Lifting up our veterans through music is something that Brian Tarquin & his Heavy Friends will do until there are no more wars. Brian’s friends include superhero musicians that love working with him on a number of albums he’s released from hard rock to jazz over the past (20) years). “‘Beyond The Warrior’s Eyes” (out January 19, on Downtown Music/Dashgo Distribution) honors military soldiers who defend our freedoms. I wanted a true star-studded musician tribute of soaring instrumental songs. So, I was very fortune to get such iconic players as Jean Luc Ponty, Eric Johnson, Robben Ford and Steve Morse to help me express our gratitude.”
A
heavy and glorious fusion-prog collection, “Beyond the Warrior’s Eyes” is
Brian and his friends (Jean Luc Ponty, Eric Johnson, Robben Ford (Miles Davis),
Steve Morse (Deep Purple), Dean Brown (David Sanborn), Hal Lindes (Dire
Straits), Chris Poland (Megadeth), John Tropea (Billy Cobham), Steve Kindler
(Jeff Beck), Carl Verheyen (Supertramp) & Larry McCray (John Mayall), the
late Phil Naro, and the Budapest Symphony Orchestra) latest collaborative
album. “Beyond The Warrior’s Eyes” mission is to support the charity,
Hope For The Warriors, who provide medical care, mental health counseling,
professional training and education, physical conditioning and transition
services for wounded, ill, and injured Marines and Navy members. https://www.hopeforthewarriors.org/
“Beyond The Warrior’s Eyes” Special Donation Page:
https://support.hopeforthewarriors.org/Beyond-The-Warriors-Eyes
The album “Beyond The Warrior’s Eyes” was produced, engineered and composed entirely by Brian Tarquin. Well-connected with star musicians, he is a one-man army playing all instruments except drums where studio drummer Reggie Pryor lends his services. The album was recorded in Tarquin’s Jungle Room Studios on 2” analog tape through a vintage Trident London 24 console and a host of analog outboard gear. Brian transferred the recording to either Pro Tools or Logic, finishing the recording digitally. He lastly recorded all final mixes down to an Ampex 440C ¼” 2 track analog tape. Tape Op Interview on process: https://tapeop.com/interviews/158/brian-tarquin/
What about some of the “Beyond The Warrior’s Eyes”
tracks? “Behind the Iron Curtain” with Chris Poland is a thundering and
glorious orchestration of guitar playing. Chris loves working with Brian, “This particular project I felt was a bit more
important. Here we honor our veterans for their courage and sacrifice.”
Jean Luc Ponty was inspired to play his electric violin
on the album, when he heard the title track, “Beyond the Warrior’s Eyes.” Steve Morse and John Tropea soloed and blended their lead
guitars on a dreamy yet danceable instrumental, “Faith & Hope.” The
combination of guitar work from multi-genre-rocker Eric Johnson and fusion’s
Dean Brown on “The Gates of Valhalla” is an upbeat and magical journey that
takes the listener away from his or her troubles.
The album closes with a song, “These
Colors Don’t Run,” which pays tribute to our soldiers. The late Phil Naro sings
on this with guitar from Steve Morse, who gives “kudos to Phil for his vocal
performance, and add that he loves working with Brian, who “is a great guy to work with and is very versatile at all parts
of this music business.”
The Emmy award winning guitarist/composer has radio hits
in several formats as Smooth Jazz, NACC Loud Rock & CMJ’s RPM charts. He’s had songs on major TV shows and popular movies
including CSI, Seinfeld, Good Morning America, The Watcher (Keanu
Reeves), Desert Heat (Van Damme), The Sender (R. Lee Ermey), and National
Lampoon’s Repli-Kate (Ali Landry)…. He’s
won 3 Emmy Awards for “Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and
Composition for a Drama Series” for All My Children, a Global
Music Award, honors from SESAC and a number of nominations from the Josie Music
Awards for best guitarist, producer and album. Brian
has appeared on 50 releases, has 38 million streams on Pandora, Spotify &
Apple: selling over 140,000 records in his career. Brian is
an award-winning published Author; below is a list of his books.
