I love all my kids so much but that doesn’t mean I agree with all their choices.
I guess my Dad felt the same about me as I was forging my life as an adult. He never really said much about my choices but I wish he’d told me when he thought I was getting it right … and even when I was getting it wrong.
My youngest son Jesse reminds me of that … he’s forsaken me and my love for rock music!
Instead of making guitar driven rock tunes he’s an Electronic Music Producer releasing his Drum and Bass album today in LA under his moniker ‘Koronis’. The funny thing is it’s not on iTunes or even on a CD. It’s not even on a tape like my first album was.
He’s releasing his album ‘Replicant’ on vinyl so you have to use a needle to get it!
https://youtu.be/ghI6dhAJ3xg
It’s truly amazing to see him following his dreams in LA with music success in such a short time!
It’s such a privilege that he’s following in my footsteps … although he’s missing out on the huge rock guitars and power vocals bit :p
I can’t say how many times I’ve felt alone and overwhelmed in my life. It seems that we all struggle and wrestle through some days. These quotes tell my story and the journey of making my CD ‘Hope On My Horizon’ …
“Every exit is an entry somewhere else.” Tom Stoppard
Having your best friends “assassinate” you blows your world apart. It crushes you. It carves up your confidence and tears you to shreds. It was only a number of years ago I was cornered by those close to me and thrown overboard into a tempest.
The frightening and sad part I found being pushed off the edge by those I loved and trusted was the horrid crashing and burning of those close friendships, along with leaving behind a community of awesome people I had done life with coupled with the overnight destruction of the music I was part of making – my ‘success’ was set on fire and I was left helpless to just stand there and watch it burn – I lost it all and had to simply start over.
I stepped into a sad painful ‘exit’ which was also an ‘entry’ to no obligations and no demands. It transported me to a space where I had too much time on my hands and left my choices wide open …
“Your talent is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God.” Leo Buscaglia
When my influence and opportunity and close friends were sadly stripped away I was left standing alone with God with only what I had left – my family and a few close friends and my faith in Him and the gifts He’d given me. Through my whole life I’ve known I needed to use my gifts more than I had as a songwriter but I’d always been too busy doing other things to dedicate myself to finishing my music and sharing it with people who needed a hope and a future … in the resounding solitary silence God whispered so clearly to me that now was the time to finally focus on taking the songwriting gifts He’d given me and put them to work for others.
Get the song from my CD that inspired 15,000 people worldwide
“Pray as if everything depended on God and work as if everything depended on you.” St. Ignatius Loyola
My true confession though is I had spent most of my life waiting … waiting for God to “do something” … waiting for Him to move mountains and bring me the “opportunity” … it was like I expected Father Christmas God to smile and set me on His knee and give me what I had been telling Him I wanted with my fervent prayers and hands held out for a hand-me-down. Sure I was taking a few faltering steps forward but I hadn’t seriously put my money where my mouth was and taken real steps of faith towards what I was asking His help with. I had fooled myself into thinking that just because God had given me these gifts He would miraculously work out everything and all I had to do was lie on the shipwrecked beach getting a tan till He sent a heavenly cruise ship to pick me up loaded with everything my heart desired.
Sitting on my shipwrecked shore staring at an empty horizon I finally realised God had been waiting on me for a long time … waiting for me to take the gifts He had already given me and work with them even if I couldn’t see anything on the horizon. The verse I had mumbled since I was a teenager was suddenly crystal clear to me – “Great gifts mean great responsibilities; greater gifts, greater responsibilities!” Luke 12:48 The Message Bible.
“If it is important to you, you will find a way. If not, you’ll find an excuse.” Unknown
My life had been filled with my excuses about how I didn’t have the time or the money or the energy or the inspiration to make my music when quite simply I had chosen to waste away the years! Sure I had limitations but I could have chipped away a little at a time even with the beautiful cacophony of working a day job and raising a family and loving my wife. I had to face up to the facts that I had filled those days with excuses instead of action. No one but me was to blame for my dreams being unfulfilled, least of all God. In a sudden cathartic moment I admited it was my own fault that my music had been stagnant so many years. I was finally agreeing with the cold hard truth staring me in the face that my inaction was the real reason I had settled for a desert of dead dreams.
