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Songwriter Trevor Hall has a new perception of time

Singer and songwriter Trevor Hall has loved music since he was born. His father was a musician and had a large record collection that Hall explored regularly.

So, Hall, who will play Park City Live on Aug. 7, felt disturbingly lost when he became disenchanted by his chosen profession a few years ago.

"Music was a way for me to explore my internal world and emotions and it helped me make sense of things, but because of the traveling, touring and grind, music became a thing that wouldn’t allow me to do those things anymore," Hall told The Park Record during a phone call from Los Angeles, California. "It became almost a stressful thing for me and when that happened, I really suffered. So, for the first time in my career, I stopped and didn’t know when I was going to come back or write something again."

The break proved to relieve Hall, but also caused some unease.

"It was also scary, because I didn’t know if I was ever going to write songs again," he said. "After a few months in solitude, when my mind cooled down, some songs started bubbling up."

However, these weren’t songs that made him want to write an album.

"They just came up like they were trying to heal me and rekindle my love of music," Hall said. "I was able to return to where I felt what music was like for me in the first place."

The songs that he wrote during his musical rebirth eventually became his album, "Chapter of the Forest," the first in an intimate three-album series that include "Unpack Your Memories" and his latest, "Kala."

"’Chapter of the Forest’ is one of the more important record for me, because I found myself musically," Hall explained. "I was able to refocus and that led into

‘Unpack Your Memories.’"

After releasing "Chapter of the Forest," Hall found he was unafraid of sharing his most intimate songs, some of which that had never been played outside of his bedroom.

"I recorded these songs when they first came through me and I felt an energy within them," he said. "I wanted to share that with my fans and family. So, I decided to put together an album and it turned out to be a fun project to do."

Still, Hall did have some reservations about the album.

"I wasn’t so much scared of the content of the songs, but more about the production," he said with a laugh. "However, it was all very positive and in the end, I was happy to share these songs."

The last album of the trilogy, "Kala," will be released on Aug. 21, and it was inspired by Hall’s grandmother.

"A year and a half ago, I was sitting with her and out of the blue, she looked up at the sky and said, ‘Trevor, isn’t time such a wonderful gift?’" Hall remembered. "Before that, I had always a little stressed out by time, because I looked at the pressure it put on me.

"I mean, time had a start and an end and I felt like I had to figure out everything because I would run out of time," he said. "But over the next few months, my grandmother’s words kept coming back to me and has helped my perception of time slowly change."

Hall began looking at time as a space for growth and healing, and he began writing songs.

"The world kala has different meanings, but in Sanskrit it means time," he said. "All the songs, more or less, have something to do with the cycles of time. We’re slowly starting to introduce the new songs into our show and we will play some when we come to Park City."

The songwriter’s new perception of time and, in a sense, life, has helped me become a better artist.

"I think, however, what these three albums have done for me is to make me a better listener," he said. "When I make music now, I’m listening to what’s happening around me and I hope I’m able to play better as well."

That has helped him focus fully on music again.

"Even when you play an older song, even if you play it 300 times live, it will be different, because it’s a new adaptation of it," he said.

Trevor Hall will perform at Park City Live on Friday, Aug. 7, at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $20 to $40 and can be purchased by visiting http://www.parkcitylive.com.


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