Brian and Joe Satriani won “Best
Video” for “Speed of Sound” from the recent “Brothers in Arms” album and
a Global Music Gold Award for his release “Orlando In Heaven,”
put together to pay tribute to the victims shot at the Pulse Nightclub in 2016.
Brian’s weekly NPR radio show
called Guitar Trax on WFIT 89.5FM (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WFIT) on the Florida Space Coast is streamed on www.wfit.org. He hosts in depth interviews with world-renowned
guitarists every Monday night from 10pm-Midnight.
Track Listing
01 “Beyond the
Warrior’s Eyes” w/ Jean Luc-Ponty
02 “The Gates of Valhalla” w/ Eric Johnson & Dean Brown
03 “Quiet Desperation”
w/ Robben Ford
04 “Behind the Iron Curtain” w/ Chris Poland
05 “Faith & Hope” w/ Steve Morse & John Tropea
06 “A Soldier’s
Journey” w/ Steve Kindler & Budapest Symphony Orchestra
07 “La Sierre Del Norte” w/ Carl Verheyen
08 “Common Valor” w/ Larry McCray
09 “These Colors
Don’t Run” w/ Steve Morse & Phil Naro
Quotes from Artists on “Beyond The
Warrior’s Eyes”
Jean Luc Ponty: “Beyond The Warrior’s Eyes” is the song that inspired me the most to play on when Brian asked me to collaborate on his album, and I am very happy to be part of this project to help U.S. Veterans get what they need.
Hal Lindes (Dire Straits) Brian Tarquin’s superb latest offering is
brimming with fresh, funky, killer grooves and majestic soaring guitar melodies
featuring French virtuoso violinist Jean Luc Ponty, shredding it up on “Beyond
The Warrior Eyes.”
Chris Poland (Megadeth): It's always my pleasure to play on anything Brian brings my way, but this particular project I felt was a bit more important. Here we honor our veterans for their courage and sacrifice.
Steve Morse (Deep Purple): Brian is a great guy to work with and is very versatile at all parts of this music business. Kudos to Phil Naro, coming up with another great vocal part for “These Colors Don't Run”!
Carl Verheyen (Supertramp): Collaborating on “La Sierra del Norte” with Brian was a joy. The challenge was to play as melodic as possible in 6/8 time with a completely different tone than the melody.
Dean Brown (David Sanborn): Brian has put together a stellar group of guitarists and provided wonderful vehicles for creative improvisation. I'm thrilled to be a part of the project and this worthy cause.
Note: Tarquin is pronounced -- “Tar – quin”
linktr.ee/guitartrax
www.bhpmusic.com
Brian Tarquin
Multi
Emmy Award Winning Composer/Guitarist
Press Links:
Vintage Guitar Magazine just did a spread on Brian in the April edition.
https://www.vintageguitar.com/56401/brian-tarquin-3/
Music Connection
https://www.musicconnection.com/industry-profile-brian-tarquin-shredding-for-u-s-vets-and-victims/
Big Blend Magazine
https://issuu.com/bigblendmagazines/docs/_2big_weekly_blend_magazine_vol._1_issue_18_no
Books By Brian
Tarquin
Survival Guide for
Music Composers (Hal Leonard) - 2018 USA Best Book Winner Award
Guitar
Encyclopedia (Allworth Press) - 2014 USA Best Book Winner Award
Guitar Amplifier
Encyclopedia (Allworth Press) - 2017 USA Best Book Finalist Award
Stomp on This: The
Guitar Pedal Effects Guidebook (Cengage) - 2015 USA Best Book Finalist
Award
Insider’s Guide to
Home Recording (Allworth Press) - 2015 USA Best Book Finalist Award
Insider’s Guide to
Music Licensing (Allworth Press) - 2014 USA Best Book Finalist Award
Recording
Techniques of the Guitar Masters (Cengage) interviews with Steve Vai, Joe
Satriani, Eric Johnson.
Brian Tarquin and fellow composers Terry Walker and Jerry Pilato won Emmys for their work in General Hospital in 2002, 2003, 2005