“Even if you’re on the right track you’ll get run over if you just sit there” Will Rogers
Facing up to this fact was most of the battle. The abandonment by my best friends and being thrown overboard into a sea of disappointment and emptiness that forced me to swim for dry land was a terrible time but it became a life-changing catalyst. It was awful. I was terrified. I got pushed under and my lungs filled with salty fear. I gasped to breathe and truly thought I’d never make it through this.
But when I crawled ashore with shattered dreams and was left alone without the bustling business I managed to get up, dust myself and my dreams off, and take the first steps I had spent years avoiding – I started towards making my CD ‘Hope On My Horizon’ …
This qoute glared at me every day I stayed with my son during a visit to where he lives in LA. Hanging on the back of his apartment door it goaded and taunted me, reminding me that just because I was now ‘on the right track’ I couldn’t stop or take a break or let the current just take me. I had to take these dreams … and make these dreams.
“The bridge between reality and a dream is work.” Jared Leto
In some ways I had done all the hard work – between my ears. Now all that was left was just the gritty toil of writing, re-writing, recording, producing and marketing the CD. But throughout all of that work I’ve had more difficult doubting days than I dare admit. More than a few times I’ve given up on the inside to the fear and shadows shouting at me that I should pack up my dreams and forget all this nonsense of making music that could give people hope and courage … but God in His patience would quietly whisper to me that …
“It’s not the mountain we conquer but ourselves” Sir Edmund Hillary
God never lost confidence in me.
You, my fans and supporters, never flagged in your faith in me as a songwriter who’s music makes a difference.
The mountain I had to conquer was inside of me – my fears of failing and what others thought of me was waiting for me when I floundered ashore on the beach that day.
My fears had dictated to me that sure I could dream about making a record but I should be a grown-up and just knuckle down to the hum drum of my lot in life and live out the rest of my days with those songs still on the inside of me.
Faith changed that.
My CD ‘Hope On My Horizon’ releases on July 1 2015.
Fear is not equal to faith.
These quotes helped me fight through fear and maybe, just maybe, these tacky quotes can help you live a better life too.
NOTE: I’ll get behind you turning your ‘dreams’ into ‘done’ by giving you a copy of a song from my CD at no charge. Just click here to grab your copy!
Get the song from my CD that inspired 15,000 people worldwide
Kiwi musician Peter Woolston is finally quenching his fans’ curiosity, with the release of I Believe In You, the first track from his new album Hope On My Horizon.
Drawing comparisons to artists like Jon Foreman, Bono and Martin Smith, Hope On My Horizon counts its blessings and sees the glass as half full rather than half empty. I Believe In You gives fans a taste of what’s to come with its memorable hooks and infectious melodies.
But it’s what he’s doing with his music that makes Woolston different from most Kiwi musicians.
After stepping aboard as Mercy Ships NZ Musical Ambassador in 2014, Woolston is ‘rocking the boat’ by donating 50% of all sales of the title track from his new album Hope On My Horizon, due for release first thing next month, to the floating hospital that has changed thousands of lives for the better.
Since 1978, Mercy Ships has performed more than one billion dollars’ worth of life-changing medical services on hundreds of thousands of the world’s poorest people – all for free. Mercy Ships is powered by voluntary medical professionals from more than 40 nations all over the world, including New Zealand. The crew pay their way and perform vital – often life-saving – medical services including cleft lip and palate corrections, cataract removals, straightening of crossed eyes, and orthopaedic and facial reconstruction, all at no charge to the patient.
Woolston knows that making a real difference to people’s lives doesn’t come cheap, which is why he’s donating much of his work.
“When I first found out about Mercy Ships, I was blown away by the selflessness of the medical staff who give up so much of their own time, money and energy to providing life-changing help to the people of Africa,” says Woolston.
“Then it got me thinking. What could I give that could make a difference too?
“Everyone has a skill that they can donate to worthy organisations like Mercy Ships. Mine just happens to be music.”
Hope On My Horizon was recorded in Sydney and is due for release in July 2015, along with its title track. Each song draws on Woolston’s knack for deep-thinking, and is consistently introspective and serious-minded – and memorable.
Influenced by bands like U2, Switchfoot, The Police and Larry Noman, Woolston’s music-making has taken him all over the world, including far-flung nations like China, Romania, Bulgaria and Russia.
