3/29/26
Johanna Hall on the Anne Leighton Inclusion Interview Show
3/28/26
April 16 The Kindness Session Returns to Poe Cottage
The Bronx County Historical Society is presenting "The Kindness Session," a free poetry workshop on recognizing the difference between kindness and cruelty to channel that in our writing on Thursday, April 16 at 6 PM till approximately 7:45. The Poetry Workshop takes place at Poe Cottage, 2640 Grand Concourse, in the Bronx. Subways near the Visitors Center are the 4, B, and D train at the Kingsbridge stop. Buses to the Center are Bx9, Bx22, Bx28, Bx38, and BxM4 (Express bus). The Poe Visitors Center is up the Hill from the Fordham Metro North train stop.
Led by area poet Anne Leighton, the Kindness Session will include sharing works from classic and contemporary writers including Edgar Allan Poe, Naomi Shihab Nye, the Bronx’s Peppy Castro, Charlie Iris, Mary Oliver, John Masefield, Emily Dickinson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, as well as selected poems from attendees.
Once the attendees discuss poems, they’ll be encouraged to think of incidents where they recognize kindness from life experiences, friends and acquaintances, and how it affected their lives. From there, writers will be encouraged to create a first draft of poetry. Writers will read their poems, and be encouraged to revise the poem in the days, weeks, or months to come.
Anne Leighton appears on the Grammy-nominated album, “Healthy Food for Thought: Good Enough to Eat,” (Audio & Video Labs) reading her poem “Feed Your Parents Well.” She’s contributed to The Indie Collaborative, The Literary Parrot, and Elephant Journal. Her poetry book “The Leighton Explosion” made enough of a profit to use her earnings to record an original song, “Got My Eye on You, Santa,” which found her a publishing deal with Sheer Music South Africa/Downtown Music, USA. Anne's performed in the Bronx at ART in the Basin, Johnny Zs, and throughout New York State including NYC's Nuyorican Poets Cafe and Peter Max's Studio. Visit workinggalrockandroll.blogspot.com.
For more information, please reach out to Anne at LeightonMedia@aol.com.
BCHS Home bronxhistoricalsociety.org
workinggalrockandroll.blogspot.com/2024/10/bronx-historical-society-presents.html
3/24/26
This Week Refestramus New Album “Morri’s Rock Boutique”
Refestramus’ third studio album, “Morri’s Rock Boutique,” is available through Melodic Revolution Records. This nine-track release is available on all streaming media. Fans can order a the CD with two bonus tracks (“Wasteland Pt. 1” and “Another Country”) at refestramus.bandcamp.com/album/morri-s-rock-boutique .
Prog UK calls “Morri’s Rock Boutique” “enjoyably
vibrant and hooky.”
Echoes and
Dust praises the
album’s “cinematic landscape with its surrealistic wonders, ghost-town
amusement parks, and the haunting ghost that spooks the location”!
Powerplay writes the album features “Grown
up prog full of Great musicianship and songwriting.”
“Morri’s Rock Boutique” charts a path through collapse and
illusion toward clarity—where the joke turns serious: right and wrong still
exist, and you still answer to them.
A concept album
about surviving the absurd—emotionally, spiritually, and politically—
“Morri’s Rock Boutique” moves through storms of loss, collapse, and memory
toward moments of humor, tenderness, and human connection. Blending folklore,
mental health, myth, and modern life into an eclectic progressive-rock
soundscape, the record explores the fragile beauty of becoming: not perfection,
but refinement.
Across the
album, each song presents its own vignette. “Storms” frames a human life like a
thunderstorm—powerful, beautiful, and temporary. “The Lucky Ones” nods to the
Sermon on the Mount’s upside-down blessings and features Crack the Sky
guitarist Rick Witkowski. “Tonight, Tonight, Tonight, Tonight,
Tonight” (feat. Lynx of Old Blood) plays like a David Lynch
noir—dreamlike, unstable, and haunted by the question of what’s real and what’s
remembered—until the only way out is forgiveness.
“The Cossack’s
Dream,” featuring Kansas electric violinist Joe Deninzon, is
Refestramus’ English-language adaptation of a traditional Slavic song.
