MP3 Lewis Astwood - I Give Thanks

Bahamian artist, Lewis Astwood, Jr's, new SOCA CD is a mixture of island and dance beats with the feeling of being back home.

14 MP3 Songs
WORLD: Island, WORLD: Reggae



Details:
Lewis E. Astwood, Jr. is a talented musician in all aspects of the business as a songwriter, artist and producer. Born in his motherâs house in Jonestown, Eight Mile Rock of Grand Bahama, Bahamas, music has been a passion of his since he was a little boy. His musical influence was Lionel Richie, Bob Marley and Smokey 007. He enjoys many types of music and has produced 4 CDs, two reggae, one soul and now his latest Calypso CD.

At the age of 18, working at a dance club that had a live band, Lewis became fascinated with the piano. The piano player in the band would show him different cords and during Lewisâ breaks he would practice those cords in the hotel lobby until they were learned. Lewis is a self-taught musician as he never took classes or studied music. He has managed to effectively learn how to play drums, keyboard, guitar and bass all on his own. Learning to play these came very easy to him as heâd buy an instrument and practice faithfully until he could play.

Lewis started to write songs around the age of 16. Writing lyrics came very natural to Lewis especially after he purchased his first piano. Heâd be practicing on the piano and the lyrics would just come to him while playing. This is what gave him the passion to become a songwriter.

Lewis lived in Canada for 7 years from 1987-1994 and had his own small recording studio in his basement. This studio sparked his interest to become more involved with sound engineering and producing. In 1994, Lewis put together a band called âThe Prophetsâ, where he played rhythm guitar and was the lead singer. The band played together for about 6 months at local clubs in the Freeport, Grand Bahama area.

In 1996, Lewis released the reggae CD, âBlood Riverâ. Lewis wrote all the lyrics, played all the instruments and produced the CD. All the songs were sang by Lewis with his longtime friend, Copper, as the lead rapper. This was Lewisâ first effort as a producer. After the release of âBlood Riverâ, Lewis became the opening act for such artists as Lady Saw, Barrington Levy, Bounty Killer and Admiral Bailey when they played in Freeport.

In May 2001, Lewis produced and released his second CD, âA Little Romanceâ. This was a compilation of 15 soul and love songs. Fourteen of the songs on this CD were written by Lewis over the years. This CD is a true vision of who Lewis Astwood is as a person, songwriter, artist and producer.

In 2002, he built his own recording studio, Astwood Records, in Olympia, Washington. Out of this studio in 2003, Lewis released his third CD, âGrave Robberâ. This was his second reggae album.

His latest CD, released in September of 2006 is called, âI Give Thanksâ. Once again it shows Lewisâ versatility and creativity when it comes to producing, song writing and building beats. This is a representation of Calypso music at its best with a great island sound and many childhood memories brought out within the lyrics. This CD is dedicated to his father as he was the inspiration behind this new CD and has always been a strong father figure in Lewisâ life.