Over three decades as the innovative percussion engine of the Grateful Dead, Mickey Hart’s ear for global sounds brought numerous unpredictable guests to the Dead’s stage performances.

Hart’s 1991 release Planet Drum was the natural outgrowth of this adventure, showcasing his gift as a supreme catalyst in convening the world’s finest percussion talent for a dazzling collaboration - including Indian tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain, who is an international phenomenon in his own right. Zakir began his career as a child prodigy has gone on to win many awards, founded his own record label Moment! Records, and starred in two documentaries, 2003’s “The Speaking Hand: Zakir Hussain and the Art of the Indian Drum” and 1998’s “Zakir and His Friends”. Planet Drum was recorded in Hart’s Sonoma County home and studio, with the Dead’s legendary crew turning virtually every room in the house into a work zone for each musician. The album won the first-ever Grammy® for Best World Music Album, spent an unprecedented 26 weeks at #1 on the Billboard chart, and sells as a perennial favorite to this day.

15 years have passed, and the friendship and musical partnership of Hart and Hussain, which began in the early 70s with their world fusion experiment Diga Rhythm Band, has continued to flourish. Their 2006 Planet Drum reunion tour was immensely well-received and germinated the idea to revisit “Planet Drum”

Hence this fresh collaboration of tranced-out grooves, elegant electronic programming and hypnotic tuned percussion that is the Global Drum Project. Masterfully produced by Hart and Hussain, the Global Drum Project once again enlists the great partnership of Sikuru Adepoju (Nigerian talking drum) and Giovanni Hidalgo (congas), as well as Taufiq Qureshi (brother to Zakir Hussain) on percussion & vocals, Niladari Kumar on sitar, Dilshad Khan on sarangi, and sampled vocals by the late, great Olatunji. Global Drum Project will be in stores October 2nd, 2007. The ensemble will again tour the U.S. this fall in support of the release.

In addition to the Global Drum Project, Shout! Factory will be reissuing a series of catalog titles that will be made available digitally in October, and physically released in 2008. The titles include Diga Rhythm Band (One of the first “world music” recordings, a crystalline, remixed celebration of drumming and percussion featuring Hart, Hussain, nine other rhythmatists, and Jerry Garcia on two tracks), At The Edge (Companion to his acclaimed book debut, Drumming at the Edge of Magic (Harper San Francisco 1990), this exploration of the music of primeval man unfolds a serene soundscape of tuned percussion, ambient natural sounds, and guitar treatments by Jerry Garcia), Mystery Box (An effervescent, pop-inflected album, full of breezy songs with layered vocals by England’s Mint Juleps - and a vocal debut by Mickey Hart), Supralingua: Hart continued to push the “tribal space” boundaries of percussion and sound, beyond his Grammy-winning Planet Drum, with some of the same stellar guest personnel.

We are very happy to announce that echolyn will be returning to the NEARfest stage to help us celebrate our 10th anniversary. echolyn combines superb musicianship and songwriting with dynamic arrangements and dense multipart vocal harmonies making them a favorite across the vast progressive rock fanbase. Formed in 1991, the band self-released two studio albums and one EP before being picked up my a major label for 1995’s “as the world.” The band split in the fall of 1995 only to reform in 2000, returning with the excellent “Cowboy Poems Free” and a blazing (in more ways than one) performance at the NEARfest 2000 preshow in Allentown, PA. In 2002, the band was invited to play NEARfest-proper and debuted their masterpiece, the 49-minute “mei”, to an audience of 1,850 people in Trenton, NJ. Since then, the band released the highly-acclaimed “The End is Beautiful” (2005), toured Europe for the first time, and was featured at the 2006 edition of FMPM in Quebec. In 2007, echolyn plans to continue writing a new studio album which will be ready for release by the time NEARfest X is upon us. NEARfest is very proud to welcome back one of America’s all-time elite progressive rock band in echolyn!