“Lakeview Samurai” is a surreal character sketch set in Chicago—part satire,
part fever dream. “Hell or NYC?” features Van der Graaf Generator
saxophonist David Jackson, leaning into the album’s vertigo and
dark comedy.
The record’s
culminating epic, “Deathless,” draws on Slavic folklore’s Kashchey the
Deathless—a figure who feeds on conflict and feels at home in the smoke of
war—unfolding as a three-part suite: “Above Volokov’s Mill,” “Goodbye,
America!,” and “And He Always Will.”
“Morri’s Rock Boutique” is produced by Ian Beabout, mostly in Dan Bozek’s studio at Aardvark Productions in Steubenville, Ohio. The group Refestramus is a Chicago-based progressive rock project blending literate songwriting, political reflection, and classic prog influences. Led by Derek Ferguson (songwriter, drums), Refestramus features Jan Christiana (vocals/keys/guitars/bass) and Dyanne Potter Voegtlin (keys/vocals) of Octarine Sky, with Mitch Lawrence (saxophones, clarinet).
Refestramus are booking concerts and have confirmed they’ll
be returning to the International Pop Overthrow in Chicago at the Montrose
Saloon on April 25.
Track-list:
1. Storms 04:33
2. The Cossack’s Dream (feat. Joe Deninzon) 05:37
3. Tonight, Tonight, Tonight, Tonight, Tonight (feat. Lynx) 07:37
4. Lakeview Samurai (feat. Nam Chumo) 04:15
5. Hell or NYC? (feat. David Jackson) 06:02
6. Deathless (incl. Above Volkov’s Mill, Goodbye America! and He Always Will
08:32
7. The Lucky Ones (feat. Rick Witkowski) 04:21
8. Wasteland, pt1 04:19
9. Another Country 04:02
Total Running Time: 47:98 Minutes
Musicians
Ian Beabout – Production, Mixing, Mastering, and Screaming “Watch out for
the katana!”
Derek Ferguson – Drums and Screaming “Hey buddy, shut the fuck up!”
Mitch Lawrence – Clarinet and Saxes
Associated Artists – Special Guests:
Jan Christiana – Bass, Guitars, Keyboards, and Vocals (Tracks 1-3, 5-7)
Dyanne Potter Voegtlin – Keyboards and Vocals (Tracks 1-3, 5-7)
Dyanne Voegtlin and Jan Christiana appear courtesy of Octarine Sky
octarinesky.com
Arrangements by Refestramus and Jan Christiana
Derek Pavlic – Additional Guitars (Tracks 1-4) and Viola (Track 2)
Dan Bozek – Additional Bass (Track 4)
Tanaka Seijin ( ⽥ 中 正 ⼈ – Shamisen, Koto, and Shakuhachi (Track 4 )
Cover art by Refestramus and Veseli ć &Veseli ć
Produced by Ian Beabout and Refestramus
All words and music by Derek Ferguson, except:
“The Cossack’s Dream” – traditional Russian song, lyrics translated by Derek
Ferguson
Mixed and Mastered by Ian Beabout at ShedSounds Recordings
Recorded Feb-May 2025: Aardvark Productions & The Rec Room, Steubenville,
OH: Studio L, Weirton, WV; Uberwald Elektroakustik Chicago, Il
Engineered by Ian Beabout, Jan Christiana, Dan Bozek, and Rick Witkowski
©2025. Published by Refestramus Music Publishing.
Licensed to and Distributed by Melodic Revolution Records
3/23/26
The Levins on the Anne Leighton Inclusion Interview Show
It was a pleasure to interview my friends Ira Scott Levin and Julia Bordenaro for my Inclusion Interview Show. Ira and Julia are The Levins who specialize in harmony and making the world a better place. I've attended some of their performances and "Checking Inward" online events. Join us. https://youtu.be/k7J4rshkw8s?si=uagRpPg0FqbnuoWN
3/11/26
Gary Lucas and friends Feifei Yang and Jason Candler release “The Edge of Heaven Volume 2”
On Chinese New Year Feb. 7th 2026 (Year of the Fire Horse), Gary Lucas released “The Edge of Heaven Volume 2,” featuring Chinese vocalist and erhu virtuoso Feifei Yang and multi-instrumentalist Jason Candler, on over 140 digital formats, including Apple Music, Amazon Music, Spotify, and YouTube.
