12/29/18

Accidents Can Happen: Voices of Women From Three Mile Island"


Dr. Heidi Hutner, a Professor of Sustainability Studies at Stony Brook University and co-director Martijn Hart, are working on a Documentary Film, Accidents Can Happen: Voices of Women from Three Mile Island, about the Three Mile Island Meltdown that took place on March 28th, 1979. They plan to have the film aired in 2019 — to coincide with the 40th Anniversary.

For the Three Mile Island documentary, Dr. Hutner and her team interview whistleblowers, Nuclear Regulatory Commissioners, scientists, physicians, and more. The four protagonists are ordinary Pennsylvania moms who lived through the accident. They challenged authorities, and through their eyes, the story is relived. Hearts will be moved.

The documentary is a feminist story, a story about women, children, and the environment. It’s a story about the silencing of women’s voices and a powerful women’s movement that has stood up (and continues to stand up) to a violent nuclear industry.

Today, the nuclear industry argues that we need nuclear power to solve climate change, and even some 'environmentalists' now support nukes. However, these groups downplay, ignore, and silence the negative environmental and health impacts of nuclear power and nuclear accidents.

The Three Mile Island documentary is conceived to be part of a limited series on all aspects of the nuclear cycle--mining, power, waste, the building of nuclear weapons, and nuclear war. Each episode focuses closely on a woman or a small group of women and it tells their personal dramatic stories relating to each disaster scenario.

The filmmakers buttress the personal with science and fact. The focus is on women and patriarchy, including science which shows that women and girls are far more harmed by radiation exposures than men, while safety regulations are based on an adult male body. In fact, young girls are ten times as likely to get cancer than adult males.

Generations of people are sick and dying in Pennsylvania (and Fukushima, Chernobyl, Rocky Flats, the Marshall Islands, etc). Their stories need to be told. Now.

This film series is crucial. Who will carry the torch of truth when those who know have passed on?

To learn more, please see the film teaser, film-team biographies, and one-page proposal:

To make your tax deductible donations there are two methods for giving:
1) CHECKS MAY BE MADE OUT TO:
Beyond Nuclear -"Women's Voices"  
Address:
Beyond Nuclear
7304 Carroll Ave #182
Takoma Park, MD 20912
2) USE THE DONATE BUTTON on THE FILM WEBSITE at the LINK HERE: 

12/3/18

O’ HOLY NIGHT, new Christmas Video by Jaclyn Bradley Palmer & Jeroen Robben (of the Netherlands BEAUTY & THE BEAST)


Jaclyn Bradley Palmer is releasing the music video “O’ Holy Night,” her duet with Holland’s Broadway actor Jeroen Robben (BEAUTY AND THE BEAST). The song appears on her new holiday album,  DECEMBER. Enjoy the video on youtube.


There’s warmth of brother in “O’ Holy Night.” The video takes place in a church built in the 1200s in the Netherlands. It moves from black and white to color, and features Jaclyn and Jeroen blending their trained and comforting voices, plus her friends harmonizing in the background. ”My musical friends,” the magnanimous Jaclyn says. “They hail from 7 different countries, and they’re all different, but  coming together in harmony. I’ve always made artistic friends wherever I lived (Cleveland, LA, New York, Holland, now Ireland). I always had a community, thanks to music and art. “

The changing of black & white into color, Jaclyn explains, “signifies the light and beauty that comes from the holiday season. By using one take (after the introduction footage), we allow viewers to enter the ancient church and experience the song as if they were a fly on the wall, inviting them into the middle of a very special moment in time.”

Jaclyn enjoyed working with Jeroen, whom she met on the set of the Voice Holland.  
He came to her house to watch the episode they were on together.  But he had to sing to Jaclyn’s 4-year old daughter for his supper because he played “The Beast.” “She was absolutely mesmerized to have a real Disney character in her living room!”

December is Jaclyn Bradley Palmer’s 4th studio album release, and in the Americana/Singer-Songwriter Genres.  

Palmer received her vocal training in opera from Indiana University and later became a singer-songwriter in Los Angeles where her music was licensed for TV and film. The new record, which combines holiday classics with original compositions, is a nod to her diverse musical background. “I have been longing to create a holiday album for many years and am so happy with the result,” shared Palmer. “Every winter, the music of Nat King Cole and Johnny Mathis filled my house and really made the home feel like Christmas.  I wanted to contribute to this musical tradition of bringing on holiday cheer in the same way.”

