Mickey Thomas returns with Starship, band he joined in 1979 as lead vocalist. Who don't remember top hits as "We buit this city", "Sara" or "Nothing gonna stop us now"? A first single "Get out again" is now available on itune. Enjoy!
After UTOPIA (MTM 2002) and NOSTALGIA (Vinny Records 2005), SILENCE is proud to present you OPEN ROAD, the upcoming new album with the brand new singer Ben VENET (Jayhawkers)
Produced and mixed at PL17 Studio by Bruno LEVESQUE, the album is ready to hit the charts soon...
OPEN ROAD is made of 13 new original melodic rock tracks (from classic AOR to modern rock with a touch of new country).
With SPECIAL GUESTS: Valérie PAUL (Vocals), Aurélie NOGUE (Vocals), Thomas BISSOT (Lead guitar) Stéphane DELLEMMES (Lead guitar), Pierre DOUZAL (Lead guitar), Eric DUPRE (Lead guitar), Olivier-Roman, GARCIA (Lead guitar), Christophe GODIN (Lead guitar), Denis PAUFIQUE (Lead guitar), Kenny SERANE (Lead guitar), Vince VERCAIGNE (Lead guitar)
The album "Open Road" is due for a March 1st release and pre-orders will start sometimes next week at Kivel Records.com.
WORK OF ART guitarist Robert Sall worked out a track x track comment for the forthcoming album “Art Work” to be released on Frontiers Records on February 22nd 2008. Enjoy the read...
If you like Classic West Coast AOR sound with great arrangements as artists such as Michael McDonald, Chicago, Pages, Steely Dan, Toto, Kenny Loggins, Daniel Nelson first album is for you.
Growing up South of Philadelphia, it was almost impossible not to be affected by the music coming out of Philly. From the Thom Bell sound (like The Stylistics) to Hall & Oates. “I used to stay up all night listening to the local AM station on my transistor radio, hoping Mom and Dad didn’t catch me up past bed-time”
Daniel Nelson has been cutting his teeth on Pop, Soul and Jazz for most of his life.
“My oldest brother was a music director at a New York station, so I got a chance to listen to all the promo records from the late 70s to early 80s.. I heard great West Coast music like Steely Dan’s “Aja” and Ambrosia’s “Life Beyond LA”, and I knew I was going to end up in Los Angeles writing and performing this genre of music .”
While at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School, Daniel studied recording and production, and spent a Summer in LA working at the Bill Schnee Studio, where he met many of his heroes, including David Paich (Toto) and Boz Scaggs., and before long, Daniel had gone West and was playing in local LA bands and spending his free time song writing. Daniel also began performing solo, and won the open mic night contest at the then-famous Hollywood Palomino Club. Daniel also found work in TV, which gave him access to shows like the Grammys and Billboard Awards. There he met Kenny Loggins and Ambrosia’s David Pack. “Their encouragement really helped me finish the Mini-album.”
After writing about a dozen demos, Daniel was ready to go into the studio. “I wanted my music to have a more theatrical flair, so I sought out someone who was really well versed in arranging, as well as standard production.” Daniel met Ed Smart, who scored the music for the Academy Award nominated Documentary “Hank Aaron - Chasing the Dream”. Their first collaboration was the bitter-sweet ballad “Emily”, the two decided to continue working together and the Mini-album was completed. Daniel and Ed even co-penned the Soul and R&B laced “Madelynn”, a song about an obsessive relationship.
Ed brought many studio professionals in to fill out the sound, including guitarists Nick Brown and Allen Hinds, David Derge on drums and the amazing Vine Street Horn Section. “My music as a lot different than the stuff that’s going on out there right now. I really dig great arrangements, horns and strings, not just straight-ahead guitars and drums. I love great lyrics and melody lines, and I really think a lot of people want to hear music from good Singer/Songwriters."
Brand new online music company NovaTunes just opened up their new business. With artists like John Batdorf, Jackson Browne, Chris & Thomas, Kelly Dalton, Simon Lynge, Graham Nash, Crofton Orr, The Red Button, Leon Russell, Jack Sundrud, Allan Thomas and John Vester, NovaTunes are ready to take on the world.
