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The Aristocrats (August 3, 2013)

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Who: The Aristocrats
http://the-aristocrats-band.com

When: Saturday, August 3, 2013 | 8:00PM Show | 7:30PM Doors

Where: Roxy & Dukes | 745 Bound Brook Rd, Dunellen, NJ

Cost:
Online Presale $27 (includes $2 processing fee)
Walk-ups Day of Show $30 (Cash Only)

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS

The Aristocrats

ARISTRObio

The word “supergroup” is tossed around a lot in instrumental music circles, the result of a seemingly endless supply of efforts to package together individual virtuoso players and make a band out of them. But every once in a while, the group part of that shopworn term becomes authentic and real. Such is the case with The Aristocrats – British guitarist Guthrie Govan (Steven Wilson, Asia), American bassist Bryan Beller (Steve Vai, Dethklok) and German drummer Marco Minnemann (Steven Wilson, Adrian Belew, Necrophagist) – who defiantly and joyously blow the supergroup stereotype to bits, thrilling audiences and fans around the world in the process.

Japan’s Admiral Yamamoto is famously quoted to have said, “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant.” Surely this thought runs deep in fans of The Aristocrats’ smash debut album. The band found recording works best when you can look your bandmates in the eye while thrashing out new tunes. Govan, Beller, and Minnemann did exactly that when each brought three even heavier and more adventurous songs to a Nashville studio last January, resulting in a new album appropriately titled Culture Clash considering their multi-national backgrounds. The new disc is due to drop in July.

This summer the world will learn Yamamoto was right.

Oblivion Sun w/ 3RDegree (May 11, 2013)

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Who: Oblivion Sun w/ 3RDegree
http://www.oblivionsun.com | http://www.3rdegreeonline.com

When: Saturday, May 11, 2013 | 7:00PM Show | 6:30PM Doors

Where: Roxy & Dukes | 745 Bound Brook Rd, Dunellen, NJ

Cost:
Online Presale $32 (includes $2 processing fee)
Walk-ups Day of Show $40 (Cash Only)

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS

 

Oblivion Sun

Oblivion Sun

http://www.oblivionsun.com/

Oblivion Sun is the brainchild of Frank Wyatt and Stanley Whitaker, founding members of 70’s Arista recording artists Happy The Man. HTM reformed in 1999 to headline Nearfest 2000 and they released their first CD in almost 25 years, “The Muse Awakens” in 2004. Frank and Stan recognized the difficulty in getting together to work on new HTM music due to personal schedules and proximity. They had amassed an abundance of material that they feared would never get recorded if they waited for HTM to record it. It was out of this reality that they began recording the duo project “Pedal Giant Animals”. The PGA project, with guest musicians Chris Mack and Pete Princiotto, became the seed for a new band…Oblivion Sun.

Oblivion Sun comfortably crosses many genres while staying true to their progressive roots. This is a band that’s not afraid to get downright funky at times and throw down some serious rock grooves and even improvisation. Expect a good deal of vocal content as well but fear not, this is still prog and fans of HTM’s lush arrangements will not be disappointed.

The ensemble features the compositional and performance skills of all four musicians: Stan Whitaker on guitar and vocals, Frank Wyatt on keyboards and reeds, Bill Brasso on drums, and David Hughes on bass and vocals. Together, Oblivion Sun have created a powerful, dynamic sound that is sure to satisfy all prog fans, young and old alike. The band has quickly established itself as a forerunner in the ongoing evolution of progressive music. In January of 2013, the band released their sophomore effort entitled “The High Places.” This tour-de-force maintains the band’s instrumental progressive roots while expanding their songwriting style. They plan to tour in the U.S. and are looking towards Europe in 2014. They have put together a live performance set that will combine music from both Oblivion Sun albums and some prime cuts from the Happy the Man days.

