A local guitar-player is sharing his "labour of love" for the first time, expressing his enthusiasm for the Psalms. 

Winnipeg guitarist Rod Machovec is releasing an album of all-new music inspired by biblical Psalm texts. The music on the CD was written as a way to deal with the hills and valleys we have in our lives. Machovec describes the recording as “a 47-minute journey through the human experience.”

Machovec explains that over the past several years The Psalm Project has been a labour of love, and at the beginning was a way to get over a serious case of writer's block. Machovec credits the idea of composing music inspired by the psalms as being the therapeutic exercise that got him past the writer's block and got him playing guitar again.

He found that some of the texts that are found in the psalms “are surprisingly edgy and earthy, and very authentic to the human experience.” The Psalms that inspired the songs on the recording are listed beside the tracks listing. Machovec says that listeners can read the text of the Psalms to see how they inspired his composing of the individual tracks.

In these COVID 19 times “The Psalm Project: Music for the Mess,” is a perfect way to wind down from the craziness of the day and reflect and relax while listening to some great new music for classical guitar.

Machovec has been enjoying an active and successful performing and teaching career here in Winnipeg for about 30 years. He has studied with guitar greats such as Norbert Kraft, and Sharon Isbin, and has studied at such places as the University of Toronto and at the Aspen Music Festival.