Chris
Conway's experience in music is unparalleled Celtic and Indian
and many other world musics, folk, jazz, electronic and more.
Multi-instrumentalist Chris plays piano/keyboards, 9 string
guitar, tin & low whistles, kalimba, theremin, bamboo flute, and
zither as well as vocals.
He has played and recorded with...
Llewellyn & Juliana, Kevin
Kendle, Jackie Newcombe, and The Harps of Avalon. He has played with
members of Jethro Tull, Fairport Convention, composer Gavin Bryars, tabla player Talvin
Singh, and violin virtuosos Dr L Subramanium. He has released a number
of CDs with the Indian World Fusion group Re-Orient.
He also plays in Celtic group Govannen and new age group Aramara.
Feel
It is Chris Conway's ability to bring his huge experience of different
musics, together with his skills on so many acoustic instruments together
with his knowledge of state of the art electronics that makes his
music special. He has an very strong feeling for harmony and the effect
of that hamony on the emotions that make the feel of a Chris Conway
new age album so distinctive.
Chris says of his music - "Whatever music project I do
or whatever the focus of an album is, I always make sure every album
I make is a REAL album - one you'll get a lot out of LISTENING to
as well as, at other times, play for relaxation, yoga, reiki, meditation,
spa treatments etc..."
Albums
Twilight Sky Music label - atmospheric /sound journeys / chants
CLICK
on album cover for more info, track listing and soundclips
Healing / Meditation / Ambient CLICK
on album cover for more info, track listing and soundclips
Spirits Series & atmospheric / evocative
CLICK
on album cover for more info, track listing and soundclips
Dreamer Series and music for relaxation and sleep CLICK
on album cover for more info, track listing and soundclips
Just Piano CLICK
on album cover for more info, track listing and soundclips
World Music CLICK
on album cover for more info, track listing and soundclips.
for more world music see the World Music page.
Celtic
CLICK
on album cover for more info, track listing and soundclips
for more Celtic albums go to the Celtic page
Ambient/ Chillout CLICK
on album cover for more info, track listing and soundclips
for ore relaxing Chris Conway albums see thejazz andelectronic music pages.
Songs CLICK
on album cover for more info, track listing and soundclips
see more Chris Conway songs album here
News
16th July 2023
deep ocean dreams - new dreamscapes/new age/ambient album
I sponsored a playlist on One World Music Radio, which features 3 tracks from my Deep Ocean Dreams album, and music by other artists.
Give it a listen HERE- if you do I get OWMRadio points that pushes me up their music charts :-)
6th May 2022
earth magic traveller - new world music/new age album
A big cousin to the succesful Dream Traveller album A blend of world music instruments, minimal music, and subtle electronics, each track revealing a new sound vista. A journey through a day, and the seasons with hypnotic and evolving repeated patterns, on a huge cornucopia of instruments and including Earth field recordings.
Release dates
Friday 6th May - digital pre-release. (Bandcamp waves fees to artists on Bandcamp Friday) Monday 9th May - other streaming & download stores. When they arrive from duplicating - CDs
Instrumentation. Chris Conway - piano, keyboards, sampled bass, tin & low Irish whistles, bombarde, acoustic & electric 9 string, & nylon string guitars, metallophone, kalimba, kantele, zither, singing bowl, theremin, effects, voice, overtone chanting, bodhran, temple bells, chimes, percussion,
field recordings - rain, wind, children, thunder, ocean. Mo Coulson - Celtic Harp on 1 track
The track Deep Ocean Mind from the 2006 Arama album Spa Gold got 30 million streams!
The record label Paradise Music send me a commemorative framed plaque ( kind of like a gold disc), saying I had to video myself opening the parcel - I had no idea what it was. I'll hang it in the studio.
I also got a big payout for it - can't talk figures but it makes it easily the biggest earning piece of music for me. :-)
It appears that the track got on an Amazon Playlist which resulted in all the streams.
6th July 2021
zen sky & dream traveller magazine mini-review
.
