Multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer Chris St. Hilaire announces Traveling Man EP
Album Artwork: Three Hares Drawing © Dru Marland
BROOKLYN, NY - Trinidadian-American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer, Chris St. Hilaire, will independently release his second EP titled Traveling Man. In his latest release, St. Hilaire captures the essence of moving on and moving around; of saying goodbye, letting go of old things, old ideas, old relationships, and embracing life's constant changes. Written, recorded, and produced by St. Hilaire over the last three years, Traveling Man started to take form while touring the world as a member of Sinkane and alongside Doyle Bramhall II. In the years to follow, and throughout the course of making this EP, dealing with personal change, a pandemic that rocked the musical community, and the death of his Father all became focal points for St. Hilaire.
When starting to collect songs for Traveling Man, St. Hilaire quickly found that the record was becoming very intentional. “It became very clear to me that this needed to be its own statement, not just a random or unconnected compilation of songs,” he says. Capturing the feeling of constant change and facing difficult transitions head on – those are the central themes to this record. But St. Hilaire recognized that out of that change came some very positive things, and that it cleared space for new unimaginable things to take shape.
In over a decade and a half as an internationally touring musician, Chris St. Hilaire has garnered experience on the road that has greatly influenced him personally and professionally. When passing through cities like New Orleans and Detroit, and storied venues like The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville or the Beacon Theatre in New York City, there’s an ancestral aspect of music history that St. Hilaire has held on to and drawn inspiration from. “You feel like you’re part of a continuation of the same story of all these legends,” says St. Hilaire about following in the footsteps of musicians that he grew up listening to and hearing about. “Being able to feel a part of energy and a part of that story as a traveling experience, it has an effect where you feel aligned and connected to the past.” Traveling Man pays homage to the experience of continuing on that musical journey.
Towards the end of writing and recording songs for Traveling Man, St. Hilaire suffered a great loss with the passing of his Father after a long battle with illness. An early inspiration from a young age, his Father played a role in helping cultivate the songs that made it on the record. “When I first had these songs, specifically ‘Traveling Man’ and ‘Practice What You Preach,’ I remember doing the first demos of those songs at his house,” says St. Hilaire. “He was very involved in the early formation of the songs and was one of the first people that I showed these songs to. If it passed his bar, then I knew that it was worth pursuing, and I always trusted his ears.”
Traveling Man represents a creative change and rebirth for St. Hilaire as an arranger and producer. Throughout the record, lush percussion and vocal harmonies are featured in ways previously unexplored by the artist. On “Beam of Light (for Havana),” St. Hilaire draws inspiration from studying the complexities of Afro-Cuban rhythms, specifically the rumba form of Guaguancó. Across the record, St. Hilaire’s production techniques transform the songs from their basic roots into complex and unique soundscapes. On the rhythmic title track, “Traveling Man,” St. Hilaire explores what it means to be a world traveling musician, in the most literal sense. While experiencing life in motion on the road can provide lessons on how to navigate life’s changes, it doesn’t come without its own challenges. “This kind of travelling can be damaging to relationships and leave you having a constant sense of wandering and longing,” speaking of the burdens that this lifestyle can accentuate.
For Chris St. Hilaire, the Traveling Man EP represents a symbol of new beginnings, of a new spring which breathes freshness into life's creative process. The release accompanies significant personal transformation, a process that has been no less than difficult, but necessary to birth new creativity.
For more information visit www.chrissthilaire.com
Chris St. Hilaire
Traveling Man EP
Release Date: March 18, 2022
Label: Independent
Formats: Digital download, streaming
Track Listing:
Everybody Knows It But You
Beam of Light (For Havana)
By Myself
Round and Round
For all inquiries, please contact:
Nick Gunther
Cleotone Entertainment
nick@cleotone.com