“An Unforgettable Night” - Prog Rock Sept. 28 in Teaneck and Sept. 30 in Kennett Square

 Great live music from Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius and We Came From Space 

Aiden Alexander of MyChesco Newspaper, Chester County, PA is already calling it "an Unforgettable Night of Progressive Rock.” And it will be for fans the weekend of September 28 in Teaneck, NJ and September 30 in Kennett Square, PA with the co-bill of Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius and We Came From Space.

Downloadable Poster for Sept. 28 Debonair Music Hall

Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius are celebrating their new live box set, “Behind the Curtain (Live at ProgStock),” which hit the top 10 on Relix/JamBand radio Charts.  The group, which has 5 albums out, is signed to Melodic Revolution Records.  Joe is the new violinist with legendary rockers Kansas, now on tour celebrating their 50th anniversary. He has played violin for the Who, Bruce Springsteen, 50Cent, Sheryl Crow,  and as the concertmaster for Renaissance.

Joe’s bandmates in Stratospheerius are Jason Gianni-drums (The Ultimate Queen Celebration, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Rock of Ages, Neal Morse Band), Michelangelo Quirinale-guitar (Thrilldriver), Paul Ranieri-bass (Mark Wood, Riot Act), and new keyboardist Bill Hubauer (We Came From Space, Neal Morse Band).  

Stratospheerius.com

The story of “We Came From Space” started at lunch.  High school friends Bill Hubauer (Neal Morse Band) and Dave Buzard were catching up and talking music. We Came From Space was born that day. The friends decided to create an album that they would want to listen to when they were kids.  They considered their influences: Yes, Genesis, Gamma, Jim Carroll Band, (among many, many others), and began adding their own textures. Two years later the debut album, “How to be Human” was released. 2018 brought the revamped rhythm section of Tim Malone (drums) and Dave Hawk (Bass and vocals) and the breakthrough album “While You Were Away”. All members contributed to the writing and arranging of that release and the 2023’s “Overlords.” The band blends engaging musicianship with sardonic but hopeful lyrics. This year We Came From Space hit the road, playing high profile dates with Crack The Sky and The Winery Dogs. The takeaway: Sometimes lunch is the most important meal of the day! 

www.wecamefromspace.net

We Came From Space, "Overlords" album trailer
  

On September 28, at 7 PM, the tour comes to Debonair Music Hall,1409 Queen Anne Rd., in Teaneck, New Jersey.  The venue phone is 201-833-0011. Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door.

The venue ticket page is www.venuepilot.co/events/77265/orders/new?fbclid=IwAR0AOhEacInUqmfu9ceCpLqKNlMETzCah2hXy3XRUd-N8dhfJRVJNKNm9Ew

Downloadable Poster for Sept 30, Kennett Flash

On September 30, Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius and We Came From Space will be performing outdoors at Kennett Flash on Saturday, September 30 at 7 PM. This is an all-ages show. (In case of rain, the concert will move indoors to Kennett Flash).

Kennett Flash is at 102 Sycamore Alley, Kennett Square, PA 19348.

Tickets are $20. plus $3.50 for service charges. Theres a $5. B.Y.O.B. charge. Event and ticket buy page  www.kennettflash.org/event/a-night-of-prog-rock-with-stratospheerius-we-came-from-space-rooftop/kennett-flash/kennett-square-pennsylvania/

 

Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius "One Foot in the Next World"

“Love for Sale” from Buffalo Rock City-II

A tribute to the late Phil Naro, “Love for Sale” features

Talas bandmates including bassist Billy Sheehan

The first single from the upcoming studio album, “Buffalo Rock City-II” is a cover of Peter Criss’s “Love for Sale” is  available as a digital download, exclusively on Bandcamp at https://buffalorockcity.bandcamp.com/track/love-for-sale. “Buffalo Rock City II” will be released this September on digital media, and as a physical CD, and via Bandcamp.

“Buffalo Rock City II” follows the critically acclaimed KISS tribute album, "Buffalo Rock City – Western New York's Tribute To KISS" cited as “the Best KISS tribute album ever" by “Music and Food,” and the 2022 live album, "Buffalo Rock City ALIVE!” “Buffalo Rock City II” will also be a musical tribute to all things KISS. "Buffalo Rock City II" is spearheaded by Buffalo, New York native, John Jeffrey, who co-produced the first two releases.