RocknReel Magazine gave a joint mini-review for Zen Sky and Dream Traveller albums - especially cool as they don't usually cover this genre. Zen Sky was said to be "providing a soothing aural balm", while Dream Traveller has a " gentlycalming world music aspect to the sound."
In next month's issue they are reviewing my Unlocked Songs songs album in a full review.
2nd April 2021
dream traveller - great review!
Read a wonderful and detailed review of Dream Traveller by RJ Lannan of Artisan Reviews - HERE
4th January 2021
dream traveller - first album release of 2021
On Dream Traveller I have woven a story of a musical journey in a dream through wondrous lands.
Enter the dream, through the Earth portal, through a rainforest, talking to a companon by starlight, then up on a high mountain pass, find peace beside a great river, hearing an Irish tune from your companion, before talking a walkway to the sky, and into another dream.
Whereas Zen Sky was a very still meditative album, Dream Traveller has more movement and some composed melodies.
Instrumentation. Chris Conway - piano, keyboards, low & tin Irish whistles, acoustic & electric 9 string guitars, zither, kalimba, kantele, theremin, bodhran, temple bells, chimes, percussion, drum loops, effects, field recordings. Mo Coulson - Celtic Harp on 2 tracks
New meditation/relaxation/new age album Zen Sky has been released. Almost 2 years since my last new age album, An Island Of Peace album, Zen Sky is more meditational and centre stage is my low Irish whistle. I wanted to make an album where the rich sound of the low Irish whistle has sections where it can be hears alone.
Despite being an Irish low whistle, the infleunces are more from Indian bansuri bamboo flute or Japanese shakuhachi. I took a lot of time making layers of sound beneath is - zithers, kanetele, electric 9 string guitar, synthesizer, and chimes
float and commingle together. There are no rhythms, just atmospheric flute over layers of sounds and drones.
Yes it's my 150th album under my own name, in bands, or equal collaborations since my first in 1989! Ah well it's kept me busy. And number 151 is due out in January! :-)
Bandcamp - listen/download/order CD Apple Music/Spotify/Amazon etc - soon Album Web Page
20 March 2020
8 million views for buddha dreamer
8,000,000 !
Budhha
Dreamer
Wooow! This licensed YouTube upload of my Buddha Dreamer album (played twice over) has just passed 8 MILLION VIEWS!!! Plus there are so many lovely and heartfelt comments too over the last 5 and a half years on YouTube. Thanks so much to all who made the album such a success!
30th April 2019
chris conway & ajahn achalo - mantras - video
Slowly catching up a bit more on promo videos - here is one for the Mantras album.
Om Amarani Jivantaye Soha
1st March 2019
an island of peace - new solo new age/relaxation music release
New Release! - My first solo new age/relaxation music album for 4 years and my first solo album on my Twilight Sky Music label.
The music is about escaping to an island and rediscovering the peace inside you. I used even more instruments than usual - the title track features 186 strings - 4 zithers, 2 kanteles, 2 acoustic & 2 electric 9 string guitars & 2 Celtc harps!
The album also features 2 special guests - Bridget Mcmahon was over from Ireland and added wonderful atmospheric vocals on 2 tracks and the Celtic harp waftings in the flood of strings were provided by Mo Coulson.
A cornerstone of the album is The Mountain Path Of Enlightenment a 26 minute track which features my low Irish whistle throughout as it rides and Oriental drone feel and rides the wave of the music as it grows.
Read more about the album, stream, and order the CD on it's webpage here
You can stream, download, or order the CD from Bandcamp
Other download & streaming services -iTunes/AppleMusic, Spotify, Amazon - soon
11th December 2018
medicine buddha mantra ep - new release
Another recording with Buddhist monk in Thailand, Ajahn Achalo - an EP consisting of a single 18 minute track.
As with the Mantras album brought in a guest - Liam Cochrane chanted with Ajahn Achalo at the monestary, and Mo Coulson added Celtic harp in the studio in Leicester.
The track is the same chant taken through a journey that changes pitch, harmonic mode, and tempo twice.
