Doug Blair’s new album “Horizon” is an inspired mix of progressive chillwave, triphop, groove, funk and lo-fi, released on Heart Dance Records.
Doug Blair is a Cincinnati-based composer and progressive ambient electronic musician. Originally from Gettysburg, PA, and coming from a military family, Doug recalls his passion for music beginning at a very early age. He began playing saxophone in elementary school band, but quickly realized that his true love was the guitar, and begged his parents for one for Christmas. After receiving his first basic acoustic student model, he became instantly hooked.
Doug was fortunate enough to take some guitar lessons in junior high. After entering high school, a very talented upperclassman who later attended Berklee School of Music, had taken notice of Doug’s interest in playing guitar, and spent much time mentoring him, which Blair still remains grateful for to this day. Blair took great inspiration from watching videos on MTV and would often try to emulate the music of Mr. Big, Van Halen, Dream Theater and Extreme. All of his curiosity, interest, lessons and years of practice have led to Blair becoming skilled at playing not only acoustic guitar, but also electric guitar, mandolin, 4,5,6 string and fretless bass, and also piano.
Blair considers himself a lover and fan of many styles of music. As a kid, Blair was a closet jazz and blues fan, and still remains inspired by musicians in both genres including, Eric Clapton, BB King, Stevie Ray Vaugh, John Coltrane, Charles Mingus and Django Reinhardt. With a wide array of tastes, Doug also still finds himself fascinated by the music of Prince, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Pink Floyd, John Lennon, The Doors, James Brown, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and many, many more.
Besides being a talented musician, Doug is also a father and husband, has served in the military, and holds a BS in Criminal Justice and Psychology. He still considers himself to be a student of music, striving to create something new and better each day, and says that releasing his new album Horizon, produced by Cass Anawaty, on the Heart Dance Records label signifies his greatest new beginning as a musician. The music on Horizon blends many of Doug’s different styles and tastes of music to create his own unique sound, which has been described as a cross between ambient, electronic, funk, chill, lo-fi, trip hop and smooth jazz.
Blair’s hopes with his music are that the listener is able to interpret and define what each song means to them, without being influenced from outside sources. He often remembers this quote by Billy Joel, which helps him to express his feelings about his music, “I think music in itself is healing. It’s an explosive expression of humanity. It’s something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we’re from…everyone loves music.”
For more information, see heartdancerecords.com
Press release by the label