Anne Leighton

JETHRO TULL'S IAN ANDERSON TO RELEASE "THICK AS A BRICK 2"

2012-01-31T21:47:00.004-05:00

Anderson Announces 40th Anniversary Sequel to the
Hugely Successful, Groundbreaking 1972 Album

London, England - February 1, 2012 - Following the recent announcement of a 19-date tour to commemorate the 40th anniversary of 'Thick As A Brick,' on April 2nd (April 3rd in North America) Ian Anderson will release a sequel to the original album.

In 1972, Ian Anderson wrote and recorded the Jethro Tull Progressive Rock classic album 'Thick As A Brick.' The lyrics were credited at the time to the fictitious child character, Gerald Bostock, whose parents supposedly lied about his age. The record instantly became a number one Billboard Chart album and enjoyed considerable success in many countries of the world.

So, forty years on, what would Gerald Bostock - aged fifty in 2012 - be doing today? What might have befallen him? The anniversary “part two” album will examine the possible different paths that the precocious young schoolboy, Gerald Bostock, might have taken later in life through alter-ego characters with song-section identities illustrating the hugely varied potential twists and turns of fate and opportunity. Not just for Gerald but to echo how our own lives develop, change direction and ultimately conclude through chance encounters and interventions, however tiny and insignificant they might seem at the time.

Ian Anderson says of the album, “As we baby-boomers look back on our own lives, we must often feel an occasional 'what-if' moment. Might we, like Gerald, have become instead preacher, soldier, down-and-out, shopkeeper or finance tycoon?” Adding, “And those of more tender years - the social media and internet generation - may choose to ponder well the myriad of chance possibilities ahead of them at every turn.....”

To coincide with this groundbreaking release, for the first time since 1972, Anderson and fellow musicians John O'Hara (keyboards), David Goodier (bass), Florian Opahle (guitar) and Scott Hammond (drums) - as well as some guest performers - will take to the road to perform the album in its entirety and, it can now exclusively be revealed that, in addition, there will be a second part to the show where Anderson and the band will also perform the sequel.

Thick As A Brick 2 ('TAAB2') tracklist [CD, digital]
1. From A Pebble Thrown
2. Pebbles Instrumental
3. Might-have-beens
4. Upper Sixth Loan Shark
5. Banker Bets, Banker Wins
6. Swing It Far
7. Adrift And Dumfounded
8. Old School Song
9. Wootton Bassett Town
10. Power And Spirit
11. Give Till It Hurts
12. Cosy Corner
13. Shunt And Shuffle
14. A Change Of Horses
15. Confessional
16. Kismet In Suburbia
17. What-ifs, Maybes And Might-have-beens

'Thick As A Brick 2' will be released as a standard jewel case CD and digital download, and in a Special Edition 2-disc package with DVD featuring 5.1 stereo mixes, 24-bit stereo mix, video of the making of the album, interviews with the musicians and Ian Anderson reading the lyrics in various locations.

After 44 years of leading Tull to 54 countries worldwide and over 60 million albums sold, Ian Anderson celebrates a true progressive rock classic with old and new fans across the UK for a whole three weeks. Anderson is known as the flute and voice of the legendary Jethro Tull, formed in the North of England in 1968 from the amalgamation of blues-based John Evan Band and McGregor's Engine. Since their first performance at London's famous Marquee Club in 1968, the band has released 30 studio and live albums and earned a prominent place in rock history.

The official Jethro Tull website:
www.jethrotull.com
and please visit: stcleve.com
* * *
U.S. Media Contacts

Jennifer Ballantyne - EMI Music North America
(323) 871-5494 / jennifer.ballantyne@emicap.com

Anne Leighton - Leighton Media
(718) 881-8183 / LeightonMedia@aol.com

Confirmed tour dates at http://www.jethrotull.com

TAAB2
Whatever Happened To Gerald Bostock?
by Ian Anderson

In 1972, I wrote and recorded the Jethro Tull Progressive Rock classic album Thick As A Brick. The lyrics were credited at the time to the fictitious child character, Gerald Bostock, whose parents supposedly lied about his age. The record instantly became a number one Billboard Chart album and enjoyed considerable success in many countries of the world.

We then, somewhat dutifully, took the quaintly theatrical show on the road in the UK, USA and a few other countries. Since 1972, the album has never been performed in its entirety although a few minutes of the material have been a regular repertoire staple in both Tull and Ian Anderson solo shows over the years.

Now, scheduled for performance again in 2012, I will take the original album and this follow-up recording, TAAB2, to a theatre near you.

So, forty years on, what would Gerald Bostock - aged fifty in 2012 - be doing today? What might have befallen him?

The theme of this anniversary “part two” album is to examine the possible different paths that the precocious young schoolboy, Gerald Bostock, might have taken later in life and to create alter-ego characters whose song-section identities illustrate the hugely varied potential twists and turns of fate and opportunity. Not just for Gerald but to echo how our own lives develop, change direction and ultimately conclude through chance encounters and interventions, however tiny and insignificant they might seem at the time.

In the development of the piece, the divergences of life's infinitely forked roads finally give way to an almost gravitational pull which results in convergence to, perhaps, a pre-ordained, karma-like conclusion.

As we baby-boomers look back on our own lives, we must often feel an occasional “what-if” moment. Might we, like Gerald, have become instead preacher, soldier, down-and-out, shopkeeper or finance tycoon?

And those of more tender years - the social media and internet generation - may choose to ponder well the myriad of chance possibilities ahead of them at every turn.....

Odd chap, life.....

If someone had suggested that I might release a Prog concept album in the year 2012, I would have thought him seriously, dangerously even, off his trolley. But that is precisely what happened. A few years ago, Mike Andrews and Royston Eldridge, two ex-Chrysalis Records gents pressed me to consider a follow-up to Thick As A Brick. I gave it some dutiful deliberation - for a couple of minutes - and politely declined. Nice idea, nice chaps but, after reflection, no-oooooo.

Then, in 2010, a re-aquaintance with seventies Prog Rock vocalist-turned-record exec Derek Shulman - yes, he of Gentle Giant fame - restarted the old refrain. Yes, but.... no, but, and finally - OK, I'll give it some more dutiful deliberation (four and a half minutes, this time) eventually produced, in February of 2011, the synopsis of the idea. Derek's enthusiasm and gauntlet-challenge plus two weeks of dedicated, fast and furious music and lyric writing combined to produce a flurry of material. And - blow me down with a Dodo's tail-feather - the whole thing was completed ready for scoring and arranging by the beginning of March. There were a couple of pieces prepared earlier which were bent into new shape and fitted into the scheme of things, so they too were popped into the bubbling saucepan.

It was a little daunting to consider the impact - or perhaps lack of - which this release might have on old and new fans alike but I eventually decided that I would embark on this for my own benefit and enjoyment rather than trying to please anyone else at all. To find the balance of interesting musicality and more accessible content too was not the main issue. The conceptual and heavily lyrical nature of the beast, however, might be out of place in the attention span-deficit world which we seem to occupy these days. But, having toured in 2010 and 2011 in Italy, Latin America, Australia and other countries where passions run high, I decided that maybe the world - or our little corners of it - was, in fact, ready for a bit of more substantial and weightier fare.

The era of professional media Prog-bashing seems to have given way to a more appreciative appraisal of the genre and newer bands such as Dream Theater, Porcupine Tree and Spock's Beard have possibly prompted a new and younger audience to re-examine the seventies originators' seminal albums too.

So, it's not such a cold and lonely place after all. The elements of Folk, Classical and Jazz Music are still to be found in today's more Rock-oriented Progressive Rock. You will certainly find them subtly present in TAAB2 but along with a rather more acoustic feel than many of our peers, past and present. Not the only flute in town but......

Actually, I played much more acoustic guitar than usual on this record having written most of the music on that instrument. But there are still sections conceived on the flute and sometimes - quite often, in fact - the lyric writing preceded all the melodies and harmonic structures. Starting with lyrics and then thinking of the music is not normally the way I work but it was here. A title, a few words or a verse or two and then the acoustic guitar was immediately to hand to conjure up a full song section out of the growing lyrics. Having a plan was important. Stories to tell made it all easier. The imagination-filled process of thinking how things might have turned out for the young and older Gerald kept me fascinated. Maybe you will be too. And maybe not.

Ah, well - you can always go and watch The X Factor and the Eurovision Song Contest.

--Ian Anderson January 2012

JANN KLOSE RETURNS TO THE UK THIS MARCH FOR HIS FOURTH TOUR

2012-01-18T23:08:00.009-05:00

Acclaimed singer-songwriter playing Liverpool, Cambridge, Bilston, Swindon--more shows to be announced.

Jann Klose is returning to the UK this March to perform and lead some master classes on songwriting and DIY touring. He'll be talking about DIY Touring and collaboration at the Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts, and then leading a master class for students at the Highworth Warneford School in Wiltshire. Confirmed dates are in Liverpool, Wolverhampton, Cambridge and Wiltshire.

Photo of Jann at the Cavern Club, IPO Festival

Jann is currently in the studio working on a new album with multi-platinum award winning producer David Bendeth (Paramour, Papa Roach, Bruce Hornsby, Elvis Presley). His recent releases Reverie (2008) and Sacrifice EP (2010) continue to build attention. His songs have been heard on the GRAMMY-nominated Healthy Food For Thought (2010) compilation, and in film and TV, including Warner Bros. Dead Broke featuring Paul Sorvino and MTV Cribs.

He has opened for/performed with a wide range of artists including, Brett Dennen, Rusted Root, Vonda Shepard, Rosanne Cash, Roger McGuinn, Renaissance and Annie Haslam, Jim (The Yardbirds) McCarty and the legendary Les Paul.

Born in Germany and raised in Kenya and South-Africa he first came to the U.S. as an exchange student, now living in NYC. As an actor/singer he performed in Broadway tours of Jekyll & Hyde, The Who's Tommy and the European tour of Jesus Chris Superstar.

The Washington Post writes, "Klose wins over the listener with his soaring voice, which may well be a staple of chamber pop for a long time to come."

JANN KLOSE UK DATES:

March 2, 2012: MASTER CLASS, LIVERPOOL INSTITUTE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS, Liverpool, UK
March 2: 2012: THE CAVERN CLUB, Liverpool, UK
March 3, 2012: CB2 Cambridge, UK
March 4, 2012: ROBIN 2 W/ TIR NA NOG, Bilston, Wolverhampton, UK
March 7, 2012: SONGWRITING CLASS & PERFORMANCE, HIGHWORTH WARNEFORD SCHOOL, Swindon, Wiltshire, UK

###

Joe Deninzon’s California Jaunt, January 19-21 (Shows and Appearances at NAMM, Hoosiermosa, and Salvadors Jazz Suite)

2012-01-14T22:24:00.006-05:00

photo by Steve Shultz

Singer/Songwriter/Electric Violinist Joe Deninzon will be making a variety of appearances this coming week as he visits Southern California.

On Thursday and Friday, Joe will be mingling at NAMM, and making appearances at both the Mel Bay and Mark Wood’s Viper Electric Violin Booths. Joe has written the book on Electric Violin--literally; Mel Bay books is premiering his "PLUGGING IN: A Guide To Gear and New Techniques for the 21st Century Violinist" at NAMM.

On Saturday, Joe has two performances. He joins fellow alumni from Indiana University for Hoosiermosa, at the Lighthouse Café, 30 Pier Ave, in Hermosa Beach for an afternoon of music from a range of artists including DJ Matty Mac, Everyday Avenues, Voomz, Johnzo West, Barley Legal, Jeremy Buck & the Bang, Rich Hardesty featuring Moe Z, and Jim Post. In addition to sitting in with some of these artists, Joe’s set will be at 4 PM.

Saturday night, at 9 PM, Joe will perform at Salvadors Jazz Suite, 3013 Gilroy Street, in Los Angeles. Performing at 8 PM is Byron Nemeth with set of ambient fusion guitar, featuring the new Mooresound "1013" Amplifier. Admission is $10. The web site is http://salvadorsjazzsuite.com .

Joining Joe’s sets at both Hoosiermosa and Salvadors Jazz Suite are Tony Pulizzi (current guitarist for AMERICAN IDOL) and drummer Stacey Lamont Sydnor (Missy Elliot, George Duke, Macy Gray, Stevie Wonder, Robbie Williams, Hillary Duff).

Joe Deninzon leads the band Stratospheerius, who will be releasing its fifth album, THE NEXT WORLD (Digital Nations / D Zone Entertainment), this spring. Stratospheerius combines jam, fusion, rock, progressive, virtuoso, singer-songwriter, jazz and metal, and describes itself as "psychojazz trip funk." Stratospheerius has played at colleges, festivals, and clubs throughout the US. The New York-based group has opened for Tim Reynolds, Mickey Hart, Mike Stern, and John Scofield. The group was a winner in the John Lennon Songwriting Competition, won the Online People's Choice Awards in the Cornucopia Festival, and was named "Best Jam Band" in Musician's Atlas Independent Music Awards.

Often called "The Jimi Hendrix of the Electric Violin," his innovative performances on the electric seven-string violin and his compositions blend rock, funk, jazz, classical, and Eastern European Gypsy influences. While leading Stratospheerius since 2001, Joe has worked with Bruce Springsteen, Sheryl Crow, Les Paul, Phoebe Snow, and Ritchie Blackmore among others. He can be heard on over 100 recordings and jingles as a violinist and string arranger.

Joe has appeared in Lincoln Center’s Meet the Artist program, as a soloist with the New York City Ballet, has performed on MTV and at the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame, and has played for former President Clinton. His music has been featured on CMT, VH1, ABC, Comedy Central, the Travel Channel, History Channel, Food Network, and National Geographic, and recently in the Will Ferrell/Adam McKay-produced movie, "Virginity Hit."

GRAMMY® Nominated Artist Miss Amy Brings "Fitness Rock & Roll" To LA, February 8-11

2012-01-09T19:45:00.015-05:00

GRAMMY®-Nominated Recording artist Miss Amy is coming to Southern California with an even higher mission than walking the Red Carpet at the 54th GRAMMY® Awards.

Miss Amy will be joined by Reality TV Star and Kids Fit Foundation representative Dan Evans. Together they will raise awareness about the importance of exercise and nutrition. Slated for February 8th and 9th are four enrichment concert appearances that will reach more than 800 students at Daniel Webster School (a President's Challenge Program Demonstration school) in Pasadena, and the new Extera Public Charter Schools in East LA.

Dan Evans, a former contestant on the hit show The Biggest Loser and Nashville Recording artist, will share his story of weight loss and personal triumph. He will also perform a couple of his hit songs, including "Goin' All Out." After losing 136 pounds, Dan now has a healthy relationship with food, and motivates and inspires others to live active lifestyles.

Miss Amy has twenty years experience in the fitness industry and is an official advocate for the President's Challenge Program. She has five solo albums in her discography and appears in a number of other published projects, including: four compilation CDs, a bi-lingual educational DVD and three books. Through her kid-friendly music she educates families about Health and Wellness. One of Miss Amy's goals is to bring her Healthy Bodies Rock! program to under-served elementary schools across America. Her program is aligned with the 21st Century Standards Core Theme of Health Literacy, and she encourages children to claim their athletic identities and build positive character traits.

In addition to her school appearances, Miss Amy & Her Big Kids Band will give an interactive Fitness Rock & Roll concert (reminiscent of her 2010 White House Egg Roll performance) at the LA Air Force Base for service families the morning of February 11th.

Miss Amy's FITNESS ROCK & ROLL CD is nominated for Best Children's Album in the 54th GRAMMY® Awards, broadcasting on CBS-TV and online at www.grammy.com on February 12, 2012.

www.MissAmyKids.com
www.kidsfitfoundation.org
www.PresidentsChallenge.org

Ewing High School, Ewing, NJ, Receives 50k Grant For Music Programs

2011-12-23T15:59:00.004-05:00

Here are the Ewing High School Kids Loving Their Support.
Miss Amy says, "Help the kids in your schools. Find a grant for something important to build their talents."

A donation of $50,000 was made today to the Ewing Education Foundation, earmarked for the Ewing High School Music department, made possible by the Rowe Carter Charitable Trust.

Presentation of this grant was made at Ewing High School auditorium by GRAMMY® Nominated Recording Artist Miss Amy, who played a key role in bringing together the donor and the school. “As parents, teachers, administrators and a community, we support this music program. We understand the potential that studying music can bring forth in kids. There is power in music!” Miss Amy explained in the presentation to the students and factulty. “It is our hope that this will inspire all of the other schools who did not place, to not give up, but to inspire organizations in the position to help to step-up and take action.”

School music programs need funding, but the story of how this grant emerged is an interesting one. In November a team of Ewing High School (EHS) students produced a video submission for the Glee Give-A-Note contest that awards cash prizes for the best videos. Many in the school started posting the contest entry to Facebook for visibility. The video caught the attention of Miss Amy, who reached out to the members of the Rowe Carter Charitable Trust, who were also moved by it. Miss Amy, also, called Wayne Staub, President, and Heather Kerns Latini, Executive Director of the Ewing Education Foundation, and organized a time for them all to see the music program in action, to observe the orchestra and choirs.

A representative of the Rowe Carter Charitable Trust interviewed music students about their experiences in the Ewing district elementary schools and Fisher Middle School, who explained why music is important to them.

Student responses ranged from, “music teaches about different cultures and languages” to “it teaches about history, and helps us understand other subjects like math.” Another replied, “Music is everything, a vital thread that connects humankind throughout time.”

When asked what the music department needed, the students collectively explained there is need for repair, replacement of instruments, newer tools and technology, such as sound equipment. When asked what they would spend the Glee money on if they won, the reply was that, although the need is great in the high school, it would be best spent on the feeder music programs in the elementary and middle school in the district.

On December 15th the students were disappointed to find out they did not place in the Glee contest. However, the Rowe Carter Charitable Trust has stepped up to provide a consolation prize of equal magnitude to first place. The grant is to be allocated by a committee of high school students, Mr. Olson, EHS Band Director and Mrs. Forness, EHS Choir Director.

Emily Hurd's two area shows: CD release on Jan. 20, at SPACE w/ Raul Midon on Jan. 27

2011-12-20T02:44:00.003-05:00

Chicago-based Emily Hurd will be performing and throwing a CD Release Show for her album, LONG LOST GHOSTS at Strobe Studios, 2631 W. Division Street, in Chicago, on January 20th at 8:00 pm. This show will be video taped and recorded. Admission is $10. Seating is limited, and people must RSVP to attend via e-mail at contact@emilyhurd.com. You can also call 773.486.1459 for more information. The web site is http://stroberecording.com/.

On January 27, Emily opens for Raul Midon, at Evanston Space, 1245 Chicago Ave., in Evanston, IL. Showtime is 8 PM, and the venue phone is 847-492-8860. The web site is http://evanstonspace.com/

LONG LOST GHOSTS is Emily's latest album, featuring her signature voice and folk-pop songs that tell stories of old-fashioned love and its bittersweet triumph. Highlights include the irresistible blues-tinged hit, "Irreparably Yours" and the palpable nostalgia of the cross-country driving tune "Long Lost Ghosts." Emily's fervent crooning uplifts in "My Favorite Part," "Silent Conversations," and "I Won't Tell a Soul." Emily's music echoes the uptempo balladry and intelligent anthems often linked to kindred troubadours Lyle Lovett and Steve Earle.”

Emily wrote LONG LOST GHOST's songs on her ukulele and recorded them on the vintage grand piano at Chicago's King Size Sound Labs. The record features an all-star line-up of Chicago musicians: John Abbey (Robbie Fulks, Amy Speace), Darren Garvey (Cameron McGill and What Army, Miles Nielsen), Sue Demel (Sons of the Never Wrong, Come Sunday), and Maria McCullough (SleepyLou, Jonas Friddle).

Over the course of her eight full-length studio albums, Emily has shared the stage and/or opened for Irma Thomas, Bettye Lavette, Roger McGuinn, and Ozomatli. Her music is featured on the popular CBS crime drama NCIS. She appears on the prestigious Old Town School of Folk Music "Songbook" collection (released by Bloodshot Records). She is a winner/finalist in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, NPR's NewSong Contest, and The International Songwriting Competition.

Touring across the heartland, the wild west, and east coast parts of America, Emily has been meeting new fans at every show she plays, from coffeehouses and schools, to TV and radio shows and festivals, including events that fans have organized, most notably an annual “Emilyfest” in rural North Carolina (the next one is scheduled for October 13, 2012).

EMILY HURD ON TOUR

JAN. 20: CD RELEASE PARTY, STROBE STUDIOS, CHICAGO, IL
JAN. 27: W/ RAUL MIDON, SPACE, EVANSVTON, IL
MARCH 7: THE ARK, ANN ARBOR, MI
MARCH 11: BUTTONWOOD TREE, MIDDLETON, CT
MARCH 12: ROCKWOOD MUSIC HALL, NEW YORK, NY
SEPT. 10: BEAN RUNNER CAFE, PEEKSKILLE, NY
SEPT. 11: THE ROSENDALE CAFE, ROSENDALE, NY
OCT. 13: EMILYFEST, ADVANCE, NC

THE NEXT HUG

2011-12-20T00:26:00.010-05:00

Wonderin' when my next hug is coming
and from who and how...
'been hugged before without a clue
show me, I want to know now
if it's gonna be like yesterday with you

Love is it fair
and is life so dear
Do I ask as I wonder
if you'll just stare
and leave, leaving me here

Emmett and Anne

Lookin' for a kind thought and touch out there
It ain't just a memory
Poets say one word can change a life
will it hurt or heal me
risking all, cherish the changes we're feeling

Love is it fair
and is life so dear
Do I ask as I wonder
if you'll just stare
and leave, leaving me here

A thought
A word
A voice
A touch
A hug,
oh, honey.
yes.

© 2012 by Anne Leighton, All Rights Reserved

THE SMITHEREENS WINTER TOUR 2012

2011-12-16T20:32:00.009-05:00

Band Available For Interviews In Advance of Shows, Which Feature Special Guest Keyboardist Andy Burton!

The Smithereens are kicking off the new year with something special for their fans. From January 13-21, The Smithereens Winter Tour 2012 will feature special guest Andy Burton on keyboards! Singer/guitarist Pat DiNizio, guitarist Jim Babjak, drummer Dennis Diken, and bassist Severo "The Thrilla" Jornacion are excited to share the stage with Andy, who's played with Ian Hunter, Robert Plant and Southside Johnny (to name just a few). It's the first time The Smithereens have had a keyboard player in the band, and they're going to take advantage of their expanded sound by digging deep into their catalog for some rarely heard tracks to complement their fan-pleasing set that features 30 years of hits and songs from their critically acclaimed current album "SMITHEREENS 2011."

The new album, "2011" reunited the Smithereens with producer Don Dixon (R.E.M.) who helmed the group's first two albums, the power-pop masterpiece ESPECIALLY FOR YOU and GREEN THOUGHTS. USA TODAY's BRIAN MANSFIELD wrote, "From start to finish, '2011' is classic Smithereens: Marshall-amped post-mod power-pop." Little Steven's Underground Garage channel on Sirius XM dubbed the single "Sorry" "as the coolest song on the planet." FRESH AIR & NPR commentator Ken Tucker, said, "'2011' is hypnotic...everything in Smithereens world is like a film noir shot in psychedelic colors. A great Rock 'n' Roll band!" And the Chicago Sun Times declared, "The Smithereens haven't aged a day."

The Smithereens first performed in March 1980 in Hillside, N.J. Over the next five years, the group played both in the States and overseas, and released the EPs: GIRLS ABOUT TOWN (1980) and BEAUTY AND SADNESS (1983), and did a stint as Otis Blackwell's backup band. Pat sent a cassette of the band’s material to Enigma Records, which was distributed by Capitol/EMI. The executive, who signed them, was a fan of the band's when he was in college radio. The Smithereens finally had a record deal. ESPECIALLY FOR YOU was released in July 1986. GREEN THOUGHTS, 11 followed, all netting top 40 hits. It's said that Nirvana's Kurt Cobain listened to the Smithereens as he wrote 'NEVERMIND."

In all, the group's releasd nine albums, with titles that include GOD SAVE THE SMITHEREENS, ATTACK OF THE SMITHEREENS (RARITIES), A DATE WITH THE SMITHEREENS. The Smithereens have two gold albums, have sold 6 million albums worldwide. They have appeared on every major television show including SNL, Tonight Show, Arsenio Hall, and live on National Public Radio. Such memorable Smithereens songs as "Girl Like You," "Blood & Roses," and "Only A Memory" have become FM staples.

THE SMITHEREENS' EAST COAST DATES

Fri., Jan. 13: Rams Head Tavern, Annapolis, MD
Sat., Jan. 14: The State Theatre, Falls Church, VA
Fri., Jan. 20: World Cafe Live, Philadelphia, PA
Sat., Jan. 21: BB King Blues Club, New York, NY

KJ Denhert

2011-12-07T00:19:00.005-05:00

KJ Denhert is celebrating her 15 years as a working urban folk jazz singer-songwriter on March 16, 2012, at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center. She is in the studio with Tomas Donker, and there's a video of her in the studio at her youtube page.

There's a great quote from KJ in the video, "Life is scary now, but the joyous part is the art you get from it."

Rolling Stone.com caught KJ live in concert as she performed at the 90th Anniversary of the Local 802 (Musicians Union) benefit that Steve Earle organized for the Union. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/photos/pete-seeger-honored-at-musicians-union-benefit-20111205/kj-denhert-0204468
In addition to KJ and Steve, the show included Rosanne Cash, Paul Shaffer, Pete Seeger , Nelly McKay....

http://www.kjdenhert.com
http://www.youtube.com/kjdenhert

Miss Amy, GRAMMY Nominee and Lehigh Valley Music Award Winner

2011-12-06T21:04:00.003-05:00

(left to right: Miss Amy, NARAS' Mark Schultz, Lehigh Valley Music Award organizer Gloria Domino).

Heads up on Amy Otey (Miss Amy), who--alongside of Lady Gaga, Kanye West, the Yellowjackets, LL Cool J., and Amy's friend Ledisi--is a multiple GRAMMY nominee this year. Her album, FITNESS ROCK & ROLL has been nominated for Best Children's Album. She also appears on another nominated album by the same crew who produced HEALTHY FOOD FOR THOUGHT: GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT, the GRAMMY-nominated album I'm on (with Moby, Julian Lennon, Michael O'Keefe, Tom Chapin, Cathy Fink, and Jann Klose) from last year.

This past Sunday, Dec. 4, Amy won Best Children's performer in the Lehigh Valley Music Awards. She says, "Today Lehigh Valley, tomorrow the Grammys, and next year--all the kids of America will be more fit and rockin'!"

I don't remember what it was we said to each other the moment we met, but in the second moment, we each declared, "I love you!" to each other at the same time! And by the end of the night, we were dueling splits on the floor together in a bar!

In addition to taking advantage of Amy's well-earned nomination, we're working on Amy's inner city schools' appearances where she performs dynamic work outs and concerts with the kids at the same time. Whether they're in the audience or on stage with her, for them Amy's shows have the same dynamic power we get from going to KISS and Garth Brooks' concerts. She's a 40-something year old Mom, with a sense of humor, inspiration, and wow!

Lonnie Hill

2011-12-06T02:08:00.018-05:00

Occasionally a journalist turns me on to a new artist that inspires me. Anne Raso, the celebrity editor for TEEN STAR magazines, introduced me to an American Country Music Artist who has a "Waltz Across Texas" kind of vibe.

