Tuesday 31 January 2017 Ken Kelley for the Telegraph-Journal After spending almost a quarter century as part of the Canadian Navy, Saint John native Patrick Murray is taking some time for himself. And what better way to keep himself busy than with music. As Murray is making plans to record the follow-up effort to his 2013 debut Losing Sight of Shore, Murray has released a single, “Rolling Fields,” which pays tribute to his home province. The song’s lyrics, sung in an acapella format, paint a vivid, year-round picture of the province’s landscape, name-checking various locales along the way. “When I wrote ‘Rolling Fields,’ I had thought it would be a bold move to perform the song acapella, which I felt would allow listeners to really focus on what I’m saying with the song’s lyrics. I’m hoping my love for the place I grew up shines through,” Murray shares. It was while he was in high school that Murray caught the song writing bug, nurturing his knack for crafting original material in the 23 years he spent in the navy while also travelling the world in a variety of capacities. “In addition to flying for four years with the Sea Kings, the bulk of my time was spent in the navy doing tours overseas,” he shares, noting said tours in Yugoslavia and the Middle East, among other places. Murray notes his long, fruitful career with the military came to a close when he was placed on medical leave in 2014 and subsequently discharged last year. In that two year span, Murray faced a series of personal changes, including divorce, but music proved to be a constant refuge of sorts for him. “I’m a firm believer that to appreciate the good in life, you have to live through challenging and dark times,” he says. “In the last two years, I have written what I feel is some of the best songs of my life. For me, music is about building connections with the audience. There is no greater gift than someone identifying with or finding something that speaks to them personally with my songs.”