After a little break we now would like to spread the latest news about ProgPower Europe 2009. We confirm the next band and can tell you that within 1 or 2 weeks more bands will be confirmed, including 1 of the headliners. We also are working on a complete redesign of the website that will be launched soon.

ENOCHIAN THEORY confirmed
We now confirm a new unknown talent for ProgPower Europe 2009, ENOCHIAN THEORY from the UK. Probably hardly anyone knows this band, but that will definitely change this year! ENOCHIAN THEORY is one of these new surprises you discover at ProgPower Europe, this definitely will be one of the highlights for this year. Be sure not to miss this very talented band, inspired by bands such as Rush, Tool, Porcupine Tree, Opeth, Dream Theater and more. Their performance at ProgPower Europe will be an exlusive gig for The Netherlands this year.

Tickets
Those of you who ordered their tickets already, have received a confirmation of the order including payment details. Ticket sales is going pretty well and so far we welcome visitors from Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, The Netherlands, Austria, UK and Australia. Check out the website for details, also package deals can still be ordered.

Full promotion will start early June
Compared to other years we will do a full promotion campaign this year. This means that we will spread flyers and posters at many gigs and festivals this year. We also will do some serious advertising and we finally will start with our street team. The promotion will start on Saturday June 6, as Dutch band EARTH PULSE will have its release party at Sjiwa, the venue for ProgPower Europe. Some of the CREW members of ProgPower Europe are musician in EARTH PULSE, so we thought it a good idea to start the full promotion for ProgPower Europe at the release party of EARTH PULSE. If you would like to visit the release party of EARTH PULSE on Saturday 6 June 2009 (when they officially release their debut album) just drop an email to rico@progpower.eu or jeroen@progpower.eu.

ProgPower Europe organization
http://www.progpower.eu
http://myspace.com/progpowereurope

QUI At ProgDay 2009!

In what has become a yearly tradition at ProgDay, we are thrilled to be able to bring over yet another quality band from the Far East! Japan continues to be a hotbed of great new music, and QUI is one of the best. QUI began in 1994 as a heavy fusion trio of guitar/bass/ drums playing music often compared to musicians like ALLAN HOLDSWORTH and BILL CONNORS. The original band cut a series of live-in-the- studio tracks that became the basis for their first release, “Prelude.”

However, by the time of Prelude’s release in 2006, the band had recreated itself as a five piece to include flute and percussion. The addition of flute really opened up the band’s possibilities and the expanded lineup pursued a more sophisticated sound, moving more into Canterbury-styled progressive rock territory. Last year they released “Qui” on Poseidon Records. The new music is often compared to bands like CARAVAN and CAMEL, though still firmly grounded in it’s original fusion roots.

If you enjoy fusion with a hint of Canterbury and plenty of improvisation, be sure to catch QUI on their first trip to North America.

ProgDay is the world’s longest running progressive rock event. The 15th edition will take place on September 5th & 6th, 2009, at beautiful Storybook Farm near Chapel Hill, North Carolina. QUI joins OZRIC TENTACLES (UK), MÖRGLBL (France) and FRENCH TV (USA) for another great weekend of the best in pr ogressive music! For more information and to hear music from all of this year’s ProgDay bands, please visit us at www.progday. com.

British band Tinyfish has been very busy for the past couple of months. Not only do they work on their forthcoming live DVD “One Night On Fire” but they also continue to record their brand new album “The Big Red Spark”. Some very interesting news were posted yesterday on the band’s forum.

Simon Godfrey: “I can now confirm that Mike Varty will be officially co-producing the Big Red Spark album with yours truly. I couldn’t mention it earlier as I yet had to ask Mike if he would consider doing it (…) and he said that he’d be extremely happy to add his creative muscle to the project. Mike has a real ear for arrangement and detail which is something I sadly lack (mostly because I am a lazy bastard and have my fingers in too many pies at one time). For those of you who don’t know Mike’s work, he has toiled upon on the post production editing and engineering for the Shadowland, Credo and Lanmarq DVDs, wrote and recorded the soundtrack for the film ‘Foiled’, toured as part of Mick Pointer’s ‘Script For A Jester’s Tear’ tour and produced albums by Janison Edge, Credo and now hopefully Tinyfish too.”