Lonnie is based in Franklin, TN, near Nashville Music City U.S A, and has songs on his web site, http://www.lonniehill.net. He's been playing in Nashville and Oklahoma, Kansas, Alabama, Tennessee for years, and in Las Vegas, March 2005. He finds a great deal of satisfaction performing for people from all walks of life from all over the world.

I hear quite a bit from his fans in the Philippines.

Lonnie had the privilege of meeting country music star Buck Owens at his Crystal Palace Club in Bakersfield, CA. Before Buck died, the two became friends. Lonnie is involved with fundraising for Mercy Children's Clinic Hospital, a non-profit for children who don't have insurance. He has also helped raise money for the American Red Cross.

He's a lifer, and I'm looking to find allies for him, folks who really enjoy his music. So if you're interested in helping me share his great music, let me know.

http://www.lonniehill.net
Friend Lonnie on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002929177532

The Smithereens on the road in January

2011-12-05T15:20:00.012-05:00

I'm promoting shows for the Smithereens' January 2012 tour. Leadsinger Pat Dinizio, drummer Dennis Diken, guitarist Jim Babjak, and bassist Severo "The Thrilla" Jornacion will be available for interviews. Dates are: Rams Head (1/13), The State Theater (1/14), World Cafe Live, Philly (1/20), and BB King Blues Club (1/21).

(Our friends in Las Vegas should check out Pat's Confessions of a Rock Star, Wednesdays through Mondays at the Riviera Hotel Casio. http://www.rivierahotel.com/las-vegas-entertainment/confessions-of-a-rock-star/)

The Smithereens - Jim, Dennis, Pat, The Thrilla

A new video from the Smithereens' called "Sorry."

http://www.officialsmithereens.com

The Kinetic King

2011-12-04T19:44:00.004-05:00

The Kinetic King recently broke the world's record for blowing up 6818 tongue depressors, and you can see it here: http://www.youtube.com/lunatim

We've got an EPK at http://thekineticking-epk.blogspot.com/
I'm looking to get him booked at colleges for workshops and performances. If you've suggestions, please let me know.

http://www.lunatim.com
http://www.facebook.com/TheKineticKingAGT
http://www.youtube.com/lunatim

Jann Klose

2011-12-04T19:31:00.006-05:00

Jann is currently in the studio working on a new album with multi-platinum award winning producer David Bendeth (Bruce Hornsby, Elvis Presley, Breaking Benjamin, Paramore). There's a teaser on soundcloud.com of one of the new songs, called "Falling Tears," on which Jann plays electric guitar.
Jann Klose - Falling Tears by jannklose

Jann is now the proud owner of a curvaceous Epiphone Casino! It's been a very busy fall for him, playing shows in California, Canada (w/ The Yardbirds' Jim McCarty) and the Midwest. There are some new live performances up on his YouTube page from an interview with Martin Guitars earlier this year. Jann and his band will be performing at Rockwood Music Hall's Stage 2 on Saturday, Dec 10th from 7-9 PM before he heads to his native Germany to play Hamburg on Dec 23rd.

http://soundcloud.com/jannklose/falling-tears
http://youtube.com/jannklose
http://www.jannklose.com

Emily Hurd

2011-12-04T19:25:00.007-05:00

I met Emily Hurd and Vonda Shepard through my work promoting Jann Klose all these years. It was a co-bill at Chicago's Skokie Theater. She seemed like a female Randy Newman, with elements of Nanci Griffith a young Olivia Newton-John, and Mary Richards (Mary Tyler Moore). She loves fry boots, animals, yoga. She's rescued dogs. Her video for the title track of her new album, LONG LOST GHOSTS.

Emily wants to stay on the road no matter how much or little money she makes. I'm looking for shows, co-bills, openers, house concerts from the Midwest on out, on the East coast, West coast, the South.

We're having a record release party on January 14 at Strobe Studios, Chicago! Admission is $10. Seating is limited, and people must RSVP to attend via e-mail at contact@emilyhurd.com.

EMILY HURD BIO

A little over a year in the making, Long Lost Ghosts is the album Emily Hurd’s fans have been waiting for, featuring her signature voice and folk-pop songs that tell stories of old-fashioned love and its bittersweet triumph. Highlights include the irresistible blues-tinged hit, "Irreparably Yours" and the palpable nostalgia of the cross-country driving tune "Long Lost Ghosts." Emily's fervent crooning uplifts in "My Favorite Part," "Silent Conversations," and "I Won't Tell a Soul." For the first time in a long time, she trades in her regular heartbreaker imagery for a welcome dose of contentment in "Brand New," "Skipping Stones," and "Easy Call." The songsmith sings it like she feels it.

Over the course of her eight full-length studio albums, Emily's singer-songwriter stylings have effortlessly fused pure vocals and chillingly sparse music with chamber pop, indie soul, and gypsy jazz. On Long Lost Ghosts, she does what she does best: combining acoustic instruments and vivid nature metaphors—singing of winter wheat, crickets, gravel roads, and skylarks—to connect with her audience.

The lilt in her voice is as endearing as ever, and the support of her backing band enhances without distracting from the delicate and hopeful vibe that has come to define Emily Hurd’s music.

Lush vocals, vibrant acoustic production, and tones of defiant optimism run through all the songs on Long Lost Ghosts, echoing the uptempo balladry and intelligent anthems, often linked to kindred troubadours Lyle Lovett and Steve Earle. Emily wrote the songs on her ukulele and recorded them on the vintage grand piano at Chicago’s King Size Sound Labs. The record features an all-star line-up of Chicago musicians: John Abbey (Robbie Fulks, Amy Speace), Darren Garvey (Cameron McGill and What Army, Miles Nielsen), Sue Demel (Sons of the Never Wrong, Come Sunday), and Maria McCullough (Sleepy Lou, Jonas Friddle).

Emily Hurd is an inspirational national indie act, performing for growing pockets of loyal followers who revel in her ample cache of new and old original songs. She's shared the stage and/or opened for Irma Thomas, Bettye Lavette, Roger McGuinn, and Ozomatli. Her music is featured on the popular CBS crime drama NCIS. She plays live on WGN TV and radio, WXRT radio, amongst other acclaimed Chicago music institutions. She appears on the prestigious Old Town School of Folk Music "Songbook" collection (released by Bloodshot Records). She is a winner/finalist in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, NPR's NewSong Contest, and The International Songwriting Competition.

Her supporters in the Southeast run the annual “Emilyfest” in an open barn down in a holler of rural North Carolina. The big skies and high country grass at Emilyfest serve as the perfect backdrop for her fans to listen and lose themselves for a while in her inimitable lyrics. Just listen...

http://www.emilyhurd.com
http://www.facebook.com/emilyhurdfans

Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius

2011-12-03T22:25:00.005-05:00

Stay tuned for an announcement on Stratospheerius' next album, THE NEXT WORLD. In January we'll have Joe's electric violin method book, "PLUGGING IN: A Guide to Gear and New Techniques for the 21st Century Violinist," on Mel Bay Books. Download the photo here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8320698@N05/6194339498/sizes/l/in/photostream/

New video of Joe jamming on mandolin with Stratospheerius on the instrumental "Gutterpunk Blues" at

Hear Stratospheerius live Friday night, Dec. 9th, first at the Shrine in Harlem at 8 PM, and then in Nyack, at Olive's at midnight. January 11, Stratospheerius and Out of the Beardspace rock Philadelphia's North Star Bar.

http://www.stratospheerius.com
http://www.facebook.com/stratospheerius

Vonda Shepard

2011-12-03T21:50:00.016-05:00

My Vonda story started with seeing her at BB King Blues Club in New York City, and she changed my life, awakened something deep within me. In concert she was singing songs that related to some of my relationship issues and also hit home with all the nostalgia that springs up when dear friends (including pets) die. She was magnanimous on stage--talking with her audience, celebrating people's relationships, and singing her heart out with a natural and powerful voice. She has her own sound that--to me--seems to combine soul and country and pop and jazz in her music. Very earthy presence, and a raw and straight forward alto voice. After the show, I saw how she listened to her fans and took time to get to know them. I had to ask her, "Are you a student of people?"

I realized why David E. Kelley cast her as the bar singer on the TV series, Ally McBeal--she's a person who really listens to others.

VONDA SHEPARD BIO
Vonda and her piano. That's SOLO, the new album which features many of Vonda’s originals ("Lose My Way," "Don’t Cry Ilene," "The Sunset Marquis," "Soothe Me," "I Know Better," ) as well as some favorite cover ballads ("Walk Away Renee" and "You Belong To Me").

SOLO provides the perfect opportunity to get to know Vonda's earthy and accessible style and her intimate interaction with her audience. During the coming year, most of Vonda's shows will feature just her heart, voice and piano. This includes more openers with Sugarland, with whom she’s worked since 2010. The clarity of her voice and the grace of Vonda at her piano on SOLO shows the beauty and richness of Vonda’s music. Says RED at Redhotvelvet.co.uk: “It’d be hard to argue that the Californian is a bad performer. She’s incredible… Shepard gracefully pounds the grand piano and manages to ooze a presence which seeps into the spellbound audience… it’s thoroughly refreshing to see such inherent talent performed naturally with such sunny disposition… Delectable.”

With over 12 million album sales to her name, two Golden Globes, two Emmy Awards, two Screen Actor’s Guild Awards as well as the Billboard prize for selling the most television soundtrack records in history for the hit TV series “Ally McBeal,” Vonda is a world-renowned artist who continues to delight audiences with her magnanimous live performances. She dedicates songs, tells stories, and—at the same time—projects dynamic charisma and intimacy with her audience.

Just as Vonda's songs reflect an independent woman with profound and self-reflective insights on relationships, her approach to running her career in today's ever-changing music scene is based on that same strength and sense of purpose. She is a consummate artist and businesswoman with her own label, Hotele´ Records. "I love the idea of making and releasing my own records exactly the way I envision them, then going on the road, getting the music out there and having a blast doing it all. I have a tremendous amount of energy for music and life.”

Born in New York City, Vonda's family moved to Los Angeles when she was a child, and by age 14, she was performing original material at small L.A. clubs. She played keyboards and sang with Rickie Lee Jones, Al Jarreau, and Jackson Browne, eventually opening for Browne in the U.S. and Asia. She has also performed with the Indigo Girls and The Funk Bros. (a highlight of her life), and she has shared the stage at music festivals with Sting, The Eurythmics, Santana, and Matchbox 20.

"Can't We Try," her duet with Dan Hill, hit number 6 in 1987. In that same year, Vonda secured her first solo deal with Reprise Records and two years later her eponymous album was released. The Top 10 AC Radio and VH1 hit single “Don't Cry Ilene” brought her outstanding and unmistakably bluesy voice to a wide audience and caught the attention of the critics. In 1992, her follow-up album, THE RADICAL LIGHT was released.

Vonda has always taken a unique approach to her career, attracting everyone from established music artists to television producers to rally behind her. In 1995, no longer with Reprise, Vonda borrowed money (and Jackson Browne's studio) to make her third recording, IT'S GOOD, EVE, and released it independently. It was this album that caught David E. Kelley's ear right at the moment he was searching for a voice for his new TV show “Ally McBeal.” Throughout the show’s five year run, Vonda performed on each episode and produced the show's music, recording almost 500 songs featuring artists including Gladys Knight, Sting, Barry Manilow, Al Green, Chubby Checker and Jon Bon Jovi.

Along with her six Ally McBeal Soundtracks, Vonda also recorded BY 7:30, produced by Mitchell Froom (Crowded House, Elvis Costello, Randy Newman). The two went on to make 2002’s CHINEATOWN, FROM THE SUN (2008), and now SOLO.

Most recently, in addition to opening for Sugarland's summer 2010 and 2011 tours, Vonda has been performing at her own international and domestic concerts, plus numerous private and fund-raising events. Vonda has also been in the studio recording her next album.

http://www.vondashepard.com
http://www.facebook.com/vondashepard

FITNESS ROCK & ROLL by Miss Amy Is Nominated for A GRAMMY®

2011-12-01T22:21:00.006-05:00

Miss Amy's FITNESS ROCK & ROLL has been nominated for a GRAMMY® Award for the 54th Grammy Celebrations to broadcast on CBS-TV and the internet at http://www.grammy.com on February 12, 2012.

Known as "The First Lady of Musical Fitness" by the National Children's Entertainment Guide, Miss Amy is THE Kids Rocker/Fitness Guru. This GRAMMY Nominated Featured Artist, Miss Amy also serves as an Official Advocate for the President's Challenge Program, and PC All-American in September 2010, encouraging families to stay physically active through her warm engaging manner and positively enriching original music.

Honored to have performed at The White House Egg Roll 2010, Miss Amy is a singer/songwriter, an accredited music educator and a fitness instructor. She earned her BBA in Strategic Management at University of North Texas and her Certificate of Gerontology at Rutgers University. Additionally Miss Amy has over 20 years of fitness instruction experience being accredited for Kids & Teen Fitness, Yoga I & II, Pilates, Tai-Chi, Strength Training, Primary Aerobics and Pre/Post Natal Fitness, and she is a certified Youth/Adolescent Fitness Trainer.

As an Advocate for the President's Challenge Program (a program of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports), Miss Amy encourages families to work toward earning the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award while inspiring and motivating young people to learn about their bodies and build healthy habits for life through her interactive Fitness Rock & Roll shows.

In addition to Miss Amy's nomination for FITNESS ROCK & ROLL, she's contributed work to the Wildflower CD (2010) in support of Women in Art in Pennsylvania and recorded on the International Baby 101 (English/Japanese/Spanish) project which earned the NAPPA Gold Award in 2004 and the Creative Child Excellence Award of 2006. Her I Wanna Know How It Works! song was included in the award-winning, WXPN Kids Corner, 20th Anniversary Celebration CD and ranked #5 for the Kids Corner top 10 songs of 2009. She has been featured in several books most notably; Singing; A Practical Guide to Pursuing the Art (The Performing Arts) (2009) for young adults by Rebecca Friskin and Shake & Shout: 16 Noisy, Lively Story Programs ( 2008) for children by Rob Reid.

An active member of the Philadelphia NARAS Chapter, Miss Amy also serves on the NJ Partnership For Healthy Kids committee, and volunteers with Musicians On Call at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

FITNESS ROCK & ROLL is the third album Miss Amy is on that's been nominated for a GRAMMY. She appears also on HEALTHY FOOD FOR THOUGHT: GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT, as well as on another project this year, ALL ABOUT BULLIES... BIG AND SMALL.

####

http://www.MissAmyKids.com/

LIGHT UP, EVERYBODY!

2011-11-21T21:25:00.004-05:00

(On The Highway To Elucidate)

The word of the day on the day
I reached the light at the end of the tunnel
was "elucidate."
--to make lucid, especially by explanation or analysis and give a clarifying explanation."

OK, I understand
I wasn't supposed to have grown up,
become stronger or on top of woman and man,
but be a child with joy in my purpose
--an idea with light, like that lightbulbbulblightlightbulbbulblight.
......

In order to think like a child
become like a child and speak as a child
go on line like any child might
find the dictionary for my word of the day--first thing at night.

I want to use that word in a sentence;
am I doing it right, for sure?
You mean other people are not always elucidate
I mean, Do you mean other people are not always elucidate
when they explain something, huh?

"I think not," said a stranger in the chat,
"Elucidate is a verb."
Lesson one: Definition includes the word's type!
OK, OK, OK! How cool the word exists,
Seems the wordmakers know how hard it is to elucidate!

This Dan Berggren song "Occupy This Moment, Occupy This World" is about this poem, and I didn't know it.
I hope other occupiers listen.
Occupy by BerggrenFolk

SEVERN RECORDS SIGNS THE FABULOUS THUNDERBIRDS; LEGENDARY AMERICAN ROOTS MUSIC BAND WILL BEGIN RECORDING LABEL DEBUT SHORTLY FOR RELEASE IN EARLY 2012

2011-11-16T00:43:00.011-05:00

Media Contact for Severn Records: http://www.markpuccimedia.com/

Kim Wilson of the Fabulous Thunderbirds
ANNAPOLIS, MD – Severn Records has announced the signing of legendary American roots music band The Fabulous Thunderbirds, and will begin recording their label debut CD shortly at Severn’s new state-of-the-art studio in Annapolis for release in early 2012.

In addition to The Fabulous Thunderbirds co-founder, singer/harmonica player Kim Wilson, the band members are the brothers Moeller – Johnny (guitar) and Jay (drums) - as well as Mike Keller (guitar) and Randy Bermudes (bass). Severn Records also released Johnny Moeller’s critically-acclaimed CD, BlooGaLoo, in 2010.

More Information
“We are thrilled to have The Fabulous Thunderbirds as part of the Severn family and to have the opportunity to give Kim and the band’s music a home,” said Severn Records president David Earl. “Their style will fit in perfectly with what we do and we are looking forward to the first studio sessions in the creation of a new Thunderbirds album.”

“I’m really excited about being a part of Severn Records,” said Kim Wilson. “We have a great rapport with David Earl and I feel at home already. The creative family atmosphere he provides is something that is very rare in any business these days.”
Founded in Austin, Texas, in 1974, the Grammy-nominated Fabulous Thunderbirds have evolved over the years from the group’s original blues sound. “We started as a straight blues band,” said Kim Wilson. We now incorporate a mixture of a lot of different styles. We’re an American music band and we’re much higher energy than we were before. To be in the T-Birds, you need to understand the different styles of music and different ways of playing it. You have to be willing to adopt a more contemporary style. The guys we have now are able to do that.”

Through consistent touring and the release of such landmark albums as Butt Rockin’,
T-Bird Rhythm, Tuff Enuff and Powerful Stuff, The Fabulous Thunderbirds garnered international stardom with the hit singles, “Tuff Enuff,” “Wrap It Up and “Look at That.”

The Fabulous Thunderbirds are managed by Skip Taylor of Two Goats Entertainment and booked in the U.S. and Canada by Bill Monot at Paradise Artists. The band has an upcoming tour of Australia in April, 2012 and will also support the release of their new Severn Records album with extensive touring in both the U.S. and Europe.

For more information on The Fabulous Thunderbirds, visit www.fabulousthunderbirds.com.
- 30 -

Even hard times can bring some happiness

2011-10-11T04:46:00.003-04:00

I didn't want to work on my finances, but I did. And a reward came when I called my bank. One of the cool things is they hire people from different countries so I can call at 4 in the morning and talk with a human being in India, for instance.

This time I got Ashrith, (meaning, "one who gives shelter") on the phone. I could have sworn I had spoken with him before, said, "We talked about music, you had a band. You knew who the guy was that wrote the movie about the homeless kid who won the TV game show. You know the movie, what's it called?"

He said, "no, that was my friend Ashith (which means "happiness")."

Even so Ashrith and I talked about everything from music to what bands really make in India, and how it costs the equivalent of four or five dollars to hear Jethro Tull in concert iwith other bands) in Bangalore.

And then he turned me on to two bands:

Bhoomi

and Parikrama

The Kinetic King Plans to Break Another World Record, Oct. 7

2011-10-03T22:43:00.008-04:00

The Kinetic King is on youtube!
St. Paul's very own The Kinetic King (Tim Fort) plans to break the world record for the largest amount of sticks used in a stick bomb at the Saint Paul Art Crawl, taking place at the Northern Warehouse Artists' Co-Operative, 308 Prince Street in the Lowertown neighborhood of Saint Paul, MN, on October 7, at 7:00. Please direct all press inquiries to lunatim@infionline.net

The Kinetic King has two official Guinness certificates for previous world records involving 2250 and 3864 sticks set in 2009 and 2010 (http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/set-record/). The Kinetic King's's unofficial personal best is 4242 sticks set last October 8th ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cskPGN5FJw ) and was an unofficial world record until just recently when a group of kids set another unofficial world record of 5076 sticks. During the quarter-finals on America's Got Talent, the Kinetic King attempted a new world record of over 7000 sticks, but met with disaster due to bad paint and humidity.

The Kinetic King was a semi-finalist and audience favorite on America's Got Talent this summer, making it to the 13th spot. AGT Judge Howie Mandel states, "There is no man in America that you can hand soda cans, balls, oranges and sticks to, and he can do something entertaining with it. There is only one man in America that can do that, and he is the Kinetic King."

Born and bred in Saint Paul, the King earned his Bachelors in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Minnesota, and became a professional artist in his late 30s.

"The number of chain-reaction techniques is virtually limitless," he says, and his kinetic gadget inventions are more advanced than domino tumbling and Rube Goldberg machines, encompassing a wide variety of chain-reaction techniques. He has given them Dalíesque names like Experimental Polymodal Slack-Generating Apparatus #9 and Test Detonation of 0.2 Kilostick Boosted-Yield Xyloexplosive Device #1. They explode, collapse, play musical tunes, and even have animation in them. The Kinetic King has worked gigs from Belgium to Seattle and last year had an exhibition in the Corcoran Gallery, Washington DC.

A brief head's up on some of my artists.

2011-09-29T02:23:00.020-04:00

Deni Bonet is an eclectic pop/singer-songwriter that both Jann Klose and Joe Deninzon turned me onto. Her album, IT'S ALL GOOD is coming early 2012, and was produced by a mutual friend, Richard Barone, who you know from the Bongos. I'm just going through photos of the album's sessions that included B-52s Fred Schneider, REM's Peter Buck, John Wesley Harding, and Wings' Steve Holley. Deni has excerpts of her songs at her web site http://www.denibonet.com.

Tim Fort is best known to people (especially those who watched this season's AMERICA'S GOT TALENT) as the Kinetic King. He's planning on beating the Guinness World Record of knocking down 5067 tongue depressors with the knocking down of 6000 tongue depressors this Oct. 7 in Saint Paul, MN. More info by Monday. This is Tim's youtube page: http://www.youtube.com/user/lunatim and web site is http://www.lunatim.com

The photo for Joe Deninzon's electric violin method book, “Plugging in: A guide to Gear and New Techniques for the 21st Century Violinist," on Mel Bay books over the holiday season is up at http://www.flickr.com/photos/8320698@N05/6194339498/in/set-72157611847817960

Joe Deninzon is the music world's "go to" guy for all things strings and violin, doing sessions, arrangements, live performances. Some of the acts he's worked with: Bruce Springsteen, Sheryl Crow, Everclear, Ritchie Blackmore, Smokey Robinson, President Clinton, Johnny Matthis, Les Paul, Phoebe Snow, Robert Bonfiglio... http://www.joedeninzon.com

Ed Arnold Heads to Gentle Giant in-store in Philadelphia, October 1

2011-09-28T22:24:00.005-04:00

Phoenixville, PA's Ed Arnold once met Gentle Giant guitarist Gary Green ("he's great, laid back"). Now Ed wants to meet the group's leadsinger Derek Shulman, "he was an interesting vocalist; I'm gonna encourage him to play live again. He always seemed so intense... it might be intimidating."

Back in the late 1970s, Ed discovered the music of Gentle Giant, a progressive rock band whose Octopus and Three Friends are available as special digipacks on the band's label Alucard and distributed through EMI Records. These re-masters are from the original 1/4 inch tapes of these Seminal British Progressive Rock Recordings. As he did for Gentle Giant's earlier re-releases, Fred Kevorkian re-mastered these two additions to the available Gentle Giant catalog. Ecstatic music fans of many generations, most notably contemporaries of the UK-based group who recorded and toured from 1970 till 1980, have been excited about the new releases.

In the case of Ed Arnold, it was in homeroom, 1978, "I had a cool teacher who had a record player, and he always brought in interesting music for us."

This Saturday, October 1, at 2 PM, Ed will have taken the bus, train or maybe have driven in to "Philly." He hasn't quite decided how he's getting to the City of Brotherly Love, but he will be at F.Y.E. Music, 100 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, for Gentle Giant's first in-store in 30 years. Gary and Derek will be on hand to autograph THREE FRIENDS and OCTOPUS. The phone number for F,Y.E. is 215-496-8338.

The albums are available on at
http://www.amazon.com/Octopus-Gentle-Giant/dp/B005G0YP3M/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1312829910&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Three-Friends-Gentle-Giant/dp/B005G0YP3C/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1312828329&sr=1-1

One of the most renowned bands that came out of the British Progressive Rock Movement, Gentle Giant spent their decade together pushing musical boundaries and continually taking chances. Their music, while rooted in rock, had overtones of classical European composition, American jazz, British soul, medieval and even blues. They seamlessly integrated these disparate styles into the melting pot that epitomized the essence that was Gentle Giant.

Gentle Giant fans range from Ozzy Osbourne, Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson, Trey Anastasio of Phish, Mike Portnoy and Jordan Rudess of Dream Theater, Avenged Sevenfold, Kerry Livgren of American progressive rockers Kansas to guitarist Peter Banks of Yes, and--of course--Ed Arnold!

Gentle Giant's media tour

2011-09-18T02:44:00.015-04:00

Gentle Giant will be making a number of public media and marketing appearances that fans world-wide can tap into in support of new re-releases of the group's OCTOPUS and THREE FRIENDS (coming out on Gentle Giant's imprint Alucard through EMI on September 27).

OCTOPUS and THREE FRIENDS are already listed as pre-sales on Amazon at
http://www.amazon.com/Octopus-Gentle-Giant/dp/B005G0YP3M/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1312829910&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Three-Friends-Gentle-Giant/dp/B005G0YP3C/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1312828329&sr=1-1
Ray, Derek, and Phil Shulman, Kerry Minnear, Gary Green, Malcolm Mortimer and John Weathers are available for interviews on these blockbuster re-releases.

Confirmed so far:
September 21: 12 noon EST: Gary Green and the band's catalog marketing gal Anne Leighton
online radio interview, INSIDE THE MUSIC with Nick Katona and John Orr Franklin at http://aiiradio.net
iPhone or other smart phone 3g plus or higher: http://mobile.livestream.com/aiiradionet
here is the show link https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=193991367335625
(Join the radio chat board at http://chat.aiiradio.net/)

September 25: 11 AM EST: Band member: John Weathers
WLVR-BETHLEHEM, PA's Ear Responsible Radio w/ Jon
http://www.wlvr.org and at 91.3 FM in the LeHigh Valley, PA

September 25: 4:07 EST: John Weathers
with Mark From Holland
104.5 Mhz (cable) and 107.4 FM in the Ijmond Region of N. Holland
http://www.markfromholland.com/

THIS WILL BE RESCHEDULED: Derek, Malcolm
Yowie, on line video conference
http://www.Yowie.com

October 1: 2 PM: Derek and Gary
FYE Music, 100 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA

Oct. 2: 10 PM PST, Derek
Danny Zelisko's show, KDKB-Phoenix

PM EST: Derek: TBA
East Village Radio's "Beyond is Beyond" w/ Mike Newman
http://www.eastvillageradio.com/

October 11: 10 PM EST: Band member: Gary
WBWC Radio-Cleveland's "Somewhere Between Sunrise & Sunset, your program of progressive rock,
88.3 FM, http://www.wbwc.com

TBA: ECHOES with John Diliberto, NPR
One of the most renowned bands that came out of the British Progressive Rock
Movement, Gentle Giant spent their decade together pushing musical boundaries
and continually taking chances. Their music, while rooted in rock, had overtones of classical European composition, American jazz, British soul, medieval and even blues. They seamlessly integrated these disparate styles into the melting pot that epitomized the essence that was Gentle Giant.

