COSMIC CATHEDRAL – the union of Neal Morse, Chester Thompson, Phil Keaggy & Byron House – launch new single ‘Time To Fly’
Cosmic Cathedral – the union of Neal Morse (Transatlantic), Chester Thompson (Genesis), Phil Keaggy (Glass Harp) & Byron House (session player with Robert Plant, Dolly Parton etc) – recently announced the release of their debut album ‘Deep Water’ on the 25th April 2025 via InsideOutMusic.
Today the band are pleased to launch the next taste of the album, and you can listen to the track ‘Time To Fly’ here: https://youtu.be/
Neal Morse says: “’Time To Fly’ came from one of our jam sessions and quite a bit of it was improvised in the room. Even the vocals in the verses. What a groove! Chester and Byron laid down this groove that Phil and I were making things up over the top of and I think it came out kind of over the top!”
Byron House comments: “I remember loving the way the groove & all the different sections of ‘Time To Fly’ came together. The horn section & backing vocals add really nice touches. Jaco was my original inspiration when choosing bass as my instrument — was a joy to play my original Fender fretless on this one!”
Phil Keaggy adds: “This song really swings—I agree with Byron that the Horns and BGVs really lift the tune! I chose my Fender Strat for rhythm guitar and my trusty old Zion guitar for the lead solo. This song is lyrically rich and optimistic! It weaves between different and appealing musical genres. Neal, Chester and Byron are top notch musicians, and this catchy song shows just that! Kudos also to Jerry Guidroz for a great mix!”
Watch the band perform the Introduction & Launch Out Part One from the 38-minute long epic Deep Water Suite here: https://youtu.be/
How do you make an album that is different to what is usually expected of you? One answer is to work with musicians who also have decades of experience and worldwide recognition, plant a few seeds, then stand back and see what happens. For the Cosmic Cathedral project and their debut album ‘Deep Water’, this is exactly what Neal Morse did, joining up with Chester Thompson, Phil Keaggy & Byron House. As Keaggy comments: “It was an honor to be invited and included in the making of the Deep Water project with Neal, Chester and Byron.”
Much of the album was created from jam sessions where Morse’s long-time audio partner Jerry Guidroz put the best parts together, then Morse and the band developed them into songs and epics. “Much of the album, and certainly “Time To Fly”, came directly from the jam sessions, where we were spontaneously creating in the room. Even a lot of the lyrics just came out of our mouths! It was amazing!”
What resulted from all this was a more groove-orientated feel, which Morse calls a “prog meets yacht rock meets The Beatles” kind of album, with an unmistakable jazz fusion influence: “These guys are real groovers: even if they’re playing proggy stuff, it has more of a Steely Dan feel to it, but when Phil and I start singing it sounds like The Beatles! In Deep Water, the ‘New Revelation’ section is based on a jam that turned into something that could have been on a Sting album! So there’s a lot of variety here.” Keaggy adds: “The album is a musical feast- full of creative imagination and heartfelt lyrics. In my opinion, this recording is one of the highlights of my musical career!“
And Chester Thompson says, “I am super excited for people to hear this album. There was great communication between all the players. One of my favorite projects I’ve ever been a part of!”
And coming from someone who’s played with Genesis and Frank Zappa, that’s quite a statement!
The album will be available as a Limited CD Digipak, Gatefold 2LP & as Digital Album. Pre-order now here: https://cosmiccathedral.
The full tracklisting is as follows:
1. The Heart Of Life 00:13:35
2. Time To Fly 00:06:53
3. I Won’t Make It 00:03:55
4. Walking In Daylight 00:08:56
5. Deep Water Suite I: Introduction 00:03:03
6. Deep Water Suite II: Launch Out, Pt. One 00:04:37
7. Deep Water Suite III: Fires Of The Sunrise 00:04:04
8. Deep Water Suite IV: Storm Surface 00:02:40
9. Deep Water Suite V: Nightmare In Paradise 00:06:58
10. Deep Water Suite VI: Launch Out, Pt. Two 00:01:51
11. Deep Water Suite VII: New Revelation 00:05:15
12. Deep Water Suite VIII: Launch Out, Pt. Three 00:01:48
13. Deep Water Suite IX: The Door To Heaven 00:07:51
The band also recently announced their first live show, playing live at the annual Morsefest US in October 2025.
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