Recorded in Katowice, Poland on the 16th of February 2009, “One Night On Fire” DVD captures the band in their element and features material from their trilogy albums (“Tinyfish”, “Curious Things” and “The Big Red Spark”). The DVD will also include additional video material including interviews and a 25 minute documentary, which follows the band from its birth as a studio project, through the release of the first two albums, to touring and the recording of the new album “The Big Red Spark”.

Metal Mind Productions will release “One Night On Fire” on 13th July in Europe and 11th August in USA (via MVD). DVD will be available in 3 formats: DVD, limited DVD+CD edition, including bonus audio CD with songs recorded during the gig at the theater, and a limited CD digipak.

ROADRUNNER RECORDS ANNOUNCES SIGNING OF PORCUPINE TREE

NEW ALBUM OUT ON SEPTEMBER 22, ALBUM TO COINCIDE WITH U.S. TOUR

New York, NY: Roadrunner Records is pleased to announce the signing of British progressive rock band PORCUPINE TREE, one of the most difficult-to-categorize yet innovative bands making music today. The band’s music ranges from psychedelic trip-hop to progressive rock, and a compendium of other sounds in between. Porcupine Tree have already been a part of the international Roadrunner family; they have been signed to Roadrunner Europe since 2006 and are now transitioning to all territories outside Japan.

Senior VP of A&R for Roadrunner Monte Conner says, “Porcupine Tree have been making vital and important music for many years now but over the last few years in particular, that music has been reaching many new ears. Roadrunner hopes to not only continue that growth here in the U.S. but accelerate it and expose the world to the massive talent this band has. I am honored to welcome Steven Wilson and Porcupine Tree to the Roadrunner fold.”

The band is fronted by singer/guitarist Steven Wilson, who, in addition to his critical acclaim with Porcupine Tree, is also known for his work producing other artists, such as Swedish progressive metal group (and now labelmates) Opeth and Norwegian chanteuse Anja Garbarek. Porcupine Tree have released three albums through Lava/Atlantic: In Absentia, Deadwing, and the Grammy-nominated Fear of a Blank Planet, which was recognized as “Best Surround Sound” album in 2007.

The album will contain a 50 minute long continuous song cycle, along with three additional “shorter” songs. Roadrunner plans to release the album on September 22nd. The band will embark on a U.S. tour to coincide with the album hitting stores.

Below is the initial run of tour dates:

September 15 – Moore Theater – Seattle

September 16 – Roseland – Portland

September 18 – Warfield – San Francisco

September 19 – Club Nokia – Los Angeles

September 21 – House of Blues – Cleveland

September 22 – Vic Theater – Chicago

September 24 – Terminal 5 – New York

September 26 – Electric Factory – Philadelphia

September 27 – House of Blues – Boston

September 29 – Metropolis – Montreal

September 30 – Queen Elizabeth Theatre – Toronto

Kingcrow – mixing session on the go.

Kingcrow’s brand-new album is now at the mixing stage. The title has not been revealed yet.

Recorded in the “Sound Under Pressure Studios” with the supervision of Cafolla brothers the album will be mixed under the technical skills of Giampiero Ulacco and mastered by Davide Barbarulo at the “20Hz20Khz Mastering Lab”, located in Naples.

www.kingcrow.it
www.myspace.com/kingcrowband

Production work on the new Red Masque live album, “Stars Fall On Me”, was wrapped up earlier this month. The live album was recorded at Orion Studios on November 1, 2008, and will be released through RER USA. Details forthcoming…

Also, as an added treat, you may now download, for free, a new collaborative sound collage track by TRM’s Brandon Ross and guitarist/filmmaker David Pym. David is also wrapping up work on a new Red Masque video. Details also forthcoming…. To download “The Dreamtime”, please click here: http://theredmasque.com/thedreamtime.mp3

Enjoy!