Please stay tuned to this page for updates!
###

MIKE KENEALLY BAND & BRYAN BELLER BAND TO TOUR WEST COAST IN OCTOBER

2011-09-17T03:09:00.005-04:00

World-renowned virtuoso guitarist and multi- instrumentalist/composer Mike Keneally is set to launch his first West Coast full-band tour in years, bringing his remarkably inventive musical vision to nine cities in October in support of the Keneally Band's latest Exowax Recordings DVD/CD live release, bakin' @ the potato!

From Keneally’s well-documented recorded work as a guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist in Frank Zappa’s last touring band, to his recordings and performances with Robert Fripp, Dethklok, Wayne Kramer, Steve Vai, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Joe Satriani, Andy Partridge and many others, he’s earned a reputation as someone who brings an intense, original musical voice to any and all musical happenings. His extensive and wildly diverse original catalog of 20 albums (and counting) defies traditional classification, and concertgoers are regularly left awestruck by his band’s high-wire-act execution of the eclectic material. Time Out New York says "this band, with such a peculiar genius leading it, is a thing to savor."

In a unique twist, this tour’s Mike Keneally Band members also comprise the opening act, the band of Keneally’s longtime bassist Bryan Beller (Steve Vai, Dethklok), whose intricate jazz/rock compositions and tasteful playing earned his third and latest album Wednesday Night Live widespread acclaim (“Beller is part of a new elite in the world of jazz-rock fusion.” – Jeff Miers, The Buffalo News.) The Keneally/Beller Band West Coast 2011 Tour features Keneally, Beller, drummer Joe Travers (Zappa Plays Zappa), and guitarists Rick Musallam (Ben Taylor, Byrd York) and Griff Peters (Billie Myers, Anika Paris).

Tour dates:
October 12: Don Quixote's International Music Hall, Felton, CA
October 13: Biscuits & Blues, San Francisco, CA
October 14: Music Max, Palo Cedro (Redding), CA
October 15: Humbrew's, Arcata, CA (Presented by the Arcata Eye, the weekly newspaper
October 17: Mt. Tabor Theater, Portland, OR
October 18: The Rendezvous, Seattle, WA
October 21: Winstons, San Diego (Ocean Beach), CA
October 22: The Baked Potato, Studio City, CA
October 23: HOUSE CONCERT: Anaheim, CA

###
Tour press info, posters, videos and hi-res photos can be found at www.keneally.com/promo
http://www.keneally.com

GENTLE GIANT'S DEREK SHULMAN AND GARY GREEN AT IN-STORE, FYE MUSIC, PHILADELPHIA, OCTOBER 1

2011-09-15T01:49:00.002-04:00

Former Gentle Giant Lead Vocalist Derek Shulman and Guitarist Gary Green to make rare appearance in support of new digital and physical re-masters of OCTOPUS and THREE FRIENDS

Gentle Giant's Derek Shulman and Gary Green will be hosting their own in-store at FYE Music, 100 South Broad Street, in Philadelphia, on Saturday, October 1, at 2 PM. The store's phone number is 215-496-8338.

Gentle Giant's Octopus and Three Friends are being released as special digipacks on September 27 on the band's label Alucard and distributed through EMI Records. These re-masters are from the original 1/4 inch tapes of these Seminal British Progressive Rock Recordings. As he did for Gentle Giant's earlier re-releases, Fred Kevorkian re-mastered these two additions to the available Gentle Giant catalog.

The albums are already listed as pre-sales on Amazon at
http://www.amazon.com/Octopus-Gentle-Giant/dp/B005G0YP3M/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1312829910&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Three-Friends-Gentle-Giant/dp/B005G0YP3C/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1312828329&sr=1-1

One of the most renowned bands that came out of the British Progressive Rock Movement, Gentle Giant spent their decade together pushing musical boundaries and continually taking chances. Their music, while rooted in rock, had overtones of classical European composition, American jazz, British soul, medieval and even blues. They seamlessly integrated these disparate styles into the melting pot that epitomized the essence that was Gentle Giant.

Gentle Giant fans range from Ozzy Osbourne, Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson, Trey Anastasio of Phish, Mike Portnoy and Jordan Rudess of Dream Theater,
Avenged Sevenfold, Kerry Livgren of American progressive rockers Kansas to guitarist Peter Banks of Yes.

After Gentle Giant disbanded in 1980, Derek became a hugely successful A&R Executive, starting careers and signing Bon Jovi, Cinderella, Edwin McCain, Slipknot. He is available for interviews in advance of the in-store.

####

LITTLE STEVEN WELCOMES THE YARDBIRDS

2011-09-09T16:37:00.007-04:00

Left to Right: Yardbirds singer: Andy Mitchell, bassist David Smale, guitarist Ben King, rhythm guitar Chris Dreja, Little Steven, and Yardbirds' drummer Jim McCarty

Little Steven will always rave about the Yardbirds, singing the group's praises from the rafters and to the world. Generally he plays the band in heavy rotation on his Sirius XM channel, Little Steven's Underground Garage. On Wednesday, September 7, he was declaring the band's place in music history when he emceed the Yardbirds at BB King Blues Club and Grill, in New York City. In fact Steven's "rave up" of the band was caught on youtube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pu8TtILThUw&feature=share

GUITAR WORLD editor Brad Tolinski was also in attendance at the show, and he immediately reviewed the show on his blog, stating, it was "one of the best gigs I've seen this year."

ALL YARDBIRDS NORTH AMERICAN DATES

Sept. 1: Summer Music Series, Springfield, MA
Sept. 2: Infinity Hall, Norfolk, CT
Sept. 3: Tupelo Music Hall, White River Junction, VT
Sept. 4: Tupelo Music Hall, Londonerry, NH
Sept. 5 Wolf Den, Mohegan Sun Casino, Uncasville, CT
Sept. 7 BB Kings, New York, NY
Sept. 8: Penn's Peak, Jim Thorpe, PA
Sept. 9: NYCB THEATRE at WESTBURY, Westbury, NY
Sept. 10: Parilla Center, Rockville, MD
Sept. 11: Rams Head, Annapolis, MD
Sept. 15: New Showroom, Hawaiian Brians, Honolulu, HI
Sept. 16: Maui Arts and Cultural Center, Maui, HI
Sept. 17: Horoka Peoples Theatre, Big Island, HI
Sept. 21 Key Club, Hollywood, CA
Sept. 22: Coachhouse, Santa Ana, CA
Sept. 23: Canyon Club, Agoura Hills, CA
Sept. 24: El Rey Theatre, Chico, CA

CHAMBER POP SUMMIT: JIM MCCARTY, JANN KLOSE AND JOHN HAWKEN PERFORM AT HUGH'S ROOM, OCT. 5

2011-09-08T19:53:00.013-04:00

Jim McCarty headlining at Hugh's Room w/ bassist George Koller and guitarist Jean-Michel Kajdan.
photo by Jon Richard, © 2011

Panoramic of Jann Klose performing Yardbirds songs at Hugh's Room, Toronto, the 2nd date of the Canadian tour 2011. L TO R: John Hawken, Ron Korb, Jim McCarty, Jann Klose, Larry Crowe, George Koller, Jean-Michel Kajdan. (October 5th, 2011).
(C) 2011 Jade Yeh

John Hawken, Jim McCarty, Chris Dreja, and Jann Klose at BB King Blues Club, New York, NY, Sept. 7

Jim McCarty, Jann Klose, and John Hawken will be performing at Hugh's Room,2261 Dundas Street, W., in Toronto, on October 5 at 8:30 PM. Admission is $20 in advance and $22.50 at the door. The web site is http://www.hughsroom.com, and the phone number is 416-531-6604.

Jim McCarty and Jann Klose, and their bands create unique styles of "chamber pop." This style uses interesting musical instruments, classical and other genre influences (blues, jazz, multi-cultural, folk, theatre) to create beautiful melodies with international overtones. Their works, which have unintended parallels, have been critically acclaimed.

The Yardbirds’ Jim McCarty's history is phenomenal, having been partially responsible for discovering Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, and reuniting with Page in a 1980s group called Box of Frogs. He's been making music every decade, with emphasis on creation. He and the other original Yardbirds members have been inducted in to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Jim founded Renaissance with Yardbirds' mate, the late Keith Relf in the late 1960s. This band was a classical rock band that was fronted for the first album by Keith's sister Jane. After Jane left, Jim and Keith auditioned Annie Haslam, who fronted the line-up of Renaissance that became popular in the States.

Jim McCarty's current album SITTING ON THE TOP OF TIME features Toronto flautist Ron Korb, pianist Donald Quan, guitarist Ray Hickey and bassist George Koller. Much of it was recorded in Quan's studio, Q Music, “There seemed to be a good group of session players available, very much like in London in the ‘60s and thanks to Ron, I soon had a good team together: Ron, Donald, Ray, and George.”

Joining Jim’s band for this show is John Hawken. John was in Renaissance and Illusion with Jim (2001), and most recently in the Strawbs. He has also played with The Nashville Teens, Spooky Tooth, Vinegar Joe (with Robert Palmer), Third World War, and Renaissance Illusion.

Renaissance's Annie Haslam was one of the music business people who discovered Jann Klose, and collaborated with him and John Tout (from Annie's Renaissance lineup) in the fall of 2008. Jann then opened for Renaissance's 40th Anniversary comeback tour, Fall 2009. He has opened for the Strawbs a few times, and has shared the stage and/or opened for Pete Seeger, the late Les Paul, Rusted Root, Shawn Phillips, Marty Stuart, Roger McGuinn, Rosanne Cash, Marshall Crenshaw, Vonda Shepard, Elliott Murphy.

Genya Ravan, who recently featured Jann's "Waiting For the Wave" on her Sirius XM show "Goldie's Garage" on Little Steven's Underground Garage channel says, "Gee, if I had a label I would sign Jann immediately, this is a hit song. I am going to play it, even though its not garage, too damn beautiful to pass on." Jann music is on the GRAMMY-nominated album, HEALTHY FOOD FOR THOUGHT, his music's been featured on MTV's CRIBS and Paul Sorvino's movie, DEAD BROKE (Warner Bros.) His most recent recordings are REVERIE (2008) and SACRIFICE EP (2010). and he's releasing a new album in 2012.

Jann Klose & Jim McCarty, photo by Steven Triolo

TWO ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM IAN ANDERSON AND JETHRO TULL

2011-08-28T20:23:00.007-04:00

"Thick as a Brick" Played in Special 2012 Tour and AQUALUNG-Special Edition in October

Ian Anderson Announces the Thick As A Brick Tours for 2012.

Ian Anderson performs Thick As A Brick in its entirety for the first time since 1972, going out for a world tour commencing in Great Britain in Mid-April. Then, it's on to European countries in the late Spring and Summer before landing in the USA for two tours spanning September, October and early November.

This tour will feature a more theatrical production with video, additional musicians and a troupe of dancing elephants. (Just kidding about the dancing elephants: they don't dance...)

In 1972, Ian wrote the music (and the lyrics which were credited at the time to the fictitious character, 8 year-old Gerald Bostock, whose parents lied about his age) and recorded with Jethro Tull, Thick As A Brick. The record became a number one Billboard album and enjoyed huge commercial success in most countries of the world. The album featured only one song, lasting nearly 45 minutes. To accommodate the album on LP vinyl and cassette, the seamless track was split on both sides of the record. It reached number one on the US Billboard Pop Albums chart.

Tull then dutifully took the somewhat theatrical show on the road in the Great Britain, USA, and other world markets.

Since 1972, the album has never been performed in its entirety although a few minutes of the material have been a regular repertoire staple in both Tull and IA solo shows over the years.

Now, scheduled for performance again in 2012, Ian will take the original album to a theatre near you. It will be performed in its entirety in a theatrical setting with band, and additional guests.

BACKGROUND on Gerald Bostock: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Gerald Bostock is the fictional author of the poem used as the lyrics for the 1972 Jethro Tull album Thick as a Brick. The album cover is designed to look like a small village newspaper, the St. Cleve Chronicle & Linwell Advertiser. The front page story describes how eight-year-old Gerald, nicknamed "Little Milton," received an award for his poem.

Due Fall 2011, The Aqualung 40th Anniversary Collector's and Special Editions

"Aqualung" is Tull's most recognized album and a definitive rock classic. Now, 40 years after its release, this prized recording gets a collection worthy of its historic status.

This is not a simplistic rehashed remastering aimmed at squeezing another few pounds, dollars, euros, etc. out of the recording. Want proof? The limited collector's edition's contents include:
• 180g heavyweight LP, 2CD, DVD, and Blu-Ray including various unreleased materials, a new stereo mix, the original Quad mix, and 5.1 DTS and Dolby Digital Surround. The "special edition" includes just the two CDs.
• 12"x12" 48-page hardback book featuring liner notes and an interview with Ian, Q&A with engineer John Burns, Don Lawson (initially written for 'Classic Rock Presents Prog' in March 2011), memoirs from band members (Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond (Bass Guitar), Martin Barre (Guitar), Clive Bunker (Drums), Barrie Barlow (Drummer following Clive Bunker’s departure), Glenn Cornick (Original Bassist on early recordings), Terry Ellis (Manager)) and Jennie Franks (Ian's first wife who wrote the lyrics for the title track), rare photos, notes on the new mixes by producer Steven Wilson, and Billie Ritchie (from 60s rock band & label mate ‘Clouds’), rare photos, album lyrics, and more.

Ian's Comments "Well - it's finally here! The superb remixes by Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson in both stereo and 5.1 Surround. Plus the re-mastered original mixes, bonus tracks, alternative versions and takes of the classic Aqualung material from 40 years ago.

When I wrote and recorded these songs and slaved over a hot audio-mixer in Island Records' Basing Street Studios, I never thought we we would be celebrating this 40th Anniversary release, soon to be released in October. But you can't keep a good song down. Many of these are still favourites on stage today in our concerts throughout the world.

I hope you enjoy this splendid EMI release and, if there's someone out there you really love, then why not treat them to the Collector's Edition in all its glory. Or, come to think of it, if there's someone out there you really dislike, then the same might apply. Each to his own. Me - I kinda like it.....

For those of you easily confused about such things, a 'remix' is not the same as a 're-master.' Remixing involves going back to the original studio multi-track masters and balancing and perfecting the sound on all the individual instrumental and vocal tracks and creating from them a new stereo or 5.1 surround master.

'Re-mastering' is just the cleaning up and making a new copy of the original stereo master - which usually results in a clearer and more sparkling listening experience than the original, when CDs were usually just the vinyl master copied straight to the then new CD medium. These days, with digital audio, we can afford to get more dynamic range and frequency response compared to the vinyl album and (God forbid) cassette versions of old.

Many thanks to Tim Chacksfield and Steve Davis at EMI for all their hard work and initiative in making this happen. And to the enthusiastic and respectful Steven Wilson. Who has just sent me the remixes of another album to listen to, which he has been working on. But, another year, another story....
Ian Anderson, Jethro Tull

TRACKLISTING

VINYL

Side 1
1. Aqualung (New Stereo Mix)
2. Cross-Eyed Mary (New Stereo Mix)
3. Cheap Day Return (New Stereo Mix)
4. Mother Goose (New Stereo Mix)
5. Wond'ring Aloud (New Stereo Mix)
6. Up To Me (New Stereo Mix)

Side 2
1. My God (New Stereo Mix)
2. Hymn 43 (New Stereo Mix)
3. Slipstream (New Stereo Mix)
4. Locomotive Breath (New Stereo Mix)
5. Wind-Up (New Stereo Mix)

CD 1 – New Aqualung Stereo Mix (Previously Unreleased)
1. Aqualung (New Stereo Mix)
2. Cross-Eyed Mary (New Stereo Mix)
3. Cheap Day Return (New Stereo Mix)
4. Mother Goose (New Stereo Mix)
5. Wond'ring Aloud (New Stereo Mix)
6. Up To Me (New Stereo Mix)
7. My God (New Stereo Mix)
8. Hymn 43 (New Stereo Mix)
9. Slipstream (New Stereo Mix)
10. Locomotive Breath (New Stereo Mix)
11. Wind-Up (New Stereo Mix)

CD 2 – Additional 1970 &1971 Recordings include some Previously Unreleased New Stereo Mixes.
1. Lick Your Fingers Clean (New Mix)
2. Just Trying To Be (New Mix)
3. My God (Early Version)
4. Wond'ring Aloud (13th December 1970)
5. Wind-Up (Early Version - New Mix)
6. Slipstream (Take 2)
7. Up The 'Pool (Early Version)
8. Wond'ring Aloud, Again (Full Morgan Version)
9. Life Is A Long Song (New Mix)
10. Up The 'Pool (New Mix)
11. Dr Bogenbroom (2011 - Remaster)
12. From Later (2011 - Remaster)
13. Nursie (2011 - Remaster)
14. US Radio Spot

DVD
1. Aqualung (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
2. Cross-Eyed Mary (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
3. Cheap Day Return (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
4. Mother Goose (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
5. Wond'ring Aloud (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
6. Up To Me (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
7. My God (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
8. Hymn 43 (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
9. Slipstream (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
10. Locomotive Breath (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
11. Wind-Up (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
12. Lick Your Fingers Clean (New Mix) (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
13. My God (Early Version) (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
14. Up The 'Pool (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
15. Life Is A Long Song (New Mix) (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
16. Aqualung (New Stereo Mix)
17. Cross Eyed Mary (New Stereo Mix)
18. Cheap Day Return (New Stereo Mix)
19. Mother Goose (New Stereo Mix)
20. Wond'ring Aloud (New Stereo Mix)
21. Up To Me (New Stereo Mix)
22. My God (New Stereo Mix)
23. Hymn 43 (New Stereo Mix)
24. Slipstream (New Stereo Mix)
25. Locomotive Breath (New Stereo Mix)
26. Wind-Up (New Stereo Mix)
27. Lick Your Fingers Clean (New Mix)
28. Just Trying To Be (New Mix)
29. My God (Early Version)
30. Wond'ring Aloud (13th December 1970)
31. Wind-Up (Early Version - New Mix)
32. Slipstream (Take 2)
33. Up The 'Pool (Early Version)
34. Wond'ring Aloud, Again (Full Morgan Version)
35. Life Is A Long Song (New Mix)
36. Up The 'Pool (New Mix)
37. Dr Bogenbroom (2011 - Remaster)
38. From Later (2011 - Remaster)
39. Nursie (2011 - Remaster)
40. Aqualung (Quad Mix)
41. Cross-Eyed Mary (Quad Mix)
42. Cheap Day Return (Quad Mix)
43. Mother Goose (Quad Mix)
44. Wond'ring Aloud (Quad Mix)
45. Up To Me (Quad Mix)
46. My God (Quad Mix)
47. Hymn 43 (Quad Mix)
48. Slipstream (Quad Mix)
49. Locomotive Breath (Quad Mix)
50. Wind-Up (Quad Mix)

BLU RAY
1. Aqualung (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
2. Cross-Eyed Mary (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
3. Cheap Day Return (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
4. Mother Goose (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
5. Wond'ring Aloud (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
6. Up To Me (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
7. My God (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
8. Hymn 43 (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
9. Slipstream (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
10. Locomotive Breath (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
11. Wind-Up (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
12. Lick Your Fingers Clean (New Mix) (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
13. My God (Early Version) (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
14. Up The 'Pool (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
15. Life Is A Long Song (New Mix) (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
16. Aqualung (New Stereo Mix)
17. Cross-Eyed Mary (New Stereo Mix)
18. Cheap Day Return (New Stereo Mix)
19. Mother Goose (New Stereo Mix)
20. Wond'ring Aloud (New Stereo Mix)
21. Up To Me (New Stereo Mix)
22. My God (New Stereo Mix)
23. Hymn 43 (New Stereo Mix)
24. Slipstream (New Stereo Mix)
25. Locomotive Breath (New Stereo Mix)
26. Wind-Up (New Stereo Mix)
27. Lick Your Fingers Clean (New Mix)
28. Just Trying To Be (New Mix)
29. My God (Early Version)
30. Wond'ring Aloud (13th December 1970)
31. Wind-Up (Early Version - New Mix)
32. Slipstream (Take 2)
33. Up The 'Pool (Early Version)
34. Wond'ring Aloud, Again (Full Morgan Version)
35. Life Is A Long Song (New Mix)
36. Up The 'Pool (New Mix)
37. Dr Bogenbroom (2011 - Remaster)
38. From Later (2011 - Remaster)
39. Nursie (2011 - Remaster)
40. Aqualung
41. Cross-Eyed Mary
42. Cheap Day Return
43. Mother Goose
44. Wond'Ring Aloud
45. Up To Me
46. My God
47. Hymn 43
48. Slipstream
49. Locomotive Breath
50. Wind-Up
51. Aqualung (Quad Mix)
52. Cross-Eyed Mary (Quad Mix)
53. Cheap Day Return (Quad Mix)
54. Mother Goose (Quad Mix)
55. Wond'ring Aloud (Quad Mix)
56. Up To Me (Quad Mix)
57. My God (Quad Mix)
58. Hymn 43 (Quad Mix)
59. Slipstream (Quad Mix)
60. Locomotive Breath (Quad Mix)
61. Wind-Up (Quad Mix)
Jethro Tull – "Aqualung" 40th Anniversary Special Edition
Alongside the Collector’s Edition, is a 2CD Special Edition, containing CD1 and CD2 plus a 36 page booklet, in a digipack sleeve.

####

Strawbs to Tour North America This Fall

2011-08-21T05:04:00.005-04:00

Getting Ready to Hit the Road with Pride, Prejudice and THE ZOMBIES!

“They have broken new ground by harnessing the power of their electric incarnation in an acoustic setting.”
- The Chicago Tribune

East Coast, West Coast and all across Canada, the Strawbs plan to spend a serious amount of the Fall of 2011 in the USA and Canada. Singer guitarist David Cousins, guitarist Dave Lambert and bassist Chas Cronk just won't necessarily be doing the same shows. On the one hand, there will be nights like their September 14th tour debut at the Town Crier in Pawling, where the Acoustic Strawbs will hold court all by themselves. And then there will be fall evenings when the Strawbs are pursued by The Zombies. Either way, you're in for a night of superb British rock.

Coming out of the early days of the British folk movement, David Cousins, Tony Hooper formed The Strawberry Hill Boys (it was shortened to the Strawbs) to play bluegrass. For a while, they counted Sandy Denny as a member (before she went on to Fairport Convention). As the group got deeper into a more “progressive” sound, they also featured Rick Wakeman, before he went on to Yes.

As their music became more complex, and compared more to the Moody Blues, King Crimson, and Pink Floyd than to Fairport Convention and Steeleye Spann, they recorded extensively for A&M, earning UK hits with “Lay Down” and “Part of the Union,” and getting album rock raves on this side of the pond for “Down By The Sea.” This year the group tours in support of a new album, ACOUSTIC GOLD that features favorites, including "Grace Darling,' "A Glimpse of Heaven," and "Ghosts" in an acoustic setting.

On this tour, they will play acoustic (but definitely NOT unplugged), sifting through 40 years worth of music. As Record Collector described their show, “Carefully selecting their repertoire from less obvious sources they invest the rarely performed material with considerable energy and thoughtful arrangements.”

The Strawbs will be touring with The Zombies on a leg of their 50th anniversary tour, for both East Coast, West Coast, and Canadian dates. The schedule is as follows:

Sept 14 The Town Crier Pauling NY Acoustic Strawbs only
Sept 15 MusikFest Café w/The Zombies Bethlehem PA
Sept 16 Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center w/The Zombies Silver Springs MD
Sept 17 Keswick Theater w/The Zombies Glenside PA
Sept 18 Tarrytown Music Hall w/The Zombies Tarrytown NY
Sept 19 Rams Head On Stage w/The Zombies Annapolis MD
Sept 21 Showcase Live w/The Zombies Foxboro MA
Sept 22 Tupelo Music Hall w/The Zombies Londonderry NH
Sept 23 Infinity Hall w/The Zombies Norfolk, CT
Sept 24 Wolf Den @ Mohegan Sun Casino w/The Zombies Uncasville CT
Sept 25 Strand Theater w/The Zombies Lakewood NJ Acoustic Strawbs Only
Sept.26 City Winery w/The Zombies New York NY
Sept.27 City Winery w/The Zombies New York NY
Sept 28 State Theater w/The Zombies State College PA
Sept 30 Celebrity Theater Phoenix AZ
Oct 1 Canyon Club Agoura Hills CA
Oct 2 The Coach House San Juan Capistrano CA
Oct 3 Acoustic Music San Diego CA Acoustic Strawbs Only
Oct 5 McPhillips Station Casino w/The Zombies Winnipeg MB
Oct 7 Casino Regina w/The Zombies Regina SK
Oct 9 Century Casino w/The Zombies Edmonton AB
Oct 12 Convention Center w/The Zombies Kamloops BC
Oct 13 River Rock Casino w/The Zombies Richmond, BC

http://www.strawbsweb.co.uk
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/125319430894924/

GENTLE GIANT'S ALUCARD MUSIC RELEASE OCTOPUS and THREE FRIENDS, DISTRIBUTION THROUGH EMI RECORDS.

2011-08-21T05:02:00.008-04:00

EMI Unleashes New Digital and physical remasters from the original 1/4 inch tapes of these Seminal British Progressive Rock Recordings on September 27, 2011

Hollywood, California - September 27, 2011 Roger Dean's infamous Octopus and Martin Birch's original Three Friends artwork will adorn the special digipacks which are heading to your favorite music store on September 27th 2011. You can acquire another taste of Gentle Giant with the original U.K. Artwork and remastered music on CD or via digital download.

The albums are already listed as pre-sales on Amazon at
http://www.amazon.com/Octopus-Gentle-Giant/dp/B005G0YP3M/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1312829910&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Three-Friends-Gentle-Giant/dp/B005G0YP3C/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1312828329&sr=1-1

One of the most renowned bands that came out of the British Progressive Rock
Movement, Gentle Giant spent their decade together pushing musical boundaries
and continually taking chances. Their music, while rooted in rock, had overtones of classical European composition, American jazz, British soul, medieval and even blues. They seamlessly integrated these disparate styles into the melting pot that epitomized the essence that was Gentle Giant.

Gentle Giant fans range from Ozzy Osbourne, Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson, Trey
Anastasio of Phish, Mike Portnoy and Jordan Rudess of Dream Theater,
Avenged Sevenfold, Kerry Livgren of American progressive rockers Kansas
to guitarist Peter Banks of Yes.

Jordan Rudess of Dream Theater said, “Gentle Giant was one of my biggest musical
Influences in the days when I left Juilliard and my classical path of becoming a
concert pianist. My mom wouldn't like Gentle Giant because of that fact, but
hell, I am at least making a living playing music!”

Peter Banks called them “ahead of most of those groups at the time - they were
quite exceptional.”

Livgren said, “Gentle Giant was one of my favorite groups. Their albums Three
Friends and Octopus had a remarkable originality, good musicianship, and
philosophically interesting lyrics. I also had the pleasure of seeing them in
concert, and appreciated the energy of their performance.”

Three Friends, the group's first self-produced work (after two times in the
studio with Tony Visconti) and their first-to-be-released in the US, propelled
the group into one of the hardest edged progressive bands of their day. Of
Octopus, the All Music Guide's Dave Thompson says “…it's astonishing just how
little Octopus has dated…an album that has withstood the test of time a lot
better than anyone might have expected."

As he did for Gentle Giant's earlier re-releases, Fred Kevorkian re-mastered
these two additions to the available Gentle Giant catalog.

