Progressive Rock’s Newest Traveling Festival Returns This Fall with Events in New York and Michigan.
On October 16, Stratospheerius, Shadow Eden, and Lovetester will be playing at Olives in Nyack (Rockland County), NY. LIKE Olives at www.facebook.com/OlivesNyack.
On Friday, October 23, the Sonic Voyage Fest will be at the Diesel Concert Lounge in Chesterfield, MI (Detroit). Featured are Tiles, Faded Main, Discipline and Joe Deninzon and Stratospheerius.
www.dieselconcertlounge.net
On Friday, October 30, Halloween Eve, the Sonic Voyage Fest takes place at Gussys in Queens, NY (New York City). Performing are Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius, Shadow Eden, Joe Stump, and Rob Balducci.
www.facebook.com/pages/GUSSYS-BARinASTORIA
On Friday November 13, Shadow Eden and Ad Astra will be playing at Binghamton’s Cyber Cafe West. www.cybercafewest.com/
On Saturday, November 28, look for the Sonic Voyage Fest to rock Long Island in Bayshore, NY at Even Flow with Joe Stump, Shadow Eden, Stratospheerius & Ad Astra. www.evenflowbarandgrill.com/
Created Memorial Day 2015 by three incredible bands: Circuline, and Shadow Eden & Stratospheerius, Sonic Voyage Fest’s purpose is to create a night of music that dazzles with virtuosity, ignites the senses, and pushes boundaries. Writes ProgSheet’s editor John A. Wilcox, “Sonic Voyage Fest was like General Tso's chicken: spicy, filling, and I already want more!”
We are looking for sponsors to pay admission of interested veterans or students who might be going through financial hardships but would feel an event by musicians would help them. Please contact Anne Leighton, who works with Joe Deninzon, at 718-881-8183 if you can either help financially or know a veteran or student who’d benefit from going.
THE BANDS WHO CREATED SONIC VOYAGE FEST
Shadow Eden, Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius, and Circuline: Now Available for Interviews. Please contact Anne Leighton at 718-881-8183
Their bios are below. Please note that Stratospheerius plus Shadow Eden will be on this Fall’s Fest.
Under the founders’ bios are bios of other confirmed acts for the Fall Sonic Voyage Fest: Tiles, Faded Main, Discipline, Rob Balducci, Lovetester, Joe Stump, and Ad Astra.
Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius
www.stratospheerius.com
Led by electric violinist/vocalist Joe Deninzon (www.joedeninzon.com), who has been called “The Jimi Hendrix of the violin,” Stratospheerius have showcased their “frenzied mélange of progressive rock, jazz fusion and funkabilly” throughout the world. The New York-based group has opened for The Levin Brothers (Tony and Pete), Tim Reynolds, Mickey Hart, and John Scofield… Their live performances are filled with funky dance grooves, rip-roaring guitar/violin jams, and hooks that mix jazz, funk, rock with Gypsy influences. Stratospheerius was a winner of the John Lennon International Songwriting Competition, and was named "Best Jam Band" in the Musician's Atlas Independent Music Awards. Joe recently premiered “Dream Diary: Concerto for Seven String Electric Violin and Orchestra” with the Muncie Symphony Orchestra.
Shadow Eden
www.reverbnation.com/shadoweden
SHREDGUY RECORDS recording artist Shadow Eden deliver well crafted, listenable songs which feature virtuoso performances designed to please the ear of musicians and music lovers alike. "Shadow Eden combine elements of progressive rock, fusion and guitar-driven metal into well structured, highly musical, and very listenable tunes.”-Shred Academy.
Circuline
circulinemusic.com
What do you get when you take two theatrical lead vocalists, a keyboard player from Juilliard, a musical savant playing guitar, and a drummer with progressive rock in his DNA? The new modern ProgRock band Circuline. Performing original and classic progressive rock, Circuline was founded in 2014 when former progressive rock tribute band Downing Grey members Andrew Colyer (keyboards, vocals), Bill Shannon (guitars, vocals), and Darin Brannon (drums, percussion) had a burning desire to write original material. Lead vocalists Billy Spillane and Natalie Brown were up for the challenge, having performed in countless venues as singers, actors, dancers, and rock musicians.