 

3RDegree

3rDegree_2013

http://www.3rdegreeonline.com

“You’re Fooling Yourselves!”, wails 3RDegree lead singer/keyboardist George Dobbs on the band’s lead-off single from the new CD THE LONG DIVISION-their first since 2008. This song-as well as a few others on the first half of the album-flesh out the band’s 2012 political treatise: that America’s political parties (and probably those in other countries) have long divided it’s populous on the basis of color, salary, sex, age and much else, have played on their fears, and have used their accumulated powers to build up largesse to keep their supporters in the fold. Ok, it’s not always that heavy, but the album was penned in the shadow of the 2008 economic collapse that was happening right as 3RDegree were releasing their first album in 12 years: NARROW-CASTER. While that third album was a combination of fresh songs and resurrected ideas from the period just before the band’s original breakup in 1997, THE LONG DIVISION is in the shared vintage of Tea Parties, Occupy Movements, shovel-ready jobs and banks and car companies “too big to fail”.

As with the last album, Los Angeles-based Pat Kliesch (guitarist/backing vocalist) would share ideas back and forth with his two New Jersey band mates: band leader Robert James Pashman (bassist/keyboardist /backing vocalist), and the aforementioned Dobbs. Using online tools to share and with all three proficient with digital audio workstations such as ProTools, demos were created and shared with new band mates Eric Pseja (guitarist/backing vocalist who had been working with the band since their 2007 The Reunion Concerts DVD/Blu-ray) and Aaron Nobel (drummer who was added just in time for the Live At ProgDay 2009 DVD/Blu-ray-replacing the departed Rob Durham) before going into the studio to record the foundation drum tracks. Songs like the Dobbs-penned “The Socio-Economic Petri Dish” and “Memetic Pandemic” would be shared with North Carolina’s ProgDay audience in their embryonic states, but all else except the live favorite “A Work Of Art” featuring Pashman on piano with Dobbs singing beside him-and the only track resurrected from the 90’s incarnation of the band-would be arranged later on.

After the big splash in small progressive rock ponds worldwide that NARROW-CASTER had made throughout 2009 with the Dutch Progressive Rock Page (DPRP.net) reveling: “It’s not often an album as refreshing as this comes along, and we should treasure it when it does…an album that demands repeated spins, and rewards every listen with some new revelation”, 3RDegree tried writing/demoing and performing occasional shows in Brooklyn (alongside Phideaux), Connecticut’s Marprog (with Holding Pattern), outside Washington D.C and Chapel Hill, North Carolina’s ProgDay (with Ozric Tentacles), but found that doing live shows once in a while was really slowing down the process of getting another studio album together. Stretching things even further, 3RDegree found that they were working on some tracks with another theme that weren’t going to work in this collection. Good news though: perhaps the wait for a fifth album will be a shorter one than ever before!

THE LONG DIVISION carries on the mission statement created 20 years earlier by Pashman and Kliesch in the infancy of the band when they would try mixing accessible melodies with the conventions of progressive rock to a pre-internet, cover-band loving New Jersey: no need to wax poetic here. Releasing a debut cassette THE WORLD IN WHICH WE LIVE in 1993 (with Pashman on lead vocals), 3RDegree then decided to step up their game in 1995, adding a world class lead vocalist in George Dobbs and releasing their first CD-1996’s HUMAN INTEREST STORY. After playing many live shows in the NYC area gaining little traction, the band hung it up, leaving much of a nascent NARROW-CASTER sitting on the cutting room floor. Dobbs would continue musical endeavors including solo albums, Pashman and Kliesch would work on projects together and a solo album each apart, but talk of 3RDegree was couched in the past tense until Pashman would make a video collection in 2005, putting together all the band’s music videos and performances onto DVD and arranging demo cassettes onto CDs. Discussion of the songs left behind bubbled under throughout that year until all original members met at a NYC bar after Christmas where it was agreed upon that the band would record again.

So while NARROW-CASTER felt more like a “comeback” album, THE LONG DIVISION is possibly a more impressive feat for the band: a fresh helping of tracks illustrating the band’s 20 year old formula need not be tinkered with for any perceived audiences’ expectations.

Jane Getter Band w/special guest: Meridian Voice (April 6, 2013)

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Who: Jane Getter Band with special guests: Meridian Voice
http://www.janegetter.com| http://www.meridianvoicenyc.com/

When: Saturday, April 6, 2013 3:00PM Show | 2:30PM Doors

Where: Roxy & Dukes |  745 Bound Brook Rd, Dunellen, NJ

Cost:
Online Presale $22 (includes processing fee)
Walk-ups Day of Show $30 (Cash Only)

WALK UP SALES ONLY BEGINNING 2PM 4/6/2013

Jane Getter Band

JANEBIO

 

Jane Getter –  guitar, vocals
Adam Holzman – Keyboards
Chulo Gatewood – bass
Cliff Almond – drums
Chanda Rule – vocals

www.janegetter.com
www.digital-nations.com
www.alternityrecords.com

Jane Getter is .. “the fieriest fretboarding” female ever to strap on a Stratocaster, .. according to Guitar Player Magazine.

