“That’s what makes a society healthy, is the ability to look at itself,” says award-winning Canadian musician and songwriter Ed Roman.

And on his new album, Red Omen, that’s exactly what he challenges his listeners to do.

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Crafting original lyrics and an eclectic sound that blends country, pop, rock and folk, Ed reminds his audiences to ask questions and live mindfully–but not to take ourselves too seriously, in the process.

“Dawn is coming quickly, and it’s looking kind of sickly,” he observes, in his country-flavored “Tough Cookie”.  On “Time Itself”, his ever–increasing tempo and  lush-sounding guitar work evoke both the rapidity with which time goes by–and the beauty of getting to live that experience.   And on “I Am Love“, he issues a call to action with a clear-eyed look at current circumstances.

But Ed, whose professional honors have included two Indie Music Channel Awards, an Akademia Award and nominations for both the 2015 and 2016 Josie Music Awards, doesn’t stop at creating socially-conscious music.

He released his single, “Lay One Down,“ on Veterans’ Day, 2015.  Royalties from this single go to raise funds for nonprofit Heart Songs for Veterans.  Following the release of the single, Ed and other award-winning musicians from around the world donated their time to create the “Lay One Down” video, to benefit the veterans’ organization.

While shooting his music video “Jamaica”,  for his previous album Letters From High Latitudes, Ed delivered humanitarian aid and taught music lessons in the poorest part of Jamaica.  His goal is to one day open a mobile music school on the island.

Ed talked about the experience of recording his new album, the ideas behind his music and the creation of the videos from some of the cuts on “Red Omen”.

On this edition of Over Coffee® you’ll hear:

• What the writing and recording process was like, for the album Red Omen;

• Some of the recurring themes for which to look, among the metaphors in the songs;

• How a creative work “takes over” to take an artist through the process;

• Some of the influences and ideas behind the cut “ETA”;

• The autobiographical references  and stories behind the title cut;

• The creative process behind “I Am Love”, the first single from this album;

• How Ed became involved in Heart Songs for Veterans, to which he contributed “Lay One Down”;

• What it was like to  produce the video for “Lay One Down” and some of the other songs on the album;

• Ed’s plans to further his humanitarian work in Jamaica;

• How Ed grew as an artist while recording Red Omen;

• His advice to fellow musicians on “getting it right the first time” when recording;