Complete with the original Roger Dean artwork (on Octopus) and Martin Birch
cover (on Three Friends), these two epic Gentle Giant recordings also include
over 30 minutes of rare bonus music. The packaging also features special booklets
with up-to-date reminiscences of these albums by the band members, as well as rare
photos from the time.

Ray, Derek, and Phil Shulman, Kerry Minnear, Malcolm Mortimer and John Weathers
are all available for interviews in anticipation of these blockbuster re-releases.

Track line up (note: Bonus track only on digital albums)
Octopus, 1972:
1. The advent of Panurge.
2. Raconteur Troubadour.
3. A Cry for Everyone.
4. Knots.
5. The Boys in the Band.
6. Dog's Life
7. Think of me with Kindness.
8. River.
9. Bonus Track-"Excerpts from Octopus" recorded live at the Calderone Theatre,, Hempstead, NY, July 3, 1976

Three Friends, 1972:
1. Prologue
2. School Days
3. Working All Day
4. Peel The Paint
5. Mister Class and Quality.
6. Three Friends.
7. Bonus Material.
i. Prologue from Concert tour in New Orleans September 1972.
ii. Peel the Paint-recording drums and bass in studio.
iii. alternative guitar and drum solo recording Peel the Paint.
iiii. Recording vocals harmonies on "Three Friends".

Web site: http://www.gentlegiantmusic.com
Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/pages/GENTLE-GIANT/121160188790
Twitter twitter.com/ggiantmusic
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/gentlegiantplaying

GET THE LED OUT TO FEATURE HENRY SMITH, YARDBIRDS AND LED ZEPPELIN LONG TIME ASSOCIATE & ROAD MANAGER

2011-08-21T04:41:00.009-04:00

...And now a word from GET THE LED OUT, who is sponsoring the September Yardbirds' tour in the United States! The contact for the GET THE LED OUT radio show is Denny Somach (610-446-7100, denny@dennysomach.com. The web site is http://www.ledzeponline.com. Note that I'm your contact for The Yardbirds, Denny's your man for the radio show!

Denny Somach Productions (DSP) today announced that it would feature an exclusive interview with Led Zeppelin and Yardbirds' associate Henry Smith. Excerpts will be featured on Carol Miller's Get the Led Out radio show during the week of August 22, 2011. Currently back with the reformed Yardbirds, Smith will be overseeing their fall tour, which commences in September.

Carol Miller's Get the Led Out will also serve as the national tour sponsor and help to get the word out when
the legendary Yardbirds begin playing concerts mostly in the Northeast, West Coast and Hawaii. GTLO affiliated stations will be able to tie in with shows and include VIP seats, unique merchandise giveaways and a meet and greet. The tour includes two New York City area dates at BB Kings on September 7 and the NYCB Theatre at Westbury, on September 9.

The current Yardbirds include founding members and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, Jim McCarty and Chris Dreja. The two were responsible for many of the classic Yarbirds hits including, Shapes of Things, Over Under Sideways Down, Happenings Ten Years Time Ago, Heart Full Of Soul, and For Your Love. Rounding out the band is Andy Mitchell, lead vocals, harmonica; Ben King, lead guitar; and David Smale, bass guitar.

Smith was a concert promoter in the New England area in the late '60s, and used to put a band called the Chain Reaction on as opening act. That band included one of his best friends, Steven Tallarico. One of those concerts was with the Yardbirds, which is how he first met Jimmy Page. In the early seventies he left his job with Led Zeppelin to work for a new band that his friend Steven Tallarico was launching. Tallarico also changed his name to Steven Tyler and the band was called Aerosmith.

“Henry's stories are unique and for the most part unheard,” said producer Denny Somach, “and he is one
of the best behind the scenes guests we have ever had on the radio program.” According to Smith, “my role with Zeppelin was, I was hired by Jimmy to be a roadie. I didn't have anything to do with the business affairs, and I didn't have anything to do with booking. I was involved in my job and I was involved in the fun.”

Carol Miller's Get the Led Out is a programming package of long and short-form features hosted by New York Radio legend Carol Miller. Affiliates are provided a one-hour weekly program and five weekly short features that can double as podcasts, all of which examine the career of the band that is generally acknowledged as the greatest hard rock band of all time, Led Zeppelin.

The program is about to celebrate its second anniversary and airs on over 100 radio stations including WAXQ in New York and KLOS in Los Angeles.

Carol Miller is one of the longest-running New York radio personalities, from years at WPLJ and WNEW and currently Clear Channel's WAXQ-FM. She began her career as a rock jock at WMMR, Philadelphia. She has hosted numerous nationally and internationally distributed radio specials and TV like Entertainment Tonight, VH-1 and is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She is an acknowledged expert on Led Zeppelin, and has interviewed the surviving members numerous times over the years.

The program is distributed by United Stations Radio Network. It is produced by Denny Somach Productions. Andy Denemark serves as executive producer for USRN.

Denny Somach Productions maintains one of the largest archives of classic rock content and has
a long history of creating some of the most memorable programs in rock radio. DSP produced feature programming for NBC's The Source, NBC Radio Entertainment, ABC Radio, CBS, MTV and the highly acclaimed award winning Beatles program, Ticket to Ride. Most recently Denny Somach founded the Classic Rock Society of America.

United Stations Radio Networks, Inc., is the nation's leading independently owned and operated radio network. The company currently distributes and produces dozens of format specific programs and services to nearly 4500 rated radio stations across the country including Adult Contemporary, Album Rock, County, Contemporary Hit, Oldies, Country, Smooth Jazz, Urban and Talk. Carol Miller's Get the Led Out joins USRN's other rock programming which includes Nights with Alice Cooper, The House of Hair with Dee Snider, Racing Rocks with Riki Rachtman among others. The New York-based company was founded in 1994 by radio pioneers Dick Clark and Nick Verbitsky.

THE YARDBIRDS ON TOUR

Sept. 1: Summer Music Series, Springfield, MA
Sept. 2: Infinity Hall, Norfolk, CT
Sept. 3: Tupelo Music Hall, White River Junction, VT
Sept. 4: Tupelo Music Hall, Londonerry, NH
Sept. 5 Wolf Den, Mohegan Sun Casino, Uncasville, CT
Sept. 7 BB Kings, New York, NY
Sept. 8: Penn's Peak, Jim Thorpe, PA
Sept. 9: NYCB Theatre at Westbury, Westbury, NY
Sept. 10: Parilla Center, Rockville, MD
Sept. 11: Rams Head, Annapolis, MD
Sept. 15: New Showroom, Hawaiian Brians, Honolulu, HI
Sept. 16: Maui Arts and Cultural Center, Maui, HI
Sept. 17: Honoka Peoples Theatre, Big Island, HI
Sept. 21 Key Club, Hollywood, CA
Sept. 22: Coachhouse, Santa Ana, CA
Sept. 23: Canyon Club, Agoura Hills, CA

http://yardbirds.us/
http://www.theyardbirds.com

Kyle Wood, Country-Rock-Americana

2011-08-21T04:25:00.008-04:00

One of my assistants Steve Sikes-Nova is working an alt. country rocker out of Nashville. His first album of nine originals is The Kyle Wood Project: Off The Rails. OTR has elicited high praise from newgrass' John Cowan to metal's Eric Brittingham (Cinderella). Contact Steve at ssikesno@yahoo.com for a ReverbNation EPK.

http://www.reverbnation.com/kylewoodstuff
http://www.facebook.com/KyleWoodRocksTheMandolin

This is a video of Kyle Wood and his Mandolin.

Joe Deninzon's 2012 Projects

2011-08-21T04:20:00.004-04:00

Joe Deninzon interviewed on Bands Like Zappa

Joe Deninzon's EXUBERANCE has been mailed out, and I'm looking forward to talking with friends about this jazz album that features intriguging swing stylings of originals plus covers of songs by Alice In Chains, Fats Waller, Django Reinhart, Jimmy Webb. I'm taking over management for Joe and his band Stratospheerius at a great time in his career. Due in 2012 are two amazing projects: a new album and a Mel Bay instructional book on electric violin.

A talented artist, he is also the music world's "go to" guy for all things strings. From creating arrangements for some of today's young bands to playing live in Bruce Springsteen's orchestra at Madison Garden, Joe is terrific. He's also one of the best singers I've ever heard, and a dynamic frontman. He's performed for President Clinton, has worked with Sheryl Crow, Ritchie Blackmore, the Kin, Everclear, Trans Syberian Orchestra, Phoebe Snow, Les Paul, and many others.

CASHBOX writer Justin Scro reviews, "Stratospheerius is creating a genre of its own," and "the vocal performance of Joe Deninzon is on par with his stringed abilities." THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER praises Stratospheerius for its "funky electric violins, driving guitar rhythms, and fevered drumming layered in an explosive fashion."

http://www.joedeninzon.com
http://www.stratospheerius.com

Jann Klose in the Studio

2011-08-21T04:10:00.007-04:00

The WGN-TV Superstation Video of Jann

Jann Klose has been receiving even more acclaim for his work. Genya Ravan, who recently featured Jann's "Waiting For the Wave" on her Sirius XM show "Goldie's Garage" on Little Steven's Underground Garage channel says, "Gee, if I had a label I would sign Jann immediately, this is a hit song. I am going to play it, even though its not garage, too damn beautiful to pass on."

Jann is on Spotify, and an eligible artist for the 2011 New York Music Awards, listed between Carole King and Lady Gaga.

Video-wise, he's got a dynamic :56 second performance of "Hold Me Down" on WGN-Superstation's Midday Lounge at http://www.wgntv.com/videobeta/1e57ca92-c82d-41eb-9f08-9d2729e52d63/News/Music-Lounge-Jann-Klose

Tim Fort, The Kinetic King (a semi-finalist on America's Got Talent), gave Jann's "Doing Time" his trademark praise, "whoo, hoo!" "That's great!" at http://www.youtube.com/jannklose .

Jann's working on a new album, which will be a follow-up to REVERIE, due out in 2012.

Meantime, these shows are confirmed:

September 10: STEPHEN TALKHOUSE w/ Jonathan Tiersten, Amagansett, NY
September 11: COFFEE-WORKS w/ Jonathan Tiersten, Voorhees, NJ
September 15: BB KING BLUES CLUB w/ Vonda Shepard, New York, NY
September 27: COACHHOUSE w/ Basia, San Juan Capistrano. CA
October 5: HUGHS ROOM w/ Jim McCarty, Toronto, Canada
October 26: IRON HORSE w/ Shawn Phillips, Northampton, MA
October 28: TOWN BALLROOM w/ Brett Dennen, Buffalo, NY
November 9: S.P.A.C.E. w/ Michael Kaeshammer, Evanston, IL (Chicago)
November 26: HIGHLINE BALLROOM, 40TH ANNIVERSARY, CONCERT FOR BANGLADESH, New York, NY
March 2, 2012: MASTER CLASS, LIVERPOOL INSTITUTE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS, Liverpool, UK

http://www.jannklose.com

2011-08-21T04:04:00.005-04:00

Tower of Power Horns, 2011, Adolfo Acosta, Sal Cracchiolo, Stephen Doc Kupka, Tom Politzer, Emilio Castillo

Tower of Power is delighted to announce Sal Cracchiolo as its newest member. Sal has played trumpet with the Grammy-winning Poncho Sanchez for most of his career, and regularly works with Melanie Jackson on jazz standards. Sal has played and recorded with an array of acts including Dizzy Gillespie, Dianne Reeves, Celia Cruz, Tom Jones, Brian Setzer, Harry Connick Jr., and Chick Corea. Says Emilio Castillo, “Sal is a world class lead trumpet player. Super exciting!!! He has an incredibly high range, plays with power and finesse, his soloing technique is unparalleled, and he’s one of the nicest guys I’ve ever known. He’s a great addition to the T.O.P. family.”

http://www.towerofpower.com

I'm seeking funding for a video teaser of an episodic documentary I'm producing called BECOMING AMERICAN.

2011-08-21T03:57:00.010-04:00

Attached to it are: Pete Seeger and members of the Smithereens, and Jann Klose.

The focus is on musical immigrants and their contribution to the United States. The show fuses music and civics.

Generally I fund my own projects or am paid to create books, magazines, events, marketing campaigns, or do speeches. This project is something I've initiated and have gotten far enough to realize that we have a shot, and it includes folks in the TV industry willing to look at it. My track record of successful projects through the years and my multi-media history is support that my team and I can make BECOMING AMERICAN happen.

The next level requires specialty work--especially from TV production people (camera, sound and editing: folks who are masters at creating quality TV work, including field production). Thus the budget calls for $3500. Anything over that will help with marketing, legal, and office expenses.

Please donate to the BECOMING AMERICAN, THE TEASER. There are some intriguing fan exclusives at
http://thecomingofbecomingamerican.blogspot.com/

(Help fund my TV project to get the Smithereens all over your TV.)

Anne's Jani Lane Geek Discussion Board

2011-08-21T03:50:00.003-04:00

20 years ago I worked with both Jani Lane and the band Warrant as a writer and a publicist. We lost contact seven years ago, but he's been in my thoughts over the years and I did try to reach him in recent years. There's an article I wrote that made its way to Hypebot. If you were a fan or if you've dealt with confidence issues, please read it at http://anneleightonmedia.blogspot.com/2011/08/no-one-needs-to-be-superman-just-your.html

Part of the healing process is I'm working with a lot of Warrant fans to create a discography on albums Jani's worked on outside of Warrant. This includes Akron's Sugar (who became Rebel Girl), who I worked with in 2005. If you're aware of any records, please let me know. I've become the Self Appointed Leader of the Jani Lane Geek Discussion Board for this work. We'll be submitting this work with an article to GOLDMINE.
http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=104081066324505&topic=72

"No one needs to be a superman, just your biggest fan.” Jani Lane's Inspiration To Me From Heaven.

2011-08-13T18:46:00.038-04:00

Jani Lane, 2/1/64-8/11/11

Jani Lane's passing caught me at a time when I felt condemned for being myself. You know, relationship problems.

People's opinions--especially on little issues--can get me down, make me insecure.

After a lifetime of being on the receiving end of picky condemnation, I spent two days trying to remember what word defined "wondering if you're capable of accomplishing anything, even something simple like cracking a joke or crossing the street by myself." In the evening of the second day, the word came to me: "unsure."

Even if you're doing great work, you can feel unappreciated. Sometimes one person (that you care about) scolds you, other times it's as though a singular person uses the domino theory to influence a crowd to scorn you.

In Kansas City, before I started an in-person interview with Jani while he was on the road with Poison in 1991, he looked at a fax his management sent on a Sunday. He slammed the paper on the table, and harshly folded it up. It was a less-than favorable review from ROLLING STONE on CHERRY PIE. The critic's opinion mattered.

I should have told him to look at the other reviews in the mag over the course of a few issues. Even records, that sell well, are despised by people in the music business. Besides that, if people pick on you that much, then maybe you're doing something that makes you stand out. I remember a band first suing him, claiming they wrote “Heaven,” (which he wrote before he joined Warrant) and then that band almost succeeding in getting an opening slot from Warrant in California. Maybe these negative people could be better at their craft, instead of being jealous of what an artist has to offer. Through the years I told him to listen to the fans; they felt the perfection of CHERRY PIE--all great songs. A fun listen.

To this day, I want to believe that if Jani Lane had been his own biggest fan most of the time, that maybe he would never have put the music second and the drinking first. He apologized that CHERRY PIE was sexist instead of proclaiming, "This is a pop art video." (It is great pop art!) I think he apologized too damn much because of other people's opinions. Was he surrounded by too many music snobs in LA? Was he trying to impress his contemporaries in other bands--what were the real reasons they didn't like him? Some of it was because he was more into his newer songs, and wished people would listen to him.

In the end, he came to terms with what made him famous, and wrote his own bio a few days before he died at http://www.janilane.net. It included the enthusiastic, "And YES, I LOVE THE SONG “CHERRY PIE!!!'….SWING IT!!"

He was a terrific performer. He knew how to work a crowd, and feed off his band and the vibe of a room. There are videos on youtube where he's interpreting hits in different ways--including a bluesy acoustic performance of "Cherry Pie" for Guitar Hero and a piercing cover of Judas Priest's "Electric Eye." The first four Warrant albums are state of the art in arrangements, performance, and songwriting. I wish all my artists had seen Jani live. He had such a range of emotion as a performer. There was that strutting "down boys" eroticism, something that inspired one male fan to write, "I come to your shows for the music, but love when the girls show their titties!"

He was tender with pure love songs and also the "I'm hurt" break up pieces that made even the most macho guy relate to with "I Saw Red." As a fan, I was slammed for believing in his music even though--quite simply--I loved it. Once, members of an entire music industry bulletin board scolded me when I stated that Jani was the Joni Mitchell of hair bands. They wrote, "Joni Mitchell was a great artist." Yeah, so was Jani!

I worked with him on a benefit for the late Ray Gillen of the blues-rock band Badlands in 1992. Another musician from that era cancelled out on rehearsals and a benefit because he didn't want to be associated with Jani or Trixter who were also on the bill. I asked Jani, "Maybe you'll be friends someday, and you two can dialog," and he responded, sternly, "I don't think so." Glenn Hughes and Joe Lynn Turner loved him, as did the other musicians on the bill--all old school talent. Glenn, in particular, wanted to help Jani with his addictions; he saw himself in Jani. They sang together that night, and were honored to be with one another. Robert Mason, who is the leadsinger for Warrant now and was in bands with George Lynch and Ozzy Osbourne, was also on the bill. For a few months afterwards, I stayed in touch with him, and he always talked about his fondness for Jani as a musician and a person.

A couple of times he went overboard, showing his bitterness on stage. He seemed spoiled rotton, as he criticized the venue. It made the audience feel uncomfortable. He reminded me of Lenny Bruce but without purpose, just a few too many beers.

He lacked dependability. Artists can have a career in any industry, if they're dependable. After that, they'll only go as far as their friends are willing to put up with them. I remember three tours he left, some actually quitting the band. Most notably he left the DOG EAT DOG tour in 1993, and the Poison tour during CHERRY PIE without consulting with the headliners. That would certainly cause everyone involved in marketing the band and their album frustration. Jani should have conferred with their management and they negotiated with Poison's people to make the tour work... or maybe create a publicity campaign even if it was a press war.

It's also about bootstrapping. Being determined as in "You've Got Another Thing Coming" by Judas Priest, "If you think I'll sit around as the world goes by, You're thinkin' like a fool cause it's a case of do or die, Out there is a fortune waitin' to be had." Poison, Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, Sebastian Bach, and smaller acts: Dream Theater, Firehouse, and Southgang's Butch Walker all weathered the influx of grunge and other trends in American music.

In recent years, Warrant as a band--without Jani--rebounded, just fine, too, because they loved music enough to put that first. Without Jani, the group was not ashamed of what they were doing.

Jani tells a famous story about walking into the CBS President's office after the success of two albums, and seeing a poster of ALICE IN CHAINS on the receptionist's wall, "We were no longer a priority for the label because there was a new movement coming, and we just didn't fit in.” I never subscribed to that as the reason Warrant never got famous again till the day Jani died. A label head not paying attention to you is a setback, but it is up to you and your team as to whether you want to work through this adversity, and make it on your own.

Dependability means being sure that you'll do the work without complaining, and that will help you become more sure of yourself, even if you're afraid. We put up with crap every day, but we also get good things. Everyone has an opinion, and most of them are assholes. So it's them, not you--you're an individual. They don't have a life. For instance, if I knew Michelle Bachman, whose credo is "Anyone who is gay is just wrong," I'd be perfectly justified to tell her that her form of scolding, de-programming causes people to be unsure of their unique selves.

Down the line he was calm with me, telling me about finding sobriety. "Jeff Pilson says he's starting a song in the morning, thinking about it all day, and then finishing it at night." How much happier can you get thinking of your writing, and then ending the day with a completed song! Success! Bliss!

I took my gnarly, macho, diehard (and "I Saw Red"-relating) musician friend Paul Nanna to the Lowdown, a 200-capacity club in Mount Vernon, for a routing date for Warrant. Paul's band played there, and he quipped to Jani, "Look, don't spit in the mic... I have to sing in it next week." His eyes popped out of his head as Jani and then keyboardist David White duo'd on Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody": two voices, one keyboard, a full house of sound and amazing vocals. "He appreciated being there, was thankful for the gig," Paul said. "He was gracious to the crowd."

I appreciated knowing Jani, not just for the music, but because he was a human being who exchanged info about craft without prodding. On the best days of my life, it was because I started the day writing. That self-centered work helps me realize my personal accomplishments.

I am drawn to artists, and have stayed in touch with most of my friends through the years. One of the first people who told me about Jani's passing was a writer/editor colleague I worked with at HIT PARADER. I told her about this article and the personal anxiety I'd been dealing with, how I'd been unsure of myself. She reminded me to believe in myself and all the things I accomplished, "Everything is baby steps, and you've done it before. You'll do it again. Keep looking at what you've done already." Always go forward, away from those who hold you back and put you down.

The blessing about Jani's death is hearing and reading that he and Warrant did have a place in rock and roll. The band was cherished by the fans, and critics from different eras were sympathetic to him. Now people are listening to his songs without prejudice. "This is a good song," wrote Kenny, from the progressive classic band Wonderous Stories, after he posted "Bitter Pill" for his Facebook page. Former Akron-Beacon Journal and Spin magazine editor Chuck Klosterman wrote that Jani was "less pretentious than most of the credible musicians who usurped his role in the popular culture."
http://www.grantland.com/blog/hollywood-prospectus/post/_/id/32502/klosterman-remembers-warrants-jani-lane in Grantland.

Chuck Eddy resurrected a story in his Rhapsody obit, ""Warrant's funkish and pretty 'Down Boys' is proto-bohemian--Dion's lonely teen sits at home, whining 'I wanna go where the down boys go,' so he's obviously not a down boy himself, at least not yet; he just worships the wild street kids who head out at a million miles an hour. The synth lines come from The Police via 'The Spirit of Radio,' a Rush song that mimics the Velvet Underground's 'Sweet Jane.' And Warrant's guitarist plays 'Sweet Jane' chords." Jani Lane, like so many Midwestern boys, went to L.A. because that's where the down boys were. For a few years he got to be one, on TV."
http://www.rhapsody.com/#blog/2011/08/jani

I'm not going to beat myself up for not connecting with Jani the last years of his life. I wanted him to know about my artists, especially Jann Klose and Joe Deninzon who have Ohio roots, and have also been major inspiration to me. I reached out to him via his manager, through his myspace, to friends of friends, never to the ex-wives to get to him. I reached out to them to make sure they were all right. My friends remind me that I wouldn't have saved him, that Jani had to admit to having a problem and take time to learn why he did those things and to find out was who he was.

In spite of what he didn't accomplish for himself, Jani Lane has inspired me to keep writing and to be sure of myself. He was the real deal. I had wonderful times with his music, and will forever remember our conversations. I wish his legacy were longer, and hope he knows how much he inspired other folks, including me.

Jani's "Song And Dance Man" stands out as a theme for Jani. It has the lyric, "spoke of a million things before I die I should see. Open up your eyes, life is poetry in motion." After the song he raps about how other bands criticized his group for not playing their instruments in concert. Warrant did, and was very well-rehearsed. All you have to do is watch Joey (the blond acoustic guitarist), and see how he's listening to Jani, and in the moment with his frontman. It took years for Jani and the guys to get respect from other musicians in the scene.

This is "Bitter Pill." My opinion is we never would have had a famous Jani Lane without the savvy and hard-working Warrant. This band really does know what it's doing and is a great judge of talent--listen to Robert Mason, the group's singer. Give him a chance.

"Memories come rushing back, and it makes it pretty hard." What?

I found Jani's version of Frank Sinatra's "This Life" from the hard rock compilation album, "Sin-Atra." The download mistakenly gives credit to Billy Sheehan, but it's Jani, and it's great. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004T6SZ1C/ref=dm_mu_dp_trk12 I found the full recording on youtube, but I think you should buy it.

I always felt that Jani's albums reflected his life at the time he made them. He had created a rock singer-songwriter-styled group around '92-'94 called Jabberwocky. (Jani and ALICE IN WONDERLAND writer Lewis Carroll shared February 1 as their birthday.) "Comfortable With Sad" is one of the songs from the Jabberwocky sessions.

****
I wrote about Warrant for a number of Rock magazines including Hit Parader, Live Wire, Powerline, Music Life Japan, Rock Hard France, and worked as a tour publicist for them after they were on CBS and helped with the band's media transition to CMC Records before they recorded ULTRAPHOBIC.
.

TOWER OF POWER TO PLAY BENEFIT FOR THE FRANCIS HOUSE, IN SACRAMENTO, AUGUST 12

2011-07-29T01:55:00.002-04:00

Tower of Power "You're Still A Young Man," from the Alameda County Fair, 2011

Tower of Power will be performing at the 18th Annual Bump City Dance Party, at the Radisson Hotel Grove, 500 Leisure Lane, Sacramento, CA, on Friday, August 12 at 7:30 PM. Also on the bill are Nick Martin and the Blues Rockers. Tickets are on sale now at Dimple Records, TicketMaster outlets or online at www.ticketmaster.com. To charge by phone, call (800) 745-3000. For dinner or room reservations, please call (916) 922-2020.

Profits from this concert are being donated to Francis House, a Sacramento counseling and resource center for poor individuals and families. Francis House provides a link to caring volunteers, life-changing services and help for those in need. “Give Them Hope” is the theme for this event, which celebrates the life of Francis House Executive Director Greg Bunker, who passed away last December.

The band is available in advance for interviews; please call publicist Anne Leighton at 718-881-8183.

With 43 years of recording and touring experience behind them, Tower of Power have a 40th ANNIVERSARY CD/DVD BOX SET and a new album, THE GREAT AMERICAN SOULBOOK which features covers of soul classics with guest singers Joss Stone, Sir Tom Jones, Huey Lewis, and Sam Moore.

The group still garners rave reviews, and leaves the audiences dancing in their seats in the arenas, theatres, and outdoor venues they play year 'round. Melding soul, jazz, funk, and rock in a way no group ever has, the ten-piece outfit is, according to the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, “tighter than a clenched fist.”

The late great James Brown was quoted in HEEB magazine about Tower of Power, as saying, "There's no black group that plays my stuff as good as them."

Well known in the '70s for tunes such as “What is Hip?” and “You're Still a Young Man,” Tower of Power toured with Santana, Sly Stone and Credence Clearwater Revival, eventually creating traffic jams when they headlined their own shows. They performed on records with Elton John, Smokey Robinson, Rod Stewart, Aerosmith, and Dionne Warwick, influencing a generation of musicians (including Sting, who has told Emilio Castillo, founder of the group, that he once had a “Tower of Power clone band” before he formed The Police). In the 1980s, they backed Huey Lewis and the News, Heart, Eurythmics, and Little Feat, just to name a few.

Tower of Power, after 40 years, is experiencing more popularity than ever before as they tour year 'round packing venues in the United States, the Pacific Rim, and all over Europe.

On June 6, 2004 The California Music Association honored Tower of Power with a Lifetime Achievement Award and cited their 2003 Sony Legacy anthology “Havin' Fun” as Soul/R&B album of the year, beating out releases by En Vogue and Raphael Saadiq.

Tower of Power announces the triumphant return of lead trumpet player extraordinaire
Lee Thornburg. Lee played with Tower from 1985 to 1994. His first road experience was with Wayne Cochran & the CC Riders. He was a founding member of Jack Mack & the Heart Attack and toured with Rod Stewart, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Etta James, and Supertramp. After leaving Tower he became the lead trumpet for the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He's appeared on countless recordings with other GRAMMY-award winning artists. Tower afficianados will remember Lee's scorching Vocal on "Monster On A Leash" which garnered him the nickname "The Monster Man."