Circuline’s debut album features Guest Artists Matt Dorsey (Sound of Contact) on bass, Randy McStine (Lo-Fi Resistance) as a songwriter and vocalist, and Joe Deninzon (Stratospheerius) on electric violin. Paul Ranieri (Shadow Eden) is currently the touring bassist with the band.
“Cinematic…refined…polished…smooth as silk…not what you usually hear from a first album…” – Marty Dorfman (The Prog Doctor), House of Prog
“There are many layers here on first listen…delicately placed strips of all manner of sounds interwoven and joined without a hint of the seam…It’s that good, and only gets better upon each playing…Trust me – You’ll know what I mean when you listen to Return yourselves.” – Paul Watson, Progarchy
In addition to Shadow Eden and Stratospheerius, the following bands are confirmed for Sonic Voyage Fest, Fall 2015.
Tiles
www.tiles-music.com
Hailing from the fertile musical landscape of Detroit, TILES features Chris Herin (guitar), Jeff Whittle (bass), Paul Rarick (vocals) and Mark Evans (drums). Formed in 1993, TILES has developed a style that blends the adventure of progressive rock with an aggressive hard rock edge. The band has released five studio albums worldwide through Inside Out Music and recently commemorated their 20th anniversary with a pair of live recordings, “Off the Floor 01 & 02,” which serve as career retrospectives. “Off the Floor 02” was nominated for a 2015 Detroit Music Award.
TILES has completed their sixth studio album, the double-CD “Pretending to Run” which is scheduled for an early-2016 release. “Pretending to Run” is produced by Terry Brown (Rush) and features guest appearances by Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull), Mike Portnoy (Flying Colors, Dream Theater), Mike Stern (Miles Davis), Adam Holzman (Steven Wilson Band), Kim Mitchell (Max Webster), Colin Edwin (Porcupine Tree), Matthew Parmenter (Discipline) and several others. TILES endorses Mesa/Boogie Amplification, Elixir Strings, Aquarian Drumheads, Eden Bass Amplifiers and Ken Smith Basses & Strings.
Discipline
disciplineband.bandcamp.com
The American art rock band “Discipline” formed in Detroit in 1987. Their earliest shows were memorable for raw energy and unusual theatrics. Discipline’s 1993 CD “Push & Profit” helped the band reach an audience beyond Detroit. After a short tour in Norway in 1993, Discipline would go on to perform regularly at U.S. progressive rock festivals and venues throughout the 1990s. Their latest studio release is “To Shatter All Accord” (2011).
Although Discipline took its name from a King Crimson album, they are most often compared to early Genesis and Van Der Graaf Generator. The progressive rock website ProgArchives.com classifies Discipline as “symphonic prog.” Hundreds of users and reviews at the site give Discipline five-star album ratings, which designates an album as “essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music.”
John Collinge, publisher of Progression Magazine, acknowledged “To Shatter All Accord” with the publication’s highest marks in his 2012 review (16 out of 16 stars).
Discipline’s festival appearances in recent years include a 2012 performance at Gettysburg’s “Rites of Spring” festival (RoSFest), and a 2008 performance at the Northeast Art Rock Festival (NEARfest) in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Shows in their native Detroit are rare but not unheard of. Members of the band have performed and collaborated with other artists on occasion, including Phideaux and Tiles.
Faded Main
www.facebook.com/faded.main
Faded Main is a metro-Detroit based rock band that has been together since 2008. Their gritty rock comes from a myriad of influences including, funk, jazz, grunge, and metal. Al Bushe’s powerful lead vocals are backed by the dual guitar sounds of Mike Batke and Craig Dipaola. The rhythm section is driven by Decibel Brown and Jeff Whittle. Faded Main focuses on storytelling with great music that still has an edge. Though Faded Main performs only a few times a year, they recently opened for Ashes of Soma. Although music is only a hobby for these musicians, Faded Main is passionate about what they do and they plan on continuing to deliver solid rock music to their fans for years to come.