She has played with many jazz and rock greats while garnering increasing recognition as a band leader and gifted writer and instrumentalist. Early in her career she toured with legendary jazz/blues organist Jack McDuff, which provided invaluable training ground. Her composing talents received attention when she won the ASCAP Gershwin Award for Music for Theater or Dance in the mid 90’s.

At this time she also recorded and toured with Michal Urbaniak’s band ‘Urbanator’; (featuring Kenny Garrett, Tom Browne and Lenny White). Getter then teamed up with writing partner Lenny White (the legendary drummer from Return To Forever), and co-wrote Urbanatorls smooth jazz hit .. “Hopscotch” along with other compositions which were recorded on White’s Present Tense and Acoustic Masters CDs.  She then received widespread exposure playing in the Saturday Night Live Band.

Her debut CD on Lipstick Records, titled Jane, received worldwide critical acclaim. Jane’s 2nd CD, titled See Jane Run, was released in 2006 on Alternity Records. It was a powerful statement, featuring Keith Carlock, one of the most talked about young drummers, (who soon after performed on tours with Steely Dan and Donald Fagen), and contains the classic jazz-rock anthem “The Loop:’ Secret Code, a special guitar duet project with guitarist Bruce Arnold, was released In 2009 on Muse Eek.

Her current band consists of a stellar crew of New York’s finest- James Genus,Adam Holzman, and Anton Fig, and are featured on her new release, three, on Digital Nations and Alternity Records.

Jane has appeared in Guitar Player Magazine regularly, most recently in a special feature interview in the February 2013 issue. She has also written instructional
articles for Guitar Player’s “Sessions” section.

Other great artists Jane has recorded or performed with include Ursa Ia Dudziak, The Roots The Jam, Jaimoe (Allman Brothers Band drummer), Kenny Garrett, legendary Headhunters drummer Mike Clark, Cindy Blackman Santana and many more.

Her band can be seen playing in the New York City area and touring the U.S. She has also recently performed with her trio in festivals in Europe and the States, including Warsaw’s Guitar City, Austria’s Outreach Festival and the San Francisico Jazz Festival.

Follow Jane’s new musical direction into progressive jazz/ rock on her new CD three, just released on Digital Nations and Alternity Records.

I listened to Jane’s CD Three and thought it was really cool, and actually very progressive material! She’s got something special going on. — Steven Wilson (Solo Artist / Lead Singer of Porcupine Tree)

 

Meridian Voice

Meridian-Voice-Album-Cover

http://www.meridianvoicenyc.com/

Paul Briscoe – Bass
Rocky Bryant – Drums
Alek Darson – GTR
Lloyd Landesman – Keys

Meridian Voice was born when founding members Paul Briscoe and Adrian McCloskey connected with Keyboardist Lloyd Landesman via a Craigslist ad in 2007. After a search for the right guitarist, Randy McStine joined the group in 2008. The next two years were spent crafting their debut album, “Atypical Symmetry”. Released in late 2010, the album has sold well and received airplay on various stations around the country. Meridian Voice’s strength not only lies in its great musicianship, but its musical compositions. Tunes are tight and melodically to the point, with improvisations that key in on musical economy. Imagine Weather Report, Tribal Tech, Return To Forever and Jeff Beck mixed together to create a powerful musical experience. While a relative newcomer as a unit, their shows have received positive responses from their audience.

Individually and collectively they have worked and/or collaborated with Edgar Winter, Johnny Winter, Clarence Clemons, Bruce Springsteen, The Police, Steve Khan, Marcus Miller, Will Lee, Anton Fig, Carl Perkins, Sam Moore, Lonnie Mack, Los Lobos, John Tropea, Kings X, Billy J. Kramer, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Ellen Foley, Anthony Jackson, Andy Newmark, Mick Jones/Lou Gramm (Foreigner), Ian Gillan/Roger Glover (Deep Purple), Rod Stewart and The Faces, Jethro Tull, Squeeze, Michael and Randy Brecker, Lenny Pickett, Sean Pelton, Paul Shaffer, and many more.


