To celebrate 15 years of live progressive music under the banners of NJ Proghouse and its previous monikers, we here at the home offices are pleased to announce:
The Fellowship for Metlar House presents:
NJ Proghouse Homecoming Weekend – October 12th and 13th, 2013
TICKETS:
Full weekend tickets: $125
Single Day tickets: $70 PER DAY
CLICK HERE TO ORDER TICKETS (FULL WEEKEND)
SCHEDULE:
When: Saturday, October 12th & Sunday October 13th, 2013
Performing between sets during homecoming weekend will be Tom Brislin
Showtime 12:30 PM | 11:30 AM Doors
Where: Roxy & Dukes | 745 Bound Brook Rd, Dunellen, NJ (map)
General admission seating. Weekend pass holders will be able to retain their seats for both days.
NJ Proghouse Homecoming Weekend – October 12th and 13th, 2013
We welcome the following acts to the stage at Roxy and Duke’s in Dunellen, NJ:
Saturday, October 12th
12:30 PM: Advent
2:30 PM: The Tea Club
5:00 PM: Frogg Café
8:30 PM: IZZ
Sunday, October 13th
12:30 PM Tammy Scheffer’s Morning Bound
2:30 PM: Thank You Scientist
5:00 PM: District 97 w/ special guest: John Wetton
8:30 PM: Beardfish
HOTEL INFORMATION:
A block of rooms has been reserved for October 10, 2013 – October 14, 2013 at a special discounted rate.
Please visit this link to book your room and for further information:
http://hiltongardeninn.hilton.com/en/gi/groups/personalized/E/EWRBRGI-PROG-20131010/index.jhtml
Hilton Garden Inn Bridgewater
500 Promenade Boulevard
Bridgewater, New Jersey
USA 08807
Tel: +1-732-271-9030
Fax: +1-732-271-9031
BAND INFORMATION:
Advent
Perhaps a modern equivalent to the symphonic side of classic English progressive-rock groups like Gentle Giant, (early) Genesis, and Procol Harum, but with a little Tubes-style funk and the occasional jazz-rock flourish as well, Advent seeks to blend true classical-quality composition with the excitement and dynamics of rock music. Initially formed by the duo of Henry Ptak and (NJ Proghouse “staph” member) Alan Benjamin in 1989, Mark Ptak joined immediately after graduating from Berklee College of Music about a year and a half later. By 1992, the trio had already received numerous rave reviews for its growing collection of original demo recordings, including a sizeable feature in the original print version of the Gibraltar Encyclopedia of Progressive Rock.
By the time 1997 ended, Advent had been featured on a pair of Gentle Giant tribute compilations, the independently released Giant Tracks (alongside such talented co-contributors as Mike Keneally, Kevin Gilbert, and Steve Hahn) and Mellow Records’ Giant for a Life—and, as a result of securing a spot on the latter, Advent’s self-title debut was also released by Mellow shortly thereafter. Although attempting to get a live show up and running at the time, the task of building and sustaining a complete lineup became too taxing and the core trio decided to switch gears and start focusing on the next album by the end of the decade (and also recorded a piece for a Procol Harum tribute collection entitled The Best of the Whalers around that time).
Advent’s second CD, Cantus Firmus, was released in February of 2006. Featuring Drew Siciliano on drums, as well as a spectacular guest performance from KENSO’s Shunji Saegusa on bass (for the 18-minute epic “Ramblin’ Sailor”), the album garnered significant praise from all over the progressive-rock community, made a host of “top album of 2006” lists, and also received a stellar review in Guitar Player magazine the following March. Joined by Greg Katona on additional guitar and Benjamin Rose on bass, the group was proud to finally make its live debut at the NJ Proghouse in May of 2007.
Following additional performances that included ProgDay, MARPROG, The Bowery Poetry Club (NYC), and the North Star Bar (Philadelphia), as well as two more NJ Proghouse appearances—and the additions of the very talented Joe D’Andrea on drums/vocals/violin and Brian Mooney on bass—Advent is now in the final stretch of completing its third album with a release targeted at the end of 2013. The group is honored to bring its exciting new lineup to open up the NJ Proghouse “Homecoming” weekend festivities.
The Tea Club
The Tea Club is a band from New Jersey. The band consists of Patrick McGowan (vocals/guitar), Dan McGowan (vocals/guitar), Joe Rizzolo (drums), Jamie Wolff (bass/vocals), and Renee Pestritto (keyboards/flute/vocals).