You can stream it or download it from Bandcamp - (name your price)
25th July 2018
mantras album completed with 2 more chants
Coming a year after the Three Jewels And A Lotus album, Ajahn Achalo, Buddhist monk in a monastery in Thailand called on Chris Conway in Leicester to arrange 2 more tracks of mantras. Each brought in a guest - Khun Noppadet chanted with Ajahn Achalo at the monestary, and Chloe Singer sang and chanted and Mo Coulson added Celtic harp in the studio in Leicester.
The long track Kwan Yin Bodhisattva Mantras has a Chinese feel, reflecting the text.
The shorter track Tara Bodhisattva Heart Mantra features Chloe Singer's voice reflecting feminine nature of the text. The new opening and closing mantras are more ambient and meditative to balance the other 2 chants.
iTunes/Spotify/Amazon will be up in about a month - you can download it from Bandcamp - (name your price)
8th May 2018
mantras ep - 2 more buddhist chants
Coming a year after the Three Jewels And A Lotus album, Buddhist monk in Bangkok called on Chris Conway in Leicester to arrange 2 more tracks of mantras. Each brought in a guest - Khun Noppadet chanted with Ajahn Achalo at the monestary, and Chloe Singer sang and chanted in the studio in Leicester.
The long track Kwan Yin Bodhisattva Mantras has a Chinese feel, reflecting the text.
The shorter track Tara Bodhisattva Heart Mantra features Chloe Singer's voice reflecting feminine nature of the text.
Chris & Ajahn plan to add a track or two to this EP to make it an album length. But for now it is a 29 minute EP. Hear it here.
26th September 2017
mo coulson & chris conway - the enchanted forest - new release
Mo Coulson& Chris Conway's 3rd album The Enchanted Forest is now out.
It is a multi-instrumental journey through an enchanted forest, and like the last 2 albums Spirits Of The Mermaid, and Spirits Of The Angels. there is a story to follow in the liner notes which are also on the Bandcamp and album website pages.
We've been recording it through the spring and summer
and we are delighted how it has turned out. It is the 2nd album on my new Twilight Sky label.
Enjoy the journey. :-)
14th July 2017
a full moon summer night's dream - new piano release
I recorded a new solo piano improvisation album - all one track. My last piano album
Outside In was recorded at noone with outside sounds. This album was recorded by candlelight at full moon at midnight and thus is its nightime companion. I struck a Tibetan singing bowl 3 times at the beginning, along the way, and at the end, making a kind of ritual. I recorded it in one go in about an hour.
The music is quiet, sparse and like nothing I have done before - it sounds like modern classical somehow.
But it makes an interesting step on the journey from Glisten (short varied tracks), Midnight Window Blue (longer tracks & minimalism), Outside In (one whole piece wandering where it will)
See webpage here
- it is streamable and downloadable (£5) from Bandcamp now.
- iTunes, Amazon, Spotify in a few weeks
- CDrs made to order.
- hear it here
14th May 2017
buddha dreamer youtube gets 5 million views
this YouTube of my album Buddha Dreamer played twice over just passed 5 million views!!! . That is amazing! This last million took just 3 months!
It was uploaded by a company under license from the record label. I do get some royalty and PRS from this but sums from streamed music is small and there is a complex path to get to me.
But I just am chuffed at the numbers of listeners and I get such lovely comments under this YouTube. :-)
6th April 2017
chris conway & ajahn achalo - three jewels and a lotus - new download release
After 8 months of work the collaborative album with Buddhist monk Ajahn Achalo and myself, all conducted by email between his monastery in Bangkok and my studio in Leicester has been completed. His chanting and my wafty music, plus guests sitar player Neil Donoghue I worked with on Ayurveda Gold, and Celtic harper Mo Coulson
His students are releasing a CD but it will only be distributed at monasteries in Thailand and Malaysia, but he has said I can co-ordinate a digital release. It has just gone up on Bandcamp, where you can listen or download it and name-your-price (including £0). iTunes, Spotify, etc to follow.
Hear it here
2nd August 2016
outside in - piano improvisation + outside sounds - new album
I recorded a new piano improvisation album last week. It is a single 51 minute track, and this time I placed 2 microphones out of the window to record the outside - rain, breeze in the trees, the odd car, which adds an otherworldy underscore to the music and sounds at times like the ocean.
