New Release for Hurricane Musician
By Julia Campbell, Managing Editor
Hurricane Valley Journal

It's amazing to hear Cory Reese's recent CDs when you consider that he has never had piano lessons and his piano playing is all self-taught. His first CD, "Moment of Peace," was released in 2001. His new CD, "Heart To Heart," was just released two weeks ago. He recently signed a distribution deal with Inspired Ideas, a company in Salt Lake, who will be placing his CDs in approximately 400 stores across the country. Billboard recording artist Paul Cardall said of "Heart To Heart," Reese's recent release: "Simple. Flowing. Heartfelt. My friend Cory has it all on his new piano CD."

Reese's music is very personal about situations people can relate to. Included with his CD packaging is an explanation about each piece and why it was written, making it easy for people to connect with the emotion conveyed in the music.

He composes music as a hobby, for the enjoyment of it. He started playing the piano a little bit when he was in high school in Sandy, Utah. He heard a piano song by David Lanz. He liked it and wanted to learn how to play it, so he bought the sheet music for the song, although he didn't know how to read the music. He was 18 years old when he first started practicing and playing around on the piano. He started writing music at 21. He is only 24, so he has come a long way in just a few years. He just sat down and taught himself how to play, and he still can't read music very well. He can play by ear somewhat. He says he hears music in his head, and he sits down at the piano to figure out how to play on the piano what's going in his head. Usually, when he sits down, he can't just get what he wants, so he has to play with it for a while. He writes music in chunks. He finds something he really likes, puts it aside for a few days, and then finds something else he likes, connects it, and finally turns it into a song. He feels that he has paid his dues with his hard practicing.

Reese and his wife, Melanie, have a 14-month-old son, Jackson. Reese loves living in Hurricane. He likes going to the grocery store and seeing people he knows, not being in such a large population, and not have to wait a half hour in traffic. Reese works as a mental health therapist or drug and alcohol therapist at Cross Creek Manor. He received a bachelor's degree in psychology from Southern Utah University in Cedar City and a master's degree in social work at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, Wyoming.

Reese says that his music has been a really good hobby for him, and he's grateful that Southern Utah has embraced it. "I've loved playing. Music is a great hobby for anyone. For me, it's a good stress reliever, a good pastime, and the people around here have been so supportive of it. It's been a real reward for me. Some days, playing music and writing music is so frustrating and discouraging. Other days, when something clicks, when I come up with something that really hits me, it's so rewarding. That's what keeps me writing music is those times when something really works."