Panzerballett / Consider The Source (April 1, 2013)

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Who: Panzerballett / Consider The Source
When: Monday, April 1, 2013 7:30PM Show | 7PM Doors
Where: Roxy & Dukes |  745 Bound Brook Rd, Dunellen, NJ
Cost: Online Presale $27 (includes processing fee)
Walk-ups Day of Show $35 (Cash Only)

WALK UP SALES ONLY STARTING AT 6PM

Panzerballett

pbbiopage

Panzerballett members include:
Jan Zehrfeld (guitar)
Joe Doblhofer (guitar)
Alexander von Hagke (saxophone)
Heiko Jung (bass)
Sebastian Lanser (drums)

http://www.panzerballett.de/

Panzerballett of Germany has just released a new album, Tank Goodness.  The band’s fourth release boasts guest appearances featuring, among others, Randy Brecker,and Mattias ‘IA’ Eklundh.  The music of Panzerballett has been designed to function as a perfect workout to highly develop, expand, and reinforce the connections between the brain and each muscle used for head banging.  Some have reported head shaking as an early side-effect that mostly, after prolonged exposure, develops into smiling and sometimes even rapturous laughter.

Jan Zehrfeld, the band’s mastermind, studied jazz guitar in Los Angeles, Graz, Helsinki, and Munich. He has performed with DOLDINGER’S PASSPORT, the HILLIARD ENSEMBLE and Peter Herbolzheimer‘s GERMAN NATIONAL YOUTH JAZZ ORCHESTRA. His hard ‘n‘ heady compositions are an innovative fusion of jazz, funk, and metal. Sophisticatedly interlocked funk grooves are combined with heavy polyrhythmic riffs as well as jazz improvisation.

Known for their energy, chops and humor, PANZERBALLETT has performed over 200 shows, including concerts with the CHICK COREA & JOHN MCLAUGHLIN FIVE PEACE BAND, KENNY GARRETT, BILL FRISELL, MACALPINE/SHEEHAN/DONATI and MATTIAS “IA” EKLUNDH. German newspaper Die Welt has described them as “faster than Metallica, more powerful than Motörhead, and funnier than Rammstein.”

“Panzerballett is the first band I’ve heard that really leads Music into the 21st Century!”  – Randy Brecker

“Very well done. Normally, I don’t like people re-arranging my father’s music but this was a pleasant surprise.”  – Dweezil Zappa

“What you are doing is truly innovative and refreshing, not to say ingenious.”  – Mattias IA Eklundh, Freak Kitchen

“Hart Genossen von ABBA bis Zappa – My favourite record 2009.”  – Bård Torstensen, Clawfinger

Some more band facts:
– performed approximately 200 shows in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, USA, France, Armenia, Lithuania
– 2012: fourth album release Tank Goodness
– 2009: third album release Hart Genossen on ACT (rank #25 German jazz charts)
– 2008: second album release Starke Stücke on ACT (rank #26 German jazz charts)
– 2006: first album release (self-titled)
– Appeareance on German television (WDR, 3sat, ARTE)
– Live appereances include ProgDay, The Baked Potato, Festival Crescendo, Rock in Opposition, MAI Nancy, Yerevan Summer Music Festival, Dresdner Drumfestival, Zappanale, Burg Herzberg Festival, Leverkusener Jazztage, Leipziger Jazztage, Baltic Prog Fest, Freakshow Artrock Festival

 

Consider the Source

ctsbiopage

Gabriel Marin – Fretless double-neck guitar
John Ferrara – Bass
Jeff Mann –  Drummer/Percussionist

https://www.facebook.com/CTSmusic

NYC trio Consider the Source defy easy description. If intergalactic beings of pure energy, after initiation into an order of whirling dervishes, built some kind of pan-dimensional booty-shaking engine, powered by psychedelics and abstract math, it’d probably just sound like a CTS tribute band. Drawing from progressive rock, fusion and jazz, with alien sounds soaked in Indian and Middle Eastern styles, CTS blends disparate parts into a striking, utterly original whole. Dubbed “Sci-Fi Middle Eastern Fusion”, the band’s music strikes a rare balance between cerebral and emotional, intellectual and primal. A relentless touring schedule has won the band a fervent following from California to Israel, with fans ranging from jam-band hippies and jazz cats to corpse-painted headbangers and prog geeks.

