Songcraft
Recorded Albums - all streaming on Spotify, Apple Music, You-tube, Tik-Tok, and other sites. Interested listeners should also check out glennvanstrum.substack.com for more recordings and for essays on a variety of topics.
Certain Stars
Intimate fingerstyle electro-acoustic compositions inspired by coast and waves. Recorded with Godin, Fender Stratocaster, and Taylor guitars. Songwriting inspired by Shakespeare, Joao Gilberto, and Hunter/Garcia.
Surfing Earth
Ocean-themed songs influenced by Zen, a lifetime of surfing and diving, and the cosmos. Modal and lyrical melodies blend the artist's clear baritone with narrative songwriting that soars from Earth to worlds beyond.
Norse mythology-inspired musical tales of oak and redwood, gods and demons, love and light. Blending percussion with electro-acoustic elements in a potpourri of styles.
Eagle, O Eagle
An upcoming studio release featuring songs of flight and freedom. Expert guitar and sound production combine with captivating lyrics. Final mastering in fall of 2026.
Certain Stars
Yggdrasil
Grain of Sand, from the album, Eagle, O Eagle:
Light, from Yggdrasil:
After the Rain, from Surfing Earth:
Stop the Sound, from Certain Stars:
Eagle, O Eagle, title track:
Yggdrasil, title track:
All music, lyrics, and sound recordings © Glenn Vanstrum ASCAP/Woodgem Music.
Roots in classical piano
Before focusing back on the guitar/songwriting of his youth, Vanstrum's years of classical discipline at the keyboard established an enduring musical foundation. Rigorous performances of Debussy, Beethoven, and Brahms continue to inform every chordal voicing.
That classical architecture transfers directly to the frets. Polyphonic counterpoint and color movement give each acoustic guitar/vocal piece distinctive depth and room-filling tone.
A pianist since age five and guitarist since age ten, I've led an interesting life, with stints in medicine, nature photography, classical piano performance, and writing.
Songwriting and guitar performance have been a continuing thread for me and have now taken center stage. I have published three albums and finished a fourth to be released in January of 2027. I perform regularly in San Diego venues, mostly libraries, churches, and open mics.
Blending melody, harmony, vocal, and instrumental performance creates emotional and sensory textures that go beyond mere words and notes. There is magic in prosody!
Certain Stars, a first release of eight songs, uses pared-down, acoustic, fingerstyle guitar to create an intimate atmosphere.
Surfing Earth, a second album, ventures into broader realms, both celestial and emotional. The work is still powered by clean, acoustic energy.
Yggdrasil, the third collection, contains an expanded sonic vocabulary, venturing from folk into rock, blues, and jazz idioms.
Eagle, O Eagle, a fourth album, continues to combine and synthesize many worlds: folk, jazz, bosa nova, rock, blues and more.
At the heart of these works, though, lie the lyrics. Veneration of nature and democracy, the nuances of love, and stolen bits of Shakespeare, William Blake, and Coleridge permeate each piece. Combining these with music to create magic is my addiction, my love, and my goal.
Glenn Vanstrum
Available for solo guitar/vocal performances, intimate listening room series, and literary music programs. To contact: Please use the form at the bottom of the About page of this website. Thanks!