John is the “Ace” member of KISS THIS!, and--along with bandmates Kevin Blakita as “The Starchild,” Taylor Stursa as “The Demon,” and Julius Giambelluca as “The Fox”-- they join cream of the crop Western New York musicians including “Buffalo Rock City” contributors Gene Schmidt, Jody Velletta, Shawn Przybylak, Nat Peace, Joe Teresi, and Debbie Knight from “Buffalo Rock City ALIVE!” Newcomers to “Buffalo Rock City-II” are Buffalo’s Larry Kremer, Kylie Velletta, and Valentino Rockgod, plus international favorites; these are players who’ve toured and recorded with Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley, Alice Cooper, Motley Crue, Accept, the Hollywood Vampires, Ozzy Osbourne, Journey, the Plasmatics, the Ramones, Lillian Axe, Stryper, Tesla, Winger, Yngwie Malmsteen, Sons of Apollo, Hardline, Alcatrazz, Warlock, Mr. Big, Winery Dogs, and David Lee Roth. The “Love for Sale” single was mixed by Rochester native, C.Wood (Alicia Keys, Justin Timberlake, Rascal Flatts, Kenny Wayne Shepherd….).

The release date of May 3 for “Love for Sale” is significant, as it marks the 2 year anniversary of the passing of singer Phil Naro. A Rochester native, Phil was best known as the lead singer of Buffalo’s Talas (Version 2 aka “V2”), which toured with many top hard rock attractions, including Anthrax, White Lion, Quiet Riot, and Iron Maiden. Phil was also the lead singer for CRISS, the solo band of the original drummer from KISS. Naro wrote songs, performed, and recorded with CRISS in the early 1990s, but left the group prior to the release of their sole record in 1994.

One of the CRISS songs Phil contributed to was "Love for Sale." He eventually recorded an unrefined version of the song in the late 1990s. This forgetten gem was finally remembered by Phil's bandmates from Talas – bassist Billy Sheehan, drummer Mark Miller & guitarist Kire Najdovski; they recorded their new version of “Love for Sale” for "Buffalo Rock City II" as a dedication to the memory and legacy of Phil Naro. Though he doesn’t appear on this song, Journey’s drummer, Deen Castronovo suggested vocalist Jeff Scott Soto (Yngwie Malmsteen, Journey, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and Sons of Apollo with Billy Sheehan) to sing for the song. (Deen plays on another song on "Buffalo Rock City II"!)
.
Watch the YouTube teaser clip, with a foreword from surviving members of Talas (V2):

https://youtu.be/COpm4mIA5Yk

All proceeds from the single and the forthcoming album will go to the Maria Love Convalescent Fund, a Buffalo-based charity, which provides interim financial assistance for the people in the community with convalescent care needs.

For more information, go to: www.BuffaloRockCity.com.

“Once in a Lifetime” 1980s Rock Novel by Suzanne Mattaboni

“This is a book that’s going to make you dive into your childhood once again.”

 –Paul & Erika, “That Aged Well” Podcast

 

 

The future classic, “Once in a Lifetime” by Suzanne Mattaboni is finding its place in the sun, especially with lovers of 1980s music. The novel, with chapters named after 1980s favorites like “Melt With You” or “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” follows emerging artist Jessica artist impatiently biding her time waiting tables along the Delaware Canal, is set loose in a world where women were finally told they could “have it all.” Her journey includes romance with a steamy new wave guitarist that threatens to derail her dream as an artist. She and her three avant-garde, postpunk college girl friends look for love, adventures, and tuition money during a wild, 1980s summer.  

 

“Once in a Lifetime” takes place mainly in New Hope, PA, a progressive town that hosts punk boutiques, frantic restaurant kitchens, moody bars, buzzing late-night sidewalks, and volatile club performers, as well out of towners from New York City!   

 

It’s a story in which the characters define themselves by either loving or despising Madonna! There’s lots of pop-culture, from MTV videos, rubber jelly shoes, and slam dancers, to the looming fear of AIDS, and—of course—mohawk hairstyles!

 

“Once in a Lifetime” has won awards: an “IPPY” (Independent Publisher Book Award, Bronze, General Fiction), an International Book Award (Finalist, Best New Fiction), The London Book Festival (Runner’s Up, General Fiction), The Paris Book Festival (Honorable Mention, General Fiction), The Pencraft Awards (Runner-up, Women’s Fiction) and the BookFest Awards (Second Place, Romantic Comedy). Kirkus Reviews called “Once in a Lifetime” an “ebullient and engaging story of youthful longing and independence” and a “starry-eyed coming-of-age tale.”