"Even if you are totally, thoroughly unfamiliar with
the genre known as Mid-century Chinese Pop music, you may still find yourself
hypnotically drawn into this record “The Edge of Heaven Volume 2,” the
latest collection from guitarist Gary Lucas, singer and musician Feifei Yang,
and multi-instrumentalist Jason Candler. This is music originally recorded in
Shanghai during the 1930s and '40s by some of the great female singing stars of
China—in particular (for this program) Bai Kwong, Chow Hsuan, and Yao Lee—not
exactly household names even for western aficionados, but with an indescribable
allure nearly a century(!) later that is impossible not to warm up to and feel
comfortable with. Gary Lucas is an adventurous musical soul whose affection for
this vintage arcania is second nature, and he succeeds in delivering the
magic."
—Arthur Levy, rock writer and editor emeritus, music historian, album
annotator, researcher, archivist, mensch
"The ever-prolific Gary Lucas has just released a new
album. With this one he is revisiting the music of his earlier album “Edge
of Heaven” where he takes a deep dive into 1930s – ‘40s Chinese pop from
Shanghai. “Edge of Heaven Volume 2” features Gary's guitar
accompanying singer Feifei Yang with Jason Candler on reeds and percussion. It
took me a while to get into that first album, but once I’d listened to a few of
the original songs and then went back to the album, it all made sense. There's
a dreamy, otherworldly feel to the music, although that is probably a response
based on hearing it with Western ears...or maybe not. Fascinating stuff, give
it a go if you haven't already.”
—Steve Froy, The Captain Beefheart Radar Station
Amazon Music album link: music.amazon.in/albums/B0GMKXYWHG
“The Edge of Heaven Volume 2”is the follow-up to
Gary's album, “The Edge of Heaven – Gary Lucas Plays Mid-Century
Chinese Pop,” originally released on the French government-backed Label
Bleu, which received stellar reviews internationally and rose to #1 on the
World Music Charts. MOJO called it “simply gorgeous…played by
a guitarist who learned his chops in Kowloon's dive bars before unleashing his
skills with Beefheart.”
Both albums are filled with Chinese pop songs known as
“shidaiqu,” Mandarin for "popular songs of the era"—a fascinating
amalgam of Eastern and Western musical influences.
Lush, romantic, hypnotic, and melodic, these songs were
originally recorded in Pathe Studios in Shanghai in the 30's and 40's, a
cosmopolitan free port at the time known as "the Paris of the East."
*Bai Kwong: sensual, husky-voiced singer known as the
"Mae West of China." Covered are "Pretense," "Old
Dreams," "If I'm Without You," and "Where is My Home."
*Chow Hsuan: known as the "Golden Voice of
China": "Tell Me," "On Two Roads," "Mad
World," "Tale of the Man-Jong Game," "New Pair of
Flowers," "Seeing Older Brother Off," and "Spring in Zhong
Mountain."
*Teresa Teng: 1970/1980s’ Tawainese superstar. "The
Moon Represents My Heart" was one of her hits.
* “The Edge of Heaven Volume Two” includes an
instrumental version of “Rose Rose, I Love You,” made famous by Yao Lee, who
dubbed vocals for leading Chinese actresses in the movies from the 1940s on.
The musicians in the orchestras assembled for these recordings included many European refugees fleeing the Nazis, Fascists, and Bolsheviks.