The Red Masque | theredmasque.com | myspace.com/myredmasque

GARY WRIGHT ANNOUNCES SPECIAL U.K. / EUROPEAN
TOUR DATES WITH SPOOKY TOOTH

Also begins recording new full-length record

Coming full-circle in his four+ decade career, Gary Wright will be performing with his first band, Spooky Tooth, in the U.K. and Europe this month. The first date will be part of a remarkable week-long celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Island Records and its founder Chris Blackwell.

On May 29th, a re-formed Spooky Tooth with original members Mike Harrison and Wright along with guitarist Steve Farris (Mr. Mister), bassist Shem von Schroeck (Kenny Loggins / Michael McDonald) and drummer Tom Brechtlein (Chick Corea) will take the stage of London’s Shepherds Bush Empire, cementing the band’s place in the history of the storied label (which also launched the careers of U2 and Bob Marley).

British-based, Spooky Tooth’s place in the history of music is clear, as one of the most innovative, progressive rock bands of the late 1960s / early 1970s. Employing a ground-breaking twin-keyboard sound, the group hit their critical apex on 1969’s Spooky Two which included the song “Better By You, Better Than Me” (covered by Judas Priest in 1978). Other artists on the Anniversary program include Cat Stevens/Yusef, Keane, Paul Weller, The Fratellis, Ladyhawke, Baaba Maal, Sly & Robbie and Amy Winehouse. Full details are at www.island50.com.

Then, Spooky Tooth is on to Germany, to perform an open air concert on May 31 at Kulturelle Landpartie in Muetzingen and then theater dates at Muziktheatre Piano in Dortmund on June 1, Downtown Bluesclub in Hamburg on June 3, Colos Saal in Aschaffenburg on June 4, Alte Stadhalle on June 5, Tante Ju in Dresden on June 6 and Spectrum Club in Augsburg on June 7.

When back in the States, Gary will continue work on his forthcoming full-length record of all-new material. CONNECTED will include the single, “Satisfied,” which features Ringo Starr on drums. The new material will continue in the vein of Wright’s latest The Light of a Million Suns EP which includes a Hip Hop/R&B-infused update of the enduring hit “Love is Alive,” which first appeared on his seminal The Dream Weaver album.

Visit: spookytooth.co.uk | myspace.com/spookytoothband | thedreamweaver.com | larkio.com

Hello from the Open Sky Records office,

We have just returned from a great time at the Heaven on Earth event in Holland, where IONA played together live for the first time in 18 months, a set which included two great new songs written by Joanne. More dates are planned for later in the year - details coming very soon.

In the meantime, we have news of not one, but FOUR album releases that we believe will be of great interest to followers of IONA’s music:

JOURNEY INTO THE MORN - IONA
We can finally announce that ‘Journey into the Morn’ - IONA’s best selling album to date has now been re-released on our own Open Sky label, complete with great new artwork from Tim Martindale. Originally released towards the end of 1995, ‘Morn’ was one of Q Magazine’s top 50 albums of 1996 and one of their top 5 Folk Albums. Featuring many of Iona’s best loved songs (see the Iona website for more details) we are thrilled to have this landmark album back in stock after being unavailable for a number of years.
Available now from our web store http://www.iona.uk.com

CATHEDRAL OF DREAMS - NICK FLETCHER

We would like to introduce you to the music of Nick Fletcher with this, our latest release on Open Sky Records. Nick is an incredibly talented guitarist, improviser and composer of music for solo guitar and we are thrilled to have this release included in the Open Sky catalogue. As well as being a first cd release of Nick’s own solo acoustic guitar compositions, the album will be of huge interest to fans of IONA as it features Nick playing ‘Iberian Fantasy’, a 24 minute long Guitar Concerto co-written and orchestrated by IONA’s Dave Bainbridge and Nick himself. Those of you who bought our ‘Songs for Luca 2’ double cd release will already have heard Nick’s beautiful playing on two tracks on that album - ‘Silver Moon’ and Red Sun’. The music spans a wide range of influences from the Baroque era to Iberian, Argentine and Brazilian dance forms. Also rhythms from Eastern Europe and traditional music from the Hebredian Isles. Fans of the acoustic guitar playing of guitarists such as Steve Hackett, Steve Howe, Andrew Yorke and Carlo Domeniconi will love Nick’s beautiful playing. For more info please see the attached pdf press release. Available now from our web store http://www.iona.uk.com

