Jonathan Feist (Courtesy photo by Roseanne Saalfield)

The ice storm of 2008. Turning 40. Two young children under six. Living in a former Shaker meeting house (circa 1791) with a leaky slate roof. It's enough to bring on a mid-life crisis for anyone. For some, that would mean running out to buy a motorcycle or a sports car. But for Shaker Road resident and Historical Commission Chairman Jonathan Feist, it meant becoming a rock star (well, at least recording and releasing an album of his own songs).

Writing music was nothing new for Feist, a New England Conservatory-trained classical composer who studied with acclaimed composer Arthur Berger. Feist has written a number of classical pieces—from small chamber pieces to large orchestral works, some recorded, some not, primarily focused on avant-garde, more academically minded classical formats. Plus, over the last 12 years as an editor at Berklee College of Music, Feist has edited more than 150 books and courses materials, many of them having to do with song writing. And, by his 40th birthday, he had written nearly 50 songs of his own, primarily as assignments for classes he was taking. But, as he explains, "They were my secret. I hadn't even shared them with my wife."

Then came the 2008 ice storm. And a Facebook link from a friend to something called The New Lullaby Project.

After trading a few e-mails with The New Lullaby Project's owner, classical guitarist Aaron Larget-Caplan, Feist composed and submitted not just one, but two lullabies for consideration: "Leaky Roof" and "No Time." Both pieces ended up being included on the final album (New Lullaby, 2010, Six String Sound), making Feist the only composer with two lullabies in the collection.

The success of the New Lullaby CD and Feist's own two pieces in the collection has been a pleasant surprise for Feist: "Aaron has been giving a lot of concerts of these little works, so these [two lullabies] have been performed more times than anything I've written before." Laughing, he adds, "People genuinely liked [the pieces]—a new experience for me!"

For Feist, that experience convinced him it was time to turn to his "secret" cache of songs and look for a way to "get music out there" in the world: "I thought, 'I have this body of music that I like … so what's holding me back?'"

First, there had been the gradual evolution in his thinking about composing in general, and about composing songs in particular. About the lullabies he notes, "There's nothing technically 'interesting' about them…they're 'just music." He continues, "It's an academic thing. Maybe when you're 21 and learning all this stuff and trying hard to be inventive, you look at [composing] more analytically: 'what was technically happening.' You're focused on that more than a casual listener would be...[but] popular music is a different paradigm [than classical music]. It's more collaborative. In classical music, the composer writes every note and performers only 'interpret' [the music], whereas in popular music, [you have] a living composer working with performers."

And there was the singing aspect of recording his songs to contend with since, as Feist is quick to point out, "I am not a singer. And that was something that held me back. Thank God for Louis Armstrong and Bob Dylan!"

So what was it that finally got him to take the leap and record his songs? As Feist explains, it all came down to a car ride. "I was really busy at work one week and was driving home exhausted. I was missing collaborating with Sue Gedutis [a musician friend], so I popped one of her CDs in and it immediately cheered me up. And I thought, 'Aha! This is a high purpose of what music can be—it's like a visit with a friend'."

That was last October. One year later, and copies of Feist's own CD, Fantasy Monologue, are for sale in the Harvard General Store.

And how does Feist feel about it? "Musically, it's the best thing I've ever done." Although he's quick to add, "It's way better than I expected it to be because I had great people helping me, especially producer/guitarist Nik "A". I had to pull so many favors for this, a huge influx of good karma, so I just want to pass that on. My current favorite cause is the restoration of the Town Hall. All profit from sales of this CD go toward that."

When asked whether this explains the photograph of him on the back of his CD—wearing black Wellingtons and wielding a pitchfork on the Town Hall steps—Feist concedes, "I really liked the image of me holding a pitchfork (traditionally used to storm town halls), inside the rails of a Town Hall, glaring outward. Whose side am I on, anyway? But it's actually one of the great things about our form of volunteer-based local government, where the rabble and the officials are so intermingled, constantly changing places. It's messy, but a real expression of democracy."

"When I was at New England Conservatory, I once asked Arthur Berger, 'What is the purpose of music?' and his reply was, 'To create a beautiful thing,' but he is wrong, wrong, wrong! The clichéd answer is, 'The purpose of music is communication.' I think it has something to do with creating an experience that humans can share, a search for some kind of emotional truth that resonates with people."

And the pitchfork?

"I adore that pitchfork. I found it at the dump."

Jonathan Feist's new CD, Fantasy Monologue, is available for sale now at the Harvard General Store. All proceeds go toward the restoration of the historic Harvard Town Hall.