For the Willow Wept… (Sunrise Edition)
Release Date: June 24, 2017
© 2017 Keith Richie

For the Willow Wept… (Sunrise Edition) holds a deeply personal place in my heart. While the original version was released in 2012, the journey toward its completion began four years earlier—and it was anything but easy.

During that time, I was navigating an emotional storm. Sitting down to compose felt nearly impossible. When I could gather the energy, I might play a few notes, sketch an idea, or tweak a voice—but more often than not, I’d walk away. Days turned into weeks, weeks into months. The weight of everything I was experiencing made it difficult to focus, and each return to the project often pulled me deeper into a place I was trying to escape.

In retrospect, it’s no surprise that the album drifts between emotional highs and lows—it mirrors the state of my life during those years.

By late 2011 and early 2012, something changed. I began to reclaim my passion for music, bolstered by the support and encouragement of those close to me. I took the six tracks I had and began shaping them into something complete. I didn’t want to release an EP, so I included a reprise of Sea Dragon—essentially the same track with a new intro and outro—to bring balance to the album.

Then, something unexpected happened: I found inspiration.

A piece I’d been struggling with suddenly came together. That track became For the Willow Weeps Underneath the Stormy Skies, and it resonated with me so deeply that I named the entire album after it. Through the presence of someone very close to my heart, I found the strength to finish what I had started.

Although the original album released in June 2012, I always knew I’d return to it. Years later, with new perspective and growth as a composer, I revisited the project. I remastered the original tracks, removed the two earlier versions of Sea Dragon, and kept only the Reprise. I also wrote three new pieces to fully realize the album as a complete emotional arc—one that finally reflects the depth I had envisioned from the beginning.

For the Willow Wept… (Sunrise Edition) is a story of emotional resilience—of navigating darkness and finding the courage to move toward the light. It’s about owning your story, embracing your pain, and realizing that only you have the power to shape your future.

We all face sorrow—but even the longest night eventually gives way to dawn.

This edition is dedicated to my wife, who showed me what true happiness is.
She is my sunrise.
She is my Willow.

🎧 Listen on your favorite platform:
🔗 links.krichie.com/ftww  

Father Time

🎧 Epica – A Cinematic Odyssey by Keith Richie

"Music is a potent mood regulator. Simply by listening, our frame of mind changes. It can open a portal to another dimension where all sense of normality vanishes. "

Epica is a sweeping, cinematic journey through sound — a richly layered, emotionally expansive album that fuses ambient electronica, Berlin-school sequencing, and science fiction themes into a single immersive experience.

Crafted by Texas-based composer Keith Richie, Epica builds upon the legacy of his prior work (Ambient Highways, Skylines, For the Willow Wept...) and draws clear inspiration from ambient and electronic greats such as Tangerine Dream, Vangelis, Carbon Based Lifeforms, and John Carpenter. But what sets Epica apart is its deeply narrative structure — an album that plays like the score to an epic sci-fi or fantasy film that exists only in the listener’s imagination.

Each track serves as a chapter in a larger story: from the ethereal swell of “Remote Isolation” and the meditative pulse of “Rebirth,” to the childlike wonder of “Tiny Creatures” and the twilight tension of “Dusk.” The album peaks with the soaring title track “Epica,” where layered synths, cinematic drums, and Mimi Page’s haunting vocals conjure visions of interstellar heroism. The closing track, “There Are Other Worlds Than These,” named after Richie’s own publishing label and referencing Stephen King’s The Dark Tower, delivers a powerful finale — triumphant, textured, and emotionally resonant.

Like a great novel, Epica is filled with both wonder and tension, beauty and darkness. It’s music built not just for listening, but for feeling — perfect for dreaming, writing, reading, or escaping into other worlds. It invites replay after replay, each listen revealing deeper textures and hidden details.

Fans of sci-fi film scores, ambient storytelling, and imaginative soundscapes will find much to explore here. Epica is not just music — it’s a sonic universe waiting to unfold.