Jaclyn Bradley Palmer’s new Christmas album, DECEMBER is available for download and streaming on mediums such as iTunes, Amazon, Spotify. The album (as well as Jaclyn’s catalog) can be purchased through the artist’s website: www.jaclynbradleypalmer.com.

On iTunes, Amazon, all digital stores for a special price of $7.92!



11/29/18

New Single in Europe: HYSTERIA by Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius

Band Gives muse Song “Queen” Treatment


Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius are releasing a new single HYSTERIA for International Audiences.  HYSTERIA is a “Queen-esque” cover of the muse hit.  Deninzon chooses his covers carefully. “Being a fan of Muse, the song spoke to him. “We would perform it on our live shows over the past few years, and I felt it suited us and fit in with our set next to our originals. I wanted to record a version similar to the original, but the band refused, saying why re-create something that was so perfect to begin with? They forced me to re-imagine the song entirely.” 

“I was having a very good day vocally and channeled my inner Matt Bellamy, hitting the E’s! Rocking my “Viper” electric violin through a whammy pedal and an Earthquake Arpenoid in the solo. We pulled out all the stops!”

The operatic intro is my tip of the hat to Queen, who obviously influenced the music of MUSE. Two of my all-time favorite bands! This was the first time we had an operatic Soprano (Melanie Mitrano) on a Stratospheerius recording.”

Here is the music video for HYSTERIA.

 


Recently passing the 150 mark of radio stations playing the band’s latest album, GUILTY OF INNOCENCE, the album is finding support in Europe—thanks, in part, to a media outreach campaign by Judith Fisher of BJF PR. The group is being played a number of times by iconic radio hosts including Mark from Holland and Dick Heath’s Alt2 Radio Show out of Loughborough. Says Garry of Starship Overflow (on London’s Radio Gibb FM) “Real proof that the fiddle rocks & the vocals shine... Cracking album, so get your rocks off and PLAY LOUD!”
  
Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius are signed to Melodic Revolution Records, one of the leading progressive rock labels in North America.  Melodic Revolution Records’ slogan is “Music Is Our Voice.” The group was the buzz band at this year’s ProgStock, and have signed on for the main stage at next year’s Fest. 
  
GUILTY OF INNOCENCE is Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius’ fifth album.  The 10-track prog rock album is available on vinyl, CD, and digital formats, and features special appearances by Alex Skolnick (Testament), Rave Tesar (Renaissance) and Randy McStine (The Fringe). 
  
The band is led by founding member, electric violinist & vocalist Joe Deninzon. Joe has been called the “Jimi Hendrix of the electric violin.” Playing are guitarist Aurelien Budynek (Cindy Blackman, Vernon Reid), bassist Jamie Bishop (The Syn, Francis Dunnery), and drummer Lucianna Padmore, praised by Modern Drummer Magazine for her “Deep grooves and serious fusion chops.”   


As a renowned violinist, Joe has recorded/performed with Bruce Springsteen, Sheryl Crow, Trans Siberian Orchestra, Peter Criss, Jazz at Lincoln Center, NYC Ballet (electric violin soloist), Les Paul… He is the author of the alternative violin Bible: “Plugging In: A Guide to Gear and Technique for the 21st Century String Player” through Mel Bay. Joe premiered his “Dream Diary: Concerto for Seven-String Electric Violin and Orchestra” with the Muncie Symphony, and renowned violinist Rachel Barton Pine commissioned Joe’s “The Electric Lake of Soul.” He is a 14-time BMI Jazz Composer’s grant recipient and winner of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest. 



11/20/18

Classic Rock Performers

Here are songs from my Classic Rock Artists.

CHANGE WILL COME by Elliott Murphy
Springsteen-ish in tempo akin to “Badlands.” Harmonica with jangly guitar, drums, keyboards, bass. Theme of a noble effort to please a girl more than his career. (Smithereens drummer Jim Babjak plays drums on this)

ROAD GAMES by Allan Holdsworth (w/ vocals from England’s Paul Williams) 
Seeing mirages along the road on a hard journey.  Has a rock / fusion Rush vibe. 