Formed in 2004, Consider the Source features Gabriel Marin on fretless double-neck guitar, bassist John Ferrara, and drummer/percussionist Jeff Mann. Called “the guiding light for his generation of six-stringers”, Marin channels the mystical fury of McLaughlin and Coltrane into wailing melodies, kaleidoscopic soundscapes and boneshaking riffs. With a background in classical musics both Eurpoean and Indian, and an instinct for avant-jazz and destructive metal, Marin’s hypnotic fusion of styles is ever unpredictable. Ferrara’s propulsive, percussive attack, equally suited to simple grooves and impossible chords, can ground the music or launch it into space. His madcap gumbo of slap bass, Indian rhythms, earthy minimalism and complex tapping constantly pushes into strange new worlds, whilst still dropping thick booty-clap beats. Underneath them lies Mann’s rolling thunder; dense rhythmic architecture built from pure swagger and bounce. Half double-bass prog-metal, half crackle-pop Buddy Rich swing, with African and Balkan swirls, Mann’s muscular, freewheeling polyrhythms are the engine fuel for Consider’s multiversal mischief. Even when not improvising, Consider’s music is always a conversation, a roiling stew of dynamic interplay. Each member of Consider the Source alternately leads and follows, spars and assists; in any single song, alliances are made and broken, bargains struck and divorces finalized.

Touring from coast to coast, as well as Europe and the Middle East, has not only earned the band thousands of fans, but has allowed them to perform with wide variety of well-known artists, including Victor Wooten, Wayne Krantz, King Crimson Projekt, Kris Myers (Umphrey’s McGee), Wyclef Jean, Andy Statman, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, Dumpstaphunk, Keller Williams, George Porter, Jr., Jeff Sipe, Panzerballet (Germany), Eatliz (Israel), Freak Kitchen (Sweden), Morglbl (France), and many others. They have performed at numerous festivals and events, including Catskill Chill, The Big Up, Burning Man, Sun Seekers Ball (Canada), Mid-Summer Meltdown, Rootwire, the NYC Fretless Guitar Festival, and the NYC Gypsy Festival. The band’s newest album, “F**k It! We’ll Do It Live” is available from considerthesource-nyc.bandcamp.com.

Thank You Scientist w/ Special Guests: The Tea Club: (March 3, 2013)

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Thank You Scientist w/ Special Guests: The Tea Club
https://www.facebook.com/ThankYouScientist | http://theteaclub.net

When: Sunday,  March 3, 2013 5PM Show | 4PM Doors
Where: Roxy & Dukes | 745 Bound Brook Rd, Dunellen, NJ (map)
Cost:
Online Presale $22 (includes processing fee) PURCHASE TICKETS HERE
Walk-ups Day of Show $30 (Cash Only)

Thank You Scientist
https://www.facebook.com/ThankYouScientist 

thankyouscientist_promo_big

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 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 releases 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:

The Tea Club
http://theteaclub.net

THE_TEA_CLUB

The Tea Club is an independent rock band from New Jersey. They are known for writing songs of an epic nature, comparative to the early progressive rock bands of the 1960’s and 70’s. They also incorporate elements of post-rock, alternative rock, and space rock. A major part of the band’s signature sound are the dual vocals and harmonies of Patrick and Dan McGowan, as well as their usage of unique guitar chords and chord patterns, often times played in alternate tunings. Patrick and Dan also draw nearly all of the band’s album and promotional artwork. The band currently consists of Patrick McGowan, Dan McGowan, and drummer Joe Rizzolo.

The Tea Club was formed in 2003. Between the inception and Fall 2006, they independently recorded four EP’s, one of which attracted the attention of producer/ engineer Tim Gilles (Thursday and Taking Back Sunday). Tim produced, recorded and mixed their first full length album entitled “General Winter’s Secret Museum”, which was released in July 2008.

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 (Spiraling, Yes, Renaissance).