The Tea Club was formed in 2003. Between the inception and 2007, they made several recordings, one of which attracted the attention of producer Tim Gilles (Taking Back Sunday, Thursday, The Fiendz). Tim produced, recorded and mixed their first full length album at his studio in Jersey City, Big Blue Meenie Studios. The Tea Club’s first album, General Winter’s Secret Museum, was released in July 2008. The album included original artwork by Dan and Patrick McGowan. The album cover was a painting done by artist Kendra DeSimone.
After briefly touring General Winter’s Secret Museum along the East Coast, The Tea Club returned to Big Blue Meenie Studios to record their second album in the Fall of 2009. The album was again produced by Tim Gilles, and featured guest keyboardist Tom Brislin.
The Tea Club released their second album Rabbit on October 9th 2010. Like General Winter’s Secret Museum, the album cover was painted by Kendra DeSimone and featured original artwork by Dan and Patrick McGowan. Rabbit was met with very positive reviews. The Organ ‘zine called Rabbit “excellent” and praised The Tea Club for being a band that is ”not afraid to nail their colours firmly to their mast and fly directly in to the face of fashion.” Indie Music Reviewer said that Rabbit ”can appease any listener of just about any genre,” giving the album 5 out of 5 stars.
They spent the rest of 2010 and the majority of 2011 playing many shows along the east coast, including the ProgDay festival in North Carolina. Reviews and articles about the band were featured in publications such as Metro Philly, Indie Music Reviewer, altprogcore, Origivation, and JUMP. The band also released several homemade music videos for songs from the Rabbit album. They ended the year 2011 by playing an acoustic show opening for Jimmy Gnecco of the band Ours at the North Star Bar in Philadelphia.
In early 2012, The Tea Club once again returned to Big Blue Meenie Studios to record their third album with producer Tim Gilles. Following these recording sessions, The Tea Club were asked to open for Beardfish on their mini-tour of the United States in May 2012.
The Tea Club’s third album, Quickly Quickly Quickly, was released on November 15th, 2012. Once again, the album cover was done by Kendra DeSimone and featured original artwork by Dan and Patrick. Quickly Quickly Quickly was met with overwhelmingly positive reviews. Dangerdog Music Reviews called the album “wildly inventive”, while Instrumentali.com said that “The Tea Club has taken the dormant rock beast and tied a choke chain onto it.” Conor Fynes of The Metal Observer had this to say in his review of Quickly Quickly Quickly: “Porcupine Tree frontman Steven Wilson once stated in an interview that ‘…the Mars Volta, Tool, and Radiohead. . .are the future of progressive music.’ I would like to add The Tea Club to that list.”
On May 18th, 2013, The Tea Club performed at the Terra Incognita Festival in Quebec City, Canada. This was the band’s first live appearance outside of the USA. The band is currently touring the Northeast United States in support of Quickly Quickly Quickly.
Frogg Café
Frogg Cafe is excited to announce their first live concert in almost six years! This will be the band’s first live performance since appearing at Orion Studios in Baltimore December 1st, 2007.
Frogg Cafe is a six-piece band from the New York metropolitan area making music that incorporates elements of Zappa-esque progressive rock, pop melodicism, and fusion jazz. Frogg Café’s music is also peppered with an appealing variety of other flavors including latin music, bluegrass, modern chamber music and avant-garde/experimental. Their energetic live shows feature extended flights of group improvisation that would draw grins from any hardcore jam-band fan.
The members of this unique group are Nick Lieto (lead vocals, keyboards, trumpet, flugelhorn), Dennis Lippe (guitars), Bill Ayasse (electric violin, mandolin, vocals), Andrew Sussman (bass, cello, vocals), John Lieto (trombone) and James Guarnieri (drums). Frogg Café studio albums also exploit the considerable talents of a regular supporting cast of guest musicians, who supply trombone, marimba, flute, and additional percussion to their colorful and highly textured arrangements.
All of the members of Frogg Cafe are university trained in music composition and performance and this education and experience is quite evident in their mature compositions, prowess on multiple instruments and wildly entertaining live performances. Frogg Cafe started out life in 1998 as band called Lumpy Gravy, performing the music of their hero, Frank Zappa. In 2000, the band changed its name to Frogg Cafe and started to write and perform original music.
This performance is one not to be missed as the band plans to perform tunes spanning all of their studio releases, including new songs from Bateless Edge (2010) as well as songs previously not played live in over a decade.
IZZ
Founded by Galgano brothers (Tom and John), IZZ has performed at numerous venues and festivals including RoSfest ’04, CalProg ’04/’05/’08, ProgDay ’02/’06 and NEARfest ’07. IZZ released their latest studio album, Crush of Night, on May 1, 2012.