Digital Release: 10/15/2021

Find It on Your Favorite Platform:
links.krichie.com/epicaalbum

🌟 What Others Are Saying About Epica
A cinematic and emotionally expansive experience, Epica continues to captivate ambient and electronic music enthusiasts. Here’s what the critics have to say:

Journeyscapes Radio – "A cinematic-ambient opus that’s richly layered and deeply immersive."
👉 Read the review: www.journeyscapesradio.com/2022/07/album-review-epica-by-keith-richie.html

New Age Music Guide (Album Feature) – "Epica presents a powerful blend of ambient textures and soundtrack-like storytelling."
👉 Read the feature: newagemusic.guide/new-releases/keith-richie-epica/

New Age Music Guide (Single Feature) – "The title track captures the sweeping vision of the full album beautifully."
👉 Read the article: newagemusic.guide/newagemusic/keith-richie-epica-single/

“There Are Other Worlds Than These” is an original ambient composition by Keith Richie that explores the concept of alternate realities and unseen paths—emotional and cinematic in tone, with layered textures that pull listeners across invisible thresholds.

The title pays subtle homage to a well-known phrase from Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series, but the piece itself exists as a personal meditation on change, choice, and the universes we build within ourselves.

🔊 A journey beyond the veil, through soundscapes shaped by wonder, loss, and imagination.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by Stephen King or The Dark Tower series. 

Epica

Welcome to the Electric Panda, a notorious bar nestled in the heart of a sprawling, decaying metropolis. This seedy establishment serves as a sanctuary for the outcasts, the rebels, and the dreamers, all seeking solace or escape from their turbulent lives.

The night begins with a sense of revival as the bar's neon lights flicker to life, casting an eerie glow on the worn-down streets. Patrons stream in, their hopes and desires intertwining with the electric hum of the city. Here, in the shadows, old wounds heal, and new alliances form.

Within the bar, the air is thick with tension and the persistence of disparity. It's a place where the elite and the downtrodden collide, their lives intertwined by fate and circumstance. Stories of triumph and despair are whispered over glasses of potent elixirs, as the line between right and wrong blurs.

Amidst the chaos, a covert operation known only as SCF unfolds. Cloaked figures exchange cryptic messages, their plans hidden beneath layers of secrecy. In this den of iniquity, nothing is as it seems, and trust is a rare commodity.

For some, the bar represents a chance to escape from the harsh realities of the outside world. As the music swells, they lose themselves in the rhythm, if only for a fleeting moment. Yet, the shadows always linger, and the dream of freedom remains just out of reach.

At the heart of it all lies the Electric Panda itself, a symbol of both refuge and danger. This enigmatic establishment pulses with life, its walls echoing with the laughter and cries of those who dare to enter. Here, secrets are traded, and destinies are forged in the flickering light.

But beneath the surface, the bar is a social cesspool, teeming with corruption and vice. Deals are struck in dark corners, and lives are shattered with a single word. It's a place where the strong prey on the weak, and only the cunning survive.

Beyond the walls of the Electric Panda lies a digital wasteland, a desolate expanse where the remnants of a once-great civilization now decay. The patrons of the bar are all too familiar with this harsh reality, and they cling to the Electric Panda as their last refuge. In this dystopian world, a fascist government controls all information, rendering the internet a web of deceit. Truth is a rare commodity, and nothing can be trusted; AI illusions blur the line between reality and fiction.

As the night draws to a close, the air becomes tense around the silver chair tucked away in a shadowy corner of the Electric Panda. This chair, a symbol of ultimate authority and secrecy, witnesses the most clandestine of conversations and deals. Only the most daring or desperate dare to sit upon it, knowing it can seal their fate in an instant. This final scene serves as a poignant reminder of the fragility of hope and the enduring spirit of those who frequent the Electric Panda. It's a place where dreams are both born and shattered, and where the line between salvation and damnation is razor-thin.

In Electric Panda, Keith Richie masterfully weaves a tale of intrigue, despair, and redemption. Each track invites listeners to delve deeper into the world of the Electric Panda, where every note tells a story and every beat pulses with life.

🎧 Listen on your favorite platform:
🔗 owtt.lnk.to/electricpandaBC  

Escape

The Birth of Infinity

Back in early 2019, I released a single called Distant Visions. After hearing it, a fan commented:
“Almost sounds like something from a second interstellar suite.”

They were referring to my 2006 album The Maestoso Interstellar Suite—a project I re-released with extended material in 2016 for its 10-year anniversary. That comment stuck with me. Did it feel like a sequel? Could it be?

I toyed with the idea. But having just expanded the suite into a double-disc format in 2016, I wasn’t sure a sequel was the right move—especially given how the original was structured as a continuous, uninterrupted journey. I had also briefly considered a vinyl edition, but the flow of the piece and the 22-minute-per-side vinyl limit made it a poor fit for that format. The experience would have been compromised.

