Chester Thompson Talks New Music and New Supergroup 'Cosmic Cathedral' episode artwork

EPISODE · Mar 28, 2025 · 1H 22M

Chester Thompson Talks New Music and New Supergroup 'Cosmic Cathedral'

from Interviewing the Legends: Rock Stars & Celebs · host Rock Raymond

PROG SUPERGROUP COSMIC CATHEDRAL RELEASING DEBUT ALBUM FEATURING NEAL MORSE…CHESTER THOMPSON…PHIL KAEGGY…BYRON HOUSE… ZOOM SPECIAL EDITION WITH EX GENESIS DRUMMER CHESTER THOMPSON ON INTERVIEWING THE LEGENDS Hello everyone and we are back for another edition of Interviewing the Legends… I’m your host Ray Shasho.How do you make an album that is different to what is usually expected of you? One answer is to work with musicians who also have decades of experience and worldwide recognition, plant a few seeds, then stand back and see what happens. For the Cosmic Cathedral project and their debut album ‘Deep Water’, this is exactly what Neal Morse did, joining up with Chester Thompson, Phil Keaggy & Byron House. As Keaggy comments: “It was an honor to be invited and included in the making of the Deep Water project with Neal, Chester and Byron.”Much of the album was created from jam sessions where Morse’s long-time audio partner Jerry Guidroz put the best parts together, then Morse and the band developed them into songs and epics. “Much of the album, and certainly “Time To Fly”, came directly from the jam sessions, where we were spontaneously creating in the room. Even a lot of the lyrics just came out of our mouths! It was amazing!”What resulted from all this was a more groove-orientated feel, which Morse calls a “prog meets yacht rock meets The Beatles” kind of album, with an unmistakable jazz fusion influence: “These guys are real groovers: even if they're playing proggy stuff, it has more of a Steely Dan feel to it, but when Phil and I start singing it sounds like The Beatles! In Deep Water, the ‘New Revelation’ section is based on a jam that turned into something that could have been on a Sting album! So, there’s a lot of variety here.”And Chester Thompson says, “I am super excited for people to hear this album. There was great communication between all the players. One of my favorite projects I’ve ever been a part of!”And coming from someone who’s played with Genesis and Frank Zappa, that’s quite a statement!The album will be available as a Limited CD Digipak, Gatefold 2LP & as Digital Album.Pre-order now here: https://cosmiccathedral.lnk.to/DeepWater-AlbumPLEASE WELCOME PROGRESSIVE ROCK/JAZZ DRUMMER FORMERLY OF GENESIS/THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION/WEATHER REPORT/SANTANA/ AND CURRENTLY UNITOPIA …CHESTER THOMPSON TO INTERVIEWING THE LEGENDS …PREORDERDEEP WATERBY COSMIC CATHEDRALfeaturingNeal Morse (Transatlantic), Chester Thompson (Genesis), Phil Keaggy (Glass Harp) & Byron House (session player with Robert Plant, Dolly Parton etc)Pre-order now here: https://cosmiccathedral.lnk.to/DeepWater-AlbumALSO PURCHASETHE MOST RECENT SOLO ALBUMFROMCHESTER THOMPSONENTITLED‘WAKE UP CALL’AVAILABLEAMAZON.COM FOR MORE INFORMATIONABOUTCOSMIC CATHEDRALVISIThttps://nealmorse.com/product/cosmic-cathedral-deep-water/Radiant Recordshttps://nealmorse.com/Neal Morse official websitehttps://chesterthompson.com/Chester Thompson official websitehttps://www.philkeaggy.com/Phil Keaggy official website DISCOGRAPHYSOLO    A Joyful Noise (1991)    Steppin (2019)    Wake-Up Call (2023) Chester Thompson Trio    Approved (2013)    Simpler Times (2015) As a memberCosmic CathedralDeep Water 2025  Air Pocket    Fly On (1975)    Hunter (1985)    Breakfast for Dinosaurs (1988) Caldera    Sky Islands (Capitol, 1977) Fire Merchants    Fire Merchants (1989) Genesis    Seconds Out (1977)    Three Sides Live (1982)    The Way We Walk, Vol I: The Shorts (1992)    The Way We Walk, Vol II: The Longs (1993)    Live over Europe 2007 (2007)    BBC Broadcasts (2023) High Inergy    High Inergy (Gordy, 1981) Santana    Beyond Appearances (Columbia, 1985) – rec. 1984Weather Report    Black Market (Columbia, 1976) As sidemanWith Phil Collins    Serious Hits... Live! (Atlantic, 1990) – live    Finally, The First Farewell Tour (Warner Music Vision, 2004)[2DVD-Video] With Steve Hackett    Please Don't Touch! (1978)    Watcher of the Skies: Genesis Revisited (1996)    The Tokyo Tapes (1998) With O'Donel Levy    Black Velvet (1971)    Breeding of Mind (1972)    Dawn of a New Day (1973)    Hands of Fire (1974)[2LP] – compilation With Frank Zappa / Beefheart / Mothers of Invention    Roxy & Elsewhere (1974)    One Size Fits All (1975)    Bongo Fury (1975)    Studio Tan (1978) – rec. 1969, 1974–76    Sleep Dirt (1979) – rec. 1974 & 76    You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 2 (1988) – rec. 1974Support us on PayPal!

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Mar 28, 2025

Embed this episode

Ready to play

Chester Thompson Talks New Music and New Supergroup 'Cosmic Cathedral'

0:00 1:22:17

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

No similar episodes found.

No similar podcasts found.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of Interviewing the Legends: Rock Stars & Celebs?

This episode is 1 hour and 22 minutes long.

When was this Interviewing the Legends: Rock Stars & Celebs episode published?

This episode was published on March 28, 2025.

Can I download this Interviewing the Legends: Rock Stars & Celebs episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.
URL copied to clipboard!