Credits:
All songs produced, composed and arranged by Cheryl Gunn
Tracks 2, 8, and 10 composed and arranged by Cheryl Gunn and Nicholas Gunn
Flutes written by Nicholas Gunn
Lyrics from The Sun At Midnight adapted from sonnets by William Shakespeare
All songs published by Anagram Music, ASCAP.
For information regarding licensing or publishing e-mail: anagram@pacbell.net
Cheryl Gunn: piano, keyboards, synthesizers, vocals, congas, percussion
Andy Abad-Garcia: guitars, Umberto Ferria: viola, Amanda Archer: cello
Recorded at Anagram West, Camarillo, CA by Nicholas and Cheryl Gunn
Mixing Engineer: Nicholas Gunn
Mastered by Brad Vance at Quadim Mastering, Westlake Village, CA
Design: Wolfgang Fenchel
Photographs of Cheryl Gunn: Jose Pombo, Venice, CA
Liner Notes: Jonathan Widran
Thanks
to Brad Pressman and the entire crew at EarthTone, the musicians that played so beautifully on this record and to
Joe Messina for the advice.
Special thanks to my family for supporting and believing in me, you all mean so much and give me inspiration.
Especially Nick, for putting up with my constant, "Let's re-mix it!" Your patience is appreciated more than my
words could ever say.
Reviews:
New Age artist Cheryl Gunn exploded on the msuic scene in 1997, with her debut album (favorably reviewed here),
Vanity of Venus. With the release of The Sun at Midnight, Cheryl takes us on a musical journey of love and
romance through the ages of time. Listen to slices as the title cut and "Venus Over Skye" as Cheryl creates
dreamy, sweeping moonscapes with synthesizer layers enhanced by melodic piano lines, along with flute, guitar,
cello and viola. Along with some help from husband Nicholas, Cheryl offers up slices as "Au Pay Au Bellum," the
rhythmic "SDeeker's Quest," the seriousness of "Beyond the Blue" and the fierceness of "Temple Cat." Second
half happenings have "MIrror of Mercy," the reverberating "Echo of Time," plus "Rab-Un Naw," the flighty
"Gossamer Wings," "The Forever Garden" and the sun sets for Cheryl following "Legend." Passionate feminine
melodic sensability from the multi-talented Cheryl Gunn!
Bob Morello
Boston Post-Gazzette
July 2, 1999
Cheryl Gunn's 1997 debut album, Vanity of Venus, captured the spirit of ancient mythological legends that had to
do with affairs of the heart. On her follow-up release, The Sun At Midnight, the Southern-California native turns
inward for inspiration. The CD title refers to finding light in darkness, while the lyrics from the title track are adapted
from Shakespeare sonnets. Gunn possesses the unique gift of creating vibrant, visual images through her music.
Therein lies the beauty of this recording.
With its lilting piano melody and gentile vocal harmonies, "Mirror of Mercy," brings to mind a couple gracefully
dancing. Complete with bagpipes, "Au Pax Au Bellum" is a tribute to Gunn's Scottish heritage; the title being the
Gunn clan family motto meaning "either peace or war."
Besides playing keyboards and percussion, Gunn produced, arranged and composed these songs along with co-
collaborator and husband Nicholas Gunn-a top contemporary instrumentalist flutist with a string of his own
releases.
Lorraine Gennaro
CDNow
August 1999
Cheryl Gunn's Earthtone Records debut The Sun At Midnight is a radiant ode to maintaining optimism and hope in
a world that is all too often filled with darkness. Blending lyrical melodies, lush and sensual production textures
and the bright, provocative images of titles like "Seeker's Quest," "Mirror of Mercy," "Gossamer Wings" and "The
Forever Garden," the versatile keyboardist/composer shares an immensely personal journey towards self-
discovery with her listeners. Helping her convey this powerful message of personal redemption are flutist
husband Nicholas Gunn (one of instrumental music's most popular artists who recently signed to Earthtone) as
well as Andy Abad Garcia (guitars), Umberto Ferria (viola) and Amanda Archer (cello).
For Gunn, one of the true joys of creating instrumental music is allowing the colors of the instruments and sounds
to convey the meaning, just as a lyric would in a pop song. "I love the idea of letting the listener ascribe personal
meaning to the songs I write," she says. "For me, The Sun At Midnight is about hope, personal faith and
inspiration. In my mind, even at the bleakest of times, there is always hope, and just cause you can't see the sun
doesn't mean it doesn't exist. That theme, however, can be applied in many ways. Ultimately its meaning lies
within one's own imagination. It could represent a ray of light in one's darkest hour or it could simply be a full
moon on a clear night lighting up the landscape as the sun would during the day. I love to encourage people to
create their own place in my music, to get lost in it as a soothing escape from an often stressful world."
After establishing herself as a versatile musical presence on Nicholas' best-selling Crossroads - composing,
producing, arranging, engineering and mixing virtually the entire recording, Gunn came into her own with her
popular 1997 solo dubut Vanity Of Venus, a perfectly realized weaving of modern love and the romantic spirit of
mythological legends. "Working together with Nick on these projects and being together practically twenty-four
hours every day has been tremendously challenging, but also highly rewarding," she says. "We find that our
strengths and weaknesses compliment each other and make for a successful relationship both personally and
professionally."
Steppin' Out Magazine
August 1999
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