For more information on The Golden Age of Chinese Pop, visit The Story of Shidaiqu: interaction.sixthtone.com/feature/2026/Shanghai-Sessions/
Gary Lucas has been called “One of the most original
guitarists in America...a modern guitar miracle” by Rolling Stone magazine. He
has released over 50 acclaimed albums in every conceivable genre, written hits
for Jeff Buckley and Joan Osborne, toured in over 40 countries, and played and
collaborated with luminaries like Lou Reed, Jeff Buckley, Captain Beefheart,
Nick Cave, Chris Cornell, Bob Weir, Leonard Bernstein, et al. he has composed
music for film and tv and also live scores accompanying films both silent and
sound, he’s received several Lifetime Achievement Awards and Songwriting Awards
in Italy for his work with Jeff Buckley, and performed before the General
Assembly of the UN for Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Feifei Yang is an internationally recognized Chinese string
virtuoso, mezzo-soprano, and Voting Member of the Recording Academy (GRAMMY
Awards). As a Global Music Award and Berlin Music Video Award winner, she has
brought the erhu to major cultural stages. Featured by media outlets including
CBS, NBC, and AFP, she is acclaimed for interpreting Chinese music with
emotional depth, artistic refinement, and a distinctly modern voice.
Jason Candler is a multi-talented musician, producer, sound
designer for films, and recording engineer who has played reed instruments,
guitar and percussion with Gary Lucas in a variety of ensembles since the
mid-‘90s, as well as working with the Hungry March Band and his own group Earth
People.
Produced by Gary Lucas and Jason Candler
Recorded and mixed in NYC by Jason Candler
Cover design by Joe Dizney
Cover photo by Jesse Winter
Executive Producer: Bob Rubin
Songs on “The Edge of Heaven Volume 2” and Their
Songwriters
1. “Old Dreams” Ho Shang and Usuay Shi Tsuen
2. "If I’m Without You” Chang Hung and Lu Li
3. “New Pair of Flowers” Yan Hua
4. “The Mad World” Li Qui Niu and Li Chun Ching
5. “On Two Roads” Yan Zhezi and Li Jongiua
6. “The Moon Represents My Heart" Weng Ching-Shi
and Sun Yi
7. “Spring in Zhong Mountain” Fan Yanquiao and Li
Jingjuan
8. “Pretense” Ching Geng and Yay Yi Fong
9. “Rose Rose I Love You” Chen Gexin and Wu Sun
10.“Seeing Older Brother Off” Wang Luobin
11.“Tell Me” Yan Zhexi
12. “Where is My Home” Chen Re Jing and Hsu Soo Ling
“The Edge of Heaven-Volume 2” webpage: https://garylucas.com/www/edgetwo/edgetwo.shtml
3/10/26
Michael Harrison on The Anne Leighton Inclusion Interview Show
I'm psyched to interview Michael Harrison on my Inclusion Interview Show. I've been a fan of his since the early 1980s, and his career predates that. In addition to being a spectacular spoken word artist with Gunhill Road, he's innovated both album and talk radio.
https://youtu.be/IpK0wSEORyk?si=ORWz-Tic7IRO9zKy
2/20/26
Drummer/Author/often my session drummer Rob Mitzner on the Anne Leighton Inclusion Interview Show
I love the joy and sense of humor Rob combines with a lucid sense of ethnomusicology to his work. (I've had him work on some of my still-unreleased poetry projects, too) He's translated these talents into two books on professional gigging for drummers. His latest book is "Drummer A-Z: MORE Stuff You Can Use." I had the pleasure of interviewing him.
2/16/26
Jane Getter on the Anne Leighton Inclusion Interview Show
Jane Getter, leader of The Jane Getter Premonition on the Anne Leighton Inclusion Interview Show. She loves how inclusive the Prog Community is to people. There are music lessons in this interview, about song ideas, listening, determination, sending the elevator down. Full disclosure: Jane and my artist JoeDeninzon & Stratospheerius are sharing the bill at The Iridium on March 1.
2/15/26
Refestramus Announce New Album “Morri’s Rock Boutique”
Refestramus will return with their third studio album, Morri’s Rock Boutique, a nine-track release scheduled for March 20, 2026, via Melodic Revolution Records. The album will be available for pre-order starting February 20, 2026, and will be released in Hi-Res digital download, CD, and across all major streaming platforms.
All pre-orders will include an immediate download of the
advance single “Tonight, Tonight, Tonight, Tonight, Tonight” (feat. Lynx).
Entering its most ambitious era to date, Refestramus expands
its sonic and visual universe with Morri’s Rock Boutique, a surreal
desert-western dreamscape filled with ferris wheels, neon temples, and
wandering ghosts of memory. The album blends cinematic atmospheres with
adventurous progressive rock, pushing the band’s storytelling and musical depth
further than ever before.
