Overall Rainshadow Sky has an exceptionally meditative and contemplative feel. Tracks such as "Autumn Clouds" and "The Last Warm Day in October" have the ability very easily take the listener to many inner worlds with repeated listening. There are even some overtly moody and melancholy songs such as "Sorrow in Spring", "Hope's Last Whisper", and "Through Tears" which, at first reading of the titles, sound like they might be real downers but these songs are so achingly and attractively beautiful that they seem to express a very perceptible sense of healing in the face of suffering.
The album is played "live," taken from a series of "house concerts" Jeff played in 2007 and 2008; however, the music was recorded directly into his computer, so there are no "audience sounds" (e.g., people coughing, shifting around in their chairs, etc.), and we are getting the "best of both worlds" (i.e., "live," and "studio").
Amazingly, there are no overdubs; Jeff plays everything on his "Chapman Stick" (see: www.stick.com for info), which looks somewhat like a guitar fretboard, but can produce an amazing array of sounds (indluding "drums"!).
The compositions on the album are too diverse to simply "categorize": some pieces are soft, almost "solo guitar" pieces (reminiscent of early Windham Hill), whereas other pieces (such as the wonderful title piece, my favorite) create a darkened, yet gentle ambiance suggestive of, well, the cover photo: Thick, yet not ominous, clouds, overlooking an immense open landscape.
