Amy Lynne Johnson - Piano Poetry: Peace to You (2015)

Relax, refresh, and reconnect with your Spirit - the part of you that knows that life is actually very good, and so are you, exactly as you are.

Piano Poetry is a collection of songs or "poems" that are completely improvised and recorded in one take. I sat down at the piano, started recording, and played what came through from my heart. "Peace To You" is the very first album of Piano Poetry, and I have another album on the way very soon. I hope you enjoy listening to this music as much as I enjoyed composing it. The music is intended to help you relax, refresh, and reconnect with your Spirit - the part of you that knows that life is actually very good, and so are you, exactly as you are.

On October 12th, 2014 at 2.46am, I awoke to what I can only describe as a "message" coming from the starry sky through my window and into my heart. It said, "You are to make music to serve people, to help them relax and go inward, to help quiet the mind and reconnect with the Wonder of Life." This was quite confusing to me, since I had no formal training in music, and absolutely no idea how to carry out these "instructions." Although the message came through clearly and powerfully, my mind couldn't quite grasp what was happening. I decided I was probably just imagining things, and promptly went back to sleep.

My plans to dismiss the "call" failed miserably, as a new message continued to ring throughout my whole being for the next several weeks: "You are to make music to bring peace and relief to people, to help them to remember who they are, and who I Am, to help them to know that life is really very, very good, and all is very, very well." This was not going to just go away. And so I began to carry out the instructions as best I could.

Though I have never taken lessons, I've always felt drawn to the piano since I was a child. I would play around on our family piano, sounding out Christmas carols, and Carole King's Tapestry album, making up the left hand as I went along. I even tried making up some of my own songs, but generally just enjoyed playing for the sheer joy of it. Again, I never took lessons or learned to write music; the piano was simply a source of happiness for me. It was a special place where I could sit down and be left alone to have fun, to hear it's happy notes, and where my worried and fearful mind would stop spinning for a time. As I look back on it now, playing the piano was my way of being with God, as I have come to know God now - the benevolent, creative, unconditionally loving, and abundantly providing Spirit that lives and breathes in Every Thing.

On November 17th, 2014, which happened to be my 41st birthday, my Kawai ES-7 arrived, and my husband set it up so it would be waiting for me when I came home from work. I sat down and began to play. All of the old feelings of joy and peace and fun came rushing back, and it seemed as though I couldn't stop playing the piano. I began to improvise whatever would come to my heart and mind, and recorded everything. This continued for several months. I often experienced strong urges to sit down and play, even when I was in the middle of something more "important," or when I was asleep. The songs seemed to just come through me, almost as if someone else were moving my fingers across the keys. I didn't tell anyone except my closest family and three friends what was happening, as it was all a little strange to me, not only in how the music was coming out, but even just thinking of pursuing music with no training. I signed up to take a few lessons with a wonderful local teacher, but after the first lesson, all I really wanted to do was sing while she played, so I decided to just keep going on my merry amateur way.

In April of 2015, after six months of recording whatever I improvised on the piano, I still didn't know how I would carry out the task that had been given to me. I said to God, "Well, I have been playing here for six months, and still haven't written any songs. I have these recordings, but they're just stuff I improvised. I don't know what it is you want me to do." Immediately, I heard in my heart, "Just Listen." I began to play the tracks that had been recorded over the past six months, and I was surprised that they were actual songs - that they actually sounded like real music! As time went on, I allowed myself to get to know the music, to let it grow on me, and to accept it with love exactly as it is - no fine tuning, no revisions, no fixing. It's funny - I feel this is exactly what we need to do for ourselves and for each other. My wish is that this music can help with that. Many angels came my way to help make Piano Poetry a reality, and to make it available to anyone, anywhere, who would like to listen.

This new album, "Peace To You," is a collection of some of the more contemplative pieces of those original recordings. When life just isn't the way you'd like it to be, challenges seem to surround you, or regrets overwhelm you, "Peace To You," is here to offer you exactly that - Peace. The next Piano Poetry album will be out shortly, and I am so grateful to you for listening, for reading what I have shared here, and for being a part of the story.

May this music bring you whatever you need, wherever you are.

Many Blessings,
Amy Lynne Johnson.