but sway your hips to its uplifting tunes. The album was recorded and engineered by Bob Parr in Denton, Texas with the participation of various skilled musicians and guest artists like Nuno Bettencourt, Marty Friedman, Bucharest All-Star Orchestra, Jorge Strunz, Ardeshir Farah, and Tri Nguyen. With more instrumentalists like Bob Parr on bass, Walfredo Reyes Jr on drums, and Rafael Padilla and Efren Guzman on percussion. This is not an album you want to miss out.