Morri’s Rock Boutique features standout
contributions from Jan Christiana and Dyanne Potter Voegtlin (Octarine Sky),
along with notable guest performances by David Jackson (Van der Graaf
Generator), Rick Witkowski (Crack the Sky), Joe Deninzon (Kansas),
Lynx (Old Blood), and Japanese vocalist Nam Chumo.
Morri’s Rock Boutique will be available
worldwide on March 20, 2026.
Track-list:
1. Storms 04:33
2. Cossacks Dream (feat. Joe Deninzon) 05:37
3. Tonight, Tonight, Tonight, Tonight, Tonight (feat. Lynx) 07:37
4. Lakeview Samurai (feat. Nam Chumo) 04:15
5. Hell or NYC (feat. David Jackson) 06:02
6. Deathless (incl. Above Volkov’s Mill, Goodbye America! and He Always Will
08:32
7. The Lucky Ones (feat. Rick Witkowski) 04:21
8. Wasteland, pt1 04:19
9. Another Country 04:02
Total Running Time: 47:98 Minutes
Musicians
Ian Beabout – Production, Mixing, Mastering, and Screaming “Watch out for
the katana!”
Derek Ferguson – Drums and Screaming “Hey buddy, shut the fuck up!”
Mitch Lawrence – Clarinet and Saxes
Associated Artists – Special Guests:
Jan Christiana – Bass, Guitars, Keyboards, and Vocals (Tracks 1-3, 5-7)
Dyanne Poter Voegtlin – Keyboards and Vocals (Tracks 1-3, 5-7)
Dyanne Voegtlin and Jan Christiana appear courtesy of Octarine Sky
octarinesky.com
Arrangements by Refestramus and Jan Christiana
Derek Pavlic – Additional Guitars (Tracks 1-4) and Viola (Track 2)
Dan Bozek – Additional Bass (Track 4)
Tanaka Seijin ( ⽥ 中 正 ⼈ – Shamisen, Koto, and Shakuhachi (T
r a c k 4 )
Cover art by Refestramus and Veseli ć &Veseli ć
Produced by Ian Beabout and Refestramus
All words and music by Derek Ferguson, except:
“The Cossack’s Dream” – traditional Russian song, lyrics translated by Derek
Ferguson
Mixed and Mastered by Ian Beabout at ShedSounds Recordings
Recorded Feb-May 2025: Aardvark Productions & The Rec Room, Steubenville,
OH: Studio L, Weirton, WV; Uberwald Elektroakustik Chicago, Il
Engineered by Ian Beabout, Jan Christiana, Dan Bozek, and Rick Witkowski
©2025. Published by Refestramus Music Publishing.
Licensed to and Distributed by Melodic Revolution Records
Configuration:
Limited Edition CD housed in a full-color mini-LP style jacket
Hi-res Digital Download & Streaming
Additional Info
Release Date: March 20, 2026
Catalog Number: MRRCD 22243
File Under:
Rock/Progressive/Art Rock
May appeal to listeners of:
Sparks, Crack the Sky, Talking Heads, Miley Cyrus, Last Dinner Party
Refestramus Online:
Facebook: https://facebook.com/refestramus
Bandcamp: https://refestramus.bandcamp.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/refestramus/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@refestramus
Twitter: https://twitter.com/refestramus
2/11/26
Dayna Steele on the Anne Leighton Inclusion Interview Show
Radio Hall of Famer Dayna Steele has been on my wish list for interviews since I discovered her daily column "Today's Facts," which tells the truth in easy-to-read sentences on what's happening in the world, humanity, and politics. I met her when she connected her friend, astronaut Cady Coleman with Ian Anderson for a flute duet of "Bouree" from space. Dayna's written books, run for Congress, acted, and is a major superstar radio host in Houston.
2/9/26
The Cynz' Cyndi Dawson on the Anne Leighton Inclusion Interview Show
Cyndi Dawson and I talk about music, animals (dog and cats), TV, winter, friendship, discipline, Hoboken in the latest Anne Leighton Inclusion Interview Show.