Nick will be playing at Sheffield Cathedral on 16th May at 7pm. Tickets £7 (£4 conc). Contact: Tel 0114 264 9051 Email: nguitarman@talktalk.net For more info on Nick, visit: www.myspace.com/nickfletcherguitarist

THE MADNESS OF CROWDS - TROY DONOCKLEY

The latest epic release from a man who needs no introduction! With amazing fold out artwork from Tim Martindale that defies the normally accepted restrictions of the CD box, this is Troy’s third and most ambitious solo album to date. Here’s what Simon Jones has to say about it in his Froots Magazine review;

Troy Donockley delights in throwing people curve balls, so far he’s done it on two albums, the first “ The Unseen Stream,” was a glorious rush of pastoral influence and high, folk art, his second “ The Pursuit Of Illusion” more individual but way beyond any meaningless attempt to hang a label on.

Now we’ve his third opus – opus isn’t a word I permit to be banded about loosely either- “The Madness of Crowds,” which in my humble opinion is the most distinctive yet. It opens with the title track which, within minutes reminds you of either a soundtrack for a lost cut of “Lord of the Rings,” music for a high brow BBC 2 documentary or the finest concert hall symphony. All this and another six items to boggle your critical facilities! To try and describe everything would be futile, this man loves to play with sense and sensibilities, yet not in any ad hoc way more in a way that says ‘look I know this shouldn’t work, but let’s live dangerously shall we?’ Thankfully Troy taking risks is one of the pleasures that “The Madness of Crowds,” displays with pride, it wears non conformity like a medal of honour, there is nothing else like it in the racks and probably won’t be until Mr. Donockley releases his fourth offering. Each track shifts and morphs into new shapes and sounds like a kaleidoscope; for instance “Orkhaugr,” opens like a Bulgarian, dance before ushering on industrial sound effects and huge guitar sustain, melting into Arabian textures, then comes a gorgeous melee of Vaughan Williams pastoral influence and soaring moments of Gustav Holst, all pushing out to a free form coda of high octane rock’n’reeling. Truly this man knows no boundaries.
Troy Donockley is idiosyncratic, a true one off, somebody who doesn’t follow the rules, a benign musical rebel who enriches whatever he touches with a certain class and unmistakeable individuality. “The Madness of Crowds,” is pretty well unique. It will endure.

Simon Jones fRoots.

We can only agree!
Available now from http://www.troydonockley.co.uk

LIFE JOURNEY - DAVE BAINBRIDGE & DAVID FITZGERALD

IONA’s - co-founders reunite once again for another inspirational soundtrack to a book, taking up where ‘The Eye of the Eagle’ left off back in 1998. The music on this album was originally commissioned and conceived as an interpretation in sound of the incredibly inspiring imagery and prose contained within Mary Fleeson’s wonderful book ‘Life Journey’ (available from www.lindisfarne-scriptorium.co.uk). In that it has undoubtedly succeeded, but has also transcended the original brief as the unique chemistry between the two musicians that co-founded Iona has once again produced a deeply spiritual, timeless work. A completely instrumental album (apart from some choral samples), the two Davids came together and spent several days improvising as they poured over the book and responded to the words and pictures. Over the next year, these improvisations were gradually shaped into complete compositions which follow the chapters of the book. Dave B relates; “In many ways this felt like we were returning to the source of the inspiration that birthed IONA the band. IONA was born out of David and I improvising together during soundchecks on Adrian Snell gigs back at the end of the 1980’s and David’s mystical experience of God’s powerful Presence one dark night on the Island of Lindisfarne. This book was also birthed by Mary on Lindisfarne and much of its imagery is inspired by that amazing place. At certain points during the album you can hear sounds that Mary’s husband Mark recorded on the island - the St Mary’s church bell, the sea lapping on nearby St Cuthbert’s Isle, the sound of the seabirds.” Listen to the track ‘Graceful Trinity’ from the album at http://www.worshipjournal.com

Available in a few weeks time from our web store http://www.iona.uk.com

German band RPWL revealed the tracklist of their first DVD release “The RPWL Live Experience”.

