One of the greatest worship songwriters of all time continues the tradition of beautifully, woven worshipful lyrics with a pure, earthy sound that is characteristically Lenny LeBlanc. Making music for over 20 years, Lenny's newest worship record, "Love Like No Other," walks the listener to places of hope, times for surrender, and moments of praise. The record features nine new, never before heard worship songs written by LeBlanc, a newly recorded version of "Falling" and a bonus track "You First," currently being heard nationally on country radio by artist, Mac McAnally.

In November of 1970 James Taylor and Carole King first performed together at the Troubadour on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, California. Taylor had just released his debut album for the Beatles' newly formed Apple Records and King was finding her way as a first time solo performer even though by then she was a famous songwriter with a string of hits for other artists. When they returned to the club for a two-week co-headlining run in 1971 their lives were somewhat different. That summer Taylor's "Fire and Rain" was topping the charts and King's landmark Tapestry was on its way to making her a music superstar.

Thirty-six years later, in November 2007, James Taylor, Carole King and members of their renowned original band "The Section" (featuring guitarist Danny Kortchmar, bassist Leland Sklar and drummer Russell Kunkel) returned to the Troubadour for a three-night, six-show run to celebrate the venue's 50th anniversary. Those historic shows are documented in Live at the Troubadour, a special 2-disc CD/DVD. This remarkable recording, culled from these unforgettable shows, features 15 songs and 75 minutes of pristine video and audio including stunning performances of the pair's most beloved hits such as Carole King's "So Far Away," "It's Too Late," and "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" as well as James Taylor's "Carolina in My Mind," "Sweet Baby James," and "Fire and Rain," to name just a few.

Eric Tagg just released a new album "Time for a Miracle", a collection of rarities out of his private vault, straight from his heart to yours. Eric plays all intruments on the 10 songs and sings at his best. The japanese label Cool Sound will soon release the album as hard copy for the market but you can now download it via Itune, Amazon.com and CdBaby. 

Singer/songwriter Eric Tagg has been doing it for over 35 years, with three years spent in Holland, 5 years in L.A., and the rest around Dallas, leading bands playing all-original material as well as singing with Lee Ritenour, Don Grusin, David Foster, Bill Champlin, Joseph Williams, Abraham Laboriel, Alex Acuna, Nathan East, Larry Carlton, Harvey Mason, and many others. 

Along with handling lead vocals on four Ritenour albums, Tagg has five solo albums of his own, featuring the songs in his 400+ catalog of originals. He worked as a session singer in Dallas for over 15 years, then turned to leading worship in various churches around Dallas, where he serves today, a devoted follower of Jesus Christ. Not content with being merely a musician, Eric has worked on three books with Bible scholar David Eells, and even wrote his own version of the events surrounding the JFK assassination in his 1999 book Brush With History. 

Younger brother of Larry Tagg, himself a successful artist and bassist with the group Bourgeois Tagg and Todd Rundgren, Eric learned to play bass on Larry's rig, then turned to piano and keyboards, flute, and dulcimer. His musical heroes include, Stevie Wonder, Bill Champlin, Ivan Lins, Joni Mitchell, Todd Rundgren, Elton John, and Laura Nyro, and his favorite album of all time is The Nightfly by Donald Fagen. You can hear their influences in these songs.

Collectors Edition Live DVD "All Our Life" including all the classic songs of Alessi Brothers, with their brand new cd "Pure Alessi" featuring 12 new song is now available at alessibros.com

Jerry Lopez has been keeping a secret for a long time…at least from those who don’t live in Las Vegas. You see, since the mid seventies, Jerry has been the leader of Santa Fe and the Fat City Horns…one of the most proficient horn-based bands around. How good are they? Let’s just say they rank with horn sections such as CHICAGO, Earth Wind & Fire, Tower of Power and Seawind Horns. As lead vocalist and guitarist of the band, Lopez’ Fat City Horns play to a packed house every Monday, where half of the audience is typically comprised of musicians who play the many live shows in Las Vegas. In fact, all of the Santa Fe and the Fat City Horns band members are full-time Vegas show musicians themselves. With the release of their new album, WHEN THE CURTAIN GOES UP, Lopez and his Fat City Horns are ready to let one of the best-kept secrets out…and we’re here to help.

Inside MusiCast welcomes Jerry Lopez.

 

 "When The Waiting is Over", the out-take title of which was disputed between Robert Lamm and David Foster, at the time of recording this track for Chicago 18, is now available for download at BlueInfinityMusic.

Robert Lamm recorded this song with it's correct title "When Will The World Be Like Lovers?" on his second solo album "Life is Good in My Neighborhood" produced by Phil Ramone.

This original version features of course the excellent vocals of Jason Scheff, Robert Lamm and Bill Champlin without forgetting the incredible Chicago Horns section!!

Guy Penrod is in every sense of the word a man cut from the cloth of rugged individualism. Never is this more evident than in the tracks of his first solo country album project, Breathe Deep.

It's more than a collection of thirteen new songs. It's the creative thumbprint of a man with strong values and a positive worldview that harkens back to deep roots in faith and family. His well-publicized departure in recent months after 14 years as a centerpiece of Bill Gaither's celebrated "Vocal Band" was not a move for the faint of heart—nor for a man less sure that he's tracking on a right course set for new horizons.

