The Star Prairie Project Ponders What It Takes to Melt a Guarded Heart in Its Latest Single
Nolen R. Chew Jr., a songwriter hailing from Star Prairie, Wisconsin, uses The Star Prairie Project as his recording outlet—crafting original compositions and collaborating with musicians and producers to turn them into finished records. Drawing contributors from Los Angeles to London, Chew has built a catalog spanning ten studio albums and over 100 songs. The name connects his hometown to a subtle nod to the Alan Parsons Project, while the music itself flows through folk, country, Americana, and various rock styles.
Chew embraced songwriting later in life. He first picked up a guitar at age 51 with no musical background and soon found himself more drawn to rearranging chord progressions and writing his own lyrics than simply learning assigned songs. Before music, he spent 25 years in the Air Force handling nuclear operations and arms control, retiring in 2001. He now lives with his wife and their pets in a cabin on a lake in west-central Wisconsin, where gardening, long walks, and a flexible schedule leave plenty of room for writing. He might reach for the guitar in the morning or late at night, looking over the lake or sitting by the fire. His catalog has accumulated more than 15 million Spotify streams, while the act has appeared on The David Bowers Awards podcast and been recognized as an upcoming artist in Vents Magazine and Buzz Music Magazine. Chew describes the music as “unique but familiar” and “classic yet original,” with influences ranging from the Beatles and Rolling Stones to Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Coldplay, the Black Keys and Greta Van Fleet.
“To Warm a Cold Heart” came to Chew during one of his long walks along a lake road. He found himself thinking about people with closed minds and cold hearts, and how the two might require different kinds of change. “Closed minds can be open with new information, but how can you warm up a cold heart?” he recalls. That question became the foundation of the song. Its lyrics return to trust, empathy, kindness and the possibility of starting over, asking what might reach someone who has become emotionally distant. The closing section leans toward love and hope as ways of restoring connection.
The music video was created and produced by Pedro Salvador and Pedro Martinho and filmed in Portugal. Its concept stays close to the recording process, showing the group setting up and working together on the song. Rather than building a separate narrative, it keeps the focus on the people behind the recording and their interaction in the room. Chew is now focused on promoting the current album while continuing to develop new material. He and Rudiger have already completed a twelve-song Americana album drawn from more than seven years of working together, giving the recording project another full collection ready to follow.
More The Star Prairie Project at HIP Video Promo
More The Star Prairie Project on their website
More The Star Prairie Project on Instagram
Andrew Gesner
HIP Video Promo
+1 732-613-1779
info@hipvideopromo.com