The band's frontman Larry Braggs is also a powerful force. Emilio, who shares frontman duties, is in awe of his singer, "with his astounding range and irresistible energy, he has a soulfulness that knows no bounds, finessing a ballad with the best of them, and then turning right around to make it as funky as it gets. Larry's joyful spirit is undeniably contagious."

When asked to describe the band's music, the group members give a variety of responses. Says Emilio, “What Tower plays is Oakland soul music.” Former Tower saxophonist Lenny Pickett, current musical director for the Saturday Night Live band, says “TOP is the world's best rhythm and blues band.” In reality, TOP's horn-driven, in-your-face sound is all its own. Read more about Tower of Power at www.towerofpower.com.

Adolfo Acosta - trumpet
Larry Braggs - lead vocalist
Emilio Castillo - bandleader, 2nd tenor sax, vocals
Jerry Cortez - guitar
David Garibaldi - drums
Lee Thornburg - trumpet & trombone
Stephen "Doc" Kupka - baritone sax
Tom Politzer - lead tenor sax
Rocco Prestia - bass
Roger Smith - keyboards

Bronx News Network: Opinion: Lessons About Supporting Bronx Artists on...

2011-07-15T16:39:00.000-04:00

Bronx News Network: Opinion: Lessons About Supporting Bronx Artists on...: "Bronx resident and singer-songwriter Jann Klose (photo courtesy Anne Leighton) By Anne Leighton I felt so energized after a long day ..."

HENRY MCCULLOUGH TO APPEAR AT THE FEST FOR BEATLES FANS, AUGUST 5-7, IN CHICAGO

2011-07-13T22:53:00.001-04:00

Legendary guitarist who played with Wings, Joe Cocker, the Grease Band available for interviews in advance of Fest

Henry's video of his song Failed Christian.

Henry McCullough will be one of the featured artists at the Fest for Beatles Fans, at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare, 9300 Bryn Mawr Avenue, in Rosemont, Illinois, USA Chicago, this August 5-7. The hotel phone is 847-696 -1234. Also appearing are Peter Asher, Joey Molland, and Mark Hudson. Admission for all three days are 96.00. One day rate for Friday, August 5 is $30, Saturday or Sunday's admission is $45. Other pricings, including combo days and for children, can be found on the web site, http://www.thefest.com/. For more information on The Fest, please call 866-THE-FEST between 8 and 4PM Chicago time.

Henry McCullough's new album, UNFINISHED BUSINESS is a tribute to the people Henry's worked with as it includes songs he played on with Wings, Frankie Miller and Ronnie Lane. It is a roots-inspired working, combining folk, British blues rock, and party sounds. The album features a number of originals, including "Failed Christian," that Nick Lowe recently covered on his DIG MY MOOD album. There is also a Johnny Cash/Jean Shepard/George Jones classic called "I'd Rather Die Young" from the 1950s.

Born in Portstewart, Northern Ireland in 1943, he took up the guitar as a boy and was playing in the Irish show band. As the British rock and blues scene developed in the 1968, he moved to London where he met Joe Cocker and the Grease Band.

As a member of the Grease Band, he supported Joe Cocker at Woodstock, with a highlight performance of the Beatles' "With a Little Help From My Friends." Then the Grease Band went on its own. Henry speaks at the end of "Money" on Pink Floyds DARK SIDE OF THE MOON. He's worked on albums by Marianne Faithfull, Roy Harper, Ronnie Lane, Frankie Miller, Eric Burdon, and Spooky Tooth.

In the the late 1980s he moved to Poland and toured there. Returning to Portstewart in the early '90s, Henry worked in the local music scene, returning to Poland, in 1998, for an album release, BLUE SUNSET and more tours. Henry lives in Northern Ireland these days.

####

Some real quick takes:

2011-06-26T01:44:00.003-04:00

Joe Deninzon's Stratospheerius at the Hunter Museum, Chattanooga. (Joe's unplugged in this.)

I'm servicing finally the Joe Deninzon Trio album, EXUBERANCE. It's a terrific jazz album and pays tribute to the late Bob Bowen. Jot me a note if you're interested. http://www.joedeninzon.com/

Tour dates for Grand Funk Railroad are at http://www.grandfunkrailroad.com/departures.htm

Strawbs will be here in September and October. Most of the dates will be with the Zombies, and that will include shows in Southern California (to be announced) for the first time in many, many years! Melani Rodgers is the publicist for the Zombies. Her e-mail is melanirogersny@aol.com So far, some dates are up at http://strawbsweb.co.uk/@f/f_1109mp.htm More will be announced soon.

Bruce Pilato (brucetune@aol.com) is handling Carl Palmer's tour this year.
http://carlpalmer.com/tourdates.php

I'll be working two Gentle Giant digital and CD re-releases this September: OCTOPUS and THREE FRIENDS. Fan site for the band: http://www.blazemonger.com/GG/Gentle_Giant_Home_Page

My poetry book, MY BRAIN, THE PARK, AND OTHER THINGS has been bumped to my birthday, October 15. Great way to celebrate. I plan to do a live performance in the Bronx as a celebration around that time. In 2012 I'm arranging shows in New York City and Lehigh Valley/Quakertown/Philadelphia area.

Bronx Music Fans: "Tell Paul McCartney to Have Jann Klose Open The Show at Yankee Stadium, July 15 and 16."

2011-06-22T22:29:00.005-04:00

"And Your Jann Can Sing"

Jann Klose performing the Beatles' "Something" at BanglaDesh-revisited, BB Kings, Nov. 2009

Preeminent singer/songwriter Paul McCartney received an offer from the Bronx-based singer/songwriter Jann Klose to open for the legendary Beatles star in the Bronx at Sir Paul's upcoming shows July 15 and 16 at Yankees Stadium. Not for $3000, as the recurring 1970s SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE "Reunite the Beatles" gag used to go, but because the prospect makes sense.

Paul McCartney is performing on Jann's home turf in the Bronx, where Jann has lived for the past 11 years. He has become an international representative of this borough, one of the most multi-cultural cities of the world. He has performed at Bronx Week and An Beal Bocht, and been profiled in Bronx media on TV, radio, internet, and print including a number of Daily News articles. Venues in his community around the Bronx, Manhattan, and Westchester County, include shows at the venerable Tarrytown Music Hall, The Concert Hall, Rockwood Music Hall, the Bitter End, and BB Kings. He's influenced countless residents to make better eating decisions as he appears on the GRAMMY-nominated album, HEALTHY FOOD FOR THOUGHT: GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT along with Julian Lennon, Sweet Honey In the Rock, Russell Simmons, Moby, and St. Louis, MO scenester Beatle Bob.

When he's not in the Bronx, Jann tours throughout North America, France, Germany, Georgia, and the UK--including having performed a number of shows in Liverpool, UK-- two at the Beatles former stomping ground, the Cavern Club. In March 2012, Jann returns to Liverpool, where he'll be teaching a Master Class on DIY touring and the importance of collaboration at the Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts (the college Sir Paul McCartney co-founded).

Like the Beatles, Jann started performing in Hamburg, Germany, where he spent his teenage years. Hamburg was also where Jann first heard music by Paul McCartney and the Beatles. Born in Germany, raised in Kenya, South Africa, and Germany, Jann first came to the States as an exchange student in Cleveland. After fulfilling his civil service in Hamburg, he returned to the States to start his career.

After a stint in touring companies of Broadway plays (JEKYLL & HYDE, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR) and portraying the Pinball Wizard in the NJPac production of TOMMY, Jann released BLACK BOX EP and the album REVERIE, both critically-acclaimed. In the past seven years, Jann's shared the stage with and opened for an array of artists, including Rusted Root, Renaissance, Marshall Crenshaw, Jonathan Edwards, Roger McGuinn, Pete Seeger, and the late Les Paul. He is now an eligible artist for the 2011 New York Music Awards, listed right between "Carole King" and "Lady Gaga." His music has been featured on MTV Cribs, the soundtrack to the Paul Sorvino film Dead Broke (Warner Bros), plus on compilations in France, Indonesia, and the UK. Jethro Tull frontman Ian Anderson found him representation in Germany.

Through the years Jann's praised Paul McCartney in his interviews. On the eve of Paul's 2009 tour, The Washington Examiner asked Jann about the former Beatle's impact and reason for longevity. Jann explained the singer's influence, "The melodies are so powerful and catching without being boring. You just don't forget them. I think more than anything that's what has staying power."

SCORE MUSIC's Paul Barile reviewed Jann's album, REVERIE, and wrote, "This sounds like what the Beatles would have made if they had grown old together." Some of the album's songs can be heard at http://www.myspace.com/jannklose .

Links to live music, including Jann's performance of "Something" from ABBEY ROAD at an annual BANGLADESH tribute and cancer benefit from New York City's BB Kings are at http://www.youtube.com/jannklose.

Paul McCartney and his staff have received invitations to any of Jann's upcoming shows. Come on out.

July 1: ROCKWOOD MUSIC HALL w/ Tom Brislin, New York, NY
July 2: RECORD COLLECTOR w/ Tom Brislin, Bordentown, NJ
July 3: THE IRIDIUM, sitting in w/ Gary Lucas, New York, NY
July 9: HOUSE CONCERT, Trenton, NJ
August 11: MUSIKFEST 2011, Bethlehem, PA
September 10: STEPHEN TALKHOUSE w/ Jonathan Tiersten, Amagansett, NY
September 11: COFFEE WORKS w/ Jonathan Tiersten, Voorhees, NJ
October 26: IRON HORSE w/ Shawn Phillips, Northampton, MA
November 26: HIGHLINE BALLROOM, BanglaDesh revisited, New York, NY
March 2, 2012: MASTER CLASS, LIVERPOOL INSTITUTE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS, Liverpool, UK

####

KJ DENHERT, AN INTRODUCTION

2011-06-17T00:52:00.008-04:00

http://www.kjdenhert.com
KJ's video and story behind "Let It Go"
http://youtu.be/Ld851jNlSN4
KJ's music video of "Help" http://youtu.be/p-ktZ1jARKQ

This is KJ DENHERT, an urban folk singer/guitarist/songwriter, who performs quite a bit. If you're interested in getting her press kit with her current album, ALBUM No.9.

"Album No.9 is about freedom.” says KJ Denhert. There also is a numerology connection as to how and when the album was recorded; production began on Sept. 9, 2009, continued over the course of nine months with nine musicians, and has nine songs. "My life-path number is 9," says KJ. In less than a year of its release on Sept. 9, 2010, KJ's music video of ALBUM No.9’s yearnful "Help" is becoming a minor hit on youtube. She interprets the Beatles' standard as a plea to the world, because of the many tragedies that were complicated due to man’s inhumanity and greed, most recently in Haiti, Louisiana, and Japan. Other classics on the album are "Alfie;" "Pennies From Heaven,” "The Shadow of Your Smile," and "Smoke on the Water."

The reggae anthem "Choose Your Weapon," which won the 2010 Independent Music Award for ”Sing Out for Social Action," "Let It Go," and her first song in French, "Chanson Baz Bar" are three of ALBUM No.9's originals that have become favorites of KJ's fans.

This November, KJ will be celebrating 15 years fronting her own band KJ Denhert and the New York Unit. But, her career dates back to the '60s when she first started playing guitar at age 10, listening to Sergio Mendes and John Hartford, “As I advanced, books by James Taylor and Joni Mitchell were my first official self-study as a guitarist.”

As a young woman in the ‘80s she played guitar and sang with an all-female band called, “Fire” touring throughout North America and Europe. She also spent time in Cleveland, founding and fronting the group, “Cyclone Sisters.” Upon moving back to NY City in 1997, she formed the “NY Unit.” Since then she’s recorded and toured non-stop, playing overseas as an eight-time artist in residence at Italy’s Umbria Jazz Festival, at prestigious events including The Rochester International Jazz Festival.

KJ is the founder of recording label, Mother Cyclone Records. She was named a winner of the Kerrville New Folk Song contest in June, 2006 for "Private Angel" and won the Mountain Stage New Song contest later that summer for her composition, "Little Mary." The Album, ANOTHER YEAR GONE BY, LIVE won the 2006 Independent Music Award for Best Live Performance.

KJ DENHERT ON THE ROAD
June 18: Clearwater's Great Hudson River Revival, Croton on Hudson
June 24:12 Grapes Music and Wine Bar, Peekskill, NY
June 25: 55 Bar, New York, NY
July 7: Underground Wonderbar, Chicago, IL
July 8: Club La Salle, South Bend, IN
July 18: Woodsongs, Lexington, KY
July 23: 55 Bar, New York, NY
July 29: Belleayre Music Festival - Belleayre Mountain Ski Resort, Highmount, NY
July 30: Rams Head on Stage w/ Gregory Porter, Annapolis, MD
August 9: Cape Cod Jazz, Chatham, MA
August 11: New Paltz, NY (duo: KJ Denhert & Jennifer Vincent)
August 20: 55 Bar, New York, NY
August 21: Special Event @the Falcon, Marlboro, NY
August 23: Cornwall, NY
September 2: Union Chapel Oak Bluffs, Martha's Vineyard, MA
September 3: 55 Bar, New York, NY
September 10: The Falcon, Marlboro, NY
September 17: 55 Bar, New York, NY
October 8: Uncommon Ground, Dobbs Ferry (solo w/ Vance Gilbert)

####

Henry McCullough Bio

2011-06-09T20:39:00.003-04:00

Henry McCullough will appear in Chicago at the FEST for Beatles Fans, Aug. 5-7. http://www.thefest.com 866-THE-FEST 8-4 PM CST

UNFINISHED BUSINESS is both the name of Henry McCullough's current album, and a motto for his career, which has cut through just about every conceivable facet of rock music and some of its most glorious moments. This UNFINISHED BUSINESS album with Henry's roots-inspired genre that combines folk, British blues rock, and party sounds is receiving a deserved boost in North America as Henry will be a special guest at the Fest For Beatles Fans, August 5-7, 2011, in Chicago, IL.

Growing up in the seaside resort of Portstewart, in Northern Ireland, Henry's first musical venture was as guitarist with Irish show band The Skyrockets and the years to follow found him playing the dance hall circuit with similar outfits, including the popular Gene and the Gents. "I don't strictly play in one area of music; I grew up, playing Jim Reeves, Elvis Presley--whatever was in the top charts then, and I was playing with people who were a generation older than me. The apprenticeship I had with music with show bands with people who were a generation older than me."

When the blues boom hit Ireland, Henry became involved with the rougher side of music through the outfit that became Eire Apparent. Managed for a time by Chas Chandler, Eire Apparent were one of the many bands to take part in package tours of Britain, alongside of The Move, Pink Floyd, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Amen Corner... After an untimely exit from the band, Henry nailed down some of the finest mix of traditional and rock with his work as part of the legendary Sweeney's Men in 1968; It is said that this line-up more or less invented the concept of Folk-Rock.

Within a year, he drifted to London where he became steeped in the blues scene, rubbing shoulders with some of the greats of the genre who were just coming to the attention of the British revivalists. An encounter with a young Sheffield singer led to a job and Henry's first brush with the realIy big time - as part of Joe Cocker's Grease Band. Tours and albums followed quickly, including an appearance at Woodstock and a lengthy period of work in the States.

Breaking with Cocker, Henry and The Grease Band grooved in its gritty blues music that made them a live favourite that has rarely been equalled. He found himself auditioning for a gig with ex-Beatle Paul McCartney. Henry, along with Denny Seiwell, Denny Laine and Linda McCartney were the first - and many say best incarnation of Wings. He embellished the single 'My Love' with a graceful solo that is one of the all-time guitar gems and shows once and for all the expressive power of the instrument. At one Wings session at Abbey Road, when Pink Floyd were in the studio next door, Henry made a spoken contribution to the end of the classic song "Money" on DARK SIDE OF THE MOON.

But musical differences with the headstrong Macca followed, and Henry made the decision to leave. Following his instinct for rock he ended up in some very good company, playing guitar and gigging with the Roy Harper, Marianne Faithfull, Ronnie Lane, Donovan, Frankie Miller, Eric Burdon, Viola Wills, Spooky Tooth...

During a visit back home to see his family in the early '80s, an accident with a knife almost cost Henry his livelihood, severing tendons in his playing hand. The enforced lay-off allowed Henry to re-evaluate his life and his career, and he took the decision to stay home in Ireland. The road to recovery was almost complete when Henry started sitting in with the Fleadh Cowboys for their now legendary Sunday afternoon residency in The Lower Deck in Dublin. It soon became apparent that Henry’s contribution was an attraction in itself, so he formed his own band and toured Ireland in 1988.

In the '90s Henry moved back to Portstewart and formed a new band with Percy Robinson on pedal steel and Roe Butcher on bass and Liam Bradley on drums. More recently the band has featured James Delaney on keys, Chrissy Stewart (Frankie Miller Band) on bass, Chris Probst on guitar and Tony Phillips on Drums.

In 1998 he went to Poland, where he rehearsed a band of Polish session musicians for a tour. At the end of the tour, they went into a studio and played ‘live’ for an afternoon. A resulting CD, BLUE SUNSET was released in Poland, and was followed up by a further successful Polish tour.

On returning home, Henry decided that it was time to do record a few studio tracks. With help and encouragement from his many friends, he released "Failed Christian," a harrowing self-penned song that has since been covered by Nick Lowe on his latest Demon album, DIG MY MOOD.

In addition to "Failed Christian," Henry included some originals and chose songs from other artists he'd worked with through the years--Paul McCartney and Frankie Miller. The Ronnie Lane song, "'Kuschty Rye' is something I played mandolin on the original version; I always liked the lyrics. The Grease Band supported the Faces in America." "I'd Rather Die Young" is a song from the '50s (Johnny Cash, Jean Shepard, George Jones), and I thought it was beautiful as a country song. This album is a tribute to the people I've worked with."

Background information of songs are in the UNFINISHED BUSINESS CD, itself. Below is the track listing and writers' credits.
1. "The Last of the Bluemen" (McCullough)
2 "Josie's In The Garden
"McCullough)
3. "Kuschty Rye"
(Ronnie Lane,Kit Lambert)
4) "Belfast To Boston"
McCullough
5) "I Couldn't Sleep For Thinking of Hank Williams"
(McCullough)
6) Ould Piece of Wood"
(McCullough)
7) Big Barn Bed
(Paul McCartney)
8) "Peacock's Waltz"
(McCullough)
9) "Hollis Brown"
(Bob Dylan)
10) "I'd Rather Die Young"
(Beasley Smith, Billy Vaughn & Randy Wood)
11) Let The Four Winds Blow
(Fats Domino/Dave Bartholmew)
12) "Drunken Nights In The City"
(Frankie Miller)
13) Tumble Dry
(McCullough)
14) Failed Christian
(McCullough)

**In the summer of ‘99 Henry was devastated when his beloved 1963 cherry red Gibson ES335 went missing from a British Midlands flight between Warsaw and Heathrow. (However, he still has his gold-top Les Paul that he played at Woodstock.)

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Jethro Tull's '71 Red Rocks concert forged a place in rock history - The Denver Post

2011-06-07T21:56:00.001-04:00

Ian Anderson remembers violence in Colorado, of all places.
Jethro Tull's '71 Red Rocks concert forged a place in rock history - The Denver Post

The Yardbirds' September 2011 tour dates

2011-06-01T01:14:00.005-04:00

http://www.theyardbirds.com
http://www.yardbirds.us/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2207073529&ref=ts

THE YARDBIRDS TOUR THE STATES THIS SEPTEMBER
(Legendary rock/blues band available for interviews in advance of tour)

The Yardbirds will be touring the States this September, from Massachusetts to Hawaii, September 1 through the 23. Dates will be in the east and west coast, plus three days of fun, sun, tropical pleasure and rock and roll that influenced musicians from the 1960s to current day.

The Yardbirds is original members: rhythm guitarist Chris Dreja and drummer Jim McCarty, and a new generation of musicians: singer/acoustic guitarist/harpist Andy Mitchell (since 2009), bassist David Smale (since 2009), and lead guitarist Ben King (since 2005).

The Yardbirds innovated 1960s guitar, with fuzz tone, feedback, distortion, backwards echo, improved amplification….and using a bow to play guitar. The group paved the way for the careers of Eric Clapton (1963-'65) Jeff Beck ('65-'66), and Jimmy Page (66-'68, first as bassist, then guitarist when Beck left). The group drew some repertoire from the blues acts of the day, including Elmore James, Howlin' Wolf, and Bo Diddley, and the Yardbirds hits were some of the best songs of the British Invasion: “For Your Love,” “Heart Full of Soul,” "Shapes of Things," “I'm A Man,” and “Over Under Sideways Down,” “Train Kept A- Rolling,” “Dazed and Confused.” “I'm A Man,” and “Over Under Sideways Down,” and “Better Man Than I.”

The Yardbirds were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. Soon after the induction, Jim and Chris reformed the Yardbirds, first playing at London's Marquee club, on a bill with the newly reformed Animals.

In 2003, Steve Vai's Favored Nations label released their album BIRDLAND, an album of new songs that featured guest appearances from Vai, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Slash, Brian May, Steve Lukather, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, and John Rzeznik. In 2005 guitarist Ben King joined the group, who recorded LIVE AT B.B. KING BLUES CLUB on July 19, 2006. That came out in 2007, included a version of “I'm a Man” that played on the Simpsons that year.

The Yardbirds has continued to tour. An institution in popular music, blues, rock and roll, the group made an indelible mark on the music and culture of both the 1960s and future generations.

CONFIRMED DATES:

Sept. 1: Summer Music Series, Springfield, MA
Sept. 2: Infinity Hall, Norfolk, CT
Sept. 3: Tupelo Music Hall, White River Junction, VT
Sept. 4: Tupelo Music Hall, Londonerry, NH
Sept. 5 Wolf Den, Mohegan Sun Casino, Uncasville, CT
Sept. 7 BB Kings, New York, NY
Sept. 8: Penn's Peak, Jim Thorpe, PA
Sept. 9: NYCB THEATRE at WESTBURY, Westbury, NY
Sept. 10: Parilla Center, Rockville, MD
Sept. 11: Rams Head, Annapolis, MD
Sept. 15: New Showroom, Hawaiian Brians, Honolulu, HI
Sept. 16: Maui Arts and Cultural Center, Maui, HI
Sept. 17: Horoka Peoples Theatre, Big Island, HI
Sept. 21 Key Club, Hollywood, CA
Sept. 22: Coachhouse, San Juan Capistrano, CA
Sept. 23: Canyon Club, Agoura Hills, CA

"I'm A Man" performed by The Yardbirds, Live at B.B. Kings, NYC. Recorded by Unsteady Freddie

Grammy Nominated Jann Klose | indystyle.tv

2011-05-18T23:58:00.002-04:00

Grammy Nominated Jann Klose | indystyle.tv
Let me set this straight. Jann is on the GRAMMY-nominated album, HEALTHY FOOD FOR THOUGHT.

Please share this link with your friends.

Grammy Nominated Jann Klose: wishtv.com

THE YARDBIRDS OFFICIAL STATEMENT ON RUMORS OF ZEP FEST'S DEMISE

2011-05-18T11:38:00.002-04:00

The Yardbirds: guitarist Chris Dreja, drummer Jim McCarty, bassist David Smale, singer Andy Mitchell, and guitarist Ben King have joined together to state, "We have heard numerous rumors that ZepFest, which is scheduled to be held at National Harbor, the weekend of May 27, 28, and 29, has been canceled. However, despite our repeated requests, the promoters have failed to confirm or deny the rumors.

"The band is ready and eager to perform under the terms of our fully-executed contract. All that is needed for our performance to go forward is, among other things, receipt of our international flight tickets -- which we were supposed to receive on May 15, 2011. They were not received.

"We await word from the ZepFest promoters. Only they can confirm or deny whether the rumours of ZepFest's demise are true or untrue. We have been looking forward to playing the Festival and remain ready to do son. We call upon the ZepFest promoters to set the record straight, for performers and fans alike."

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JANN KLOSE AND EMILY HURD TO PLAY SKOKIE THEATRE, MAY 20

2011-05-16T18:25:00.003-04:00

Jann Klose and Emily Hurd will be performing at the Skokie Theatre, 7924 N. Lincoln Ave., in Skokie, IL. Tickets are $20 in advance, and $25 at the door. The venue phone is 847-677-7761, and the web site is http://www.skokietheatre.com.

The show is being presented by Val's List; Valslist.com is a boutique music website that helps busy adults keep up with the music scene.

Emily and Jann will be raffling off their entire in-print catalogs to a lucky concert goer. The lucky winner will receive a copy of both artists' entire currently available body of work and an autographed copy of their most recent albums: Jann's REVERIE w/ SACRIFICE EP and Emily's DAYTIME FIREFLIES.

Jann is also appearing on area TV and radio. On Thursday overnight, he'll be appearing on Steve and Johnnie's radio show on WGN Radio. Friday at noon, he'll be on WGN TV, performing.

The Washington Post does not cover too many independent artists, but felt compelled to write about Jann, “Klose wins over the listener with his soaring voice, which may well be a staple of chamber pop for a long time to come.”

A citizen of the world, he's lived on three continents, making his home in the melting pot that is New York City. Before coming to the United States as an exchange student in Cleveland, Ohio, he lived in Germany, Kenya, and South Africa. As a singer/songwriter, his music reflects this lyrically, melodically, rhythmically and in his choice of eclectic instruments and musicians.

Jann's most recent recordings, REVERIE (2008) and SACRIFICE EP (2010), have earned him respect as a singer, musician, songwriter, and someone with a new and viable slant on the music business at a time when the industry threatens to collapse under its own weight. Jann's approach to fan sourcing of production money and concerts in areas as diverse as Chicago and Germany is creating a “cottage industry” out of popular music. REVERIE was made largely with fan support.

It also shows in the people who choose to work with him. Jann has worked live or in the studio with artists, including Pittsburgh favorites Rusted Root, pioneers like Pete Seeger and Les Paul, classic rockers Annie (Renaissance) Haslam, Roger (The Byrds) McGuinn, and major country stars like Rosanne Cash and Marty Stuart. WGN-Chicago Radio's Steve & Johnnie, Rock Hall inductee Joey Reynolds and Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson have all personally lent a helping hand in his career.

Jann's music has also been featured on the GRAMMY-nominated album, HEALTHY FOOD FOR THOUGHT, MTV's Cribs, the soundtrack to the Paul Sorvino film Dead Broke (Warner Bros). He's performed in touring companies of Broadway shows: The Who's Tommy, Jekyll & Hyde, and Jesus Christ Superstar. He also has released three albums and two EPs, which can be heard around the world, on over 140 FM stations and Sirius XM in the U.S., the BBC in England to Prambors Radio in Indonesia. In less than three months thousands have viewed (and reposted) Jann's remarkable video for DOING TIME, now featured on indoorDIRECT's Restaurant Entertainment Network and AOL/Spinner. Watch the video at www.youtube.com/jannklose. Jann is now an eligible artist for the 2011 New York Music Awards, listed right between "Carole King" and "Lady Gaga."

Time Out New York writes, “Jann Klose writes warm, hooky pop music.” The Advance Wire Service states: “The first thing that's totally unmistakable about Jann Klose is that voice - which is just light years beyond that of the typical singer-songwriter … a sound that is classy, distinctive and often irresistible.”