 

Born in Long Island, attending college at the University of Pittsburgh, Suzanne Mattaboni was named one of the Lehigh Valley Business Journal’s “2022 Women of Influence.”  She’s a Pushcart Prize-nominated fiction writer, Newsweek Expert Forum contributor, blogger, essayist, and corporate PR consultant. A former community service reporter for Newsday, her work has been published in Seventeen, Parents, Child, The Huffington Post, Mysterious Ways, Guideposts, and the “Chicken Soup for the Soul” series. She is also a host of The Banzai Retro Club podcasts, focusing on pop-culture of the 1970s, ‘80s, & ‘90s. Suzanne is available for interviews, articles, guest posts, Q&As, and commentary.  

 

“Once in a Lifetime” is available on Amazon in print and e-book versions.

 

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Amazon author page  https://www.amazon.com/stores/Suzanne-Mattaboni/author/B09NP3P2B1?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

 

Meet Singer-Songwriter Doctor Fish

Former College Professor/Sideman Debut Album “The Last Troubadour”

“When I was younger, I had it figured out. I clearly understood what life was all about. But life, of course, knew better and had its way with me. You know that I’m still standing, just not where I thought I’d be.” So sings Doctor Fish in “Tuesday Morning,” from his debut with Renaissance Records, The Last Troubadour.

Doctor Fish’s songs reveal a proud musical throwback—a guitar-wielding, storytelling, folk-rock singer-songwriter. No fake retro act: he is one of the last surviving purveyors of that style from the era of its originators, Jim Croce, Harry Chapin, James Taylor, and Cat Stevens.

Vents Magazine heralds The Last Troubadour as “One of the best albums we’ve heard in ages.” “Rock History Music” Vlogger John Beaudin thanks Doctor Fish “for making me stare at the speaker for the first time in years. We need more music that makes us stop in our tracks. Top shelf.”

Produced by multi-platinum veteran David Kershenbaum, the album features bassist Leland Sklar (James Taylor, Jackson Browne, and Carole King) and drummer Denny Fongheiser (Heart, Counting Crows, and Shawn Colvin), along with other top studio musicians from around the world.

Doctor Fish’s music reveals a particular affinity to that of Harry Chapin. The late singer-songwriter inspired one of his most popular songs, “Harry Chapin (Every Monday Night)." Harry’s son Jason has called it “a great tribute to my father,” and Fish has given several interviews with Jen Chapin about her father’s legacy.

Doctor Fish pens story songs in a folk-rock style like the late activist songwriters, but his syncopated melodies and rich chord progressions also reveal his background as a jazz musician.

He grew up playing saxophone and backed legends, including Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra. “But I wound up taking a sharp left turn,” he laughs. “I picked up a guitar and began writing and singing songs.” He continued songwriting and earned his Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from the University of Michigan. He went to Japan to conduct doctoral fieldwork for three years by studying with the 4th generation master of Shinto music and returned to live in the country, working as a translator and editor.

Fish’s journey brought him to North Carolina, where he built a music education program for popular music studies at Catawba College. He helped students advance to successful careers in many parts of the music industry, from performance to major talent agencies. Now living in Durham, NC, he is pursuing his own interrupted goals as a performer.

Renaissance Records US, the label that's released his newest album, "The Last Troubadour," is extremely enthusiastic about the collaboration. John Edwards, President of Renaissance Records US, stated, "We are proud to welcome Doctor Fish to our roster of exceptional artists. Doctor Fish's musical talent and unique perspective make him an extraordinary addition to the label. We look forward to supporting his artistic journey and sharing his music with the world."

“Arizona Skies” and the other songs from Doctor Fish’s Renaissance Records debut, The Last Troubadour, are available on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and his website, https://doctor.fish as well as Doctor Fish - The Last Troubadour CD – RenaissanceRecordsUS.

 

Joe Deninzon Joins Kansas (press release issued in May by ChipsterPR)

ATLANTA, GA – May 25, 2023 - The band KANSAS is excited to announce the addition of violinist/guitarist Joe Deninzon to the band. He is replacing the departing David Ragsdale.

Joe Deninzon has been hailed by critics as “The Jimi Hendrix of the Violin,” because of his innovative style on the “Viper” seven-string electric violin. Joe is the lead singer and violinist for the progressive rock band, Stratospheerius, which has just released their 6th album, “Behind the Curtain (Live at ProgStock).” He can be heard on over a hundred albums and jingles as a violinist and string arranger.

Deninzon has performed and/or recorded with the Who, Bruce Springsteen, 50 Cent, Sheryl Crow, Ritchie Blackmore, Alex Skolnick, Smokey Robinson, Les Paul, Peter Criss from KISS, Michael Sadler, Renaissance with Annie Haslam, Kurt Elling, and as a soloist with Jazz at Lincoln Center and the New York City Ballet. A BMI Composer’s Grant recipient and winner of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, he has written solo works for violinist Rachel Barton Pine, and in 2015, premiered his Electric Violin Concerto with the Muncie Symphony Orchestra.

