DIETER SPEARS, "Chance Encounter"

As Owner and President of Wayfarer Music Group, multi-instrumentalist and inventive sonic architect enjoys a vast influence on the realm where ambient/chill, electronic and new age music meets post-rock, spiritual, world music and cinematic styles. Yet as a composer and artist recording masterfully eclectic, creatively expansive and deeply intricate albums for the label, he’s been delightfully hard to pigeonhole these past few years. The handful of recordings I’ve written about reveal a restless musical spirit committed to his wild muse and a transcendent spirit of surprise.  

His second full length on the label, Late Day Summer Breeze, pushed the label’s trademark aesthetic and downtempo vibes for a set of infectious melodies and grooving energy that felt like an ode to his younger days when disco and early synth music caught his ear. Dieter’s follow-up The Signal found him reflecting on his first years in the trenches with Wayfarer, studying, absorbing and understanding the world of ambient music – and learning more about the ambient music space by working with his stable of artists.

In late 2025, he dropped three more immersive projects - a hard-edged powerhouse revamp of Speris - his late 90’s album with Brian Paris;  Carnavale Du Macabre, a soundtrack to his film project Deathhaus that was decidedly ambient/immersive, avant-garde and spine-tingling; and Eternal Trust, a tribute to his wife Donna on their 25th anniversary, which featured a blend of ambient, downtempo and rhythmically focused melodies.

Sometime also in 2025, Dieter embarked on a jazz project, then set it aside to put out those last three previous mentioned albums. Deciding to start back on it this year, he found himself instead going down a rabbit hole of ambient guitar and is now focused on creating an album featuring that emotionally impactful aspect of his artistry. Which brings us to the uniquely (and aptly!) titled single “Chance Encounter,” a lushly produced, fluid and free flowing, meditative and infectiously melodic and passionate guitar ballad.

One of the reasons Dieter chose to release this as a standalone track between albums is because it features dynamic contributions from three artists in the Wayfarer stable – trumpeter Keith Fiala, guitarist Dino Pacifici and drummer Gray LeGere, with hired session cat Tommy Ogle completing the ensemble on this visceral powerhouse Nashville session. The Wayfarer Music Group aesthetic continues to be built on exciting collaborations and the opportunity for artists on the label to work on projects by their likeminded labelmates.

Caressed by lush ambience and a hypnotic ongoing synth motif, “Chance Encounter” is a soulful, easy grooving ballad driven along by Dieter’s seductive basslines and LeGere’s tasteful drumming. All this lays the groundwork for the artist’s fanciful guitarisma as he explores and improvises crisp, crackling sounds along with his rhythm guitar lines and lyrical coolness.

A few minutes into this blissful seduction, Fiali ups the emotional ante with a passionate, improv-filled trumpet solo that ups the emotional ante and turns an ambient new age masterpiece into a jazz jam as well. Then, for the big finish, Dieter sets Pacifici loose to go into full-throttle Eddie Van Halen mode with a blistering, heartrending electric guitar solo. Hopefully, Dieter’s legion of fans won’t have to wait long for a full collection of likeminded expressions from his ever-evolving musical imagination!