Around that time, I released a “radio edit” version of the suite called Singularities to provide an accessible entry point. But if I returned to the suite with new material, I feared I’d be stuck doing the same thing again: a full continuous version and a separate edited version. Frankly, I didn’t want to go through that process again—and since then, I’ve moved away from long single-track formats entirely.

Even then, I was already thinking about vinyl-friendly runtimes, aiming to keep my future projects under 44 minutes so they could fit comfortably on a single LP. I’ve also significantly upgraded my gear and virtual instrument libraries since that time, giving me access to orchestral and hybrid textures I could only dream of back then. Now I have the tools—but what should I do with them?

I thought: Maybe I don’t need a sequel at all. Maybe it’s not about making The Maestoso Interstellar Suite Part II, or Return to Maestoso, or anything like that. Maybe I just need to reimagine the entire idea as something ongoing—something open.

Looking back, I always felt I had to make compromises when producing the 10-year edition. Some sounds weren’t what I was hearing in my head. Hardware limitations forced me to bounce tracks just to finish mixing. I wanted that big, lush, hybrid orchestral sound—and I couldn’t quite get there.

Now I can.

And I’ve got older projects—like La Famille Du Solénoïde (The Family of Sol)—waiting for a modern update. Thematically, they fit perfectly.

So I’ve made a decision:
I’m not making a sequel to The Maestoso Interstellar Suite.

Instead, I’m creating something bigger.

Introducing Infinity

Infinity is an evolving series. A collection of volumes. A universe of sound that has no end—only pauses between stars. It’s not a sequel. It’s not a remix. It’s a living archive of exploration—part ambient, part orchestral, part space music, and completely me.

And to start, I’ll revisit the music that inspired it all.

I’ll go back and refine The Maestoso Interstellar Suite one final time—polish the edges, rework the structure to be vinyl-compatible, and finally bring it closer to what I always heard in my head.

But I won’t just re-release it.

I’ll rebrand it.

The Journey Begins

The Infinity series begins with:

Infinity Volume I – The Maestoso Interstellar Suite

Infinity Volume II – Singularities

Each will stand on its own—but together, they form the beginning of something open-ended. Something I can return to any time inspiration calls.

Infinity has no final tracklist. No end. Only volumes.

And when I’m ready, I’ll add another.

Maybe it’s a crazy idea. But that’s okay—I’m doing this for me.
And I hope you’ll enjoy the journey too.

🎧 Listen on your favorite platform:
🔗 owtt.lnk.to/infinity1BC  

Movement V (Time Dilation)

Movement I (Event Horizon)

The Expansion of Infinity

In 2019, after releasing my single Distant Visions, a fan reached out and said:
“Almost sounds like something from a second interstellar suite.”

That one sentence stirred something in me. It took me back to The Maestoso Interstellar Suite—a work I originally released in 2006 and expanded into a double-disc experience for its 10-year anniversary in 2016. I began to ask myself: Is there more to explore in that soundscape? Could there be a continuation—not a sequel, but a new frontier?

At the time, I had also released a companion version of the suite: a more accessible, “radio edit” style reimagining called Singularities. It wasn’t just a shortened take—it was a different perspective. Like looking at a galaxy from another angle.

And now, Singularities has found its true home—as the next entry in a new, ever-evolving musical journey.

Welcome to Infinity

Infinity is more than a project. It’s a living archive. A space where reinterpretations and original compositions coexist. Ambient. Orchestral. Space-driven. Timeless. It has no definitive ending—only a series of unfolding volumes, each offering a glimpse into the same emotional cosmos from a different light.

Infinity Volume II – Singularities

This volume reintroduces the material from The Maestoso Interstellar Suite through a reframed lens: shortened, accessible, and arranged to stand on its own as individual pieces. If the Suite was a continuous voyage, Singularities is the constellation map—each track a star with its own identity, orbiting the same emotional core.

Originally created as an alternate listening experience, this version of Singularities now shines as a fully realized volume within Infinity. It respects its source material while offering something more focused—more immediate—without losing depth.

Where It’s Going

The Infinity series continues to grow. Each volume refines, reimagines, or reaches beyond what came before. And there’s more to come:

Infinity Volume I – The Maestoso Interstellar Suite

Infinity Volume II – Singularities

With each step, I revisit and reshape ideas I once thought complete. And with every new piece, I get closer to the sound I’ve always heard in my head—now finally possible with the tools I have today.

Maybe it’s unconventional. Maybe it’s a little obsessive.
But that’s Infinity—and it’s not supposed to end.

🎧 Listen on your favorite platform:
🔗 owtt.lnk.to/infinity2BC  