IZZ’s musicians are talented multi-instrumentalists and adept at multi-part vocal harmonies. Lead vocals are shared between the Galgano brothers (Tom and John), while the percussion duties are split in a decidedly unique way: Greg DiMiceli plays an acoustic kit while Brian Coralian uses his various acoustic and electronic percussives to accent and enhance the rhythmic structure of IZZ’s tunes. The result is a fascinating palette of sounds and a bold statement in a genre where fans and musicians too often cringe at the thought of any kind of electronic percussion. Guitarist Paul Bremner brings his own emotional, virtuosic guitar work into the mix and, along with John on bass and Tom on keyboards, round out the instrumentation. The stunning voice of Anmarie Byrnes on lead and backing vocals complete the unique IZZ sound.
Tammy Scheffer’s Morning Bound
The adventurous trio Morning Bound is a new collaboration between vocalist Tammy Scheffer, vocalist/bassist Panagiotis Andreou and drummer Ronen Itzik. The three musicians have been an integral part of NYC’s jazz, world, and progressive-music scene and toured with their respective projects for the last decade. Scheffer has been working with producer Eyal Amir (project RnL) and keyboardist Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater), as well as a leader of several jazz and folk projects. Panagiotis made a name for himself as part of international touring groups Now Vs. Now and NY Gypsy Allstars, and Ronen has been an in-demand drummer for some of NYC’s most forward-thinking jazz groups.
In 2012 these performers got together for a casual gig in Long Island City and played as a trio for the first time, and the explosive energy that followed ensured many follow-ups to that first musical meeting. Since then they’ve played several residencies in the NYC area, creating a sound that is heavily rooted in grooves and complex rhythms, makes unconventional use of vocal effects and various percussion instruments, and is topped by unpredictable playfulness. The trio lives somewhere in the realm between pop, rock, jazz, and Mediterranean soul.
(Please note that Russ Flynn will be performing on bass for this particular show.)
In April 2012 Morning Bound recorded a video session for CongaHead.com and they’re currently working towards their debut EP.
Thank You Scientist
http://www.thankyouscientist.net
Salvatore Marrano: vocals | Tom Monda: fretted and fretless Guitar, acoustic guitar, shamisen, cello, vocals | Russell Lynch: violin, viola, mandolin, vocals | Andrew Digrius: trumpet, flugelhorn, trombone, vocals | Ellis Jasenovic: tenor and soprano saxophone |Greg Colacino: bass | Odin Alvarez: drums and percussion
Strange sounds brew in strange places, and Thank You Scientist is no exception. With “more hooks than an old tackle box and more time changes than a broken pocket watch,” the band belies their humble suburban New Jersey roots with a sound that is undeniably unique. Boasting a seven-piece band (collectively playing roughly twenty instruments) and a hyper-composed sound much indebted to the band members’ experience and formal training in both classical and jazz idioms, Thank You Scientist has been mesmerizing live audiences since their inception in 2010.
Dubbed “The Top Unsigned Act in the Tri-State Area” shortly after the release of their debut EP, The Perils of Time Travel, the band hasn’t slowed down a bit. On June 8th, 2012, the band released their first full-length record, Maps of Non-Existent Places, an album funded by fans from all over the world via a highly successful Kickstarter campaign. The album is a stunning collage of influences—progressive rock, jazz, fusion, classical, metal, psychedelic, ’60s pop, and world music all seem to collide together at full speed, and the impact demands your attention. A Frank Zappa for the indie generation? Incubus jamming with the Mahavishnu Orchestra? Mr. Bungle and Steely Dan joining forces to fight Godzilla? King Crimson and the Brecker Brothers serenading you at your bedside? It all seems so strange on paper, yet it’s sure to satisfy your ears in the best of ways.
MEDIA:
District 97 Featuring Special Guest John Wetton and the Music of King Crimson
District 97 Featuring Special Guest John Wetton and the Music of King Crimson
To fans of Progressive Rock, John Wetton (King Crimson, Asia, UK) needs no introduction. He has been regarded as one of the premier vocalists and songwriters at the forefront of the genre since the early 1970s. Continuing that tradition of forward thinking, John now teams up with District 97, one of the leading lights of the new generation of Prog Rock bands.
District 97 is undoubtedly the most musically adventurous Rock band to feature an American Idol Top 10 Female Finalist. With her fantastic voice, and looks to match, lead vocalist Leslie Hunt has captured the imagination of rock fans everywhere. Following a highly successful inaugural European tour, she and District 97 now embark on their most ambitious US tour to date. Their new album, Trouble With Machines, is laced with complex yet catchy vocal tunes such as “The Perfect Young Man”, which features a guest vocal appearance by legendary Progressive Rock icon, John Wetton.