LUCKY STARS by Dean Friedman & Denise Marsa
Duet song; the woman confronts him in a teasing kind of a way about an old flame, and they both resolve to thank their lucky stars that “we’re not as smart as we’d like to think we are.”  

FRIENDS by Gentle Giant
FRIENDS is singer-songwriter folk, and great for commercials or tender scenes.  Paisley Song written by John Weathers.


Long Island Rock Troubadour Surprises Billy Joel Fans, and Vice Versa


Elliott and "The Piano Man" performing Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side." (Also that night, Aerosmith's guitarist Joe Perry and Billy Rocked on "Walk This Way.") Photo courtesy of Madison Square Garden.
Billy Joel has been cheerleading for Elliott Murphy for decades. The two have been spotted together, recently, in favorite showcase venues.

On Thursday night, Nov. 8, Billy inducted Elliott and Jimmy Webb into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame at Westbury Space. He said, “His songs are honest and literate and pure, and those songs have attracted audiences far beyond his country.  I’ve long envied his bravery and integrity, and I’ve always admired his lyric skill.”

On Saturday night, Nov. 10, Elliott joined Billy live onstage at Madison Square Garden to sing Lou Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side.”  

Elliott’s tour will include an anticipated performance at The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, plus shows in Manhattan, Piermont (Nyack), Port Jefferson, and Amaganset. Tour dates below.

Originally from Garden City, Long Island, Elliott Murphy rose to national prominence with the release of his debut 1973 album Aquashow, when critics declared him, along with Bruce Springsteen, John Prine and Loudon Wainwright III, the new Bob Dylan, even though the original was still only in his mid-thirties. When asked if he considered the “New Dylan” tag to be a curse, Murphy often reminds interviewers that, “… all of us singer-songwriters, who were pushed into that estimable club, seem to be still working. So more than a curse it’s a guarantee of life-time employment!”  

As well as having released over 35 albums in a career spanning 45 years, Elliott Murphy is a prolific writer of fiction with two novels and numerous collections of short stories published in Europe. One of his earlier stories is currently being made into the film Broken Poet and will feature Elliott Murphy in his first major acting role. Cast members include the legendary Marisa Berenson, Academy Award nominee Michael O’Keefe, and acclaimed French actress Joana Preiss. A Spring 2019 release is projected for Broken Poet by award-winning Spanish Director Emilio Barrachina. Elliott’s most recent album, PRODIGAL SON, (Murphyland Records) garnered 4 stars in French Rolling Stone.  

In 2015 Elliott Murphy was awarded the Chevalier des arts et des lettres medal by the French minister of Culture.  

#######
  
Contact: Anne Leighton: 718-881-8183, LeightonMedia@aol.com, Anne@AnneLeighton.com

ELLIOTT MURPHY U.S. TOURDATES
November 8 Long Island Music Hall of Fame, Westbury, NY [Duo]
November 9 My Father's Place, Roslyn, NY [Duo]
November 11 Ray's House Concert, Staten Island [Duo]
November 13 World Café, Philadelphia, PA [Duo]
                    November 15  The Turning Point, Piermont, NH
November 16 The Sail Loft, Port Jefferson, NY [Duo]
November 17 Rockwood 3 ***5PM Show*** [Duo]
November 23 Stephen Talkhouse, Amagansett, NY [Duo]
November 24 Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, Wash DC [Duo]

11/15/18

Jaclyn Bradley Palmer’s Holiday album, DECEMBER.




The magnanimous Americana/Singer-songwriter Jaclyn Bradley Palmer competed on The Voice of Holland (the TV show that originated The Voice) and was the only American selected for the show. She and her music have appeared on Vh1, MTV, Bravo, HGTV, and TLC. (She also appeared regularly on the reality series, BREAKING BONADUCE!)  


HAPPY DECEMBER is an ode to all winter holidays and a wish for joy regardless of creed. “I couldn’t think of any holiday song that incorporated Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year’s and Kwanzaa into a single song,” said Palmer, “so I decided to write one. It celebrates the fact that we are far more alike than different.”




Recorded in The Netherlands, DECEMBER includes a duet of O HOLY NIGHT with Jeroen Robben, who played “The Beast” in the Broadway production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.  

  





Leonard’s Cohen’s HALLELUJAH is thoughtful and comforting. 