Not every band can “pull a Radiohead,” but thanks to NovaTunes, it’s at least becoming easier. The Venice, California, based company has built the platform to distribute and sell music to a global audience of music fans in high quality digital album format. “But we take the ‘Radiohead model’ to a totally new level”, says founder & President Hans Veldhuizen. “In such a way that up-and-coming artists can also enjoy the benefits of the changes in music distribution.”
Many artists are experimenting with selling music directly to their fans. Veldhuizen: “World famous bands can pull that off, but it won’t work for up-and-coming artists who don’t have a big fan base yet. That’s where NovaTunes comes in. We’ve developed a model in which we leverage the fan bases of all artists on NovaTunes – the famous ones and the ones who are at the start of their career. By doing that, we add something very valuable to the model: an instant audience of music fans around the world, who are interested in quality music from great artists”.
NovaTunes embraces a ‘Hear, Like, Buy’ approach: users can hear each album in full and if they like it, they can buy and download it directly. Music fans can also join ‘artist networks’ where musicians and their audience meet. They can discuss music, write reviews and recommend other NovaTunes artists they like. This type of ‘social network’ is a great way to discover new music and new artists.
Music icon Graham Nash, who has joined the Board of Advisors of the company, is a firm supporter of the NovaTunes model: “The music industry is in dire straits and solutions are coming from companies like NovaTunes. The people at NovaTunes understand the internet and take advantage of it by creating a space for musicians to connect to their fans and to release new music instantly to them, wherever in the world they are. It’s a fabulous business model and that’s why I wanted to join in and help them and push them as far as they can go, because this is the future”.
The music on NovaTunes is sold in a new digital album format called the ‘DP’, which stands for Download Pack. Each DP comes with high quality DRM-free music tracks playable on any device. The package also contains printable artwork, with a bio, lyrics, credits and liner notes and an iPod-ready video.
"Orbit" is the new release by Neil Larsen with his new band, Robben Ford (guitar), Jimmy Haslip (bass), Tom Brechtlein (drums), Gary Meek (saxophone), Lee Thronburg (trumpet) recorded and mixed live during the performance featuring "Straight Ahead Record's "ALL LIVE" style with proprietary equipment. Straight Ahead Records strive for exceptional music, and unparalleled excellence in audio!
Neil Larsen is a composer/keyboard player from Florida that has been successful in several different fields. As a recording artist, he has recorded four solo albums, one of which was nominated for a Grammy. After teaming up with guitartist Buzz Feiten, they recorded two albums with their band Full Moon, and one with the Larsen-Feiten Band, which included the top ten single, "Who'll Be the Fool Tonight". As a session musician, Neil Larsen has played on over 150 albums, including three with George Harrison, three with Kenny Loggins (and the single "Footloose"), Whitney Houston, Jimmy Cliff and 4 albums with Rickie Lee Jones, including the single, "Chuckie's in Love". His string and horn arragements are featured on albums by Gregg Allman and B.B. King among others.
As a composer, Neil has written over 60 songs on various albums, including albums by George Benson ("Weekend in L.A." & "20-20" ), Gregg Allman ("Playin' Up a Storm"), Rickie Lee Jones ("Girl at her Volcano"), Will Smith ("Willenium") and Miles Davis ("The Complete Montreaux Recordings") . He has toured extensively with many artists, including Gregg Allman, Michele Branch, Kenny Loggins, Rick Springfield, Joe Sample and Dr. John and was musical director and pianist for singer Al Jarreau for eleven years, that included tours of South America, Australia, Indonesia, Japan, South Africa, and over 20 tours of europe.
The Eagles will start their new World Tour entitled "Long Road Out Of Eden World Tour" in March in London. The band (Joe Walsh, Glenn Frey, Timothy B. Schmit) and Don Henley will give 4 concerts in London at the O2 Arena: March 20, March 22, March 23 and March 26, 2008 which is a complete surprise for us that the band has decided to start their World Tour in Europe.