The Tea Club released their second album, “Rabbit”, on October 9th 2010. They spent the rest of 2010 and the majority of 2011 playing many shows along the East Coast, including ProgDay, the world’s longest running progressive music festival. Reviews and articles about the band were featured in publications such as Metro Philly, Indie Music Reviewer, Origivation, and JUMP. 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 the recording sessions, The Tea Club were asked to open for the Swedish progressive rock band Beardfish for 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 to overwhelmingly positive reviews.

MEDIA:

 

Upcoming NJProghouse Shows

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Sunday, March 3, 2013 (5PM):
Thank You Scientist w/ Special Guests: The Tea Club
Tickets On Sale Now

Monday, April 1, 2013 (7:30PM):
Panzerballett / Consider The Source
Tickets on sale 4pm 1/31/2013

Saturday, April 6, 2013 (3PM):
Jane Getter Band w/special guest: TBA
Tickets on sale 4pm 2/4/2013

Monday, May 6th 2013 (8PM):
Riverside w/ Special Guests: Jolly
Tickets On Sale Now

 

Tom Brislin: Saturday 12/29/2012

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Tom Brislin
Tom Brislin

Who: Tom Brislin http://www.tombrislin.com

When: Saturday, December 29th 2012 2PM Show | 1:30PM Doors

Where: Roxy & Dukes |  745 Bound Brook Rd, Dunellen, NJ (map)

Cost: $10 Walk Up Sales Only

 

“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.”

District 97 & IZZ on 10/21/12

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Thank You! to everyone that came out for the show.
You may write your reviews in the comments section below.

District 97

District 97 (2012)
District 97 (2012)

District 97 is undoubtedly the most musically adventurous rock band in the world to feature an American Idol Top 10 Female Finalist. The band now returns with their second opus Trouble With Machines.  With her fantastic voice, and looks to match, Leslie Hunt has captured the imagination of the male-oriented prog rock scene. Complexity is one of the hallmarks of District 97’s compositions but the album is laced with catchy vocal melodies. The track “The Perfect Young Man” features a guest vocal appearance by KING CRIMSON/ASIA bassist JOHN WETTON. RICH MOUSER who has produced albums for SPOCK’S BEARD and NEAL MORSE mixed the album.

DISTRICT 97 was formed in the fall of 2006 by drummer Jonathan Schang, keyboardist Rob Clearfield, bassist Patrick Mulcahy and guitarist Sam Krahn (replaced in 2008 by current guitarist Jim Tashjian). The foursome from Chicago honed a no-holds barred style of Liquid Tension Experiment-inspired Instrumental Rock before deciding the right vocalist was needed to complement their sound; enter 2007 American Idol Top 10 Female Finalist, Leslie Hunt. With a look, sound and stage presence comparable to a young Ann Wilson from Heart, Leslie’s dynamic performances pushed the band into a new direction that forged a unique marriage between accessible, catchy vocal melodies and an adventurous instrumental prowess. She was followed shortly thereafter by one of Chicago’s finest young guitarists, Jim Tashjian. With this new blend of charisma and stellar musicianship in place, their live shows at festivals such as CalProg and RoSfest, and numerous appearances across the USA cemented the band as a force to be reckoned with onstage.
In May 2010, the band signed with Laser’s Edge, the foremost home of new Progressive music. Laser’s Edge oversaw worldwide physical and digital release of District 97’s debut effort, Hybrid Child, which was released to worldwide acclaim in September 2010, and went on to top many “Best of 2010” lists. Appearing on the recording is cellist extraordinaire Katinka Kleijn of the world-renowned Chicago Symphony Orchestra, who also appears on their upcoming Summer 2012 release, Trouble With Machines.
Building on the strengths of Hybrid Child, Trouble With Machines pushes the envelope even further, and solidifies District 97’s position at the forefront of uncompromising Rock music.

YouTube

District 97: Back in NYC-Genesis Cover
(RoSfest DVD Preview)

 

 IZZ

IZZ (2012)
IZZ (2012)

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.

YouTube

IZZ Live: Star Evil Gnoma Su

web: http://izznet.com

 GENERAL ADMISSION SEATING
Date: October 21, 2012
Price: $32 (includes $2 processing fee)
Doors: 4:30PM |Showtime: 5PM Venue: Roxy and Dukes
745 Bound Brook Rd, Dunellen, NJ 08812 (map)Website(s):
http:/district97.net
http://www.izznet.com