11/2/18

Jaclyn Bradley Palmer Releases Christmas Album Dec. 1


Due out Dec. 1, Jaclyn Bradley Palmer's DECEMBER,
in the singer-songwriter, Americana genre.
On Saturday, December 1st, Lorain, Ohio native, singer-songwriter Jaclyn Bradley Palmer, will release her highly-anticipated holiday album, titled December. It is her 4th studio album release, and in the Americana/Singer-Songwriter Genres.

Palmer received her vocal training in opera from Indiana University and later became a singer-songwriter in Los Angeles where her music was licensed for TV and film. The new record, which combines holiday classics with original compositions, is a nod to her diverse musical background. “I have been longing to create a holiday album for many years and am so happy with the result,” shared Palmer. “Every winter, the music of Nat King Cole and Johnny Mathis filled my house and really made the home feel like Christmas.  I wanted to contribute to this musical tradition of bringing on holiday cheer in the same way.”

The album was recorded in The Netherlands and includes many guest appearances and collaborations with other singers and musicians, including a duet of O Holy Night with Jeroen Robben, who played “The Beast” in the Broadway production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Palmer’s daughter, Roma, age 4, can also be heard on the album’s last song, Happy Christmas Reprise.

The opening track, Happy December is an ode to all winter holidays and a wish for joy regardless of creed. “I couldn’t think of any holiday song that incorporated Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year’s and Kwanzaa into a single song,” said Palmer, “so I decided to write one. It celebrates the fact that we are far more alike than different.”

The album’s vintage cover is a homage to Christmas past- an old 1971 photograph of her parents, Jack and Debora Bradley, celebrating the holiday with her uncle, Dennis DelBoccio, and grandparents, Sarah and Dominic DelBoccio- all of Lorain! “When I was home visiting my parents in the Fall, my mom and I went through hundreds of old photographs, searching for a perfect album cover, said Palmer. “I was initially looking for a childhood photo of myself that would be a throwback to holiday tradition and memory, yet when I saw this one, I cried and said, ‘this is what Christmas feels like to me.’ At that moment, there was no question what the album cover would be.”

Last year, Palmer was featured on The Voice of Holland (the TV show that originated The Voice) and was the only American selected for the show. She and her music have appeared on Vh1, MTV, Bravo, HGTV and TLC.  Her award-winning music videos have been named official selection at the Orlando Film FestivalAmsterdam Lift Off FestivalUtah Music Awards (which she won!) and Dances with Films in Hollywood where her latest work premiered at the famed Chinese Theater. Cleveland magazine labeled Palmer one of the area’s “most interesting people.”

The new Christmas album, December is available for download and streaming on mediums such as iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, and albums can be purchased through the artist’s website: www.jaclynbradleypalmer.com.
  

10/24/18

ProgStock and Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius-Love at First Site

Buzz Act from ProgStock Confirmed for 2019

Paul Whitehead painted this as
 Joe Deninzon
& Stratospheerius played ProgFest.
Right after ProgStock 2018, Melodic Revolution Records Recording Artist Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius have been confirmed to play at ProgStock 2019.

Joe and his band are still pinching themselves over the outstanding time they had at ProgStock. Posting on Facebook, Joe wrote, “I am over the moon,” and proceeded to exclaim about trading riffs with Fernando Perdomo and In Continuum with David Kerzner at the New Jersey, USA-based, and Northeast’s only, Progressive Rock Festival.

Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius played a special late night party that was attended by fans and performers including Saga’s Michael Sadler and Enchant’s Ted Leonard, who also sings on Spock’s Beard’s new album, NOISE FLOOR, which Joe listened to as he drove to ProgStock! 

Proglodytes’ Thomas Hatton writes about Joe, “you really need to check this guy out. First of all, the guy has a custom 7 string, fretted violin. He plays spirited, fun music at breakneck speeds. Seeing him play was like eating candy- every time he played a solo, I couldn’t help but smile and cheer. He played a cover of muse’s ‘Hysteria’ that almost bordered on ska. He had an intimidatingly talented backup band as well. In a room full of a lot of musicians, it’s hard to impress, and I can confirm that everyone was blown away. His concert was a blast- one of the most impressive and fun events all weekend.” https://proglodytes.com/2018/10/07/progstock-2018-day-2/ 

Legendary album cover artist Paul Whitehead created what might (or might not) be Joe’s next album cover, the painting of the Stratospheerius.  Paul is best known for his cover artwork for early Genesis albums, including NURSERY CRYME, FOXTROT, and TRESPASS, plus covers for Renaissance and Van Der Graff Generator…  

Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius are: Joe Deninzon, Michelangelo Quirinale, Jason Gianni, and Paul Ranieri.   