Joe holds a Bachelors degree in Violin Performance from Indiana University and a Masters in Jazz Violin From Manhattan School of music.

KANSAS original member and drummer Phil Ehart comments, “We are extremely excited for Joe Deninzon to be the newest member of KANSAS. We believe KANSAS fans will enjoy what Joe will bring to the band. We are excited to kick off the KANSAS 50^th Anniversary Tour. As the paragraph in the band’s first album said, ‘KANSAS IS A BAND’ and we remain so to this day.”

Deninzon adds, “As a lifelong fan of Kansas, I am overwhelmed and humbled to have been invited to join this legendary band! I have the deepest respect for Robby and David and will do my best to honor and build on their musical legacy.”

Joe Deninzon’s first performance with the band will be in Pittsburgh, PA on June 2 at the Benedum Center during the premier date of the KANSAS 50^th Anniversary Tour – Another Fork in the Road.

A complete list of KANSAS 50^th Anniversary Tour – Another Fork in the Road is below. Ticket and VIP Package information can be found at KansasBand.com.

For more information on KANSAS and the Another Fork in the Road – 50^th Anniversary Tour please visit:www.kansasband.com 

Elizabeth Clark’s “Seeds Under Nuclear Winter: An Earth Opera” returns to the Widow Jane Mine August 26 and 27th, Rosendale, NY

~A community of 31 Hudson Valley Artists come together to recreate lucid dreams and spiritual visions through performance art and music~

Elizabeth Clark’s “Seeds Under Nuclear Winter: An Earth Opera” returns to the Widow Jane Mine Theater, on August 26 and 27, at 3 PM both days.

 

The Widow Jane Mine is at 668 Route 213, Rosendale, NY. The venue phone is 845-658-9900.  The website is CenturyHouse.org. Tickets can be purchased at www.centuryhouse.org/events-2023/

 

Composer, producer, harpist/vocalist Elizabeth Clark says “‘The Earth Opera’ has evolved quite a bit since it premiered last summer. We are deepening the story this year with an incredibly talented and expanded cast and elaborating upon the work with additional scenes, songs, and dreams.” 

 

“Seeds Under Nuclear Winter: An Earth Opera” is a recreation of spiritual visions, dreams, and stories through world and sacred music, performance art, movement, and light experiments, shared within an immersive and multi-sensory community experience. The theme centers on “finding light and beauty in the darkest times, remembering how connected we all are to each other” says Elizabeth Clark, who wrote the opera while living in a tiny artists cottage in the forest at Byrdcliffe Arts Colony, Woodstock NY from 2019-2022.

 

Using world and modern sacred music, “Seeds Under Nuclear Winter” offers sounds and visions of otherworldly realms that unfold in a non-linear and timeless path, similar to the way we dream. Ms. Clark's “Earth Opera” combines an immersive experience from many creative disciplines including music, performance art, and movement, as well as experiments with light and audience interaction.

 

The “Earth Opera” includes an ensemble of 31 incredibly diverse Hudson Valley musicians, dancers, choreographers, actors, visual and performance artists. Elizabeth orchestrated the score for a world music “pit” orchestra of harps, piano, ethereal choral voices, Native American/Andean flutes and traditional instruments, Indonesian gamelan, chamber strings, drones and harmoniums, hammered dulcimer, French horn, waterphone, gongs, and frame drums.

 

Over 500 people attended performances of “Seeds Under Nuclear Winter: An Earth Opera” in 2022. Clark wrote the opera to be performed site-specifically within the Widow Jane Mine and describes the space as “ ….A pre-built post-apocalyptic set, complete with its own microclimate. It’s like being in an earth womb.”

 

Audiences praised: “So beautiful, transcendent, and healing" and “Sacred moments of pain and hope for the light....a celebration of our universal humanity. You took us on a journey."  

Noted author, playwright/director, and poet IONE (creative partner/spouse of composer Pauline Oliveros) writes: “A gifted harpist and vocalist, Elizabeth has created a rich, mythic tableau that brings forth potent musical stories, revealing the needs and longings of an entire community.” Woodstock-area Renaissance man (musician, archivist, writer) Robert Burke Warren said the show was “Breathtaking... Truly transcendent, moving, like a very intense dream from which I did not wish to awaken. It put me directly in touch with that part of me: the dreaming part, the deeper, truer part.”