Emily Hurd is a Chicago-based songwriter and pianist with vocal chops that both Rick Kogan of WGN and Richard Milne of WXRT have likened to musical icon Janis Joplin. The wordsmith is well-respected for her cutting, intelligent lyrics and inimitable live showmanship. Like Russian-American piano-pop diva Regina Spektor, Hurd’s style is a raw mix of rock piano, soul singing, and roots songwriting. Hurd caught her break in 2005 when she joined forces with other greats from the Old Town School of Folk Music to create her first original album. Eight albums later, her songs have won three international songwriting competitions, and she has shared stages with various legends, including Bettye Lavette and soul-queen Irma Thomas. Her web site is http://www.emilyhurd.com.

JANN KLOSE TOUR DATES

May 17: INDY STYLE TV 8, Indianapolis, IN
May 17: BIRDY'S, w/ Jenn Cristy and Chad Mills, Indianapolis, IN
May 18: BEATNIK'S CAFE, Marion, IN
May 19: STEVE AND JOHNNIE SHOW, WGN RADIO, Chicago, IL
May 20: WGN MIDDAY NEWS, WGN Superstation, Chicago, IL
May 20: SKOKIE THEATRE, w/ Emily Hurd, Skokie, IL
May 21: THE WINCHESTER w/ Cuda, Renko, Cuda, Cleveland, OH
May 27: MAYFAIR FESTIVAL, Allentown, PA
June 12: STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL, Beacon, NY
June 17: GODFREY DANIELS, w/ Cliff Eberhardt, Bethlehem, PA
July 1: ROCKFORD MUSIC HALL w/ Tom Brislin, New York, NY
August 11: MUSIKFEST 2011, Bethlehem, PA
October 26: IRON HORSE w/ Shawn Phillips, Northampton, MA
March 2, 2012: MASTER CLASS, LIVERPOOL INSTITUTE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS, Liverpool, UK

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Jann Klose at the Lemon Grove, Youngstown, May 15

2011-05-06T00:21:00.001-04:00

LaToya Jackson, Role Model With Determination

2011-05-05T16:46:00.002-04:00

Determination is the most important factor in making things happen for your life. When I was in high school, and wasn't picked for All County Chorus, I went to my guidance counselor and asked him to talk with my choir teacher, and got in to All-County three years in a row. As a publicist, I call journalists instead of just sending e-mails. If I'm booking my artists, I send e-mails every month to venues, asking them to book my artist. I make follow-up calls. When we get gigs, I start calling and e-mailing my friends, asking them to come to shows; sooner or later, some of them make it. I have checklists of people to contact. Persistence makes a difference in achieving results. Talent only works a little, but speaking up for yourself will set you apart from everyone else.

This is the story of LaToya Jackson and how she set a deserved precedence on TV's Celebrity Apprentice. She was asked back to the show after Donald Trump fired her the previous week. Why? Because she believed so much in her talent and abilities that she went back, and asked to be hired.

I know some regard her as "the untalented Jackson, standing in the shadow of Michael, Janet and the other Jacksons," just because she once posed in the buff for PLAYBOY. Even so, that particular issue of the magazine sold more than any others up to that point in history. LaToya is intriguing, eclectic, and bohemian, co-writing "Reggae Nights” with Amir-Salaam Bayyan (who has a big catalog of songs by name acts) for Jimmy Cliff, speaking out for gay rights, and has made albums, appeared on reality TV in the States and abroad. She even has a dessert named after her at West Hollywood's Millions of Milkshakes. She's adorable, soft-spoken, her music is sweet.

She's one hell of a role model to me--smart, creative, gentle, and diplomatic. I started noticing LaToya's quiet, but strong leadership abilities in this year's season. Twice, when she was a team leader, her team (ASAP) beat the men (BACKBONE). She has a very humane outlook, and able to tell which women were the manipulators, the followers, and who were good sports. If lawyer/TV personality/writer Star Jones wanted a team member eliminated, Star encouraged that person to be the team leader, "Well, it's time for your charity to make money." Then she'd encourage the rest of the team to argue with one another.

Because of ASAP's bad vibes, the team created flawed product. Sub par product is bad customer service, bad business.

On Easter, April 24, ASAP and BACKBONE's assignment was to design advertising pages for one of Donald Trump's hotels. Star was in charge, and wanted LaToya and Nene Leakes (one of the Desperate Housewives of Atlanta) to run some errands. LaToya was uneasy about working with Nene, who had come down hard on LaToya previously, arguing the "untalented Jackson" had gotten by all these years because of her family name; Nene called her "old." On that Easter Sunday, Star suggested a "Come to Jesus" meeting to clear the cobwebs of hate. The two developed an appreciation for one another as they completed their project.

LaToya, who studies people and is a bit analytical, zoned in on Star's weaknesses that episode. It included taking charge of everything, working too much to the point that her product was weak. ASAP's presentation had each woman stating singular words to describe the luxury of Donald's hotel. After the presentation, LaToya had her own word to describe it, "corny."

Donald had to fire someone from Team ASAP. Of course the women pointed to LaToya as a "weak player." LaToya's voice was extra weak that day as she had laryngitis. Softly she explained that Star's work was poor because she was just doing too much. Star became more irate. Despite Donald's awareness that LaToya's talents and team leadership was equal, if not "sometimes greater than her team members," he decided that the women's team would be more formidable if the members got along. "Your team doesn't seem to like you, and they like Star. LaToya, you're fired.”

All of Donald's people seemed disappointed in the decision to the point he was even justifying himself to them. Still showing dignity at the elevator down, LaToya ignored Star, and hugged Nene, nodded to the elevator attendant, and left. In the limo ride, LaToya stated, "Truthfully, I think Mr. Trump made a mistake. I am not a weak player, and it's not a good feeling to be fired when you know you have something to offer."

Then she tweeted, "Most of you R as surprised & shocked as I was 4 getting fired. But keep N mind, I'm Joe Jackson's daughter, I was raised to NEVER give up!"

Then Nene gave Star notice, "I got my eye on you. You orchestrated all this, and you're willing to cut off your head to win." I don't know if Star was giving Nene lip service or sincere when she responded, "This is something I can learn from."

The following week, Star suggested Nene be a team leader, which made Nene believe that Star was throwing her under the bus.

Nene did some good work, and also noticed that the men's team brought in ASAP's former team member Niki Taylor to model for their presentation. She let all the women know and to be aware that she was working for the other team, "Don't tell her what's going on."

Of course Team BACKBONE beat ASAP. Nene complained that Star was indeed not playing fairly, and taking charge when she should not have.

Right before the firing debate portion of the show, Donald said he's doing something for the first time ever in the show's 11-year history, bringing back a team member. Everyone turned their heads, expecting to see Niki. Nope. Instead, my heroine, the accomplished, determined, and self-assured LaToya Jackson strutted into the meeting. She sat down with the BACKBONE men. She smiled. So did the men. Nene smiled. Star closed her eyes; maybe she was praying, maybe seeing red.

Donald said, "LaToya came to my office, and made a strong case as to why she should be allowed back, and I respected that. Never give up. People say, 'How do you become successful, Mr. Trump?' Never ever quit. Never ever give up."

HISTORICAL PHOTOGRAPHIC ART OF YARDBIRDS GUITARIST CHRIS DREJA TO BE SHOWN AND SOLD AT ZEPFEST, MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND, MAY 27, 28, 29

2011-04-27T14:55:00.003-04:00

Valuable Historic Art of The 1960s Rock Elite by Acclaimed Musician/Acclaimed Photographer At ZepFest, 2011

Chris Dreja will be presenting and selling his art--historical photographs from London in the 1960s-- at the ZepFest, May 27, 28, and 29, at the National Harbor, on the Potomac River, at Waterfront Street and St. George Blvd., in Prince George’s County, MD. There are a variety of tickets and pricing plans available for the Fest, including one-day events and VIP get-togethers. The full Fest is $325.00, and tickets are available at http://www.missiontix.com/events/product/10641 or http://zepfest2011.eventbrite.com/ . For more information, please e-mail info@zepfest.com and visit the web site, http://ZepFest.com or http://ZepFest2011.com.

Dreja's classic historical art focuses on legendary portraits of Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page, including the back portrait from Led Zeppelin 1. One photograph, featuring Jimmy, has been autographed by both Chris and Jimmy for the event. Dreja will privately sell this at the Fest, and make others available in a special section of the Festival's Merchandise Table.

Dreja has been the Yardbirds rhythm guitrist since the group formed in 1963. He was also always a talented photographer, chronicling London and theYardbirds' experience in the 1960s. After the group broke up in 1968, Jimmy Page offered him the position of bassist in a new band he was forming (later to become Led Zeppelin). Dreja declined in order to pursue a profession in photography. Only occasionally did he took breaks to play in Box of Frogs in the 1980s and the Yardbirds since 1992. in addition to being a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Chris has received acclaim and an award from the UK's Designers and Art Directors Association.

A sampling of Chris Dreja's photography can be seen on his web site, http://www.chrisdreja.com.

The ZepFest features over 50 bands on five stages. It’s also a completely Green festival. ZepFest CEO and Festival Director Mark Boudreau says the Fest will include, “Descendants, disciples and influences.” There’ll be blues artists the Night Hawks and Willie Big Eyes Smith, contemporaries Vanilla Fudge, and fans Dread Zeppelin, tribute bands. The late Pinetop Perkins was scheduled to perform, and the entire ZepFest will be dedicated to him.

Other Yardbirds’ members will be on hand throughout the day to connect with fans.   The band’s tour manager, Henry “The Horse” Smith, an original Led Zeppelin roadie, will share stories. Jim McCarty will be giving a Q&A Session.

The Yardbirds is original members: rhythm guitarist Chris Dreja and drummer Jim McCarty, and a new generation of musicians: singer/acoustic guitarist/harpist Andy Mitchell (since 2009), bassist David Smale (since 2009), and lead guitarist Ben King (since 2005).

The Yardbirds innovated 1960s guitar, with fuzz tone, feedback, distortion, backwards echo, improved amplification….and using a bow to play guitar. The group paved the way for the careers of Eric Clapton (1963-’65) Jeff Beck (’65-’66), and Jimmy Page (66-’68, first as bassist, then guitarist when Beck left). The group drew some repertoire from the blues acts of the day, including Elmore James, Howlin’ Wolf, and Bo Diddley, and the Yardbirds hits were some of the best songs of the British Invasion: “For Your Love,” “Heart Full of Soul,” “Shapes of Things,” “I’m A Man,” and “Over Under Sideways Down,” “Train Kept A- Rolling,” “Dazed and Confused.” “I’m A Man,” and “Over Under Sideways Down,” and “Better Man Than I.”

The Yardbirds were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. Soon after the induction, Jim and Chris reformed the Yardbirds, first playing at London’s Marquee club with the newly reformed Animals.

In 2003, Steve Vai’s Favored Nations label released their album BIRDLAND, an album of new songs that featured guest appearances from Vai, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Slash, Brian May, Steve Lukather, Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, and John Rzeznik. In 2005 guitarist Ben King joined the group, who recorded LIVE AT B.B. KING BLUES CLUB on July 19, 2006. That came out in 2007, included a version of “I’m a Man” that played on the Simpsons that year.

The Yardbirds has continue to tour. An institution in popular music, blues, rock and roll, the group made an indelible mark on the music and culture of both the 1960s and future generations.

JANN KLOSE’S DOING TIME TO AIR NATIONWIDE ON THE RESTAURANT ENTERTAINMENT NETWORK

2011-04-18T12:25:00.002-04:00

Heralded Music Video To Reach an Audience of 13 Million Monthly Viewers

Jann Klose’s video for “Doing Time” will be airing to an audience of more than 13 million monthly viewers on The Restaurant Entertainment Network located in over 1,000 Quick Serve Restaurants (Arby’s, Carl’s, Hardee’s, McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Taco Bell) across the country.

indoorDIRECT’s Vice President of Strategic Alliances, Jonna Birgans, said that “Jann Klose is an up-and-coming artist and we are happy to provide new artists such as Jann exposure to millions of our viewers at restaurants nationwide.” Birgans elaborated, “We pride ourselves on not just working with national and international acts such at Weezer and the Parlotones but also unsigned bands and artists that our viewers would enjoy hearing while they are enjoying a meal at the nation’s leading quick service restaurants.”

The music video for "Doing Time," a fan favorite from Jann Klose’s critically acclaimed album, REVERIE, was produced by the New York Film Academy on the streets of New York City. Producer Tamara Gunashvili and director Addison Neville incorporated Stop-Motion style filming, using state-of-the-art photographic equipment. Over 9000 individual pictures were taken during the two-day shoot 4000 ended up in the 3 minute 40 second long video. Members of Jann's band (bassist Chris Marolf; accordionist Lars Potteiger; violinist Leah Potteiger; drummer Patrick Carmichael) are also seen in the video that was shot entirely in Manhattan at three different locations, including Union Square.

(Online, view http://www.indoordirect.com/watch )

The song “Doing Time” resonated quite nicely with music critics, as well: The Washington Post's Alexander Remington picked the song as his favorite, “His songs' immaculately tasteful orchestration sounds like Eric Matthews crossed with Nick Drake, best of all on the waltz 'Doing Time.' Klose wins over the listener with his soaring voice, which may well be a staple of chamber pop for a long time to come.”

Jann produced "Doing Time." Stewart Lerman (The Roches, Loudon Wainwright III, Dar Williams, and films THE AVIATOR and THE LIFE AQUATIC) mixed it.

Jann's music has also been featured on the GRAMMY-nominated album, HEALTHY FOOD FOR THOUGHT: GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT, MTV's Cribs, the soundtrack to the Paul Sorvino film Dead Broke. He's performed in touring companies of Broadway shows: The Who's Tommy, Jekyll & Hyde, and Jesus Christ Superstar. He also has released three albums and two EPs, which can be heard around the world, on over 140 FM stations and Sirius XM in the U.S., the BBC in England to Prambors Radio in Indonesia. In less than three months thousands have viewed (and reposted) Jann's remarkable video for DOING TIME, now featured on AOL/Spinner. Watch the video at http://www.youtube.com/jannklose.

A citizen of the world, he's lived on three continents, making his home in the melting pot that is New York City. Before coming to the United States as an exchange student in Cleveland, Ohio, he lived in Germany, Kenya, and South Africa. As a singer/songwriter, his music reflects this lyrically, melodically, rhythmically and in his choice of eclectic instruments and musicians.

Jann will be touring this spring, starting April 29 in New York City, with Midwestern dates in May.

About indoorDIRECT
indoorDIRECT (www.indoordirect.com) is the owner of the Restaurant Entertainment Network, a powerful digital media network that delivers Internet-based entertainment and advertising to more than one thousand major brand quick-service restaurants nationwide. The Network entertains more than 150 million viewers annually at Wendy’s, Denny’s, Arby’s, Carl’s Jr., Hardee’s, McDonald’s and Taco Bell and other restaurants in America’s top Designated Market Areas (DMAs). indoorDIRECT is privately held and based in Dallas, with additional offices in New York and Los Angeles.

JANN KLOSE TOUR DATES

April 27: VALERIE'S NEW YORK, WOR RADIO, New York, NY
April 27: MARIANNE MORRISON SHOW, www.centannibroadcasting.com, New York, NY
April 28: ALL NIGHT WITH JOEY REYNOLDS on NBC NY Non-Stop
April 29: ROCKWOOD MUSIC HALL STAGE 2, New York, NY
May 7: LEHIGH VALLEY MUSIC CONFERENCE
May 13: CLUB CAFE w/ Colter Harper and Preach Freedom, Pittsburgh, PA
May 14: LOVELIGHT BOUTIQUE, New Castle, PA
May 15: THE LEMON GROVE, Youngstown, OH
May 17: INDY STYLE TV 8, Indianapolis, IN
May 17: BIRDY'S, w/ Jenn Cristy and Chad Mills, Indianapolis, IN
May 18: BEATNIK'S CAFE, Marion, IN
May 19: STEVE AND JOHNNIE SHOW, WGN RADIO, Chicago, IL
May 20: WGN MIDDAY NEWS, WGN Superstation, Chicago, IL
May 20: SKOKIE THEATRE, w/ Emily Hurd, Skokie, IL
May 21: THE WINCHESTER w/ Cuda, Renko, Cuda, Cleveland, OH
May 27: MAYFAIR FESTIVAL, Allentown, PA
June 12: STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL, Beacon, NY
June 17: GODFREY DANIELS, w/ Cliff Eberhardt, Bethlehem, PA
August 11: MUSIKFEST 2011, Bethlehem, PA
October 26: IRON HORSE w/ Shawn Phillips, Northampton, MA
March 2, 2012: MASTER CLASS, LIVERPOOL INSTITUTE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS, Liverpool, UK

###

IAN ANDERSON’S OUT OF THIS WORLD CONCERT

2011-04-08T09:42:00.004-04:00

Colonel Catherine Coleman Taking Ian Anderson's Stance To The Universe

When worldwide fame and notoriety have been achieved, taking your music into outer space is the only place left to go.

On April 12th Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson will be taking part in a duet with US astronaut Colonel Catherine Coleman to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Russian astronaut Yuri Gagarin’s first manned space flight in 1961.

However, this duet is no ordinary collaboration. Whilst Anderson will be live on stage in Perm, Russia, Coleman will be in orbit in the International Space Station as she contributes to Ian’s truly out of this world concert.

Coleman’s part of the performance will be screened by video link to the audience in Perm from somewhere in the galaxy as part of this gravity defying gig.

The pair will be playing an excerpt from Bouree from Tull's STAND UP album.

Coleman has been practising her Ian Anderson trade mark of playing the flute whilst standing (or in her case floating) on one leg. For 3 months, Anderson's flute accompanied Cady Coleman and her own flute in orbit allowing her to perfect her Anderson stance ahead of the duet.

THE YARDBIRDS HEADLINE ZEPFEST, MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND, MAY 27, 28, 29

2011-04-06T21:21:00.003-04:00

left to right: Ben King, Jim McCarty, David Smale, Chris Dreja, Andy Mitchell

The Yardbirds will be headlining the first annual ZepFest, playing all three nights May 27, 28, and 29—Memorial Day Weekend, at the National Harbor, on the
Potomac River, at Waterfront Street and St. George Blvd., in Prince George's County, MD.

There are a variety of tickets and pricing plans available for the Fest, including one-day events and VIP get-togethers. The full Fest is $325.00, and tickets are
available at http://www.missiontix.com/events/product/10641 or http://zepfest2011.eventbrite.com/ . For more information, please e-mail info@zepfest.com and visit the web site, http://ZepFest.com or http://ZepFest2011.com.

The ZepFest features over 50 bands on five stages. There’ll be speakers, authors, secret shows. It’s also a completely Green festival. ZepFest CEO and Festival Director Mark Boudreau says the Fest will include, “Descendants, disciples and influences.” There’ll be blues artists the Night Hawks and Willie Big Eyes Smith, contemporaries Vanilla Fudge, and fans Dread Zeppelin, tribute bands, and guest speakers most notably Atlantic Records’ Jerry Greenberg.

The late Pinetop Perkins was scheduled to perform, and the entire ZepFest will be dedicated to him.

The Yardbirds’ band members will be on hand throughout the day to connect with fans. Guitarist Ben King will be part of the Ultimate Dream Band in which a lucky fan gets a shot at playing before the Yardbirds. The band’s tour manager, Henry “The Horse” Smith, an original Led Zeppelin roadie, will be on hand to tell stories. Jim McCarty will be giving a Q&A Session. Rhythm guitarist Chris Dreja, who became a professional photographer after the Yardbirds broke up in 1968, will be showing (and selling) photographs, including the iconic back lit shot of Jimmy Page, which will be signed by both Jimmy and Chris. A sampling of Chris’ work can be seen on his web site, http://www.chrisdreja.com.

The Yardbirds is original members: rhythm guitarist Chris Dreja and drummer Jim McCarty, and a new generation of musicians: singer/acoustic guitarist/harpist Andy Mitchell (since 2009), bassist David Smale (since 2009), and lead guitarist Ben King (since 2005).

The Yardbirds innovated 1960s guitar, with fuzz tone, feedback, distortion, backwards echo, improved amplification….and using a bow to play guitar. The group paved the way for the careers of Eric Clapton (1963-‘65) Jeff Beck (’65-‘66), and Jimmy Page (66-’68, first as bassist, then guitarist when Beck left). The group drew some repertoire from the blues acts of the day, including Elmore James, Howlin’ Wolf, and Bo Diddley, and the Yardbirds hits were some of the best songs of the British Invasion: “For Your Love,” “Heart Full of Soul,” "Shapes of Things," “I'm A Man,” and “Over Under Sideways Down,” “Train Kept A- Rolling,” “Dazed and Confused.” “I’m A Man,” and “Over Under Sideways Down,” and “Better Man Than I.”

The Yardbirds were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. Soon after the induction, Jim and Chris reformed the Yardbirds, first playing at London’s Marquee club with the newly reformed Animals.

In 2003, Steve Vai’s Favored Nations label released their album BIRDLAND, an album of new songs that featured guest appearances from Vai, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Slash, Brian May, Steve Lukather, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, and John Rzeznik. In 2005 guitarist Ben King joined the group, who recorded LIVE AT B.B. KING BLUES CLUB on July 19, 2006. That came out in 2007, included a version of “I’m a Man” that played on the Simpsons that year.

The Yardbirds has continued to tour. An institution in popular music, blues, rock and roll, the group made an indelible mark on the music and culture of both the 1960s and future generations.

Please check out these fan videos from the Yardbirds on tour:

“For Your Love” – 7/10/09 Fillmore New York
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkdvX0EnuTk

“Shapes of Things” – 7/14/09 Ottawa Blues Fest
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gPXRfqXNWE&feature=related

“Heart Full of Soul” – 7/10/09 Fillmore New York
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRHY8B7VJXM

“Dazed and Confused” – 7/6/09 Mohegan Sun Casino
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8Ue36zn8c4
“Train Kept A Rollings” 5/26/2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2OhdlQ1lQI

“You’re a Better Man Than I” 5/26/2010, BB Kings
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_k4b1RMUS0&feature=related

Recommendations for Veronique Cordier, Hank Bordowitz

2011-03-31T17:05:00.003-04:00

One of the things I'm finding in my fan power artist development work with my future classic rockers is that our long-time music industry colleagues, who've moved on to other things, are still fans, and still got the chops. The last half of 2010, I had a serious amount of work with all my artists, and asked a few folks to help me out in different capacities with some of my projects.

One was Veronique Cordier of V Entertainment, who kicked butt, collaborating with me on Ian Anderson's tour. She got lesser selling venues way UP. Her approach really is marketing oriented, and multi-faceted engaging everyone from talk and sports radio to bloggers. She has been expanding her PR firm in the last few years to include clients such as Unicef (Wiggles song to raise awareness) and Boys & Girls Clubs (benefit concert marketing), where she integrates her experience in entertainment with her passion for social change. Think partnerships.

The other is Hank Bordowitz. Many know him as the guy who has written significant books that detailed the whys of the ups and downs in the music biz, including DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS OF THE RECORD BUSINESS. He's done a lot through the years in the music biz. He has a great sensitivity, as well, to all genres, all music, and understands what it's like to be an artist. He is a darn good A&R Consultant, and can do hands on work with acts.

If you're in a co-management/artist development and long-term growth relationship with artists and need help with that, while writing bios, press releases, Hank is great as a long-distance development person. He's on SKYPE--most of the developing artists are, as well.

And a reminder, he is available for writing work. He does a good job. Think versatility and team players.

E-mails for both these terrific talents:
Veronique: ventnet@aol.com
Hank: Hank@bordowitz.com

JETHRO TULL Celebrates AQUALUNG's 40th Anniversary With A North American Tour

2011-03-21T18:08:00.003-04:00

In celebration of the park bench, dribbly-nosed voyeur's 40th Anniversary, Ian Anderson returns to the USA with his band Jethro Tull, starting June 8 in Denver, CO and ending on the 27 in Chicago, IL.

The group features longtime members Ian Anderson (flute, vocals, acoustic guitar) and Martin Barre (guitars), Doane Perry (drums), as well as David Goodier (bass) and pianist John O'Hara. The latter two joined in 2006 after working with Ian on some of his solo projects.

The group will be performing the Aqualung album in its entirety plus a range of their other favorites from the lat 42 years. Critics dubbed AQUALUNG “a concept album,” particularly for Ian's critical, skeptical views of organized religion, mostly on side B ("My God," "Hymn 43"). Anderson has disputed - almost resented - the assessment seeing the record as "just a bunch of songs." This led the band to give the critics a full-blown concept album with the following studio release THICK AS A BRICK which topped the Billboard charts in 1972.

On AQUALUNG, the group explores the struggles of the less fortunate in our society (e.g., "Aqualung," "Cross-Eyed Mary," "Up to Me"). Teenage angst and formal education difficulties (e.g., "Wind Up") are explored, and Ian returns to his parental themes with "Cheap Day Return," a tune encompassing Anderson's feelings while traveling North on the train to visit his sick father. "Locomotive Breath" touches on the issues of globalization, population expansion and runaway economics. Sound familiar?

Formed in 1968, Jethro Tull released its first album THIS WAS late in that year and followed up in 1969 with STAND UP. In the 1970s, the group was one of the most successful live performing acts on the world stage, rivaling Zeppelin, Elton John and even the Rolling Stones. Surprising, really, for a group whose more sophisticated and evolved stylistic extravagance was far from the Pop and Rock norm of that era.

With now some 30-odd albums to their credit and sales totaling more than 50 million, the apparently un-commercial Tull continues to perform over a 100 concerts per year with its rich variety and depth of expression, wherever fans, young and old, want to hear Rock, Folk, Jazz and Classical-inspired music. Music for boys in long trousers and girls with brains.

In 2011, Tull will tour in Australia, Ireland, and Germany. And Ian will perform solo shows in Germany, Spain, Cyprus, Turkey, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Panama, Mexico, Czech Republic, the UK, Sweden, Denmark and Finland finishing with his customary charity Christmas concerts at three UK cathedrals.

In 2006, Ian was awarded a Doctorate in Literature from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, the Ivor Novello Award for International Achievement in Music and, in the New Years Honours List 2008, an MBE for services to music. In 2012, he expects to be awarded the Smithsonian Medal of Honor for smelling OK for someone his age and having ears still in proportion to the rest of his head. His bladder remains elastic and his prostate the size of a pinhead.

###

June 8: Red Rock Amphitheater, Morrison, CO
June 10: Comerica Theatre, Phoenix, AZ
June 11: The Greek Theatre, Los Angeles, CA
June 12: TBA, Valley Center, CA
June 13: The Grove, Anaheim, CA
June 14: TBA, Saratoga, CA
June 16: Cuthbert Amphitheater, Eugene, OR
June 17: McMenamins Edgefield Concerts On The Lawn, Troutdale, OR
June 18: TBA, Woodinville, WA
June 19: Centre for the Performing Arts, Vancouver, BC
June 21: Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, Edmonton, AB
June 22: Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, Calgary, AB
June 23: Casino Regina, Regina, SK
June 25: Orpheum Theatre, Minneapolis, MN
June 26: Chicago Theatre, Chicago, IL
June 27: Rosemont Theatre, Rosemont, IL

TOWER OF POWER CELEBRATE ITS 40TH ANNIVERSARY WITH ALBUM, DVD AND REUNION

2011-03-03T20:26:00.003-05:00

New Collection Features TOP alumni like Lenny Pickett and Chester Thompson; Special Guests Include Soul Legend Sam Moore.