      Pictured (L to R) are: Paul Whitehead (artist), Ann Rinaldi and Thomas Palmieri of ProgStock, and Joe Deninzon








10/20/18

Chris Butler's GOT IT TOGEHTER!, The Songwriter and the Songs

For Fans of artists such as Courtney Barnett, Death Cab for Cutie, Tame Impala, the Waitresses, Tin Huey…. 

Chris Butler’s new album GOT IT TOGEHTER! is a picturesque collection by an older, wiser, and wry guy with humble and thoughtful Midwestern values. Using visual descriptions and incidental dialogue, there's an ironically amused observer that includes equal parts of a perplexed and rock-loving H. L. Mencken, Tom Wolfe, Lenny Bruce, Gary Snyder, Norman Rockwell, and Howard Zim! He sees a range of qualities in a variety of folks: up-and-coming musicians, upbeat people, inconsiderate souls, people in his dreams….

Chris Butler… You may not know this guy, but you might know what he’s been involved with as an artist, from his days as a student at Kent State, being in a 1970s "art rock for laughs" rock band (Tin Huey) signed by Warner Bros. Records, and the founder/songwriter/producer/guitarist of the Waitresses, who—in the 1980s— had the hits (“I Know What Boys Like”, the “Square Pegs” TV show theme and “Christmas Wrapping”). He spent the rest of that decade producing (Freedy Johnston, Scruffy The Cat, Joan Osborne) & writing songs in hard-won obscurity, playing drums and doing freelance writing for tech and music mags.   In 1996, released “The Devil Glitch”, a 69-minute song with over 500 verses (listed in the 1998 Guinness Book of World Records “World’s Longest Pop Song”!  Now online and over four hours long at http://www.infiniteglitch.net. In 1997, released “I Feel A Bit Normal Today” - a CD of bent pop. He played drums with Richard Lloyd (from Television) 1995-2000.  In 2001, released “Un Petit Goûter - The Best of Kilopop!” - a fake ‘Best of’ from a non-existent Euro-pop band.  In 2002, released “The Museum of Me” - a collection of 10-years-worth of audio experiments using antique and obsolete recording gear.  In 2014, released “Easy Life” (plus alt.easylife.cd - an outtake CD) - a song cycle based on witnessing  the murder of four students at Kent State University in 1970. In 2018, Chris Butler collaborated with Ralph Carney (Tin Huey, Tom Waits, B-52s) on “Songs For Unsung Holidays” (Smog Veil), a recording of tunes celebrating offbeat holidays like Gorilla Suit Day and Salami Appreciation Day. Recent projects include writing and producing two short films.

Chris’s new CD is entitled GOT IT TOGEHTER! The title is intentionally misspelled.  

PHYSICS: 
The hook that Chris sings in the song, “Physics” is “Reality never applied to me.” Indeed he shares assorted ways he’s an exception to the rule, from selling out to refusing to compromise.  "I am my own man. Excluded from mainstream culture and job possibilities.  I will have to make my own way...always. So whatever is conventional wisdom, common sense, etc. just never works for me.  My alienation is complete." Almost three minutes into the song, at a break we hear mystical sounding Farfisa organ that he turns on-and-off. “This whole album,” Chris says, “has an assortment of odd instruments. There’s a Stylophone (an oddball keyboard, hand-held synthesizer that uses a stylus to make contact with a metal keyboard.  David Bowie used one on "Space Oddity".) I also used a deluxe version with two styli and an optical sensor that If you put your hand over it, you can get a wah-wah effect." 

SONGS FOR GUYS 
 "I spend a lot of time on the lyrics.  I'm inspired by Becker and Fagan (pre-smooth jazz Steely Dan), David Byrne, Tom Lehrer, Andy Partridge (XTC), Randy Newman, Lowell George (Little Feat), people with an edge, they tell a story, are tongue and cheek, snotty!  My songwriting mentor Bob Kidney, who I played with in The Numbers Band (15-60-75), now in their 48th year, is a master lyricist, and drilled it into me that “words count!  Say something and say it right.  Say it in a witty, intense, human and strategic manner.  In SONGS FOR GUYS, Chris sings about a fixation on a passionate female rocker that sings feminist/female-centric songs, who “scratches my head from the inside."  

