‘The Small Hours’ new album by Orchestra Indigo in Peaceful Radio Show 1576
18 January 2024 Uncategorized
Scroll down and click on photo for Rick’s website.
Orchestra Indigo is an ambient music project created by recording
artist Rick Randlett. Like many new artistic projects, the impetusfor
it wasthe the Covid pandemic, with it’s months of isolation and no
live performances. Reaching back to his college studiesin
composition, orchestration, and electronic music, Rick is creating a
unique orchestra electronic hybrid with neoclassical overtonesthat
envelopesthe listener in relaxing waves ofsound.
A message from Rick…
The Small Hoursis a soundtrack for one sleepless night from
midnight to dawn. Sitting alone, in a small dark room with drink in
hand, a man contemplates hislife, and pondersthe decisionsthat
have brought him to this place.
Track Listing
1. Midnight (4:28)
2. The Small Hours (4:16)
3. Moments Of Uncertainty (5:48)
4. Walking Dark Streets (3:42)
5. After The Rain (6:22)
6. Hour Of The Wolf (4:33)
7. Meditation On Departed Friends (4:28)
8. Sleepless Once More (5:13)
9. 4:44 AM Blues (3:52)
10. Dawn’s Arrival (4:57)
11. Day Spring (5:20)
Credits
Piano and synthesizers performed by Rick Randlett
Allsongs composed by Richard K Randlett
Published by Anne Bello Productions Publishing ASCAP
Recorded at WS Audio, Lake City, Fl
Mastered by TDE Mastering, Gainesville, Fl
Produced by Rick Randlett
Artwork by Janese Nix
The fascinating story behind the emergence of new age artist Orchestra Indigo and its beautifully melodic and deeply
inspiring debut album Farewell to Memories hasitsrootsin the lockdown early in the pandemic, when musicians
around the world, with their regular gigssuddenly stripped away, were trying to figure out their next creative steps.
Having released hisfifth bluesrock oriented album Night Songsin February 2020, multi-talented singer/songwriter,
guitarist and keyboardist Rick Randlett had every intention of hitting the road in support of the project. That had been
his m.o. for years, playing up to 125 regional club and festival datesin and around his adopted home state of Florida for
nearly a decade and a half after launching hissolo career in 1999 with All Alone. Three of hisreleasesreached the Top
Ten on the Roots Music Report charts, and he collaborated on the album Hauntings with fellow bluessinger Cassie
Keenum in 2017.
Turning his anxiety over the sudden work stoppage into a fresh stream of creativity, he began exploring ambient, new
age style compositions on a home studio setup that includes a Mac Book Pro, Studio One for DAW, Roland Juno
synthesizer and a Modal Cobalt 8 synthesizer. Hisfirst idea wasto create short instrumental piecesfor music libraries,
but besideslearning about the fierce competition in that field, he realized there were too many restrictive rules.
Rick embraced the freedom of composing longer pieces combining piano melodies with an array of dynamic colors he
created using synthesized strings. Extensively researching the new age genre, he realized not only that these pieces he
was composing were a perfect fit, but also that the audience for instrumental music was much more expansive than
that in the blues world that was his home forso long. In creating his albums, he chose the artist branding name
Orchestra Indigo because, after considering various word combinations, he thought itsounded unique and a little
mysterious – and he didn’t want to confuse fans of his work in either genre by using his given name on the new age
material
Born in Philadelphia, Rick – whose earliest music memory was watching American Bandstand with his mother while she
ironed – first became interested in music at age eight when a classmate’sfather was a clarinetist in the Philadelphia
Orchestra. He began clarinet lessons at nine, then, with the dawning of Beatlemania,switched quickly to guitar, playing
in local bands at high school dances and teen clubs. He took up piano in hislate teens and learned aboutsynthesizers
and electronic music while studying music in college. He received a Bachelor’sin music education from Keene State
College in New Hampshire, then did graduate work in theory and composition at the University of Massachusetts.
Benno Veugen Orchestra Indigo, Peaceful Radio, Peaceful Radio Show, Rick Randlett, The Small Hours