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Tuesday, March 27, 2007

New interview & feature with the VAN ZANT brothers (LYNYRD SKYNYRD/.38 SPECIAL)

RITCHIE BLACKMORE Yahoo group

VOIVOD are to start recording a new album in October. This should be released early in 2008.

WHITE LION will record a new album for release later this year.

LILLIAN AXE release their new album, ‘Water’s Rising’ on June 12th in the US.

The US reality TV show Rock Star has been cancelled.

Anthony J. Resta and Ed Roland are co-producing the Collective Soul's 7th studio album. The band were busy in November and December tracking basics. The record will be in production until May or June with an autumn release planned.

Hawkwind: Do Not Panic on TV
This Friday (30th March) on BBC4 at 9:00pm, told for the first time, the inside story of Hawkwind, one of Britain's wildest acid rock bands. Includes interviews with Lemmy, Terry Ollis, Nik Turner and writer Michael Moorcock.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/

GEORGE THOROGOOD is working on his new album which he pans to be an acoustic one.

From Billbaord.Com –
One faction of veteran rock band Jefferson Airplane is again suing a founding member, Paul Kantner, alleging that he is using the band's name without permission.
Singer Grace Slick and Bill Thompson, former manager of Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship, filed the lawsuit Tuesday in California federal court charging that Kantner is violating both trademark rights and an $80,000 legal settlement he signed in 1985.
In exchange for the money, Kantner promised never to perform as Jefferson Starship and never to use the names "Jefferson" or "Airplane" without consent from Slick, the majority shareholder in Jefferson Starship Inc., the suit said.
Kantner has been performing for years under variations on the names. He started touring in 1991 as Paul Kantner's Starship, while Mickey Thomas, another ex-Starship vocalist, has been touring under the name of Mickey Thomas' Starship. Kantner's and Airplane vocalist/co-founder Marty Balin's use of the Airplane name for a 2000 concert tour brought another lawsuit and an injunction.
Asked why Kantner hadn't been sued before now, Thompson said, "Grace and I were being Good Samaritans, I guess. Playing small fairs didn't irritate us so much."
Kantner crossed the line by making a deal earlier this year to let Microsoft Corp. use the Starship name to promote a new computer operating system, Thompson said. He said publicity for the concerts associated with the promotion included a poster with a photograph of Slick.
The suit says Kantner has cost Thompson, Slick and Jefferson Starship Inc. more than $750,000 in revenue from using a name not rightfully his. The suit seeks to confiscate his profits and stop him from performing as Jefferson Starship.
"Thompson's been suing people for years and usually he's on the losing end," Kantner said. "This time the whole pack of cards is going to be coming down." Kantner said he hadn't sold the Starship name, but let Microsoft use it in promotions for four free concerts, for which the band was paid $100,000.
"On this 40th anniversary of the Summer of Love," Kantner said, "love is going to triumph." Slick, reached at her Malibu, Calif., home, laughed and said she wouldn't discuss the case.

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PRESS RELEASES

Hello, and welcome to another update from progrock.co.uk - the home of
Progressive Rock!

SOLSTICE

We are extremely pleased to announce the signing of Solstice to F2 Music. A personal favourite of mine since the very early 80's, Solstice were part of a thriving Prog scene in the UK, alongside Marillion, Pallas, IQ, Pendragon & Twelfth Night, bringing strong folk influences into their melodic progressive rock sound. Superb electric violin and guitar was the centre piece of this excellent band. And the great news is that Solstice will be playing live again later this year before going in to the studio to work on a NEW Solstice CD for 2008!

In the meantime we will be releasing 'definitive' versions of the band's
three studio CD's - 'Silent Dance', 'New Life' and 'Circles' - with brand
new artwork and booklets, and each with a bonus CD containing rare demos and special live tracks. The bonus discs will include all those previously released on the very hard to find Solstice compilation CD 'Pathways', plus even more! We will be sure to let you know when they are available! See the 'Digital Downloads' news item below to

Solstice is:
Andy Glass - guitar and vocals
Emma Brown - vocals
Jenny Newman - violin and vocals
Steve McDaniel - keyboards
Robin Phillips - bass
Pete Hemsley - drums

At the signing, Andy Glass said 'we are delighted to be entering into this
creative partnership and we are full of hope for the future'. Excellent
news indeed, and welcome back Solstice!

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DIGITAL DOWNLOADS!

We have launched our digital download shop on www.progrock.co.uk! All of the Solstice studio tracks from their three CD's, plus all of the tracks
from their Cropredy 'live in the studio' CD are available to download at
great prices! The rare demos and special live tracks will not be available
as downloads, and will only be available on the bonus discs with the
re-released CD's coming soon! More digital downloads will be added very
soon!

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NEW STOCK

Magenta - Speechless [CD single] - GBP 3.50
The new single by Magenta featuring two versions of the new track
'Speechless' and a superb new full band version of 'Anger', originally from
the band's second CD 'Seven'. Also includes the promo video for
'Speechless' as a quicktime movie. We have very limited stock of this CD,
so buy now before it's too late!! See the 'Magenta fans' information below
for some other music you may like!

PRE-ORDERS

1. NEO - Broadcast [DVD] - GBP 15.99 / [DVD+CD] - GBP 20.99 [due
16/04/2007]
This unique DVD features songs by IQ, Pallas, Pendragon, Shadowland and Arena. Band includes Mark Westwood, John Jowitt, Clive Nolan and Andy Edwards, with guest appearances from Nick Barrett of Pendragon and Alan Reed of Pallas.