NEW ENEMY 
“I can smell your anger.”  The is the type of person that says, “I’ve got all the friends I need. I could use a new enemy, though!”  A little baiting of the other political side, of an uptight, passive person just for the hell of it, but also relevant to extremism where people fight for the sake of fighting.  “Black Butterfly” in the song is about volcanic anger. The unusual instruments include 8-string bass and 12-string guitars, wobbly reverb, and a broken Vox Tape Delay.  

SUMMER MONEY   
“The significance of the title SUMMER MONEY, literally, is it's a lovely summer, and then you get an unexpected check in the mail.  Poetically, just a phrase for maximum goodness. Two good things stuck together.” The simple life in his backyard all summer long, but with a dose of dread seeing that first leaf fall.

“The summer sun is my only church.
And from this pew, I pray for better flowers!”  

Chris uses an acoustic and 12-string guitar. The inspiration for the “wash of a guitar” sound is from 10cc’s “I’m Not In love.” That came from an effect called a Rainbow Machine put out by a local Akron company, Earthquaker.
   
LATE FOR WORK 
Chris wants to stay home and make love with his divine lady, but he’s got a job that he has to go to!  The hook lyric is “I ran after you like a man late for work!” He says the second verse is “the best thing I’ve ever written.” 

“Look at you! You make the morning sunrise jealous
Standing by the kitchen stove. 
With your low-slung gunfighter coffee cup
Daring the day to make one false move.
Girly girl-itous girl-itude.
A mountain of girly-osity.
What's it like to wake up each day and be that lovely?”  

“It's an adult love song, rare for me. I write about predicaments and small things.  Leave the lovey-dovey stuff to those better at it.”

DROMOMANIA    
With electric, and acoustic 12-string guitars as the driving opening riff, DROMOMANIA is about an old pro nomad making fun of a tourist (a “novice castaway” trying to go native.) The tourist has no idea what one gives up to truly be in perpetual motion. They will go back to civilization, but not this guy. He's stuck in high gear. Inspired by the book SONG LINES by Bruce Chatwin. "Some people need to be in constant motion."  

MOMMY GLOW 
Some women and men get mad at this song. "Family-centric people are insulted by it. But I’m not, by nature, a paternal cat. I never understood why anybody would want to get pregnant and have children. This is from my history. My mother was not a good mother. Her message was that children ruin your life. "I was a problem, just 'cause I was there." The Universe had another idea for me, however. I have a son, and he's great."  In recording MOMMY GLOW, Chris used one guitar, multi-mic-ed for stereo with lots of compression to make the guitar sound huge. 
  
NICOTINE WEATHER
Written for a reformed Tin Huey, inspired by the music of Albert Ayler, NICOTINE WEATHER might also be compared to some of the word salad of Captain Beefheart. Chris loves to spew “beatnik poetry” on top of “clutter.” The musical theme of the song is a Salvation Army marching band kind of riff.  The lyrics are how crazy one gets when trying to quit smoking. My bass solo is in the style of Tin Huey’s Mark Price - explosive, ferocious, intense, noisy. 

AWAKE  
“This song is another of my patent one-sided conversations, a lyrical structure I used a lot in Waitresses songs. I have been told I am every girl's best girlfriend and easy to talk to. A wrong-righter. Good in terms of female friendships, not good if you just want to get laid!” Chris says, “At my age, we’re all going to funerals and memorials.  The most punk thing you can do is play rock and roll after you’re 65. I've been to shows here in Akron where the lead guitarists are all on chemo. But they still want to play, and thankfully there is an audience here that still goes out to see live music. Emphasis on the word ‘live’” AWAKE shows what people say to each other at wakes; conflicting things include: “I can tell him anything—absolutely anything!” He sang, “Vegetarians should be shot” in reference to what to bring and not bring, and then was told she was vegan! The song ends with a ghost story/dream sequence.  