The Rob Balducci Band
www.robbalducci.com
Since his emergence on the music scene Internationally acclaimed guitar virtuoso, producer, composer Rob Balducci has taken the music world by storm. Balducci recently released his newest CD “821 Monroe Drive.” Rob’s astonishing technique, melodic phrasing and total command of the instrument instantly earned him respect amongst the international guitar and music communities.
The Rob Balducci Band has toured and shared the stage with Michael Schenker, Peter Frampton, Joe Bonamassa, Vernon Reid, Richie Kotzen, Andy Timmons, Extreme and many more. Balducci is known for his teaching and has performed master classes / clinics for all of the major music manufacturers and top music schools in The United States, Europe. Asia and Australia.
“Steve Vai – “There are two things that make an effective musician, one is the technical ability to perform on the instrument and the second is an emotional investment in what you are playing. Rob has a really good equilibrium for the technical side of things and the emotional investment” Guitar World Magazine – ” Five Stars , Hum-able shred! What a concept!”
Lovetester
www.lovetester.net
Lovetester was founded in 1999 as a vehicle to play songs from Rick Bartow's solo CD Asstravaganza. The band is currently playing shows supporting their new CD, SLOWMENTUM.
Rick met Wes and Boxy while performing with project object, a Frank Zappa tribute band that toured the country with various Zappa band alumni such as Ike Willis, Napoleon Murphy Brock, Don Preston, and Bunk Gardner.
Lovetester says, "We love all types of music - Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, Ween, YES, Rush, King Crimson, ELP, Neil Young, Paul Simon, Weird Al, Wesley Willis. We are always learning, practicing and striving for excellence. We know you have your choice of bands and we really do appreciate your support."
Joe Stump (“The Shredlord”)
www.joestump.com/
Fans of maniacal guitar-driven releases,amazing displays of power and jaw dropping technical command, please, prepare yourselves as the Shredlord returns with his 10th solo album, “The Dark Lord Rises” October 24th on Lion Music.
Joe Stump, known as The Shredlord, has been raining down full throttle neo-classical shred/speed metal since his debut album, Guitar Dominance was released in 1993 on Leviathan Records.
Joe was named by Guitar One magazine as one of the top 10 fastest shredders of all time, by Guitar World as one of the 50 fastest players of all time and by Guitarist magazine as one of the top 20 shredders of all time. He has toured the world both as a solo artist and with metal bands Joe Stump`s Reign Of Terror, HolyHell, RavenLord and Exorcism.
Joe`s also an Associate Professor at the esteemed Berklee College where he`s been the metal/shred guitar specialist for the last 22 years. “The Dark Lord Rises” marks Joe`s 10 solo record and once again the Shredlord has raised his game in every aspect still finding another gear.
Ad Astra
www.adastraband.com/
New York based guitarist Joe Nardulli's self-titled debut CD inspired and intrigued a bunch of local progressive rock musos. After jamming with a few, Joe finally found the right people and put a band together. David Penna on drums, J. Levine on bass and Eric Davis on keys brought Joe's solo material to life. Harold Skeete and Tony Savasta are now filling the rhythm section duties.
Now as a band, Ad Astra (Latin for "To the stars" - inspired by the title of the closing track of Joe's self-titled debut CD) has taken the compositional process to another level and the new album is called Ad Astra! With tone and melodic sensibilities reminiscent of Steve Morse and Eric Johnson, the focus is on compositions that are tightly structured with smooth, thematic playing styles blending perfectly with soaring, uplifting melodies. Combined with odd and shifting time signatures, you have songs that always keep your interest.
https://www.flickr.com/photosSonicVoyageFest