John will join District 97 to perform this song in concert, along with a selection of work from his legendary tenure with King Crimson, much of it not performed live in forty years.
Beardfish
Call the new Beardfish album, The Void, the latest twist on a successful theme.
Launched in 2001, the Swedish quartet has consistently delivered quality music built for fans of ‘70s prog rock. And while the comparisons to legends of the genre such as King Crimson, Yes, and Genesis can only be viewed as a positive thing, it’s also fair to call them a cop-out for people that have only scratched the surface of Beardfish’s brand of music. The simple fact is that the deeper one goes into The Void, the more you’ll realize the band has an identity all its own.
“We don’t have a problem with people comparing us to those bands because, for sure, we grew up listening to King Crimson, Yes, and Genesis,” says vocalist/keyboardist Rikard Sjöblom. “King Crimson was one of the reasons we started Beardfish in the first place, but that’s not the only kind of music that we listen to. We always try to put our own spin or our own view on things. All four of us are music lovers; we’re into all sorts of music styles, which is why the new album takes the twists and turns that it does. It’s fun to be able to surprise people.”
With that in mind, for all the trademark Beardfish-isms–the jazz-flavored piano-led “Seventeen Again,” the dynamics-laden epic “Note” (clocking in at almost 16 minutes), or luscious blues-based “Where The Lights Are Low”–The Void also offers up a brazen metal-influenced edge. By no means is this the first time the band has cranked up the distortion and the attitude on an album, but as Sjöblom tells it, Beardfish hit a metal comfort zone on certain parts of the new record.
“All four of us really like metal, so it’s something that has been cooking for quite some time. We wanted to make a couple of songs that are slightly heavier. On our previous album, Mammoth (2011), we had a couple of songs that were leaning a bit more towards the heavier side, that were a bit more metal. Afterwards, though, we sort of felt that we’d chickened out when we recorded those songs. We didn’t crank the amps up as much as we wanted to, and we trusted other people a little too much with how the album was supposed to sound. With these new songs (“Voluntary Slavery,” “Turn To Gravel,” and “This Matter Of Mine”) we knew we had to make them sound like they do when we rehearse them and play them live. That’s not an easy task, getting that rough edge in the studio, but I think we pulled it off.”
Sjöblom is the principal songwriter in Beardfish, although there are a couple songs in the course of the band’s history that were written together. As with previous albums, some tracks on The Void were incomplete when he presented them and they worked as a group to flesh them out. Sjöblom is quick to point out that although he does the lion’s share of the songwriting, his band mates are the catalysts that make it happen.
“When we play music together it always spurs me on to continue writing. I don’t think Beardfish would sound the same at all if it was me and three other guys. Being the four guys in the band that we are, as soon as we play something it’s automatically the Beardfish sound. There’s a trademark quality to our music that’s hard to wash away. The new album, regardless of where we took the music from song to song, it sounds like us (laughs).”
Tom Brislin
“From a young age, I always knew that I would be a musician. While I was fortunate to have a clear sense of purpose early on, other decisions proved to be elusive. I loved so many types of music. I enjoyed writing songs and playing for other artists as well. Rather than choose one path, I just immersed myself in nearly every musical opportunity I could find myself in. Inevitably, the time came when I had to dig deep, put myself in a new environment, and create an album that reflected the different directions I’ve been pulled towards, both in music and in life.”
Tom Brislin is a musician, songwriter, and producer. After worldwide touring and recording on keyboards with several notable rock and pop artists, Tom relocated to Nashville, Tennessee from his native New Jersey to write and record his debut solo album, Hurry Up and Smell the Roses. The album, which Brislin describes as “Cinematic Pop”, was released in Fall 2012.
Hurry Up and Smell the Roses was written, produced, performed, and recorded by Brislin. The album features guest contributions from guitarist and platinum songwriter Clint Lagerberg, vocalist Annie Haslam of Renaissance, and Theremin synthesist Shueh-li Ong.
Influenced by his older siblings’ classic rock record collections, his parents’ love of jazz and classical music, and his own discovery of synth-laden pop, Brislin would eventually find himself performing in all of these settings. He has toured and recorded with Yes, Meat Loaf, Debbie Harry, Renaissance, Camel, Glen Burtnik, Francis Dunnery, and was the founder, lead singer and songwriter for the band Spiraling.
Music review site Babysue.com proclaims: “Hurry Up And Smell The Roses is a slick album chock full of intelligent compositions that shine a spotlight on this man’s unique gift for writing memorable melodies and smart pensive lyrics. He’s a master craftsman with arrangements…and he’s got a voice that’s absolutely fantastic.”