With the launch of Breathe Deep, Guy Penrod will tell you he's not looking to change the face of country music. Only to bring a new prospective to its' best attributes.  And to the question—'is this a new Guy Penrod?' -there's a short answer. "I haven't changed a lick—I just wanted a fresh wrapper," he notes.  "I wanted with the new album to kick it out there in a little bigger pond. I believe that country is one the best genres of music from which to tell the American story. To me, music is a way of telling the story of every day America and a country song has the ability to tell a story with the potential for the positive.  Songs can literally become modern day parables on how to live life. In fact, there's a lot of 'gospel' on the thirteen songs we just recorded—not my answers, but God's way wrapped in every day language with a country feel." 

Guy Penrod is no stranger to country music. Just a country boy who grew up to become a major voice—first in Nashville's creative scene 'behind the scenes'—and later center stage as a major name in southern gospel.  During the early 90's, he was an in-demand session singer in Nashville working in studio with the biggest names in both country and gospel music.  TNN's "Music City Tonight" subsequently introduced Guy to wider national audiences as part of the vocal quartet that appeared nightly on the live 90 minute telecast.  "I got to sing behind some of the great legends of country music that I grew up listening to, as well as backing new artists like Kenny Chesney and Shania Twain at a point when their careers where just launching." 

With him for the creative studio process was veteran hit producer Brent Rowan. "Brent had a real heart and vision for this project and the kind of songs we were looking for. We believed there were great country songs that great writers were turning out with the same hopes we had of reaching the mass of people out there who want good country music that doesn't compromise their values. We found those writers and those great songs." "

Breathe Deep touches on how fast our kids grow-up, and how soon our parents grow old -and how precious those moments in between are.

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ASIA, rock’s first important super-group of the 80s - featuring members from Yes, Emerson Lake & Palmer, King Crimson and The Buggles – will release Omega, its highly anticipated new album of original material. The record is due in the spring of 2010 on Frontiers Records. 

Geoffrey Downes, Steve Howe, Carl Palmer and John Wetton, the four original Asia members, reunited in 2006, twenty-three years after all four had last played together. The much publicised reunion resulted in highly successful world tours, a double live LP and DVD (entitled Fantasia: Live In Tokyo) and an acclaimed studio album Phoenix in 2008 which debuted at number 73 in the Billboard charts in the USA and entered the top 100 in several European countries. 

Formed at the dawn of the MTV era, Asia’s first release was the best selling album in the world in 1982 and sat at the number 1 spot in the USA for 9 weeks, powered by the classic rock anthem, “Heat Of The Moment,” and four other radio hits.  Asia’s 1983 sophomore  album, Alpha, also went multi-platinum  and enjoyed several hit singles, including the #1 smash, “Don’t Cry”. During the recording of its third disc, the band splintered, and by the 1990s, only Geoff Downes remained from the original line-up. The reunion came to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the band, but morphed itself into an ongoing endeavour. In 2008, they returned with the first new studio album, Phoenix, which  had been strongly influenced by the fusion of talents and heritages that the band excited the music world with back in 1982. 

Omega shows a new renaissance for this amazing group of musicians, which seem to live up to a joie-de-vivre that stands the test of time. Begun during the summer 2009, the writing and recording sessions of Omega, immediately showed inspiration and good feelings. “We were looking to create something different with Omega,” says keyboardist Geoff Downes. “Of course, the sound of the 4 band members of Asia will always have a certain hallmark when we play together. That's a given. But we approached the song writing with a mind to getting a degree of variety into these compositions. Hence, you will hear areas of textures where arguably we have never gone before.” 

Adds lead vocalist/bassist/guitarist John Wetton: “Asia is an English prog-rock band with a pop edge, always has been, and hopefully always will be. Accessible, melodic, anthemic songs with great playing, luxuriating in a bed of lush orchestration, with lyrics that strike a sympathetic chord in even the most cynical heart. There you have it, Omega is a themed album in Asia's fine tradition, without the millstone of a concept.” Steve Howe adds that “the whole recording process has been inspiring and rewarding, and I’m very excited about the result”.  “I would say these are all strong individual songs” says drummer Carl Palmer. “It was a very smooth experience, and arguably one of our best records.”

For the first time since the debut album, ASIA worked with an outside producer, Mike Paxman (Uriah Heep, Status Quo) who managed to create a truly special sounding album with the highs, lows and lots of dynamics. He helped the band to put together a tapestry of sound, which demonstrates the rich strata of Asia's music.

Paxman was able to achieve this through the  songs which spun real stories of actual  events and experiences in locations around the globe. “The songs always have a message, hopefully positive,” says Wetton. “My songs are almost always autobiographical, so there is hope and experience in there, too. The lyric will never leave you on a negative thought." As with the most popular of ASIA releases, the cover art specifically designed for the project by acclaimed artist Roger Dean. The concept of the title (Omega), and the 'Year of the Tiger' referencing of the cover art underline the fact that this is real Asia. John Wetton explains: “The title 'Omega', as any fan of the band will tell you, is 'very Asia' (as is the album, by the way). It no more means 'final' than 'Alpha' means 'the first' (which it wasn't). It's a great sounding/looking word, and a bookend to 'Alpha'. In many ways, musically and conceptually, the two albums share commonality.” “We are embarking on our European tour around the middle of April, then straight in to Japan for the middle of May” says  Downes. “It's going to be fun working out the new setlist because obviously we have another album under our belt now with Omega.” 

After touring Europe and Japan, ASIA will embark on a US tour late in the summer of 2010.