​'Enlighten Me', is the first full length, studio album produced by Shades and Degrees, with all the songs written by Randy Zahara and Jim Shaw.  'Enlighten Me' will be available on all major music sites starting August 5 2024.

 

'Enlighten Me', is a multi-dimensional journey of conscious awareness that was created to fit several lifetimes of experience into the size, shape and creative capacity of the average cranium. 

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Featuring the talents of some of Canada's top musicians and vocalists, "Enlighten Me", is a thought-provoking examination of the human condition.  Fusing elements of roots, blues, rock, pop and country music with exceptionally well crafted and insightful lyrics, it is a noteworthy adult contemporary album with a fresh perspective on a full range of subjects and emotions.

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The care, creativity and thought that went into composing the music for each song has added a depth of emotional intelligence and engaging empathy to “Enlighten Me”, that not only maximizes the audiences understanding of every word, but which is so beautiful and powerful that “Enlighten Me” could be remixed without vocals and listened to with complete satisfaction as an instrumental album.

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Each track, from the title song’s lyrical plea to become more consciously aware and engaged with our own lives, to the last track of the album, Hope, which was inspired by Emily Dickinson’s 1861 poem “Hope Is a Thing With Feathers”, reflect a songwriting depth of experience, understanding, empathy and maturity that can only come from making as many successful trips around the sun as the album’s writers, Randy Zahara and Jim Shaw have.

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Shaw and Zahara are proud of the songs on "Enlighten Me" and feel a great debt of gratitude to the featured performers and musicians who have helped bring their artistic vision to life with an energy, love and dedication that travels instantly from the ears through the heart and into the soul.

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