Raymond Scott Woolson

     I recorded my first album in 1988. It was a very primitive affair, 60 minutes of lo-fi noise improvs recorded in two days on a borrowed cassette boom box. It was barely listenable, but it was the first step of a music recording journey that has lasted for 30 years. At times extremely frustrating and disappointing, it has ultimately been a highly rewarding artistic pilgrimage.

     It has also been a very difficult road to walk. I was poor and alone when I started this venture. All down through the years I secretly hoped my music recordings would help rescue me from that, but I am still poor and alone today. And I’ve grown weary of the struggle, weary of carrying such multiple burdens single-handedly for so long.

     On top of this, it is clear to me that the creative well is running dry. I think my best songs are behind me now. Yet not one of them ever made the slightest impact in the world of modern music. My most popular album was released in 2006, and its extremely modest success was very short-lived.

     The numbers have been dropping ever since. I don’t want to continue plodding doggedly onward, finding it more and more difficult to come up with musical ideas, and knowing that each release will have fewer and fewer listeners.

     Therefore, I have decided that “Gratia et Pax” will be my last album of new music. It’s a good album and I’m content to let it stand as my final artistic statement. I still have a lot of old songs that have never seen a proper release (or any release at all), and I hope to eventually bring some of them out into the light. But I won’t be attempting anything new. That part of the journey is over.

     I want to say thanks to everyone who ever listened to any of my recordings. From the earliest tape trading days, to the latest social media era, you kept me going this long. All of you, and every one of you.

     Gratia et pax Christi exultet in corde tuo.

     --- RSW, April 27, 2018.