If there is one repeating adage about rock鈥檔 roll, it鈥檚 that past popular song genres often get an encore updated to a current music trend.

Ken Hartfield, a 琉璃神社 musician and composer, is experiencing that music evolution through a song he wrote in the 鈥�60s called that today has created a social media buzz in the United Kingdom as an orchestral re-arrangement.

鈥淚t has been a pleasant surprise a to see the reaction to it to say the least,鈥� said Hartfield.

Hartfield was previously at the helm of the Bandidos Cerveza group, which focused on Latin rock.

He decided to go in a different musical direction, creating the Symphonic Rock Evolution, comprised of six vocalists, percussion, bass guitar, electric guitars and a brass and string section.

Okanagan fans will get to hear Hartfield鈥檚 latest music project in concert at 琉璃神社 Sept. 23 and in Vernon Oct. 20.

While the orchestra鈥檚 concert repertoire revolves around re-arrangement of some classic rock tunes assembled for the group鈥檚 first CD, Hartfield also works in some songs written by himself and other group members.

One of Hartfield鈥檚 songs from his personal music archive was The Light, a song he originally wrote with a Gordon Lightfoot style music influence in 1969.

The song is about the 68-year-old鈥檚 memories of experiencing the fear created by the Cuban missile crisis of 1962 as a kid growing up in Regina, then watching on TV in Saskatoon as the first astronauts landed on the moon in 1969.

鈥淚 can remember riding in our family car in 1962 and hearing the air sirens during the Cuban missile crisis, as the Moose Jaw air force base was only 40 miles outside Regina and considered as a possible target,鈥� Hartfield recalled.

鈥淲henever I get together with old high school buddies today we often talk about that time and how quite frightening it was, not knowing what was going to happen.鈥�

Then seeing a man on the moon is something Hartfield saw as how far civilization had come, from the brink of world war to space exploration.

A European audience first began to discover The Light on a YouTube video, which to date has racked up 20,000 views.

鈥淲e checked the analytics on it and surprisingly the largest single age group watching it out are the 18 to 28-year-olds. I found that really interesting as I initially thought the song would appeal more to the baby boomer crowd. So that was a surprise, a shock actually, 鈥� he said.

Several UK radio stations have given the song consistent airplay, and concert promoters want Hartfield to bring his symphony orchestra to Europe to perform.

鈥淭he beauty of this is the entire concert has been arranged by me, so we can reduce from 23 to eight to 10 members, and then hire orchestral players over there to fill in the missing musician parts so it makes economic sense,鈥� Hartfield explained.

鈥淲e can bring in musicians, show them the sheet music, have an afternoon rehearsal and do the concert that night.鈥�

Hartfield says the marriage of symphony sounds to rock music has deep roots in the UK, starting with The Beatles followed by The Moody Blues, and absorbed by other British groups like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Electric Light Orchestra in the years that followed.

鈥淚f you listen to Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin lead guitarist) his guitar work is layered just like a symphony string section and bassist John Paul Jones grew up with parents who both played for the London Symphony Orchestra, so his keyboard contributions to their songs often reflected those influences,鈥� he said.

鈥淪o when you think of Led Zeppelin, in a way it was three or four guys trying to recreate a symphony orchestra sound behind their songs.鈥�

Hartfield鈥檚 latest musical rebirth has him singing the praises of how social media today can give exposure to songs without the need for a record deal or radio airplay at the outset.

鈥淲e will see how the song鈥檚 airplay continues over the winter but it sounds like there is a good chance we could be performing over there next year,鈥� he added.