NEVER BEEN OLD BEFORE   
Chris proclaims, “If you say you’re bored, then you’re not paying attention.” He got that from a bumper sticker.  And the hook, “whatever I do with you for the first time, could be the last time for me” is the realization that time rolls by so fast, and he doesn’t want his kid to be blasé about life. NEVER BEEN OLD BEFORE compares grownups and childhood, and encourages kids to put down their cellphones and to look at the world around them. The goal is to show the wonderful riches of the world, and “mock the negativity.” Part of the song he’s reminiscing about growing up, and seeing The Who on the television show Shindig that changed his life! 

BITCH BOX   
The entertaining BITCH BOX is a song with dialog, in which Chris lets out his grumpy side, and sings along with himself in hi-fi harmonic choruses that mock him with taunts of “WAH WAH WAH,” and being told to shut up in his own song! Great lines like “half of the half-filled glass is missing,” “I have a bad story about everybody,” “But somehow the fault’s always mine, repeating patterns that fail since 1949”, and “Bitch Box, that’s my name, I do the world a service by taking all the blame,” “You’ve got a right to be silent, I got a right to complain.” 
Musically, Chris was inspired by the blues lick that Tom Verlaine used on Television’s “The Grip of Love.”  

BETTER THAN I EVER WAS  
Chris loves Muscle Shoals Stax-Volt soul, and wrote a song inspired by Dan Penn (who wrote “I’m Your Puppet”). A funky, geezer anthem with powerful horns by Marc Paige that elevate Chris’ proclaiming his survival after all these years.  Chris sings about the messes he made, but they all worked out, “All the BS that I took on faith, it’s kind of amazing it didn’t get in my way….and damn here I am, better than I ever was!…It’s a victory to get up each day.”  “I pinched the idea from working with Richard Lloyd, who was brilliant and crazy. I loved his autobiography, telling stories of his self-abuse and shooting up with Keith Richards and Anita Pallenberg.  I was inspired by his great attitude -  “Wow, I can’t believe I’m still here!” 


BONUS TRACKS 

After the album, GOT IT TOGEHTER!, Chris includes bonus songs—demos, some that made the album, some that didn’t.    

THE WHIRLAWAY (demo) 
This is a four-track demo of an unrecorded Waitresses song about living on borrowed time, and how that debt will be eventually called in. But not today.  

BETTER THAN I EVER WAS (demo) 
Guitars instead of saxes.  Key of A instead of G on the final version.  But you still feel that old school soul influence!  12-string guitar distorted, which is unusual for that instrument.

TOUCH OF GRAY (demo)    
Another in a long line of commissioned songs that never got used. Chris initially wrote the song in the female gender about his grandmother for "A...My Name Is Alice" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A..._My_Name_Is_Alice”). The demo shows an imaginary conversation with a child, and how the grandparent immigrated here in 1894, starting thinking in English to help himself become a citizen. So much of his life including living 50 years with one woman, and 25 alone, burying their heroes, but outliving their enemies.  The character believes his children can do better than he did, that thought bringing contentment.

CURIOUS GIRLS—BIG HIT SINGLE  (demo)
"My attempt at writing a big synth-based hit song. The protagonist in the song is a pompous male chauvinist. I needed a strong masculine voice to fit the character, so vocals are by my friend George Gilmore from The Tall Lonesome Pines.” A break-up song turned inside out -  a “full of himself male” that would forgive his ex after she is disappointed in all her new prospects. “It’s a cold cruel world, and it’s always the meanest to curious girls.” He may be smugly confident that she will return to him, but in reality, he hasn't a clue.

Whatever age Chris writes from, the yearnings for connection are still the same.  He says, “Youthful passions really don't age out. That's a lie that too many fall prey to. Fight it. You have to be really courageous...or rather, just plain stubborn to keep developing, stay curious and/or stay true to wanting to live a vital, exciting life. Entropy will take its toll, but it doesn't matter if you still burn to be creative.”

Chris Butler’s creativity as a song craftsman with an observational sense of kindness, irony, and humor make GOT IT TOGEHTER! a captivating listen. Pay attention.

GOT IT TOGEHTER!: Distributed by Smog Veil Records https://www.smogveil.com/

Press: Fly PR: Ilka Erreg Pardiñas: flypr@flypr.net  
Radio: Robb Haagsman: robb@shineonpromo.com







10/12/18

Robby Takac is "DYIN' TONIGHT" for JOHNNY GRUESOME


CONTACT: Red Hill Movies, redhillmovie1@gmail.com

Buffalo, New York - "Dyin' Tonight," an original song performed by Robby Takac of Goo Goo Dolls fame for the upcoming horror film Johnny Gruesome, has been released by Funhouse Productions and is available for purchase on major music platforms ahead of the film's October 16th VOD release. Takac co-wrote the song with Armand John Petri and Joe Rozler, and recorded it at his GCR Studios in Buffalo, New York. 