The Eagles have announced they will play songs from their new album "Long Road Out Of Eden" such as "How Long" (first single) and "Busy Being Fabulous" as well as classic hits: "Hotel California", "Desperado", "Take It To The Limit", "Life In The Fast Lane" and "Take It Easy." The Eagles have not been on stage for non-private concert in London since 2006 (at the Wembley Arena). More dates for The Eagles Long Road Out Of Eden World Tour will follow...
Roby Duke passed away (1956 - 2007). Kristian Nordlund has just sent us an email message to inform us about a very very sad piece of news. Roby Duke passed away December 26, 2007 of a sudden heart attack. 2 days before, Roby Duke was on stage with his son Brantley for a concert at the Calvary Chapell of Thousand Oaks, California. His last song was "I Shall See God". Among the different recording projects of Roby, his Christmas Album due to be recorded with Bob Bennett next fall won't be a reality. Roby Duke had been an amazing artist in the Contemporary Christian music (CCM) mood as well as a classic Westcoast / AOR sound.
Born in 1956, Roby Duke was a singer-songwriter, great guitar player as well as a producer. He grew up near the Mississippi Delta and was influenced by Jazz and Blues sound and artistry.
His classic AOR / Westcoast Sound gem is his album "Not The Same" (back in 1980) with such great collaborators like Marty Walsh and John Patitucci followed by his LP "Come Let Us Reason" (1984). More recently, in 1989, Roby Duke has a great CD "Down To Business".
"Not The Same" is well considered like one of the jewels of the Westcoast Music / AOR sound with the beautiful song "Promised Land". This LP (9 tracks) has been reissued 10 years ago in a remastered CD version with a bonus track: "You Love Me" (duet with Kelly Willard). Roby Duke will definitely miss to fans of our music.
More information about Roby Duke's career at his MySpace site, on his official website (Mahali Music) and at the official Roby Duke's family website who indicate us this video on YouTube that reflects the big talent of this artist.
Roby Duke discography:
* "Not The Same" (1980, SongBird / MCA) available at Amazon.com
* "Come Let Us Reason" (1984, Word Records)
* "Blue Eyed Soul" (1986, Word Records) available at Amazon.com
* "Down To Business" (1989, Good News Records) available at Amazon.com
* "Bridge Divine" (1994, Word Records) available at Amazon.com
* "Ghost" (2004, Masali Music) available at CDBaby
* "Relaxed Fits - A Casual Collection" (2006, Masali Music) available at CDBaby
Roby Duke
(1956 - 2007)
Rest In Peace
According to TOTO official website, the release dates for the upcoming TOTO DVD "Falling In Between Live" will be as follows:
USA: April 1st
GERMANY: March 14th
Rest of Europe: February 25th
JAPAN: February 20th
AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND: February 16th
The release dates for the upcoming TOTO Double CD "Falling In Between Live" will be as follows:
AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND: February 2nd
USA & CANADA: February 19th
"Stone Of Sisyphus" is the title of an unreleased studio album by Chicago, recorded in 1993 and to be released in 1994. Its original working title was Chicago 22, but "Night & Day" Big Band ultimately became the band's twenty-second official album.
Produced by Peter Wolf and set for release in March of 1994, Stone was to mark the return to the adventurous and experimental sound the band had established in their glory years of the early 1970s, with a modern refurbishing. It was meant to be a drastic departure from the familiar power-ballad mode the group had become locked into. Robert Lamm initially suggested the possible title "Resolve," but the band eventually settled on "Stone of Sisyphus" based on Bill Champlin's suggestion.
The soaring title track, written and co-sung by guitarist Dawayne Bailey, was based on Greek mythology - a man named Sisyphus forced to climb up a huge mountain with a rolling stone. Upon reaching the mountaintop successfully with the stone, he would be free of the curse. But the stone kept rolling down the mountain, thus he would have to start all over again.
Statements made in a June 22, 2007 podcast by Chicago member Robert Lamm indicated that Rhino Records will release the album in 2008. Stay tuned!!!