The DVD features an impressive performance, filmed in mid February at the Wyspiański Theatre in Katowice, where RPWL played as the headliner on the second day of the festival ProgRock 2009. The band’s music definitely has its own style – modern, yet also drawing from the best traditions of the prog-rock genre. All in all - brilliant compositions, catchy melodies, mature and intriguing sound!

Tracklist:
1. Hole in the Sky
2. Breathe In, Breathe Out
3. 3 Lights
4. Start the Fire
5. Silenced
6. This Is Not a Prog Song
7. Sleep
8. Opel
9. Waiting for a Smile
10. Trying to Kiss the Sun
11. Wasted Land
12. Roses
13. Biding My Time
14. I Don’t Know

The DVD also features an interview with Yogi Lang and Kalle Wallner, “Breathe In, Breathe Out” video clip, Tour Footage 2006 (incl. Sleep Demo Version), photo gallery, desktop images, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound and much more! “The RPWL Live Experience” will be available in the 3 formats: DVD, ltd. 2CD, and ltd. DVD+2CD.

Metal Mind Productions will release “The RPWL Live Experience” on 15th June in Europe and 14th July in USA (via MVD).

To coincide with the release of Shadowland’s first ever DVD - “Edge of Night”, Metal Mind Productions will release “Cautionary Tales”, a box featuring the DVD, as well as the re-mastered re-releases of their three studio albums (unavailable for a very long time). Packed with bonus tracks and features, this special limited edition box set provides the complete Shadowland experience!

Disk 1: DVD of the show at Wyspiański Theatre in Katowice, Poland plus bonus DVD footage from gig in Holland
Disk 2/3: Sound track CDs from Katowice show
Disk 4: “Ring of Roses” - re-mastered studio album plus three bonus tracks
Disk 5: “Through The Looking Glass” - re-mastered studio album plus bonus tracks
Disk 6: “Mad as a Hatter” - re-mastered studio album plus two live tracks from recent tour

SHADOWLAND - a British neo-progressive rock band originally formed in the 1990s, by Clive Nolan (Arena, Pendragon, Caamora) and Karl Groom (Threshold). The band’s music tends towards the ‘songy’ side of progressive rock, while retaining its melodic and emotional intensity. They have developed a style that is both complex and easy listening. The band recorded three albums so far: “Ring of Roses” (1992), “Through the Looking Glass” (1994) and “Mad as a Hatter” (1996), their third studio album. Sadly, due to the onset of other commitments, Shadowland took a lengthy break from recording and performing between 1996 and 2008. Late in 2008 Nolan announced that Shadowland would be reforming for a tour in early 2009. Mark Westwood (Caamora, Neo) replaced Ian Salmon on the bass in this 2009 incarnation, but the rest of the original line-up from the 90’s remained unchanged. The tour promoted a “best of” album entitled “A Matter of Perspective”, featuring the band’s favorite tracks from their three previous albums as well as some new material. During the tour, Shadowland also visited Poland. They played at the famous Wyspiański Theatre during the first edition of the progressive rock festival ProgRock 2009. The band’s performance was recorded and will be released on their forthcoming DVD entitled “Edge of Night” (due in July).

Metal Mind Productions plans to release “Cautionary Tales” on 6th July in Europe and 11th August in USA (via MVD). Limited to numbered 1000 copies! Full details to be revealed soon!

Shadowland on the internet:
www.shadowlanduk.com
www.myspace.com/shadowlanduk