The film Johnny Gruesome was written and directed by Gregory Lamberson (Slime City, Killer Rack) and stars Anthony De La Torre (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Lords of Chaos), Michael DeLorenzo (New York Undercover, Head of the Class) and singer-songwriter Aprilann ("Crown and the Girl"). The film tells the story of a murdered heavy metal rebel who returns from the grave for vengeance. Red Hill Movies, Deinstitutionalized, and JFR Productions co-produced, with Uncork'd Entertainment distributing.

Petri and Rozler also composed the score, and additional songs used in the film were created by Dean Italiano, Giasone Italiano, and Aprilann. The Italianos' contributions were created for a rock CD, "Gruesome," to promote the novel on which the film is based; that CD is available separately.

Trailer for Johnny Gruesome:



"Dyin' Tonight" by Armand John Petrie, Joe Rozler, Robby Takac:
Apple Music- 
Spotify-
Google Play- 
YouTube- 



Robby Takac sings Johnny Gruesome 

10/9/18

Elliott Murphy’s Back in the USA for More Acts November 7-24


(Long Island Rock Troubadour Returns to the States for An Incredible November)

Elliott Murphy, singer-songwriter and long-time Paris resident, returns to the East Coast this November for an autumn season of touring, events and filming. 

Elliott will be inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame on November 8 at a gala ceremony to be held at the Space in Westbury… Long Island, of course. Former inductees of the LIMHOF include Billy Joel, Paul Simon, Cyndi Lauper, Joan Jett and Lou Reed.

Originally from Garden City, Long Island, Elliott Murphy rose to national prominence with the release of his debut 1973 album Aquashow, when critics declared him, along with Bruce Springsteen, John Prine and Loudon Wainwright III, the new Bob Dylan, even though the original was still only in his mid-thirties. When asked if he considered the “New Dylan” tag to be a curse, Murphy often reminds interviewers that, “… all of us singer-songwriters, who were pushed into that estimable club, seem to be still working. So more than a curse it’s a guarantee of life-time employment!”  

Along with his virtuoso French guitarist Olivier Durand, Elliott Murphy will be performing shows in New York and New Jersey in November along with a highly coveted performance at the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage in Washington DC.

As well as having released over 35 albums in a career spanning 45 years, Elliott Murphy is a prolific writer of fiction with two novels and numerous collections of short stories published in Europe. One of his earlier stories is currently being made into the film Broken Poet and will feature Elliott Murphy in his first major acting role. Cast members include the legendary Marisa Berenson, Academy Award nominee Michael O’Keefe, and acclaimed French actress Joana Preiss. A Spring 2019 release is projected for Broken Poet by award-winning Spanish Director Emilio Barrachina. Elliott’s most recent album, PRODIGAL SON, (Murphyland Records) garnered 4 stars in French Rolling Stone. 

In 2015 Elliott Murphy was awarded the Chevalier des arts et des lettres medal by the French minister of Culture. 

ELLIOTT MURPHY U.S. TOURDATES
November 8 Long Island Music Hall of Fame, Westbury, NY  
November 9 My Father's Place, Roslyn, NY  
November 11 Ray's House Concert, Staten Island  
November 13 World Café, Philadelphia, PA  
  November 15 The Turning Point, Piermont, NY 
November 16 The Sail Loft, Port Jefferson, NY  
November 17 Rockwood 3 ***5PM Show***  
November 23 Stephen Talkhouse, Amagansett, NY  
November 24 Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, Wash DC  

For further information on show dates please visit:  www.elliottmurphy.com
The Second Act of Elliott Murphy Trailer w/ Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Willie Nile: 
Rolling Stone listed two of Elliott’s albums in their list of 10 Singer-Songwriter Albums Rolling Stone Loved in the 1970s You’ve Never Heard: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/10-singer-songwriter-albums-rolling-stone-loved-in-the-1970s-youve-never-heard-77702/elliott-murphy-lost-generation-165711/