1/27/26
Dr. Susan Whittred on the Anne Leighton Inclusion Interview Show
1/20/26
Big Big Train's Clare Lindley on The Anne Leighton Inclusion Interview Show
1/14/26
Rachael Sage's "Just Enough" is like something Walt Whitman would write. It's one of the songs I'm plugging this season.
Rachael Sage's "Just Enough" is like something Walt Whitman would write. It's one of the songs I'm plugging this season.
https://youtu.be/rH-tHGA59Ag?si=m0oftXnkKjORTYFa
1/9/26
“Goodbye, America” New Single by Refestramus
Airport Incident After Festival Performance
Becomes
Tipping Point for Politically-Charged New Release
Chicago-based progressive rock project
Refestramus announces the release of its new single, “Goodbye, America,”
arriving January 2, 2026. The song is an explicit political statement that confronts
empire, sanctions, and moral blowback, drawing on mythology and lived
experience to ask hard questions about power and accountability.
At the center of the song is Kashay
Besmertny, a figure from Russian folklore whose “deathless” power comes from
hiding his soul outside his own body. Derek uses him as a metaphor for empires
that can no longer feel the human cost of their actions.
Refestramus returned to the United
States from Heathrow Airport in November after performing at the UK progressive
rock festival HRH Prog 15, where the band performed with acclaimed progressive
musicians including David Jackson (of classic prog act Van der Graaf Generator)
and Alex Hutchings from Steven Wilson’s touring band.
Following the performance, Refestramus
founder Derek Ferguson was involved in a routine customer-service dispute at
Heathrow that escalated when a comment about documenting the interaction online
was recorded as “threatening.” No safety or security incident occurred, but the
experience proved formative.
“What struck me wasn’t the
inconvenience,” Ferguson says. “It was how quickly ordinary speech can now be
reclassified as ‘threatening’ in environments shaped by preemptive
harm-prevention frameworks that can unintentionally normalize intimidating
behavior within authority structures. In combination with similar dynamics
playing out elsewhere, you realize how easily systems meant to protect people
end up allowing some people to exercise power over others.”
Ferguson adds that the moment resonated
precisely because it echoed concerns closer to home, “not across borders.”
The band stresses that the incident
itself is not the story, but rather a real-world illustration of the themes
explored in “Goodbye, America,” which addresses the human cost of sanctions,
displacement, and moral distance.
Lyrics include:
Mothers left out on the street,
Your sanctions left no food to eat.
America, the things you do —
I see now they’re coming back to you.
“Goodbye America” features Octarine Sky’s
Jan Christiana (vocals, keyboards, guitars, and bass) and Dyanne Potter Voegtlin
(keyboards and vocals), and bandleader/writer Derek Ferguson (drums).
“Goodbye, America” is the central
movement of a longer ten-minute composition on the forthcoming album “Morri’s
Rock Boutique” titled “Deathless,” which uses the Kashay myth to trace how
unchecked power ultimately consumes even those who wield it.
“Goodbye, America” will be released as a standalone single on January 2, 2026. The album “Morri’s Rock Boutique,” which is produced by Ian Beabout, follows on March 20, 2026.
“Deathless” will be available on streaming media on March 6.
Fan Link https://fanlink.tv/goodbyeAmerica
“Goodbye, America” lyrics
By Refestramus
So many people died, and what was it all for?
The parts they played in America's war.
Our lives are prisons – we will never be free,
And our cells are made with magic
that’s so strong you cannot see.
As if taken by Kashay Besmertny,
America you’ve gotten so hard to see.
It seems as if with every war,
You vanished just a little more.
Mothers left out on the street.
Your sanctions left no food to eat.
America, the things you do
I see now are coming back to you.
C 2026 Derek Ferguson/Refestramus Music
Publishing (ASCAP), All Rights Reserved
About
Refestramus:
Refestramus is a Chicago-based progressive rock project blending literate
songwriting, political reflection, and classic prog influences. The band’s work
explores power, memory, displacement, and moral responsibility in an
increasingly rule-saturated world.
For more
information:
https://refestramus.com
https://refestramus.bandcamp.com