It’s spring! As we celebrate the start of the baseball season, the end of the basketball season and the release of Tower of Power’s 40th Anniversary album, the operative phrase in everyone’s ears is “We Came To Play.”
But then, Tower of Power has “come to play,” every single time they take to the stage over the last 42 years. The horn driven soul and funk machine has toured consistently playing to so(u)ld out crowds around the world. And after 40 years, four of the original musicians still play with the band.
Similar to sports teams, however, Tower of Power has had numerous players take free agency with other musical prospects. So the 40th Anniversary show gave the band an opportunity to stage their version of “Old Timer’s Day,” bringing 20 former members to work with the ongoing ten player line-up.
“When we were young and we’d lose somebody, it seemed like the end of the world,” TOP founder Emilio Castillo told Gary Graff. “But it started happening at such an early age in our career, and we always overcame it and always got great people to come in.”
Captured live at the Legendary Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco in 2008, this extraordinary show welcomed such former members as Greg Adams, TOP’s trumpeter and arranger for 20 years and subsequently one of the architects of the “smooth Jazz” sound; Chester Thompson, who moved on to play keys for Santana and Elton John; and chart topping “smooth jazz” sax player and first call session guy Richard Elliott.
At a show recorded on the band’s actual anniversary, former TOP member Lenny Pickett, long time sax player for the Saturday Night Live band, joined in. He’s in the bonus footage and is interviewed. Legendary vocalist Sam Moore, of Sam and Dave, added to the funkified festivities with “I Thank You,” and Otis Redding’s “Mr. Pitiful.” The DVD is dedicated to Steve “Skip” Mesquite, long time alto player for TOP, who made the show and passed on shortly afterward.
The CD and DVD package is a slam dunk of soulful funk, with such great Tower of Power hits as “What is Hip?” “You’re Still A Young Man,” the ever timely “Only So Much Oil In The Ground,” and “This Time It’s Real.” After 40 years, this band can clearly still hit it out of the ballpark.
“It was probably the most special night of our entire career,” said Castillo. “Getting together and playing again with those guys we’d spent so much time with on the road. It was magic.”
#030111#

TWO MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENTS ON JANN KLOSE

2011-03-03T15:10:00.019-05:00

Fundraising and Teaching

FUNDRAISING:
Jann Klose's fundraiser for his next album will be celebrating in the form of a fundraising concert at the Rockwood Music Hall Stage 2, 196 Allen Street, New York, New York, at 7:30 PM, on April 29, 2011. Admission TBA, there will be very special guests. The venue phone is 212-477-4155.

(Jann Klose on the Red Carpet for the Grammy Awards)

Unaffiliated with overpopulated crowd-funding sites, Jann is funding his new album on his own site, http://www.peoplerecordsmusic.com.

Fans can choose from over 40 exclusive items, including: download of new album: $10, Jann's favorite German recipe (hand-written) for $40, Skype video chat with Jann singing a song of your choice for $40, a music career consultation on Skype with Jann and me for $250, and "Executive Producer" and "Patron" credits for $10,000 and $25,000. Details of the fundraising campaign are at Jann's site, http://www.peoplerecordsmusic.com.

REVERIE recouped three times over, received airplay on over 140 radio stations, praise from the media including this Washington Post quote, “Klose wins over the listener with soaring voice, which may well be a staple of chamber pop for a long time to come." Later this year, Jann will be releasing a speciahis sol REVERIE collectors edition with two extra songs from the sessions and the music video "Doing Time."

TEACHING:
On March 2, 2012, Jann will be presenting a Master Class on DIY TOURING AND CAREER BUILDING at The Liverpool Institute For Performing Arts. The school was founded by Sir Paul McCartney and Mark Faetherstone-Witty, in 1996. Jann is excited to be returning to one of his favorite UK cities for his fourth UK tour, which will include a few more classes and even more shows. He will also be touring his native Germany again, where he gained representation with Nic Events late 2010.

At Liverpool Institute, Jann will his explain his approach to building and sustaining his music business on principles of dialogue, cooperation, and commerce. This cooperative attitude includes collaborations with regional and international leads in government, media, corporate, business, educational, charitable organizations, and the fans.

In the past three years Jann has shared the stage or opened for many artists: Rusted Root, Martin Harley Band, Old School Freight Train, Marshall Crenshaw, Shawn Phillips, Willy Porter, The Strawbs, Melissa Ferrick, Michael Glabicki, Antigone Rising, Elliott Murphy, Marty Stuart, Rosanne Cash, Roger McGuinn, Pete Seeger, Annie Haslam, Renaissance, and Les Paul. WGN-Chicago Radio's Steve & Johnnie, Rock Hall inductee Joey Reynolds and Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson have all personally lent a helping hand in his career.

Jann is available for interviews on this new means of building, sustaining, and funding a music business.

JANN KLOSE TOUR DATES

March 11: IBS CONVENTION, New York, NY
March 12: WDFH, Private Event, Yonkers, NY
March 18: A JEFF BUCKLEY TRIBUTE EVENT CURATED BY GARY LUCAS @ KNITTING FACTORY, Brooklyn, NY
April 2: NJ PROGHOUSE w/ Muriel Anderson at Rockn' Joes, Kendall Park, NJ
April 29: ROCKWOOD MUSIC HALL STAGE 2, New York, NY
May 7: LEHIGH VALLEY MUSIC CONFERENCE
May 13: CLUB CAFE, Pittsburgh, PA
May 17: BIRDYS w/ Micaela Kingslight, Indianapolis, IN
May 19: STEVE AND JOHNNIE SHOW, WGN RADIO, Chicago, IL
May 20: WGN MIDDAY NEWS, Chicago, IL
May 20: SKOKIE THEATRE, W/ Emily Hurd, Skokie, IL
May 21: TBA w/ Micaela Kingslight, Kalamazoo, MI
June 12: STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL, Beacon, NY
August 11: MUSIKFEST 2011, Bethlehem, PA
March 2, 2012: MASTER CLASS, LIVERPOOL INSTITUTE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS, Liverpool, UK

###

http://www.jannklose.com
hi res photos and bios: http://jannklose.com/press.html
“Doing Time” video and live performances at http://www.youtube.com/jannklose
http://www.jannklose.com

WDFH FM 90.3 to Inaugurate New Studio w/ Musical Performances, March 12

2011-02-17T10:46:00.007-05:00

Dania Abu-Shaheen on WDFH's New Studio Launch, March 12

Contact information (not for publication): Marc Sophos
marc@wdfh.org
212-924-9833 or 914-674-0900 ext. 58 after 3:00 p.m.

pdf: http://wdfh.org/press_releases/2011-01-31-studiolaunch.pdf
doc: http://wdfh.org/press_releases/2011-01-31-studiolaunch.doc

WDFH, community public radio for the lower Hudson valley, will inaugurate its new studio with a special broadcast of live performances by musicians from our region. The broadcast will take place on Saturday, March 12, starting at 8:00 p.m.

WDFH's long history has resembled a roller coaster. Marc Sophos, the station's founder, spent about 20 years -- starting in 1973, when he was a student at Dobbs Ferry High School -- to secure the station's broadcast license from the FCC. Since WDFH's first broadcast in 1995, the station has built studios and then lost them twice, most recently in 2006. Its transmitter has been shuttled from location to location. The station was even forced off the air entirely for nearly a year in the late 1990s.

But recent events have enabled WDFH to rise from the ashes. In January
2009, the station completed a 7-1/2 year project to expand its FM
signal, increasing the number of potential listeners to 400,000, forty
times more than it could reach earlier. In 2010, a donation from a
community minded supporter enabled the station to acquire space to build
a new studio. The studio, completed in September, includes vastly
upgraded equipment from the studios of WQXR, donated to WDFH in 2010 by
The New York Times after the legendary classical music station was sold
to WNYC. This is the first time in the station's entire history that it
has had a viable signal and a studio at the same time. Mr. Sophos
started training volunteers in the studio during the fall, and just
recently, the first live broadcasts on WDFH since 2006 took place.

"This is a very exciting time for us," said Vinny Cohan, a longtime WDFH
volunteer who hosts a music program on Saturday evenings at 9:00.
"We've spent the past few years laying the groundwork, and it's
thrilling that the pieces are finally coming together to create this new
beginning." Mr. Cohan and fellow program hosts Dave Foster (Tuesdays at
7:00 p.m.) and John Dyer (Thursdays at 8:00 p.m.) share their deep
knowledge and play music from WDFH's library of more than 100,000
recordings. These programs are repeated at various times during the
week. The station broadcasts a freeform mix of rock, folk, blues, and
jazz, and plans to introduce new music hosts in the coming months.

Mr. Sophos said that in an age when musical entertainment has moved to
computerized radio stations and online services, it's refreshing to hear
the occasional crackle of vinyl records and to realize that there's a
real human being choosing the music personally. "It's a rarity these
days," he said. "Many radio stations today broadcast a song rotation
chosen by a computer and played off a hard drive. That's part of the
reason that many people have turned to online music; they figure that if
radio isn't giving them music chosen thoughtfully, they might as well
customize their own playlists. But something really important has been
lost, and I think that a lot of people are starting to realize that.
We're a proud throwback to an earlier age, when radio meant records and
CDs and a real person carefully choosing what music to play. We curate
our presentation of music in the way that a museum curator creates an
exhibit -- with a human touch. Computers can't do that."

While the station is working to increase the number of volunteer music
program hosts, it is also creating new public affairs programs. On
January 19, it launched Village Green, a new weekly program about
environmental sustainability hosted by Maxine Margo Rubin. It has just
started work on a program that will give voice to LGBT youth. More
original programming is in the planning stages. Continuing public
affairs programs include Recovery Talk, hosted by journalist Robyn
Leary; the show explores recovery from addiction, trauma, illness,
domestic violence, and more. In Focus, a local news discussion program
hosted by WDFH veterans Jane Botticelli and Mr. Cohan, features in-depth
reporting by Gary Cahill, the publisher and editor of The Gazette. The
show focuses on Ossining, Briarcliff Manor, Cortlandt, and Croton. WDFH
is now exploring possibilities for the expansion of the program to cover
a wider range of communities. The station also carries public affairs
programs from independent producers and the Pacifica Radio Network,
including the daily news programs Democracy Now and Free Speech Radio News.

The live inaugural broadcast on March 12 will mark WDFH's official
celebration of its new beginning. Musical guests will include the
critically acclaimed singer-songwriter Jann Klose, who will be making
his debut on WDFH. He has performed with or opened for Annie Haslam and
Renaissance, Marty Stuart, Willy Porter, Pete Seeger, Melissa Ferrick,
Marshall Crenshaw, Rosanne Cash, and Les Paul. Also performing will be
Starnes&Shah, the duo of Zilpha Starnes and Dania Abu-Shaheen, joined by
bassist Nick LaBate. Ms. Abu-Shaheen has performed several times on
WDFH, first with her three-piece combo including Sarah Nurbhai on violin
and Matt Noble on bass and later with her band The Antics.

"We're delighted to have this chance to showcase musicians from our
local area," said Mr. Sophos. "We have some very good public radio
stations with signals that can be heard in our area, but their
programming focus is elsewhere. WDFH is based right here in the lower
Hudson valley, our volunteer staff comes from here, and our programming
is intended to serve our local interests, not those of the city."

He added, "Visits from musicians were a regular part of our programming,
but when we lost our studio in 2006, everything came to a stop. Now
that our new studio is up and running, we'll be working to regain our
position as a leading forum for live performances and in-depth interviews."

In addition to Ms. Abu-Shaheen, the roster of musical guests who have
appeared at WDFH includes the actor and folksinger Dominic Chianese,
known for his roles in The Godfather Part II and on HBO's The Sopranos;
jazz musicians Theo Bleckmann and Ben Monder; Rachelle Garniez; David
Bennett Cohen of Country Joe and the Fish; Susan Kane, Dave Goldman, and
others from Tribes Hill; the Tony Rivera Band; Chicago bluesman
Fruteland Jackson; The Almost Original Synthetic Swampgrass Jug-Band;
Josh Holmes; Elisa Peimer; The Shermans; Real Live Girl; Alex Sweeton;
Bethany Yarrow; Don Brewer; Melanie; synthesizer gurus Richard Lainhart
and Jordan Rudess of Dream Theater and the supergroup Liquid Tension
Experiment; and others.

WDFH, which is nonprofit, noncommercial, and powered by volunteers, is
supported by tax-deductible contributions from the public and local
businesses. It is working to develop other funding sources as well, and
once it reaches $100,000 in local funding, it plans to apply for grants
from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

The live broadcast on March 12 will be attended by an invited audience
of WDFH's friends and supporters. A limited number of invitations will
be offered to new donors who make tax-deductible contributions of $150
or more. Mr. Sophos said that the station is encouraging people to
donate early because space at the March 12 broadcast is limited.

About WDFH

WDFH is the lower Hudson valley's only community public radio station.
The station's parent organization is Hudson Valley Community Radio,
Inc., a local nonprofit organization that is tax exempt under Section
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. WDFH is an affiliate of the
Pacifica Radio Network and is the lower Hudson valley's on-air source
for Democracy Now! and Free Speech Radio News. The station can be heard
at 90.3 FM in central and northern Westchester and eastern Rockland. It
can also be heard anywhere online at http://wdfh.org. A separate audio
stream is optimized for iPhones and other mobile devices.

Tax-deductible contributions can be sent to WDFH at 21 Brookside Lane,
Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. 10522. Contributions can also be made online through
wdfh.org.

WDFH is also seeking volunteers to create programming and work behind
the scenes. Anyone interested in joining the staff should visit
wdfh.org and click on the "volunteer" link.

##

Anne Leighton's MY BRAIN, THE PARK AND OTHER THINGS

2011-01-26T12:52:00.004-05:00

A heads up that my poetry and prose book, MY BRAIN, THE PARK AND OTHER THINGS will be published in July 2011.

The web page for it is up, and includes this downloadable flyer that you can share with friends and art lovers!

Here's the site: http://workinggalrockandroll.blogspot.com.

Jann Klose on Grammy-nominated album, HEALTHY FOOD FOR THOUGHT: GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT

2011-01-05T12:45:00.002-05:00

Singer-songwriter Jann Klose is part of a Grammy-nominated album put together and marketed by a coalition of musicians, poets, childrens health experts, entrepreneurs, and-- of course-- album producers. The album, HEALTHY FOOD FOR THOUGHT: GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT is up for a Grammy in the category: "Best Spoken Word Album For Children." http://www.grammy.com/nominees.

The album's producers, Kevin Mackie, Jim Cravero, Paula Lizzi, and Steve Pullara assembled the 60-track, 2-record set (and digital release) over the course of two years. Other acts who contributed to the release include: Russell Simmons, Uncle Floyd, Julian Lennon, Michael O'Keefe, Tyler Grady, Tom Chapin, Sweet Honey In the Rock, Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, Moby, Trout Fishing In America, and Sara Hickman.

Everyone donated their time and talents to create this album, and are assisting the project's publicist Paula Lizzi in spreading the word about the album's release. All the profits from this project will go to the New York Coalition for Healthy School Food; www.healthyschoolfood.org. And the album has already made a profit with Midwest Books picking it up for distribution before the nominations.

There will be a CD release and fundraiser at the New York City studio of famed artist Peter Max on Friday, January 28. Tickets are $25, and available through the web site. http://healthyfoodforthought.com.

Klose's involvement comes from the heart, "I've grown up and traveled a lot in my lifetime already and see that people everywhere struggle with eating right. I think it's something we have to work very hard on. I personally try to cook as much as possible, using fresh and as many unprocessed foods as possible. It makes a big difference in taste alone!"

The Washington Post writes, “Klose wins over the listener with his soaring voice, which may well be a staple of chamber pop for a long time to come.”

A citizen of the world, Jann Klose has lived on three continents, making his home in the melting pot that is New York City. Before coming to the United States as an exchange student in Cleveland, Ohio, he lived in Germany, Kenya, and South Africa. During the course of his career, Klose has worked live or in the studio with artists ranging from pioneers like Pete Seeger and Les Paul to classic rockers like Roger (The Byrds) McGuinn, and Annie (Renaissance) Haslam to major country stars like Rosanne Cash and Marty Stuart, to award winning mentors like voice teacher David Gooding and producers Marlon Graves, and Stewart Lerman. He warranted endorsements from Martin Guitars and L.R. Baggs. WGN Radio's Steve & Johnnie, Rock Hall inductee Joey Reynolds and Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson have all personally lent a helping hand in his career.

In addition to the Grammy-nominated HEALTHY FOOD FOR THOUGHT, Klose's music has been heard on MTV's Cribs, the soundtrack to the Paul Sorvino film Dead Broke, or seen and heard him in touring companies of The Who's Tommy, Jekyll & Hyde, and Jesus Christ Superstar. He also has released three albums and two EPs, which can be heard around the world, on over 130 FM stations and Sirius XM in the U.S., the BBC in England to Prambors Radio in Indonesia. In the past half year, thousands have viewed (and reposted) Jann's remarkable video for DOING TIME, now featured on AOL/Spinner. Watch the video at www.youtube.com/jannklose

Time Out New York succinctly explained, “Jann Klose writes warm, hooky pop music.” The Advance Wire Service states: “The first thing that's totally unmistakable about Jann Klose is that voice - which is just light years beyond that of the typical singer-songwriter … a sound that is classy, distinctive and often irresistible.”

Jann Klose is available for interviews on his music, contribution to the album and ways he's helped his friends fight obesity.

Contact for HEALTHY FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Paula Lizzi:
215-620-0086
plizzi@comcast.net

JESSIE GALANTE HEADING BACK TO EUROPE

2011-01-05T12:41:00.002-05:00

Looking forward to dates in Netherlands and Italy supporting her latest album, Spitfire

While Jessie Galante might have earned the title of Buffalo’s First Lady of Rock, more than half the dates she has played over the last decade helped set Europe on fire, particularly the Netherlands and Hungary. In support of her latest release, the rocking, ultra-soulful Spitfire, she’s heading back over the pond from New York to revisit some of her favorite stages and spread the love to some new ones.

Made from the same mold as Janis Jopin, Tina Turner, and Nancy Wilson (of Heart), Jessie tears up a stage and takes no prisoners live. And scores of those prisoners over the past ten years were taken in the Netherlands and Budapest.

As befits Buffalo’s First Lady of Rock, Jessie was raised in Buffalo, NY. In her late teens she joined the band Actor. They had a hit with the song “Checkin’ Out.” Actor remains a Buffalo legend, and you can still hear “Checkin’ Out” on some that City's radio stations.

After a short stint in Los Angeles, which included Michael Wagener's production of her band Fire and a recording that found its way all over the world including reviews and radio airplay, like on Piccadilly Radio, England,and Radio Flash 97.6, Italy. Jessie came back to Buffalo, and there she hooked up with producer/engineer Larry Swist. Swist's incredible career has seen him helming the studio with artists ranging from Ike and Tina Turner to Sly and the Family Stone, Spryo Gyra to Foreigner’s Lou Gramm. He saw that, “Her extraordinary stage presence and ability to explode with excitement in performance makes ‘The Jessie Experience” the real deal.”

Jessie’s next move was to conquer Europe. She moved to the Netherlands, and played festivals and clubs and opening for National bands like Golden Earring. Jessie's band in the Netherlands is comprised of musicians previously with the Dutch national band Volumia. She built a huge fan base and earned tons of media attention, throughout the Netherlands and Hungary. Radio host Hubert Van Hoof of Netherland’s L1 Radio compared her to rockin’ soul greats Chaka Kahn and Mother’s Finest lead vocalist Joyce Kennedy. Even when she moved back to the United States, Jessie spends a good portion of each year in Europe.

“My audiences in Europe are incredibly enthusiastic,” Jessie says. “We’ve made a heart to heart connection.”

The musicians on “Spitfire” epitomize this cosmopolitan attitude, as well. She recorded with American musicians, who previously played with artists ranging from Lenny Kravitz to Anastacia, Everlast to Joss Stone and Billy Joel, and the European artists who comprise her band during her annual trips there. Swist co-produced the album with eight-time Grammy-award winner Mick Guzauski (mixed Eric Clapton, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Anastacia, KISS, Celine Dion, Earth Wind & Fire).

The result is an album made to cross borders. Musical borders like soul and rock disappear on songs like the title track and merge on her cover of Gladys Knights “(I’ve Got To Use) My Imagination." International borders crumble like the Berlin Wall on “Get Away,” co-written with her Hungarian guitarist Peter Raso.

What brings all these people, energy, sounds and other musical elements together? Simply Jessie Galante’s incredible voice and amazing stage presence. Anyone who’s heard her gets hooked on the passion, power, and puissance of her voice, just as she’s hooked on singing. “Some people crave chocolate, I need to sing,” she explains. “The physical energy of singing is an extreme act for me. In fact, it’s a fix.”

Give her a listen and get the addiction.

RIP Gerry Rafferty, from the Strawbs' and Stealers Wheel Rod Coombes

2011-01-04T17:51:00.003-05:00

From Rod Coombes on behalf of bandmates (Tony Williams, Paul Pilnick) in Stealers Wheel.

"It is very sad that Gerry has passed. He had a long hard battle with alcoholism. Gerry was a consummate craftsman and gave a lot to the music world.

He leaves a brilliant legacy as a songwriter, so in his life he achieved
that. Our heartfelt condolences go out to his daughter Martha, his
granddaughter Celia and brother Jim."

Full story about Gerry Rafferty's life and passing at http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/jan/04/gerry-rafferty-obituary

IAN ANDERSON'S OUT OF THIS WORLD FLUTE DUET

2010-12-15T12:59:00.002-05:00

Stay tuned for Ian Anderson playing a unique flute duet live with NASA's Colonel Cady, who--AT 14.09 (2:09) EST heads off tonight on mission 26 to the ISS where she will rendezvous with Ian's flute which went up on a Russian supply rocket a few weeks ago. Says Ian, "We plan to play together - a space duet - in the New Year. Maybe Gagarin day - the 50th Anniversary of the first man in space on the 12th April."

The Revolution in Music, Space, and Air will be Televised on NASA TV.

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html?param=public'

Anne Leighton on Grammy-Nominated Album

2010-12-06T22:29:00.011-05:00

I'm on an album, HEALTHY FOOD FOR THOUGHT: GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT that was nominated for a Grammy in “Best Spoken Word Album for Children.” Also on the album is my artist Jann Klose, and former client Uncle Floyd, plus friends Beatle Bob, Michael O'Keefe, radio host Gene Shay, plus Moby, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Julian Lennon, and Tom Chapin. The album's creators are Kevin Mackie, and producers Jim Cravero, Paula Lizzi & Steve Pullara. It took Kevin and company over two years to put together this album. It is very well done.

http:www.grammy.com/nominees?year=2010&genre=4

http:healthyfoodforthought.com

On January 28, there'll be a record release party for HEALTHY FOOD FOR THOUGHT at Peter Max Studios, in New York City for The New York Coalition for School Food. I'LL BE PERFORMING AND WILL HAVE JOE DENINZON ON MANDOLIN, ACCOMPANYING ME!!! I am also bringing Jahmane Bright, who is my co-producer for my album, and he would love to meet you. That's my posse. I also understand Jann Klose is bringing his posse as he's performing at this event. Acclaimed-jazz clarinetist Oran Etkin will also be on stage.
Mr. Oran Etkin showing and playing his clarinet for kids! http:www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcmlwSeWko8
Contact for HEALTHY FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
Paula Lizzi at soulcomfort@aol.com

Jim McCarty's SITTING ON THE TOP OF TIME

2010-12-06T22:19:00.008-05:00

Jim McCarty, photo by Chris Dreja

Jim McCarty's SITTING ON THE TOP OF TIME features instruments and a chamber pop influence courtesy of flautist Ron Korb and pianist Donald Quan, guitarist Ray Hickey and bassist George Koller, plus guest guitarists Steve Hackett and Jean-Michel Kajdan (who, in addition to his exhaustive credits, was the Yardbirds guitarist for the 2008 French tour), and pianist Lou Pomanti.

Of course a debate could be made for Jim as one of the bearers of this progressive pop style of music, in addition to co-creating the Yardbirds. This drummer/singer/songwriter also co-founded Renaissance, Illusion and Stairway-- all important orchestral rock and pop bands.

Jim started the album at home, but had limitations in his studio, so he connected with Jason Relf (younger son of the late Keith Relf, who-of course— founded Renaissance with Jim). Jason is a studio wiz and teacher, and came to Jim's home in France to install a “state-of-the art” digital system. “The great thing with the system was that there was no limit to the number of ideas I could record, so I could put every one of them down, without judgment.”

With some basic tracks together, in June 2006, Jim went to Toronto, Canada and recorded in Quan's studio, Q Music. “There seemed to be a good group of session players available, very much like in London in the ‘60s and thanks to Ron, I soon had a good team together: Ron, Donald, Ray, and George.”

“It was a magical day for me, when all of a sudden my ideas from France came to life in a new way, each of the musicians adding their particular influence.” Each time Jim toured the States with the Yardbirds, he would go to Toronto to make more tracks on SITTING ON THE TOP OF TIME.

Online sources: Song Facts' Carl Wiser interviews Jim on his insights of making music through the years and his spirituality. http://www.songfacts.com/blog/interviews/jim_mccarty_of_the_yardbirds/

Track by track analysis on MUSIC STREET JOURNAL, http://www.musicstreetjournal.com/index_cdreviews_display.cfm?id=102799

Music video created by fan of Jim's song, “The Outsider.” Lots of beautiful sites to come into your mind. Enjoy the video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZ5QrrfRWXQ

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Drummersingersongwriter-Jim-McCarty-of-the-Yardbirds-and-Renaissance/122296587811690
http://www.jimmccarty.co.uk

Introducing JESSIE GALANTE

2010-12-06T22:14:00.006-05:00

Album cover of Jessie Galante's SPITFIRE

Jessie is a dynamic and gifted singer who I've admired for years. I'm honored to be working with her-we're pals, gals and have a real gung-ho attitude about rock & roll. We're both from Buffalo-Jessie was “the first lady of rock,” and I was the first rock woman on middays in Buffalo radio.

Jessie's also played in Holland, Belgium, Hungary, Italy. She's rhythm & blues influenced rock akin to Janis Joplin, Ike and Tina Turner, Lenny Kravitz. Jessie's soulful "no apologies passion" signature sound folds together a fierce beauty, charged strength and graceful drama.

She's a determined singer, and her album, SPITFIRE reflects her energetic and unpredictable personality. It includes a cover of Gladys Knight's “Got to Use My Imagination.”

SPITFIRE features Hungarian and American musicians (bassist Jack Daley (Lenny Kravitz, Joss Stone), drummer Frank Ferrier (Psychedelic Furs, Guns 'n' Roses), guitarist Rob Bailey (Billy Joel, Mandy Moore) and popular players from Hungary; guitarist Janos Szucs and Peter Raso, bassist Tibor Ferenczi, and drummer Janos Takacs. Janos and Janos, Peter, Tibor are in her European band.

Live, Jessie's band features guitarists Angus Clark (Kitaro, TS0, Anna Phoebe) and Jeff McErlain, Jason Gianni (Eric Martin, in bands with members of Tower of Power and members of the Escovedo family), and bassist Pemberton Roach (hundreds of bands).