Since 1978, Mercy Ships has performed more than $1 billion worth of free medical services, directly impacting more than 2.35 million of the world’s poorest people. Mercy Ships providing surgeries, dental work, well drilling, and other capacity building services free of charge to the most destitute in West Africa’s most impoverished nations, and all volunteers pay their own way. Mercy Ships has 16 national offices worldwide, including one in Auckland. More information at www.mercyships.org.nz
Mercy Ships have:
· Performed 74,400+ life-changing operations such as cleft lip and palate, cataract removal, straightening of crossed eyes, orthopaedic and facial reconstruction. All operations are free to patients.
· Treated over 608,200+ patients in village medical and dental clinics and educated about 5,850 local health care workers, who have in turn trained multiple thousands in primary health care.
· Trained over 34,500 local professionals in their areas of expertise, including anaesthesiology, midwifery, instrument sterilisation, orthopaedic and reconstructive surgery, and leadership.
· Completed over 1,100 community development projects focusing on water and sanitation, education, infrastructure development and agriculture.
About Peter Woolston
Peter Woolston has loved music since he was about 10 years old. Originally from Wellington but now based in Auckland with his family, Woolston has performed all over New Zealand and throughout the world, including the US, China, Bulgaria, Romania and Russia. Influenced by bands like U2, Switchfoot, The Police and Larry Norman, Woolston has studied under teachers like Pat Pattison and Jason Blume, completed a Certificate in Songwriting at Boston’s Berklee College of Music, and produced distinctive melodic and guitar-powered alternative rock.
Kiwi musician Peter Woolston is about to release his latest album release, Hope On My Horizon, but he’s giving fans a bit of a taster with the release of the Mercy Ships video for his title track.
Beneath Woolston’s alt rock tunes and catchy hooks lies a worthy ulterior motive. Woolston has partnered with Mercy Ships, coming aboard as their Musical Ambassador. To help Mercy Ships continue to provide free surgeries and life-changing medical care to some of the poorest people in the world, Woolston is ‘rocking the boat’ by donating 50% of EP, CD and iTunes profits from the song Hope On My Horizon to the floating hospital.
Mercy Ships is Africa’s medical God-send. Since 1978, the floating hospital has performed more than one billion dollars’ worth of life-changing medical services on hundreds of thousands of the world’s poorest people – all for free.
Yup, you read that right. Mercy Ships is powered by voluntary medical professionals from more than 40 nations all over the world, including New Zealand. The crew pay their way and perform vital – often life-saving – medical services including cleft lip and palate corrections, cataract removals, straightening of crossed eyes, and orthopaedic and facial reconstruction, all at no charge to the patient.
The powerful video for Hope On My Horizon takes you behind the scenes of Mercy Ships to see the sheer number of people who rely on the free life-changing procedures they provide. While some of the images aren’t for the faint-hearted, they provide a humbling eye-opening reality to the staggering need and desperation of people who don’t have access to the kind of medical care the Western world takes for granted.
But making a difference doesn’t come cheap. And that’s where Peter Woolston comes in.
“My first connection with Mercy Ships was in 1983 and I was amazed at how practical Christianity aligned with caring for the poor and needy,” says Woolston.
“My wife worked with Mercy Ships before we met, and we have stayed engaged with Mercy Ships since, eager to hear about the radical impact being made in the lives of the poorest of the poor.”
“My songs tell the stories of life – the good and the bad – pointing to hope and courage with lyrics that are distinctive to how I write as a songwriter. I connect with fans one person at a time in an honest and authentic way, trying to see how I can encourage them or inspire them to take what they’ve got and make a difference in the lives of people around them.”
Mercy Ships New Zealand Director Graeme Walls says a partnership with a musician like Woolston is invaluable.
“Mercy Ships works because of the dedication of volunteer professionals to provide world-class healthcare services to the poorest of the poor, free of charge. Peter Woolston’s determination to join us in using his skills to highlight both the needs in Africa and the opportunities for Kiwis to roll their sleeves up and get involved is a gift we are delighted with.”