Headed by vocalist/composer/drummer Tatsuya Yoshida (Ruins, Samla Mammas Manna),and possessing a three-woman/two-man band lineup, the Japanese ensemble Koenji Hyakkei has been described as a mutant cross between Area, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Deus Ex Machina, Kenso and Magma. The band have recently released their fourth album “Angherr Shisspa”, their first domestic release in the USA (on Skin Graft Records). It has been compared to Stereolab, Yes, Queen, Melt-Banana and “something so far off-Broadway it’s on the moon”. Koenji Hyakkei explodes with glittery keyboard lines, speedy bass/drum workouts, emotive reed respites, and operatic female vocals that take the listener from sheer exuberance to absolute apocalypse. All of this music is performed with superhuman technique in extremely catchy, complex arrangements, with an insane amount of passion and energy. Is it prog-punk? Is it zeuhl-fusion? Be sure not to miss Koenji Hyakkei’s opening set of unclassifiable, energetic music at NEARfest X!

Angra’s vocalist Edu Falaschi has recorded his first solo album. The project is called “Almah” and it relies not only on Edu’s talents as a singer, songwriter, arranger and producer but also on the likes of drummer Casey Grillo (Kamelot), guitarist Emppu Vuorinen (Nightwish) and bassist Lauri Porra (Stratovarius). Almah has participation of several guest musicians, such as Mike Stone (Queensrÿche’s guitar player) and Edu Ardanuy (Dr. Sin’s guitar player), among many others, and was mixed in Brazil by producer Adriano Daga. Daga has worked with many artists during his winning career, including Lenny Kravitz and Silverchair. He’s been awarded a Grammy in 2005.

Edu Falaschi wrote all the songs and lyrics of the album and recorded all keyboards and acoustic guitar parts by himself. Furthermore Edu came up with the guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, vocal and orchestral arrangements. According to him, this was his main motivation when figuring the new project out: “It’s a completely new experience. I was able to fully explore my creative sides as a songwriter, lyricist, arranger and producer”, he said.

Musically, Edu says that, even though the “songs are pretty different from each other”, the album is not too far away from the heavy metal genre that’s made him a successful artist worldwide. “My main goal when doing this album was coming up with something that would not focus that much on the individual musicians, but rather in the music itself.” He believes the Almah repertoire will work live pretty well too. “After all, we’re talking about songs with amazing choruses and exciting harmonies. I would say the melodies are really emotional and build an extremely positive atmosphere.” Furthermore, Almah revolves around a very specific concept. “It discusses our feelings basically”, says the singer. Almah is a so-called universe with a lot of different worlds, namely our feelings. Therefore, each person ‘inhabits’ and grows in his own world. To put it simply, some inhabit the world of greed, others the world of courage, hatred, love and so on. This is what defines the personalities of each one of us.

Each song from the album refers to a particular emotion. In order to illustrate that, Edu Falaschi approached different situations that were directly influential to the paths of history. “I am not willing to resume a historical study of humanity. I’d rather focus on why these feelings occur and what leads human beings into the reactions to them.” Edu also explains the true meaning behind the word ‘almah’. “In Portuguese, the word is instantly linked to the Portuguese term for ‘soul’, which is ‘alma’. The soul is the truest thing that emanates from one’s inner self. And that’s exactly the meaning of this project. As for the actual meaning of ‘almah’, some scholars say it means ‘purity’ or ‘virginity’ in Hebrew. Others sustain it actually stands for ‘malice’ or ‘perversion’, though. Anyway, this is the duality that inhabits everybody’s actual existence, two sides that form the whole, ourselves. The soul.” (Antonio Carlos Monteiro)
Tracklist:

1. King
2. Take Back Your Spell
3. Forgotten Land
4. Scary Zone
5. Children Of Lies
6. Break All The Welds
7. Golden Empire
8. Primitive Chaos
9. Breathe
10. Box Of Illusion
11. Almah

www.almah.com.br
www.candlelightrecordsusa.com
www.afm-records.de

El Dorado Hills, CA - Acclaimed American progressive rock legends Rocket Scientists have posted the video Earthbound from their 2007 recording sessions on YouTube as a precurser to their forthcoming box set release Rocket Scientists - Looking Backward. The highly anticipated release is scheduled for mid-October on the Think Tank Media label, distributed in North America by ProgRock Records. The video was recorded in the same Los Angeles area studio where Rocket Scientists recorded their earlier albums. The band reunited to record updated versions of some of their previously released material specifically for the box set.

