Composer / Guitarist Neal Barnard Releases CarbonWorks Debut CD

HyPR Media announces the release of the debut album by CarbonWorks, the adventurous musical ensemble led by DC-based composer and guitarist, Neal Barnard. The group's self-titled CD is officially released today on iTunes and all other digital music sites. The album showcases 11 tracks of Barnard's original music that is a fusion of rock, blues, jazz, contemporary and Vietnamese music.

Equally diverse are the CarbonWorks members, comprised of a classical string quartet, a jazz band, rock musicians, traditional Vietnamese musicians, and Barnard himself on guitar and piano. Among the artists featured on the album are award-winning Italian vocalist Naif Hérin and New Orleans blues guitarist and actor, Chris Thomas King, best known for his supporting acting roles in the Coen Brothers' film O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Ray.

As a child in Fargo, North Dakota, Barnard studied piano, cello, and guitar, and took his love of music with him to Washington, DC, where he attended medical school while establishing himself in the DC music scene. Barnard started composing and recording songs in the 80s, and he played music professionally throughout his medical school and residency. With a penchant for the avant garde, Neal constantly writes songs that defy any genre categorization. He chooses unconventional time meters as well, in order to "tilt the song ever so slightly and give you that little jolt between the ears," as he puts it.

Be sure to check out the debut CarbonWorks CD - out today on all digital music sites!

More about Neal Barnard CarbonWorks music will surprise those who know Barnard as the physician who has authored more than 70 scientific publications and 18 books, whose NIH-funded research revolutionized the nutritional treatment of diabetes, and who is a recognized authority on science and health. As founder of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and a faculty member at the George Washington University School of Medicine, the trailblazing physician has dramatically influenced U.S. nutrition policies, arm-wrestled with the food industry, and worked to replace the use of animals in education and research with kinder methods.

In keeping with the tradition of luminaries like Albert Einstein, who played violin with symphony orchestras and Harvard researcher Rudy Tanzi, who played keyboards with Aerosmith, Barnard's scientific innovations are complemented by his explorations in music. As a way of bridging together these two worlds, Barnard gives talks about his findings on how music profoundly affects the brain and "why it beats heroin and Velveeta!"

For more info: CarbonWorksMusic.com