"Dreyam" was (is?) the pseudonym for a highly fluid music collective comprised of Chris, plus whoever he could bribe, threaten, coerce, blackmail or otherwise "convince" to help him out with whatever project he was working on at the time.

The word "dreyam" has a rather interesting etymology, which is why Chris chose it as his... well, alias. Originally a Saxon word circa the 9th century, it meant "pagan festival" or "party", basically any kind of Bacchanalian piss-up. Derived from this came the Old English word "dréam" (pronounced DREE-am, two separate syllables), which meant "song." Interestingly, from this root comes the modern English word "dream." Kind of cool, huh?

Dreyam was founded way back in 1989 (from the dregs of a previous doomed musical venture called Avatar) to write and record a commissioned work for Sault Ste. Marie Anishnabe artist Peter Maqua. This composition became "The Creation Cycle" (NWS001), a forty-minute "concept" work which actually sold very well, despite the total lack of promotion (Maqua's art installation "Creation Cycle '89" toured galleries throughout North America and The Creation Cycle cassettes were sold at those venues.) See the Projects and Links pages for more info. Since its release, Northwind has received requests for copies of The Creation Cycle from all over Canada and the U.S. as well as England, Germany and even Australia. How it managed to spread that far I have no idea. Kind of like the musical version of a computer virus, hmmm?

The Creation Cycle spawned more work for Dreyam over the following years, notably Superior: Journeys on an Inland Sea, a commissioned composition for Gary and Joanie McGuffin (see the Projects and Links pages for more info) to accompany their book of the same name. This in turn generated some more commissions from such emminent institutions as the CBC, TV Ontario and Algoma Central Corporation, among others. And so it goes....

No description of Dreyam would be complete without acknowledging some of the people who have, at one time or another, contributed their talents to make Dreyam's various projects successful. They are (in no particular order):

• Paul Zuwala - flautist, saxophonist, MIDI wind controller player and collaborator on The Creation Cycle. Paul was also one half of the previously-mentioned Avatar.
• Bob Norris - classical/flamenco/jazz/rock/blues/and-everything-else guitarist extraordinaire. Bob contributed to Superior: Journeys on an Inland Sea and the "Algoma" soundtrack project.
• Jane Ellenton - great jazz saxophonist and all-round super person who played that amazing sax part on the Superior "Reborn in Light" track, which you can hear on the Music page.
• Clare McNaul - Co-founder of Crazy Man Michael, good friend, and an excellent vocalist. There's a link to her store's website on the Links page. She contributed a great vocal track to Superior, and played a major part in The Lady of the Lake.
• Blain Bovee - Clare's partner/husband, and the main guy behind the Lady of the Lake project, not to mention a classy guitarist and mandolin player. There's a link to Blain's web page on the Links page.
• Jennifer Murray - One of the singers in Solar Syster (one of Chris's many previous bands),she contributed a vocal track to Superior.
• Ruth Fletcher - a truly amazing person and a close friend, she collaborated with me and Ward (following) on the spoken word portion of Superior. She is also the voice.
• Ward Conway - Another amazing person and close friend, Ward collaborated on the spoken word portion of Superior. Ruth and Ward live together in a beautiful log cabin perched on the rocks overlooking Lake Superior at Montreal River Harbour. In addition to their material contributions to the project, they were also a great source of inspiration, encouragement, spiritual guidance, friendship and unwavering support.
• Alison Mills - My daughter, whose voice -- both live and sampled -- appears in several places in the Superior music. In addition to offering her voice, she's also a continuing source of inspiration, and a truly amazing person besides.
• Eagleheart Drummers/Singers - Besides hiring me to produce an album of songs for them, they also contributed a Native drum song to the Superior project. Great people, and amazing performers.

Although Chris has, at various times in his checkered musical career, played virtually every kind of music, from grunge rock through heavy metal to blues, jazz, folk, celtic and (yeah) even country, Dreyam has, due to the nature of most of its commissions, become somewhat "typecast" into the New Age genre (although Chris prefers to think of it as "new age with teeth"). Dreyam's influences come from a wide variety of musical sources, from Peter Gabriel and Youssou N'Dour to Miles Davis, Kitaro and Jean Michelle Jarre to David Gilmour, Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton. (You can read more here, if you feel like it.)

In spite of a protracted period where it definitely had one foot in the grave, so to speak, Dreyam seems to have managed a full recovery, and is currently working on new and YES! even better material. At least, that's my story and I'm sticking to it...