Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Nebraska Teen Releases CD of His Original Piano Solos


(this article appeared in the January issue of the Nebraska Family Times)


Norfolk Teen Releases CD of His Original Piano Solos

By Shelly Burke, Editor


At the age of 16, Nathan (Nate) Walter, of Norfolk, NE, has achieved what many in the music industry don’t until they are much older. Nate recently released his first CD, Hopes and Dreams. All the songs on the CD were written by Nate. His piano music is described as A soothing, contemporary style that is created by intense yet effortless strokes on the piano.... a melodic sanctuary for the heart and soul. His mom, Becky, agrees, saying she often listens to his music when she’s driving.

Nate has loved music as long as he can remember. He began with Kindermusik in Norfolk and has also taken formal piano lessons. His mom plays the trumpet and his dad and sisters, Annie, age 10, Katie, 7, and Megan, 6, also love music. Nate’s dad, Gene, is the President of Big Red Printing.

Nate says, ”My songs are like prayers; when I can’t put what I feel into words, it comes out through music. Nate wrote his first song,Hopes and Dreams, when he was just 10 years old. He says of the inspiration for the song: ”It describes the special story involving the adoption process of my sister, Katie, from Mongolia and the many ups and downs we experienced while waiting for her to come home. "Hopes and Dreams" reveals the miracle of adoption. God adopts each of us as His children when we accept the free gift of salvation through His Son, Jesus.”

Other songs on the CD were inspired by his mother, Nate’s love of everything medieval, and the movie The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Nate says that one time a song was inspired by a wrong note he played during a practice session.

The time it takes Nate to write a song varies; he said his newest song took several weeks to nail down, while some are written in an afternoon. Surprisingly, he’s written down the music to none of his songs—he doesn’t have the patience to take the time to do so--he keeps them all in his head.

He recorded his CD, which contains 11 songs, in a single afternoon; Dave Kane in Wisner was in charge of recording. Nate has also submitted his songs to Whisperings: Solo Piano Radio (http://www.whisperings.com/), and hopes his songs will be playing on the online station soon.

Nate is a keyboardist in the band “Savior’s Calling” (http://www.saviorscalling.com/) and a member of Christ is King church in Norfolk. His dream is to, at some point, be a director in a Christian film production company.

At the end of his album notes, Nate has the initials “S.D.G”. He attributes this to Johann Sebastian Bach, who would write "S.D.G." at the end of each of his compositions. Nate says, "Soli Deo Gloria" means "For God's glory alone." This improvisation is art that has been captured on CD. This art is for God's glory alone - Soli Deo Gloria – S.D.G.

Check out Nate’s CD, listen to (and download) previews of each song, and read the album notes at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/NathanWalter.