 

 Financial support comes from a Community Arts Grant through Arts Mid-Hudson, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, in community partnership/fiscally-sponsored by the Ministry of Maat.   

 

ELIZABETH CLARK is a composer, harpist, pianist, vocalist, healing artist and humanitarian native to the Hudson Valley region. Bringing together elements of early, sacred, and world music with contemporary minimalism, she creates modern-day sacred music for world instruments and voices. Performing solo as well as with her ever-evolving world music project ‘Mamalama’, she employs interdisciplinary art forms in performance, exploring music as a form of sung prayer and a way of healing.  An artist-in-residence at Byrdcliffe Artists Colony from 2019-2022 where she composed and developed "Seeds Under Nuclear Winter: An Earth Opera", she also performs at many theaters, festivals, retreat centers,  and sanctuaries throughout North America including The Omega Institute, Chapel of Sacred Mirrors (CoSM), Kripalu Center for Yoga, Deep Listening Space, and at the United Nations. She has composed music for film, dance, and puppet theater. Elizabeth is also a composer/songwriter with the Hudson Valley non-profit organization Sagearts, collaborating on many original, life-reflective songs with local elders. Her musical work with elderly Holocaust survivors is part of the 2022 documentary PBS Special “We Remember: Songs of Survivors.”   www.mamalamamusic.com

JETHRO TULL “The Seven Decades” Summer/Fall 2023 U.S. Tour

 

Jethro Tull live, photo by Nick Harrison 

Legendary rock band JETHRO TULL has announced "The Seven Decades" tour. Led by Ian Anderson, the concert will feature a rich collection of the best-known JETHRO TULL repertoire from 1968 to date. Fans will recognize the key songs from the band’s rich heritage.  These are songs which put JETHRO TULL and Ian Anderson on the map during these seven decades. "The Seven Decades" tour will hit the U.S. from August through November, with stops in the Midwest (Chicago, Indianapolis, Dayton, Cincinnati, Northern Virginia), in California (San Diego, Los Angeles, Lincoln, Saratoga, Santa Rosa), and the Northeast (New Hampshire, Boston, Uncasville, New York City, Port Chester, Albany).

Tickets to all shows are now on sale. Visit jethrotull.com/tour-dates/ for ticket links to all shows.

JETHRO TULL’s  23rd studio album, "RökFlöte" is now out on all streaming media and in stores via Inside Out Music. Following 2022's "The Zealot Gene," the group's first LP in two decades, Anderson and his bandmates’ new 12-track record is based on the characters and roles of some of the principal gods of old Norse mythology, and exploring the "RökFlöte" — rock flute — which JETHRO TULL has made iconic.

With more than 30 albums to their credit and sales totaling more than 60 million, JETHRO TULL are one of the most successful rock bands of all-time with a catalog that contains classics that still resonate today. Led by Anderson, TULL continue to tour throughout the world, entertaining audiences of all ages.

The band consists of:
Ian Anderson - Concert and Alto flutes, Flute d'Amour, Irish whistle and vocals
David Goodier - Bass
John O'Hara - Piano, keyboards and Hammond Organ
Scott Hammond - Drums
Joe Parrish-James - Electric and acoustic guitars, mandolin

Tour dates:
Aug. 18 - Ravinia Festival - Highland Park, IL
Aug. 19 - TCU Amphitheater at White River State Park - Indianapolis, IN
Aug. 20 - Rose Music Center at The Heights - Huber Heights, OH
Aug. 22 - PNC Pavilion at Riverbend - Cincinnati, OH
Aug. 24 - Wolf Trap - Vienna, VA
Sep. 26 - The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park - San Diego, CA
Sep. 27 - Greek Theatre - Los Angeles, CA
Sep. 29 - Thunder Valley Casino Resort – The Venue at Thunder Valley - Lincoln, CA
Sep. 30 - The Mountain Winery - Saratoga, CA
Oct. 01 - Luther Burbank Center for the Arts – Ruth Finley Person Theater - Santa Rosa, CA
Oct. 27 - Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom - Hampton, NH
Oct. 28 - MGM Music Hall at Fenway - Boston, MA
Oct. 29 – Mohegan Sun Arena - Uncasville, CT
Nov. 01 - Beacon Theatre - New York, NY
Nov. 02 - The Capitol Theatre - Port Chester, NY
Nov. 04 - Palace Theatre - Albany, NY

#63 John O'Hara — How To Be A Deep Communicator of Music

Coming this Saturday to YouTube. 

Jethro Tull’s keyboardist John O’Hara has a career in music and education.  It’s perfect for him to talk about his craft on #Bestmusiccoach