Drawing comparisons to artists like Jon Foreman, Bono and Martin Smith, Hope On My Horizon counts its blessings and sees the glass as half full rather than half empty. Recorded in Sydney and due for release in June 2015, this album is characterised by Woolston’s melodic and guitar-powered alternative rock. Each track draws on his knack for deep-thinking, and is consistently introspective and serious-minded – and memorable.
Influenced by bands like U2, Switchfoot, The Police and Larry Noman, Woolston’s music-making has taken him all over the world, including far-flung nations like China, Romania, Bulgaria and Russia. His love for music isn’t something Woolston takes lightly, though, which is why he took up the role of Musical Ambassador for Mercy Ships NZ in 2014.
The music video for Hope On My Horizon was released on 15th May 2015 PST | 16th May 2015 NZ.
Since 1978, Mercy Ships has performed more than $1 billion worth of free medical services, directly impacting more than 2.35 million of the world’s poorest people. Mercy Ships providing surgeries, dental work, well drilling, and other capacity building services free of charge to the most destitute in Africa’s most impoverished nations, and all volunteers pay their own way. Mercy Ships has 16 national offices worldwide, including one in Auckland. More information at www.mercyships.org
Mercy Ships have:
Performed 78,000+ life-changing operations such as cleft lip and palate, cataract removal, straightening of crossed eyes, orthopaedic and facial reconstruction. All operations are free to patients.
Treated over 183,000 patients in village dental clinics and educated 5,800 local health care workers, who have in turn trained multiple thousands in primary health care.
Trained over 35,300 local professionals in their areas of expertise, including anaesthesiology, midwifery, instrument sterilisation, orthopaedic and reconstructive surgery, and leadership.
“the sound of rocking guitars, pounding basslines, and crashing drums …pop/rock edge makes his [Woolston\’s] music incredibly accessible … very distinct alternative rock sound … akin to something from Foo Fighters or a less grungy Pearl Jam … guitars have an almost U2 kind of chiming to them and the drums have a forceful stomp … Peter Woolston has created an album that rocks and inspires with equal measure”
5 out of 5 stars
Heath Andrews discovered a passionate love for music at the hands of Huey Lewis & The News. Inspiring him greatly, he obtained a B.S. in Radio/Television and scriptwriting, hosting and produced multiple radio programs and interviewing musicians such as David Knopfler, Nils Lofgren, and Bruce Hornsby.
2. Kelly O’Neil
“Like U2 in it’s heyday … kicking rock … grand confident vocals … layered guitars … similar timbre to Switchfoot … enjoyable modern rock album that will easily attract listeners worldwide”
4 out of 5 stars
Kelly O’Neil began her career in NYC with a diverse clientele including Foreigner, Jessica Simpson, Kevin Max, Jaci Velasquez and Sir James Galway. She moved to Nashville and wrote for CCM, U and CrossWalk magazines with freelancing credits including Reader’s Digest, Pan Pipes, christianmusicplanet.com and christrock.com.
3. Alex Henderson
“this is a solid outing that paints an attractive picture of his talents as a vocalist, songwriter and guitarist … Woolston specializes in melodic, guitar-powered alternative rock, and it is evident that he has a knack for memorable hooks. Woolston is as infectious on “Dead Man Walking,” “Obsession” and “I Believe In You” as he is on “Better Man Someday” and the title track (all of which he wrote by himself) … Hope On My Horizon is definitely an album that counts its blessings and sees the glass as half full rather than half empty … enjoyable outing”
3.5 stars out of 5
Alex Henderson is a veteran journalist/music critic whose work has appeared in Billboard, Spin, The L.A. Weekly, Creem, HITS, CD Review, Skin Two, Black Radio Exclusive, Thrash Metal and a long list of other well known publications. Known for his eclectic tastes, Alex has contributed several thousand CD reviews to The All Music Guide online and series of reference books since 1996. Jello Biafra, Sonny Rollins, Megadeth, Ice Cube, Live, Chick Corea, Public Enemy, Marduk, Bobby Brown, Ra and Everlast are among the many well known artists Alex has interviewed during his long career.
4. Alec Cunningham
“all tracks you can easily get into and sing along with … these tracks are easy to relate to … an arena rock sound.”
3.5 stars out of 5
Alec Cunningham is a journalist and freelance writer from Knoxville, TN where she currently works for Blank Newspaper, Knoxville’s longest-running independent publication, writing musician interview articles and album reviews.