On Saturday, 17 September 2016, the Utah Music Awards red carpet event was held at the Covey Center for the Arts in Provo, Utah. Among the recipients of awards was the Cedar Breaks © Band.
Two of the band’s songs of two different genres – one “folk/country” and one in the”rock” category – were nominated for awards. The group won for “Best Rock Song” for their song “Ayre.” The song, completed in July 2016, is an energetic rock song with strong guitars, vocals, and drums and will be released in September as a single. The song will also be featured on their new album “Myst, Thread of Life” which is scheduled to release in 2017. “Ayre” answers questions about Cedar Breaks’ name origins. One of the band members commented, “It’s a bit of a ‘look up from the device and get back to nature and the Spirit’ song. We love cell phones and devices, but there is a whole world out there waiting to communicate with us if we will just listen.”
The music video production on the song is scheduled for next month. When questioned about the meaning behind the song, one of the band members replied:
When you stand at the cliffs of Cedar Breaks © if you look up at night or down in the day, either way, you can see millions of years in the past as well as the endless possibilities in either direction. You can look across the vast waves of green cedars that are now, and realize in the “Myst” of all that time that you have choices to make that will affect generations. You realize that you must step forward with meaning and intent.”
The second song nominated for an award, “My Dog,” released as a single in 2015, was inspired by the loss of one of the band members’ family pet. The song and music video have already won for “Best Country Song” at the World Music and Independent Film Festival in Washington DC and for “Best Family Music Video” at the International Family Film Festival in Hollywood. The song was also made into a Children’s Book last fall by Guardian Angel Publishing in St. Louis. About the song, one of the band members remarked, “perhaps we have finally answered the lifelong question, as to whether dogs go to heaven…… and that’s important.” The music video, featuring their kids and lots of puppies, shows that the band doesn’t take themselves too seriously and that they know how to have some fun all the while presenting a valuable message. KCSG.com Television reports, “The interesting combinations of style, age, and different musical backgrounds of the band members has produced a sound that has been noted as being ‘fresh, distinctively different and timeless'” They further state in the article that the members of the group combine their immense talents “as a way to present top quality media that they hope will make a difference in the lives of others with the use of stories and themes about faith, family, and heritage.”
The members of the band include classical guitarist Mike Ericksen, guitarist and pop singer Michael Gibbons, classical singer Rebecca Croft, pop singer Diana Rogers Glissmeyer, and banjo player Keith Behunin. They have put their strong message and music into books, films, documentaries, speaking engagements, and music videos that have gone all over the world. The mission statement of the band is:
Do not trust your good intentions.
Trust your willingness to act.
Even in the face of challenges.
Consider all those that have gone before.
Know the you that is now.
For today we change the world.
And leave behind a gift, redeemable.
To those dearest to our hearts.”
