Stronger is an incredible solo piano album from Doug Hammer that consists of seven original pieces that were borne of an especially difficult period in Doug's life. He took the experiences and emotions of that time and set them to music in the hopes of helping others cope with their own challenges. The emotions expressed in the music are powerful and yet are often very fragile. Doug added effects (mostly various levels of reverb) that gently enhance those feelings. I can't imagine anyone really listening to this album and not being profoundly moved. This quote from Doug's website sums it up beautifully:

"Doug’s 20th release, STRONGER, explores overcoming challenges of any kind. Quiet, moving and building into an epic triumph, it celebrates the resiliency of the human spirit."

I should mention here that the music is also an inspiring listening experience if you aren't in crisis or facing daunting troubles. It's a warm, encouraging and uplifting album no matter where you are physically or emotionally and the music is beautiful!

Stronger opens with "Broken," a very haunting piece that begins with just a few notes and quite a bit of reverb to accentuate the feelings of fear, isolation and anguish. As the piece builds, the mystery deepens, but so do strength, determination and hope. "Uncertain" conveys the feelings that come when you just don't know what's going to happen next - tentative, but hopeful, yet still unsure. "Losing" begins in the upper half of the piano keyboard - very delicate and fragile, vulnerable. It gradually moves down into the "normal" playing range of the piano keyboard, gaining strength and determination as it goes and then closing much like it began. There is a certain amount of grace that occurs when you can accept what is happening and move forward, and the piece titled "Acceptance" expresses that beautifully without the use of words, just warm, hopeful and encouraging music. "Healing" is bright and lively - hope and optimism set to music along with feelings of triumph and success. "Perspective" comes when we get to the other side of whatever the crisis or problem was that was overwhelming us and can look back on the journey and what we learned from it. As difficult as some of the bumps in the road of life can be to deal with at the time, we can learn so much from them, emerging stronger and more resilient from the experience. "Stronger," the closing title track, says this so well as it closes this chapter of the story, offering encouragement and hope to anyone experiencing their own challenges.

Stronger is available to stream or download on Amazon and Apple Music/iTunes as well as on many of the streaming services including Spotify and Pandora. In addition to the recording, Doug is releasing short videos that relate to each track and sheet music is available from his website as well. There is a review of the songbook here on MainlyPiano.com, too. I give both my highest recommendation!