Clarelynn Rose Bio

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Biography

The "guitar dharma" of acoustic fingerstyle player Clarelynn Rose reflects her extensive time in the woods, in China, and as a Buddhist. From northern California now living in Wales, Rose has developed an elegant and enchanting neo-classical instrumental sound.

Her time as a forester is reflected in her music. "My music is a kind of natural resources interpretation. When writing a piece, I get a feeling about it and match that to a feeling I've had elsewhere. Usually that's an experience in the woods."

While studying in Santa Cruz, a friend who thought Clarelynn's compositions sounded like Alex de Grassi introduced her to the Windham Hill recordings, which were a tremendous influence and inspiration. Shortly afterwards, she had an opportunity to study briefly with Windham Hill guitarist Daniel Hecht.

Living in China as a university student, Clarelynn learned to speak Chinese and wrote songs in Mandarin. She also studied Qigong, TaiChi, Daoist and Buddhist teachings. Still a practicing Buddhist, her compositions Amitabha Buddha and Song of Putuo Mountain are based on traditional Buddhist chants.

In 1999, Clarelynn had the good fortune to attend a one-week seminar with guitarists Alex de Grassi and John Renbourn. For some years, de Grassi provided feedback on her compositions, greatly enriching their orchestration, color and texture. Renbourn remained an important influence as well until his passing in 2015, an encouraging presence.

After establishing her independent label, Heartwood Music, in 2000 Clarelynn produced her debut CD, The Redwood Sidthe, followed by Elegant Tern, and Meadow Run. In the words of one reviewer, the Meadow Run CD established her as "clearly one of the premier steel string acoustic guitar soloists/composers playing and recording today."

In 2004, after hearing recordings of Robert Barto performing the works of Sylvius Leopold Weiss on the lute, she took up the 13-course baroque lute and studied briefly with Barto at a Lute Society of American seminar.

She performed extensively throughout Northern California, sharing stages with Alex de Grassi, Doug Young, Steve Baughman, Dorian Michael, and Teja Gerken, with performance venues in the US, UK as well as China.

In 2005, Clarelynn was granted a composers visa to the UK. In the ensuing years, she sang and played with the Penicuik Taize Vaults singers, played the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and a concert series at St John's church in Edinburgh. Partnering with storyteller Ruth Kirkpatrick she played the Scottish Storytelling Center, Craigmiller Castle, and other venues around Edinburgh.

During this period she also released the 'Offerings: Guitar Meditations" Cd, and penned the Guitar Dharma booklet.

Clarelynn now lives in Wales, near Cardiff, offering music online. CDs are available at selected bookstores and on the internet iTunes, amazon.com, and other vendors.

Clarelynn has developed the concept of Guitar Dharma, finding that many of the principles of her Buddhist practice can be directly applied to practice, performance, and composition. "Playing guitar, for example, often gives me the same centered, grounded feeling as meditation," she comments.

Primarily exposed to classical music as a youngster near Chicago, Clarelynn played in quartets and orchestras, including the Chicago Youth Symphony. She received various honors as a violist, including selection as first chair violist in the Illinois All-State Orchestra at age 15. She also learned the harp.

When her viola and harp were burned, she picked up the guitar at age 17. Immediately she began writing her own music, and remained a predominantly self-taught player who relies on intuition when composing. "I try different harmonies and rhythms. My heart and my ear know when it's right. It's rare that I write things down, as it's easier to remember the shapes and phrases."