I first did this outside recording on my first solo album 4am where I recorded a blackbird singing on my street at 4am.
It is available to listen, download to on Bandcamp and CDs will be on a you-want-one, I'll print one basis. It will be on iTunes & Amazon in a month or so.
I'm delighted with it - the music is a bit sparser perhaps than the previous piano album Midnight Window Blue, and the occasional folk-ish melody appeared.
23rd June 2016
celtic air is released on cd
Govannen's Celtic Air album is finally available on CD after having been available as a download for several months.
We have a few copies available from thewebsite page via the Paypal button for £9 in post and packing anywhere.
So finally the 4 Elements are completed, which started 12 years ago when we started recording Healing Waters in 2004, then Celtic Fire came in 2007, then Celtic Earth in 2012, now Celtic Air in 2016.
govannen - celtic air - cover art & amazon downloads
This is the cover art for Govannen's forthcoming album for Paradise Music, Celtic Air. It should be available for download very soon, the CD will be a month or so...
Celtic Air completes the cycle of elements albums that began with the release of Healing Waters 11 years ago, followed by Celtic Fire and Celtic Earth.
Chris Conway & Neil Donoghue release a new album Ayurveda Gold on iTunes, Amazon download, YouTube and Spotify and other download stores. It will be released in October on CD on the Paradise Music label.
Indian tinged atmospheric music explores the 5 Ayurvedic elements- Air, Fire, Earth, Ether, & Water, and features Neil Donoghue's sitar & guitar playing and Chris Conway's multi-instrumental wizardry, so a wonderful array of exotic instruments weave together to form a dreamlike journey through the elements. Read more info here
The CD of the Mo Coulson & Chris Conway album Spirits Of The Angels is now out!! (well. I have some advance copies anyway.) Check out the album webpage for more information and to buy the CD via paypal or for links to download.
Following the success of our Spirits Of The Mermaids album, this album is a little different - it is mostly instrumental with atmospheric voices and more peaceful and..um...angelic :-) Like Mermaids though there is a little story that runs through the album, of an angel who hears a child's voice and spends a day on Earth searching for the child.
The album was areal pleasure to make - it just seemed to flow effortlessly - and Mo and I are delighted with it.
We hope you like it too. :-)
2015 marks 10 years I have been recording with the Paradise Music new age label and in that time I have released/recorded/produced 28 Paradise albums.
Thanks to everyone at Paradise, all the artists I've collaborated with, and everyone who has bought, downloaded, streamed or just enjoyed my music and spread the word.
To mark the occasion I've started a chronological listening quest of all the albums I've made with Paradise. Interesting hearing the changes in techniques, sounds, and trends over time. "That was cool - why don't I do that anymore?" etc. And the things that haven't changed. The quest also gives me an appreciation of all the detailed work I did which I tend to forget just looking at the albums on my shelf. I'm enjoying the trip. :-)
flute dreamer - now out on cd
Flute Dreamer - released as downlaods for a while now - is due to get an official CD release in 2015 - but I now have some advance copies for sale - a bit late for Christmas but - hey - you might need chilling out after Christmas :-)
The latest in the Dreamer series, Flute Dreamer focusses on my Celtic flutes and whistles and puts them in an an ambient relaxing setting suitable for meditatio, relaxation or sleep. It is a very dreamy album and is a continuous piece of music "Five Dreams Of Flying - divided up into 5 sections.
Instrumentation - Irish tin & low whistles, Irish flute, keyboards, electric 9 string guitar, zither, electric kantele, kalimba, theremin, voice, temple bells, bamboo & metal chimes. See the album webpage for more info about Flute Dreamer
Celtic Gold an album of relaxing Celtic ambient music inspired by Celtic myths of healing. What started out as an idea for a minimal sparse meditational album along the way turned into a bit of an epic.
It features the Irish flutes and whistles strongly and full instrumentation is - Irish tin & low whistles, Irish flute, piano, keyboards, acoustic & electric 9 string & nylon string guitars, zither, electric kantele, kalimba, voice, temple bells, bamboo & metal chimes.