Be The Change

About two years ago (in early 2010) I noticed that wherever I go I meet a lot more people complaining or worrying about something than people actually doing something about the things they worry about. I understand that the things we expose ourselves to affect us. I know that whatever we expose ourselves to more frequently will eventually have a bigger effect on us. I started to look at the media with new eyes and realized that even a lot of the stories and images that claim to represent the sunnier side of life have some unhappy or bitter twist to them. Knowing that music can make us feel good I started to scan my itunes-library for songs that provide some positive views on life and lyrics that are uplifting, motivational or inspiring ...without ifs or buts. To my surprise I didn't find many songs that provided empowering impulses on how to deal with change. But something happened: I knew what kind of songs I would be writing from now on and the idea of an album with the title "be the change" was born. I made a habit out of running to the piano as soon as an idea for a song would pop into my head. To be able to write it down later I captured melodies, chords and lyrics with the memo-function of a discarded mobile phone. Three months later I sang the first of these songs to a bunch of friends at my house. The reactions were so encouraging that I continued writing. I was thrilled by the atmosphere of playing for small audiences and started a series of livingroom concerts telling my story, talking about change and singing my songs while playing the piano in livingrooms across the country. 50 concerts, a few newspaper articles and a few interviews later I've been able to record 12 songs with a group of great musicians: Luca Glausen (drums), Kelvin Bullen (bass), Lea Barone (voc), Daniel Heiniger (voc), Heidi Gürtler (accordion), Mirko Arnone (guitar), Friederike Kettelhack (violin), Christoph Flueler (trumpet, trombone, tuba) and Zamira Angst (violin). I'm thrilled beyond belief that this dream of mine came true and I hope that we can touch many people's lives with the love, insight, creativitiy and joy that went into recording "be the change". Please enjoy! Contact us for further details or to book a livingroom concert. German Version/Deutsche Version: Ein Thema zieht sich durch alle zwölf Songs, die Balz Ewald in Erweiterung seiner Wohnzimmerkonzerte für die Band BALTHASAR geschrieben hat: Gedanken über Wandel, Wechsel und Neuorientierung und darüber, dass es manchmal Mut braucht, um einen eigenen Weg einzuschlagen. Soll ich meinem Herz folgen? Oder bleibe ich bei der Tradition? Wenn wir die Antwort den Songs auf "be the change" überlassen, lautet sie in etwa: Go for it! Probier es aus. Verstecke Dich nicht. Hör weg, wenn Dich jemand immer wieder bremst. Suche Deinen Weg. Lass sogenannte Idealvorstellungen los, wenn sie nicht zu Dir passen. Bring Boden unter Deine Füsse. Das ursprüngliche Konzept mit seinen Liedern bis in die Wohnzimmer des Publikums zu gehen und und dort mit zu Ende gedachten Liedern auf eine unkonventionelle Art Gespräche anzustossen, passt mit Bass und Drums und zwei Stimmen erweitert immer noch knapp in einen privaten Haushalt. Der Sound von BALTHASAR macht trotz tiefem Sinn die Herzen leicht und weckt Tatendrang. Stehen auch bei Dir ein paar Veränderungen an oder musst du auf andere Weise ein paar Hürden meistern? BALTHASAR liefert den Soundtrack dazu: Be the change you wish to see. Stilbezeichnungen der klanglichen Vorbilder von BALTHASAR reichen von New Adult Contemporary über Singer/Songwriter zu Vocal und Pop. Line-Up: Balz Ewald (Voc/Piano), Lea Barone (Voc), Kelvin Bullen (Bass), Luca Glausen (Drums), Daniel Heiniger (Voc). GastmusikerInnen: Zamira Angst (Violine), Mirko Arnone (Gitarre), Christoph Flueler (Trompete Posaune, Tuba), Heidi Gürtler (Akkordeon) und Friederike Kettelhack (Violine).