Blue Black & Gray
Illustration Album Art by Donna Massa 2017
This was a very exciting project because I had the opportunity to collaborate with another artist, musician and singer songwriter. He wanted me to illustrate is album cover and I was delighted to do this project with him.
The only way I can truly understand how to approach this was to first know about the musician. This would be a meeting or an interview with the musician talking about the genre of his music, what was his message to his fans, did each song have a different message that told a story or were they all uniquely different from one another. His style, quality of his voice, instruments he plays, history of what the album was about even to the name of the album and did it have some significance to him personally or the music. The second important part the project is to hear his music and the lyrics to his songs. At the time the album was not completed, however I listened to the some of his songs he had recorded. The third and final part of the project is to watch the artist play, sing and perform at a gig. this would give me an understanding of the emotional feelings he portrays while he is playing and singing.
The title of the album Blue, Black & Gray are the colors seen having a near death experience. He told me about a horrific motorcycle accident he suffered in 1984 at only nineteen years old. How he was pronounced dead at the scene. He traveled out of his body and slowly floated into space and the start of the vast universe. These three colors are what he encountered with the exceptional pleasure of peace and tranquility. He was perfectly happy accepting his journey until he turned to look back and saw his mother running towards his body with the medics trying to get a heart beat. He said to himself “If my mother sees this it will kill her.” As soon as he said this to himself he was transported instantly back to his body in horrific pain. He sustained serious injuries to his head, left hand, and whole left leg. The prognosis was immediate amputation to the lower leg below the knee. Fortunately an incredible semi retired surgeon Kathleen Roberson who used to work in the mash units in Korea was contacted and she was interested in the case. She would not accept amputation as an option rather, she was determined to save the leg and she miraculously did.
This musician is a multi talented and highly gifted artist who’s heritage is Native American and English. The Native American tribe of his ancestors is the Iroquois and in the inner round part of the disc is a ribbon pattern that is distinctly Iroquois Native American.
In the center of the disc is the artist musician Jeff Hayford with a heart symbolizing his passion and joy playing his G&L Blues Boy electric guitar. The blue surrounding him is the color of the sky, and the inner part of the disc is black and gray. This is the journey of his soul as it was leaving the earth.
The outer rim of the disc is a rainbow of colors, this is a reflection of light when you turn a disc on certain angles. The outside of the disc is the blue, black and gray colors bleeding into each other symbolizing his journey through space heading towards a portal. He chose not to go through that portal and return to Earth.
Jeff Hayford is a unique and compassionate individual who is sensitive to the human condition. He is an advocate for Chronic Pain as he has suffered all his life battling with it. His humanitarian efforts-have been many throughout his life holding events by bringing other musicians together for worldly causes. He is the founder of a not for profit social enterprise A4H Arts4Humanity “For The Benefit Of All.”
Jeff Hayford is a talented musician, graphic artist, writer and music producer. He has performed up and down the east coast from the Florida Keys to Portland Maine. He has spent time playing in Nashville TN, New York City, Boston, MA, The Mt Washington Valley of NH and many other popular places in New England. He has been the front man for a few of his own bands, opened for many big bands as a solo artist and has met and hung out with professional well known musicians. If you want to hear Jeff Hayford sing please go to
N1M.co/Jeff Hayford. If you interested in his writing pleas go to a4hpros.blogspot.com.
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