In 2006, Rocket Scientists’ epic double CD release, Revolution Road, exceeded sales expectations prior to its November 7th street date when pre-sales orders catapulted the CD into a second pressing, even after the band’s eight year hiatus. Enthusiastic reviews appeared worldwide in publications such as ProgressiveWorld, The Doorway, Burrn!, Euro Rock Press, Empire, Strange Days, Sea of Tranquility, and Music Street Journal. The Sea of Tranquility readers even voted Revolution Road as the Best CD of 2006.

ROCKET SCIENTISTS was formed in the late 1980s by keyboardist Erik Norlander and vocalist / guitarist Mark McCrite. The two released their first CD Earthbound in 1993 joined by then - session bassist Don Schiff. Schiff quickly became a part of the band for their second release in 1995 Brutal Architecture, and the three toured in the US and Europe in 1997 along with drummer Tommy Amato culminating in the live CD Earth Below and Sky Above: Live in Europe and America. In 1999, Rocket Scientists released Oblivion Days, raising the bar on already high expectations. At the turn of the century, Norlander, Schiff and McCrite all worked on solo projects in addition to backing symphonic rock vocal icon Lana Lane on several tours around the world. The latest release is the band’s fourth studio album Revolution Road, a double CD released in the fall of 2006, their strongest and most successful title to date. In October the band will release Looking Backward, a 5-disc retrospective box set containing remastered versions of the band’s first three studio albums along with a full-length CD of new recordings and remixes plus a DVD filmed during the recording sessions containing in-studio performance footage along with extensive interviews and archival session video dating back to 1993.

See the video at http://www.youtube.com/rocketscientists

Unicorn Digital is proud to announce that HAMADRYAD will be opening for Deep Purple at the Bell centre in Montreal, Saturday July 28th and at the Pavillon de la Jeunesse on Sunday July 29th

HAMADRYAD who has just released their first Live cd on the 24th of June will also be playing at Le Festival des Musiques Progressives de Montreal FMPM that will be held on the 15th and 16th of September in Montreal, at the Prog-Resiste Convention in Belgium on the 13th and 14th of October and at the ProgtoberFest in Ottawa Ontario on the 20th of October. Please note that the work for the third hamadryad studio album has already begun. More details and a release date and will be announce shortly.

Meanwhile you can get the Hamadryad CDs at all good progressive rock stores, at www.unicornrecords.com/storehamadryad.html and www.amazon.com

Visit the new HAMADRYAD website at: www.hamadryadmusic.com

You can get tickets for both Deep Purple Concerts at www.admission.com

Unicorn Digital most prolific artist is back with its first live CD. Recorded live in 2006 at the Crescendo Festival in France, this new Spaced Out Enhanced CD contains their memorable first concert in Europe during the Unstable Matter Tour in 2006. With 4 Studio albums, one live DVD, this new Live CD is a great way to feel the intensity of the Spaced Out live experience. This Concert will be released as a DVD very soon.

Spaced Out offers a style of music where aspects such as rhythm, harmony and melody have been carefully thought out and composed with the goal of bringing this style to life. Through the well structured forms, the players are free to express their personality with improvised solos. In their repertoire, polyrhythmic games combined with modal colors form a unique music which is instantly recognizable. Influences from musicians such as Keith Emerson, Jan Hammer, Eddie Jobson, John Mclaughlin, Frank Zappa, Trevor Rabin, Igor Stravinsky, Sergey Prokofiev, Bélà Bartok, Philip Glass and many more have played a big part in the music created and produced by S O. The level of intensity produced by this instrumental music band is to such a high degree, that the listener is undoubtedly left spellbound.