SPITFIRE was produced by double platinum producer Larry Swist (Lou Gramm, Spyro Gyra, Ike and Tina Turner) and eight-time Grammy award winner multi-platinum mixer Mick Guzauski (Eric Clapton, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Anastacia, Kiss, Celine Dion, Earth Wind and Fire).

Netherlands DJ Hubert Van Hoof compared Jessie's performance to Chaka Kahn and Joyce Kennedy of Mother's Finest and a concert promoter in Holland enthusiastically proclaimed, “Jessie is a major victory for live entertainment in Europe!”

LET IT ROCK's Dmitry Epstein writes, “ Ms Galante's no slouch when it comes to go flaming… Blame the temper and the love to music on her Sicilian roots, but it's the combustible combination that's hard not to fall for.”

There's a great interview with Jessie in MAXIMUM INK
http://www.maximumink.com/index.php/articles/permalink/jessie_galante

Jessie Galante's powerful, life affirming video “No Fool No More.” What parts of the world are in this video?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWsF8ru5X_k

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jessie-Galante/74683638509
http://www.jessiegalante.com

Joe Deninzon Trio Release EXUBERANCE

2010-12-06T22:06:00.003-05:00

“If the violin has a future in Jazz and Rock, it is with Joe Deninzon.”
-Relix Magazine

Progressive jazz violinist Joe Deninzon, is honored to announce the release of EXUBERANCE. Recorded with bassist Robert Bowen, and guitarist Stephen Benson, EXUBERANCE is the essence of three musicians in a room, playing live with no overdubs or production; a completely raw experience.

The group draws influences from jazz stylists including the gypsy explorations of Django Reinhardt and the hot swing of violinist Stephane Grappelli along with rock and pop standards of the past 40 years including songs by Steely Dan, Alice in Chains, Jimmy Webb and Radiohead. A few choice covers by Radiohead (“The Tourist”), Alice in Chains (“Heaven Beside You”), Steely Dan (“Bodhissatva”) and Fat's Waller's “Jitterbug Waltz” show just how wide the group's range goes.

One of the group's original songs, “Sun Goes Down” (featuring Luba on lead vocals), has been featured in the independent film, “What's Up Scarlet?” and a recent winner in the Jazz category of the Billboard and John Lennon International Songwriting Contests.

The album is also a tribute to Robert Bowen, who was killed when a car struck him as he rode his bike in Manhattan late August. Live, the band performs with bassists who were friends with Robert, plus drummer Luciana Padmore (from Joe's band Stratospheerius). The group has donated some of its earnings and CD sales to Robert's children.

Best known for his work on the 7-string electric violin and lead singing with the rock group Stratospheerius, Joe Deninzon plays acoustic violin in this Trio. Joe has performed as a solo violinist with the New York City Ballet, and on album or in concert with Bruce Springsteen, Sheryl Crow, Jane Monheit, Everclear, Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple, Smokey Robinson, and Les Paul. A 10-time BMI Jazz Composer's grant recipient and a winner of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, his original music has been used on CMT, MTV VH1, Comedy Central, National Geographic, the Travel Channel and the History Channel.

Band http://joedeninzongroup.bandcamp.com/album/exuberance

Joe Deninzon Group “Wichita Lineman” video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atAb_DbG7ao

http://www.joedeninzon.com

JANN KLOSE ON INVENTING A PERSONAL MUSIC BUSINESS THAT WORKS

2010-12-06T21:58:00.008-05:00

Photo of Jann and Chris Marolf live in Youngstown by Heather Rebecca Heath

Pop Singer/Songwriter Available for Interviews on Unique Approach to the Business of Making Music

In an age when most music professionals are seeking to "re-invent" the troubled music industry, Jann Klose has developed a paradigm that works.

In the two years since the 2008 release of Jann's third full-length album, REVERIE, the songwriter has recouped recording costs a bit more than three times over. Beyond that, he has earned the respect of his peers, fans, and critics as a singer, musician, and songwriter. You can hear his work on TV, in movies, online, and via radio worldwide.

Jann's approach to building his career centers on principles of dialogue, cooperation, and commerce. This cooperative attitude includes the fans.

Jann and his team think both inside and outside "the box." They work “traditional” music business avenues, such as contacting the music industry media and venues. He also reaches out to regional and international leads in government, media, corporate, business, educational, and charitable organizations. He follows up with contacts that previously passed on his offerings. Unlike major labels that cease promotions of most releases within three months, his team continues to promote his career, and still campaigns for REVERIE.

He'll reach out to music lovers at conventions like NAMM through his endorsers LR Baggs Pickups and Martin Guitar. These companies have given Jann an enormous amount of support - most notably the opportunity to perform on stage with Rosanne Cash, Marty Stuart, and Roger McGuinn at Martin's 175th Anniversary Concert.

Jann's fans get as involved with his career as they are with his music. Among these fans is Renaissance vocalist Annie Haslam. Along with Renaissance's original keyboardist John Tout, they collaborated with him for a sold out show of the Sellersville Theater, in Pennsylvania. Haslam also invited Jann to open for the group's comeback tour in fall 2009, and he will open for Annie when she again plays Sellersville on December 18 and 19.

REVERIE was funded partly by fan support in a campaign Jann modeled after PBS' fundraising style. He's funding his forthcoming album the same way and calls the method The People Records Project. (http://www.peoplerecordsmusic.com), eschewing the new fan-sourced financing sites like Kickstarter, PledgeMusic, Indiegogo. He proved to be several steps ahead of them! His fan sourcing program includes: for a donation of $40, a fan can get Jann's favorite German recipe, hand-written. A birthday call is $75. Jann and his band will play a private concert in your living room (or any other room you choose, anywhere in the world) for $5000 + travel.

This universal strategy can be applied to all kinds of businesses. It just paid off as an album Jann appears on, HEALTHY FOOD FOR THOUGHT: GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT, was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children. Independent record producer Kevin Mackie created the album to help fight childhood obesity. He invited Jann to contribute a song, and also included recordings from Julian Lennon, Moby, Tom Chapin, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Uncle Floyd, and Michael O'Keefe. The CD's Production team developed a personal outreach strategy of awareness to the recording and encouraged music industry peers to listen to the album and consider it's recording qualities.

Jann's business partner is music services person Anne Leighton, publicist for classic rockers including such self-managed acts as The Yardbirds, Grand Funk Railroad, and Jethro Tull and Tull's leader, flautist, and vocalist Ian Anderson. Anderson networked Jann with Saori Jo who opened for Tull in 2008 and 2009. This resulted in Saori Jo and Jann planning to tour Germany in 2011.

Born in Germany, raised in Kenya and South Africa, Jann first came to the States as an exchange student in Cleveland, OH. After finishing his civil service in Germany, he returned to the US to start his career. Jann's music has been featured on MTV's Cribs and the soundtrack to the Paul Sorvino film Dead Broke. He performed in touring companies of Broadway shows such as The Who's Tommy, Jekyll & Hyde, and Jesus Christ Superstar. His three albums and two EPs can be heard around the world, on over 130 FM stations, Sirius XM in the U.S., the BBC in England and Prambors Radio in Indonesia.

Jann is available for interviews on this new means of funding a music career.

JANN KLOSE CONFIRMED TOUR DATES DEC. 2010 - JAN. 2011

December 7: NORTHWESTERN CONNECTICUT COMMUNITY COLLEGE, Winsted, CT
December 18, 19: SELLERSVILLE THEATER w/ ANNIE HASLAM Sellersville, PA
December 20: BRONXTALK, BronxNet TV, Bronx, NY
December 22: CLUB CAFÉ, Pittsburgh, PA
January 28: PETER MAX STUDIO, New York, NY
** CD release party for the Grammy-nominated album, HEALTHY FOOD FOR THOUGHT: GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT
January 29 WDFH Fundraiser, Yonkers, NY
February 12: AN BEAL BOCHT, Bronx, NY

“Doing Time” video and live performances at http://www.youtube.com/jannklose
http://www.jannklose.com

Notes From Friends!

2010-12-06T21:55:00.003-05:00

CLASSIC ROCK put Bruce Kulick's album, BK3 as one of their top 50 albums of 2010.
http://www.classicrockmagazine.com/news/classic-rocks-top-50-albums-of-2010-so-far-part-one/

I would like to congratulate journalist Will Romano on his progressive rock book, MOUNTAINS COME OUT OF THE SKY; THE ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF PROG ROCK. He's included some of my artists (Ian Anderson, Martin Barre from Jethro Tull, David Cousins, John Hawken, Oliver Wakeman from the Strawbs. Former clients Tim Bogart from Vanilla Fudge and Dee Palmer, who you remember as David Palmer from Jethro Tull, are also in the book) in it. Publicity is being handled by Aaron Lefkove, marketing and publicity, at alefkove@halleonard.com .

ELLIOTT MURPHY TOURS DEC. 2010, THE MISTER LUCKY TOUR

2010-11-23T22:35:00.005-05:00

http://www.elliottmurphy.com

Rock troubadour Elliott Murphy will be performing The Mister Lucky Tour this December 4 through the 12 with dates in New York City, Amagansett, NY, Bordentown, NJ, Piermont and Larchmont, NY. His band The Normandy All-Stars (guitarist Olivier Durand, drummer Alan Fatras, bassist Laurent Pardo will be on hand to rock).

Elliott Murphy first came to prominence over 35 years ago with the release of the now-more-relevant-than-ever album, AQUASHOW. That, along with NIGHT LIGHTS, LOST GENERATION, and JUST A STORY FROM AMERICA were played on mainstream radio throughout the United States. These albums were also picked up internationally, especially in Japan and Europe, where Elliott has found international stardom. 20 years ago he moved to France. At that point he last played the United States in 2000 at New York City's Bottom Line, and his last west coast dates were in 1996. In 2008, December, when his son Gaspard started studying at SUNY Purchase in New York, Elliott was invited to start performing in the States again.

Elliott has released 30 albums, his latest is NOTES FROM THE UNDERGROUND, which has received 5 stars on the prestigious music site, ALL MUSIC.COM. In 2011, look for his album, ELLIOTT MURPHY, which was produced by Gaspard Murphy.

Some of the musicians who've collaborated with Elliott on his recordings are Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Phil Collins, and the Rolling Stones' Mick Taylor. Elliott was also honored with a monumental exposition, LAST OF THE ROCK STARS-RETROSPECTIVE at Paris' Town Hall, and has been cited in literature in the work, SAVAGE DETECTIVES by the late Roberto Bolano, who now has a best-seller book called, 2666.

Elliott, who is already played on Sirius-XM's the LOFT, and was the subject of a story on an upcoming Bob Edwards' show on the satellite station. Recently he acted in the French movie "La Ligne Blanche."

Daily Variety's Stephen Mirkin writes that Elliott accompanied by guitarist Olivier Durand, performs "with an energetic intimacy. " THE WASHINGTON POST'S Christopher Porter notes, "Murphy engaged his campfire crowd with direct eye contact, making the evening's intimacy even more intense. His textured voice -- as with his songwriting, it's equal parts Bob Dylan, Lou Reed and Bruce Springsteen -- also exhibited tonal strength and beauty."

The Schenectady Gazette's Brian McElhiney says, "Murphy gives hungry cadre of stateside fans what they came for." Indeed the fans also are receiving more than their money's worth. One Boston fan blogged, "Murphy sang with the resilience of a survivor who will always continue to grow and change. His performance let us in on a taste of what his journey has been like. I know I felt changed by it. Murphy's show was a true rock 'n' roll baptism."

December 2010 Elliott Murphy Shows

Dec. 4: Stephen Talkhouse, Amagansett, NY
Dec. 8: Turning Point, Piermont, NY
Dec. 9: Record Collector, Bordentown, NJ
Dec. 11: Rockwood Stage 2, New York, NY
Dec. 12: Watercolor Cafe, Larchmont, NY

http://www.elliottmurphy.com

Joe Deninzon Group celebrates life of Bob Bowen, October 14

2010-10-05T02:15:00.002-04:00

Concert Celebrates Life of Late Bassist Bob Bowen

The Joe Deninzon Group will be having a record release celebration for its new album, EXUBERANCE at the P&G Bar, 380 Columbus Avenue (at 78th Street),in New York City, on October 14, at 10 PM. Admission is free. The venue phone is 212-787-5150. The web site is http://pandgbar.com/. This concert marks the Trio's public debut in New York City, although the group has performed at a number of private functions over the years.

"It will be a celebration," says Deninzon, "because we're remembering Bob Bowen," the Trio's bassist, who passed on early September, after being struck by a car while riding his bicycle in New York City.

Deninzon(violin) and Steve Benson (guitar), will have Bob Sabin (a friend of Bowen's) on bass plus drummer Luciana Padmore. There's be three sets--the last a late night jam with guest musicians. Bowen was a fixture on the local jazz scene. While admission is free, the sales of the EXUBERANCE CD at this event, plus donations to the tip jar will go to his two children. There've been a few fundraising concerts since his passing, and WKCR-New York presented a tribute to him.

Bowen played with Clark Terry, Lee Konitz, James Moody, Mark Murphy, Art Lande, Vassar Clemens, Roseanna Vitro, Mike Clark, Jack Wilkins, Eric Person's Metamorphosis, Tony Trischka and Joe Deninzon's rock group, Stratospheerious. He co-led the MOB Trio with drummer Matt Wilson and tenorman Ohad Talmor. Another collaborative project is Slog. Bob graduated Cum Laude with a BA in Music Composition from the University of Dayton, and studied in the classical double bass masters program at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and has a Masters degree in Jazz Performance from the Manhattan School of Music. He was the bass instructor and director of the Jazz Combo Workshop at Hofstra University on Long Island NY, and helped develop the jazz prep program at the Center for Preparatory Studies in Music Queens College (CPSM), and the Manhattan-based Creative Music Workshop.

Bowen composed the album's title song "Exuberance In The Face Of Utter Anguish and Despair." The goal of the EXUBERANCE sessions was to capture the essence of three musicians in a room, playing live with no overdubs and a stripped down production. The Trio draws influence from jazz stylists including the gypsy explorations of Django Reinhardt and the hot swing of violinist Stephane Grappelli along with rock and pop standards of the past 50 years including compositions from Steely Dan, Alice in Chains, Radiohead, Jimmy Webb. “Sun Goes Down” (featuring Luba on lead vocals) is an original song by the trio that has been featured in the independent film, “What's Up Scarlet?” and a recent winner in the Jazz category of the Billboard and John Lennon International Songwriting Contests.

RELIX magazine wrote, “If the violin has a future in Jazz and Rock, it is with Joe Deninzon.” Best known for his work on the 7-string electric violin and as lead singer for STRATOSPHEERIUS, Deninzon has been called the "Jimi Hendrix of the elecric violin". He has collaborated with Bruce Springsteen, Sheryl Crow, Phoebe Snow, Everclear, Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple, Smokey Robinson, and Les Paul. He has also performed as a solo violinist with the New York City Ballet. His original music has been used on CMT, MTV, VH1, Comedy Central, National Geographic, the Travel Channel and the History Channel.He has taught rock violin at Mark O'Conner's String Camp in New York, and is writing a book about the electric violin for Mel Bay Publications.

Guitarist Steve Benson is one of the most highly demanded Broadway and session guitarists in New York, being comfortable in a variety of musical settings including jazz, classical music, rock, rhythm and blues, Broadway, bluegrass, and Klezmer music. He has performed and/or recorded with Phoebe Snow, John Sebastian, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Natalie Cole , Giora Feidmand, Jackie McLean, Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey, The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. The Philadelphia Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Lukes and the American Symphony Orchestra. He currently performs on Broadway in the orchestra pits of The Lion King, Chicago, Mary Poppins and Hair. He is on the jazz faculty at Montclair State University.

http://www.joedeninzon.com/joe-deninzon-jazz-trio.php
www.myspace.com/joedeninzontrio

JESSIE GALANTE'S BUFFALO MUSIC HALL OF FAME ACTIVITES INCLUDES INDUCTION ON OCTOBER 7 AND A PERFORMANCE AT THE SPORTSMAN TAVERN ON WEDNESDAY, OCT.6

2010-10-01T20:17:00.005-04:00

Buffalo News focused on Jessie in advance of the Induction to the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame.

The First Lady of Buffalo Rock, Jessie Galante will be on hand for a variety of activities in Buffalo this October.

On Wednesday, October 6, she will be performing at the Hall of Fame-sponsored "Writers in the Round" at The Sportsmen’s Tavern, 326 Amherst Street, in Buffalo. Also performing are Buffalo Music Hall of Famers Phil Dillon, Gretchen Schultz and Doug Marano. Admission is $10. The venue's web site is http://www.sportsmenstavern.net, and the phone is 716-874-7734.

Referred to as Buffalo’s “First Lady of Rock” in the 1980s with her band Actor, Jessie has been touring actively both in the States and in Europe. Actor's song "Checkin' Out" still finds airplay on Buffalo's classic rock station 97 Rock and she hosted the local music show, Buffalo Lix on the Fox in the '90s.

In Buffalo she connected with Spyro Gyra's producer Larry Swist, and he (along with 8-time Grammy winner Mick Gazauski) produced her current album, SPITFIRE, a powerful hard, old school R&B album that's finding attention from fans and media, and is a hit in Europe.

Jessie will be inducted into the BUFFALO MUSIC HALL of FAME on Thursday, October 7, 2010, at the Tralf Music Hall, 622 Main Street in Buffalo's downtown Theatre District. She'll also be performing "Checkin' Out" and a song from SPITFIRE. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 day of show. There are special VIP tickets, as well, for $40 in advance and $50 day of. Please call 1-800-745-3000.

After the Induction ceremonies, Jessie will be at the Post-Gala All-Star Jam, at the Smith Theater, 658 Main Street, in downtown Buffalo, at 10 PM. Admission is a $5 donation, but free to those attending the Induction.

http://www.jessiegalante.com

CAPITOL/EMI TO RELEASE JETHRO TULL’S ‘STAND UP’ IN EXPANDED COLLECTORS EDITION ON OCTOBER 25

2010-09-14T02:50:00.006-04:00

2CD/DVD Audio and Digital Audio Packages Include Previously Unreleased
‘Live At Carnegie Hall’ Concert Recording

NOTE: Media Contacts:
ONLY LEGIT MEDIA SHOULD CONTACT
Jennifer Ballantyne - EMI Music North America
(323) 871-5494 / jennifer.ballantyne@emicap.com

Candice Dorsey - EMI Music North America
(323) 871-5755 / candice.dorsey@emicap.com

Hollywood, California - September 14, 2010 - On October 25, Capitol/EMI will release an expanded Collector's Edition of Jethro Tull's Stand Up in a deluxe 2CD/DVD Audio package with replicated original album art and newly-written liner notes by Tull's Ian Anderson. The Collectors Edition is housed in a digipak with a 12-page booklet and for the first time reinstates the original vinyl LP's pop-up element. On the same date, a digital version of the Collectors Edition, including the 31 remastered tracks from the physical version's two CDs, will also be available for download purchase from all major digital service providers.

The Collectors Edition's first disc includes the remastered original album, plus three tracks recorded during the band's first US tour, and the singles “Living In The Past” and “Sweet Dream,” which later appeared on the Benefit album. Also included are four songs from sessions for John Peel's “Top Gear” BBC Radio program and two US radio spots.

Disc two contains an edited version of Jethro Tull's 1970 Live At Carnegie Hall concert, a benefit for a drug rehabilitation center in New York City. It was a typical raucous Tull affair, drawing heavily from Stand Up as well as presenting a few new songs from Benefit. John Evan had joined the band by then and his classical piano training is amply demonstrated in this live concert. This is exemplified in songs such as “Jeffrey Goes to Leicester Square” and an instrumental interpretation of Bach's Bourrée in E minor titled “Bourée,” with the latter remaining a concert favorite even today.

Live At Carnegie Hall has never before been released in its entirety and it is presented in a completely new mix. The Collectors Edition's DVD contains the unedited concert audio in 5.1 surround sound, as well as a new audio interview with Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson.

Released in 1969, Stand Up was Jethro Tull's second album, and it marked a shift from the blues-rock sound of their debut This Was, a result of the departure of guitarist Mick Abrahams, who was replaced by Martin Barre. Ian Anderson, playing 12-string guitar, flute and vocals, took over all vocal and songwriting duties and, with his bandmates Barre, Clive Bunker (drums), and Glenn Cornick (bass), created a more folk-inspired album, which topped the UK chart and reached the Top 20 in the US.

In his new liner notes essay, Ian Anderson writes, “In rehearsal and recording, we all tried different approaches to the songs. Clive and Glen formed the basic backbone of the group, leaving Martin and me to experiment a bit more with different sounds and, for the time, some radical techniques in sound recording. We often plugged instruments into the rotating Leslie speaker cabinet to treat the sound with the typical Hammond organ-like tones. Martin's guitar in 'A New Day Yesterday' was recorded with me standing on the guitar speaker cabinet, swinging a microphone, Roger Daltry-fashion around the outside to get a phasing, swirling sound for the main riff.”

It was the songs from Stand Up that introduced Jethro Tull to the US and Europe. For many it was their first taste of the eclectic style and varied material of the band and was savoured by enthusiastic and growing audiences wherever they played. Many of these songs still form part of the rotating set lists of Jethro Tull concerts to this day.

In October and November, Ian Anderson will travel to 22 North American cities on a solo tour. For more information and tour dates, please visit www.jethrotull.com.

Jethro Tull Stand Up (Collectors Edition) [2CD/DVD Audio; digital audio]
CD 1
Original album, remastered
1. A New Day Yesterday
2. Jeffrey Goes To Leicester Square
3. Bourée
4. Back To The Family
5. Look Into The Sun
6. Nothing Is Easy
7. Fat Man
8. We Used To Know
9. Reasons For Waiting
10. For A Thousand Mothers
Bonus tracks
11. Living In The Past
12. Driving Song
13. Sweet Dream
14.17 [mono]
15.Living In The Past [original mono single version]
“Top Gear” BBC Radio session recorded 6/16/69; broadcast 6/22/69
16. Bourée [mono]
17. A New Day Yesterday [mono]
18. Nothing Is Easy [mono]
19. Fat Man [mono]
20.Stand Up US radio spot #1
21.Stand Up US radio spot #2
CD 2
Live At Carnegie Hall [1970]
1. Nothing Is Easy
2. My God
3. With You There To Help Me/By Kind Permission Of
4. A Song For Jeffrey
5. To Cry You A Song
6. Sossity, You're A Woman/Reasons For Waiting/Sossity, You're A Woman
7. Dharma For One
8. We Used To Know
9. Guitar Solo
10.For A Thousand Mothers
Disc 3 - DVD Audio [physical package only]
Live At Carnegie Hall [1970]
Carnegie Hall audio: DTS & Dolby Digital 24 bit 48kHz
5.1 surround sound and 2.0 24 bit 48 kHz LPCM stereo [audio only]
1. Introduction
2. Nothing Is Easy
3. My God
4. With You There To Help Me/By Kind Permission Of
5. A Song For Jeffrey
6. To Cry You A Song
7. Sossity, You're A Woman/Reasons For Waiting/Sossity, You're A Woman
8. Dharma For One
9. We Used To Know
10. Guitar Solo
11. For A Thousand Mothers
DVD Bonus Feature
An interview with Ian Anderson [London, 2010]

* * *

WDFH-FM 90.3 soon to be up and running in new studio space

2010-09-13T23:14:00.003-04:00

Local Community/Public Radio Station Also Seeking New Volunteers, Funding

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, N.Y. (September 13, 2010) - WDFH, the only community/public radio station in the lower Hudson valley, has acquired new studio space in Yonkers. The station, which reaches about 400,000 potential listeners in central and northern Westchester, eastern Rockland, southern Putnam, and far western Connecticut, has been providing mostly pre-recorded programming since 2006 while seeking a new studio location.

“We've been laboring for years under a double challenge,” said Marc Sophos, WDFH's founder and executive director. “For most of our history, very few people could hear our signal. And since we lost our studio space in 2006, our ability to produce new programming has been limited. This combination has made it almost impossible to create a large public following.”

The first part of the challenge was resolved in 2009, when WDFH completed a 7_ year signal expansion project. This project involved moving the transmitter from Ossining to a new tower site high above Mount Pleasant, increasing the station's power, and installing a new antenna. Once the project was completed, the population reached by WDFH's 90.3 FM signal increased 40-fold to about 400,000 people.

And in June, with major support from a donor who wishes to remain anonymous, the station signed a lease for new studio space. Construction has been in progress this summer, and WDFH's new broadcast studio is now nearly ready for use. Mr. Sophos said that when live broadcasting resumes in the near future, it will be the first time that WDFH has ever had a studio and a viable signal at the same time.

WDFH is a community radio station - a type of public radio station that relies on volunteers to do almost all of the day-to-day work of running the station. "Part of the station's current goal," said Vinny Cohan, a WDFH volunteer for more than 10 years, "is to greatly expand the number of volunteers. For the next several months, we will be focusing on creating new local news, public affairs, environmental, social justice, and arts and culture programming, so we need people who are interested in doing that kind of work. Down the road, when we start expanding our music programming, we will also need people who are knowledgeable about rock, folk, blues, and jazz,” he said. “Most importantly, we need people who understand that running a radio station isn't just about programming. There are many things that have to happen behind the scenes, and we are looking for people willing to play a role both on and off the air.”

Despite this new beginning, the road ahead is full of challenges. Because WDFH has never had a studio and a viable signal until now, Mr. Sophos noted, it has been difficult to establish the station in the public eye, and this has limited its success in fundraising.

“As we said several months ago, WDFH is struggling financially,” said Melissa Fogarty, another longtime WDFH volunteer who is working on fundraising. “What's happening right now with the new studio and the expanded signal is giving us a new beginning, and we're very excited about that. But at the same time, our financial position is precarious, and our community is in real danger of losing WDFH as a local resource. We need a significant and quick influx of funding in order to survive even the next several months. We know that there are people in our area who have the ability to make very significant donations, and we hope that they will come forward at this critical juncture.”

Other funding sources the station plans to develop, Mr. Sophos said, are listener contributions, foundations, corporate grants, and underwriting - the public radio term for sponsorships by local businesses. He said that once the station's local fundraising reaches $100,000, WDFH will become eligible to apply for annual grants from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

It took Mr. Sophos about 20 years to secure the broadcast license for WDFH because, as he explained, the FM dial in the New York City area was already relatively saturated by the time his effort began in 1973. The station went on the air in 1995, but he described the path since then as “bumpy, to say the least.”

“Our very generous donor has given us a tremendous opportunity, and it's essential that other members of the community step forward now with financial support,” he said. “Our donation income is much, much lower than our expenses, and without financial support from others, we're simply going to run out of money almost as soon as we start broadcasting from our new studio. There is almost no possibility that there will ever be a chance for another local public radio station in our area, so if we allow WDFH to slip away, we'll be losing an important asset that can never be replaced.”

Tax-deductible contributions can be sent to WDFH at 21 Brookside Lane, Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. 10522. It is also possible to make contributions online through the station's web site (http://wdfh.org). People interested in joining the station as volunteers should e-mail info@wdfh.org .

About WDFH

http://www.wdfh.org

WDFH is the lower Hudson valley's only community/public radio station. The station's parent organization is Hudson Valley Community Radio, Inc., a local nonprofit organization that is tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. WDFH is an affiliate of the Pacifica Radio Network and is the lower Hudson valley's on-air source for Democracy Now! and Free Speech Radio News. The station can be heard at 90.3 FM and online at http://wdfh.org.