MP3 Samples available at :
http://www.unicornrecords.com/mp3.html

RoSfest is extremely pleased to announce that CIRCA has been chosen as our Saturday night headliner for 2008.

The band is called CIRCA: and is comprised of veteran YES rockers from different eras: Billy Sherwood, Tony Kaye and Alan White with Jimmy Haun on lead Guitar have completed their debut Album. Capturing various eras of Progressive Classic Rock to create a dynamic new sound, CIRCA: 2007 is an Album of original compositions that defines a new musical chapter for the Band. ex-members Guitarist Billy Sherwood who performed on the TALK Tour (1994), and played on Keys to Ascension Volume I and II (1996/97), Open Your Eyes (1997), and The Ladder (1999), next is current YES drummer Alan White who has been hitting the skins for YES since 1972, keyboard player Tony Kaye was with YES when it formed in 1968 and he played on their first several albums and then went on to a successful solo career. Kaye returned to band in 1983 for the 90125 album - arguable the most successful compilation of the band’s career (and which yield the still-popular #1 hit “Owner of a Lonely Heart”) and stuck around for another 10 years and then departed again, and finally the quartet is rounded out by Jimmy Haun - a name many YES fans may not be familiar with but who in fact played guitar parts on the 1991 YES album “UNION.” as a session player

CIRCA: will be playing the entire new “CIRCA: 2007″ CD, as well as touching on special moments from every YES era !! 2 hours of non stop prog !!

Look for CIRCA to play the stage at RoSfest 2008.
CIRCA official website - TBA - Coming soon
Check out CIRCA’S myspace website and listen to the music.
http://www.myspace.com/circahq
Be sure to go to the RoSfest website and listen to tracks from the upcoming new CIRCA album
http://rosfest.com/Performers-2008/Circa.htm

The Rites of Spring Festival is pleased to announce Swedish art rock band Black Bonzo in their US debut as the second band on Sunday.

RoSfest is pleased to announce our first band for 2008, Black Bonzo. Hailing from Skellefteå, Sweden, Black Bonzo is a six piece band formed in 2003 from the remains of psychedelic band Gypsy Sons of Magic. They released their demo soon after forming, and their debut album in summer 2004. Their follow up album, “Sound of the Apocalypse” will be released June 8 and has already received great reviews. They will be playing the second slot on Sunday, and we are excited to welcome to the RoSfest stage!

Black Bonzo official website - http://www.blackbonzo.com/
http://www.myspace.com/blackbonzo
Be sure to go to the RoSfest website and view the Black Bonzo video
http://rosfest.com/Performers-2008/Black_Bonzo.htm

ProgDay 2007 is happy to announce the performance of two great bands on Friday night, August 31. LOCAL 506 in Chapel Hill will be hosting THE MÖRGLBL TRIO from France and KILL TIM’S GRASS from the US.

Led by guitar master Christophe Godin, THE MÖRGLBL TRIO first hit the scene in 1997. After releasing two acclaimed albums, they disbanded in 2002. But now they are back together again, as inspired as ever, and celebrating the release of their third album, “Grötesk.” Known for their virtuoso playing and humourous attitiude, this promises to be a reunion not to be missed!

Including Paul Kollar of St. Elmo’s Fire, KILL TIM’S GRASS creates a wonderful instrumental mix of symphonic rock, fusion and experimental exploration. Their first CD, “Lizard Ignition,” will be released later this summer. Join them as they play a mix of St. Elmo’s Fire favorites and new material from their much anticipated debut.

Tickets are $12. Doors open at 8:30pm and The MÖRGLBL TRIO starts at 9pm. For more information about the show and the bands, please go to the Preshow page at www.progday.com.

Yoke Shire has just put the final touches on a double studio album entitled “The Witching Hour” with over 80 minutes of brand new original material. “The Witching Hour” blends a combination of Yoke Shire’s most ambitious acoustic and electric material and achieves a new level of excellence that is sure to please old Yoke Shire fans and attract new fans as well.

The album is available now at www.yokeshire.com.