2. Pendragon - Past and Presence [DVD+2CD] - GBP 20.99 (DVD only is GBP
15.99) [due 16/04/2007]
Special concert to celebrate the 21st anniversary of 'The Jewel'. This is
two hours of some of the best music that progressive rock has to offer!

3. Steve Thorne - Emotional Creatures (part 2) - GBP 9.99 [due 30/03/2007]
Features appearances by Tony Levin, Nick d'Virgilio, Geoff Downes, Gavin
Harrison & Pete Trewavas!

4. Alan Morse - 4 O'clock And Hysteria - GBP 9.99
Excellent instrumental album featuring contributions from all members of
Spocks Beard, plus Neal Morse!

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THE PROGROCK CHARTS!

Still at number one is the debut CD by The Reasoning called 'Awakening',
and featuring a host of great musicians including Rachel Jones (ex
Karnataka), Matthew Cohen (ex Magenta) and a guest guitar solo by Steve Rothery (of Marillion). If you are a fan, then you will probably like a CD that Matthew's previous band Erasmus released called 'Voyage'. It features a brief vocal performance by Christina (Magenta) and includes Rob Reed (Magenta) on keyboards. A bargain at just GBP 8.00!

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EZRA PRESS RELEASE

Ezra are pleased to welcome Chris Jones (guitar) and Gareth Hill
(keyboards) to Ezra. In their recent press release, the band stated 'We
have ditched the sequencer and replaced it with real people. Those of you
who have followed us over the years will have seen various line-ups of the band, some with keyboards some with sequencer, but it's the first time we've had another guitarist in the band. There are plenty of guitar parts on the albums that we can now play live for the first time. This now makes Ezra a seven piece! Both have fitted into the band perfectly and played their first performance on 23/04/2007 supporting Peter Banks (ex Yes).

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PROG ROCK ON THE RADIO!

progrock.co.uk are proud to sponsor a new online radio show - Paul Baker's excellent Progressive Soundscapes show (until recently on arfm.co.uk). Paul's new home is at www.rock247online.co.uk - a brand new Rock and Metal station which has just gone online. Make sure you tune in to hear some excellent music. The Progressive Soundscapes show will go out from 2pm to 5pm every Sunday.

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MAGENTA FANS!

If you are a fan of Magenta, as well as buying the newsingle 'Speechless',
you may also be interested in some of the other projects that Rob Reed, the main man behind Magenta, has previously been involved in, as well as some other members of Magenta!

Othello Syndrome - The Shadow of Dreams - solo CD by Martin Rosser,
guitarist with Magenta, and includes Rob Reed on keyboards, and Tim
Robinson on drums.

The Fyreworks - The Fyreworks - Main man Danny Change (guitar) with a great band including Rob Reed on keyboards, Andy Edwards (Ezra) on vocals and guitar, Doug Sinclair (Steve Hackett Band) on bass and Tim Robinson on drums.

Cyan - Echoes - part 2 of the remastered best of CD's featuring tracks from Cyan's first two CD's plus a number of previously unreleased tracks.

McCarthy - Christian rock artist Alan McCarthy with Rob Reed on keyboards and Martin Rosser on guitar.

Erasmus - Voyage - solo CD by Matthew Cohen (ex-Magenta now The Reasoning), and includes Rob Reed on keyboards and a brief appearance by Christina of Magenta.

Best Regards
David Robinson
www.progrock.co.uk
F2 Music Ltd, Festival House, 2 Goldfinch Close, Loughborough,
Leicestershire, LE11 3HG, UK

GIG NEWS

RUSH
October 3rd - Glasgow SECC
October 5th - Newcastle Metro Arena
October 6th - Sheffield Hallam Arena
October 9th - London Wembley Arena
October 10th - London Wembley Arena
October 11th - Birmingham NEC
October 14th - Manchester MEN

VELVET REVOLVER
June
5th London Hammersmith Apollo
7th Cardiff International Arena

Incubus have been forced to postpone their upcoming UK tour. This is because guitarist Mike Einziger is to undergo surgery on an injured hand.

REVIEWS

NIGHT RANGER ‘Hole In The Sun’ Frontiers (2007) www.frontiers.it

Night Ranger return with their first new studio album since 1998’s ‘Seven’ album. Since their last album various members have been busy with solo albums (Kelly Keagy & Jack Blades) and collaborations (Jack Blades with Tommy Shaw) plus touring and releasing compilations and live albums. There has also been a line-up change since last time with original keyboards player Alan ‘Fitz’ Gerald leaving again to be replaced by Great White’s Michael Lardie.
From the off it is modern hard rock, with ‘Tell Your Vision’ pulling no punched musically or lyrically. Next up ‘Drama Queen’ keeps the guitars set to max and the opening verses sound uncannily like the Cult’s Ian Astbury! Long standing fans may well be divided over these sings as they are much harder and raw sounding than the band’s usual songs, leaning more to the sound on Jack Blades solo album. But these fans will be placated by ‘Whatever Happened’, where the harmonies and crystal clear guitar solos are firmly in place. ‘There Is Life’ is the big ballad and although not as classic as ‘Sentimental Street’ or ‘Sister Christian’ it is still a damn fine tune.
‘Rockstar’ is another jaunty rocker complete with a very 80’s sounding synth backing – great stuff! The title track is possibly the weakest song on here, whilst ‘White Knuckle Ride’ adds electronic effects to produce a very heavy song. Damn Yankees come to mind on ‘Wrap It Up’ with guitarists Brad Gillis and Jeff Watson riffing up a storm.
‘Revelation 4am’ continues the Night Ranger tradition of acoustic led songs with the guitars and rhythm section kicking in nicely on the chorus. ‘Being’ falls into the acoustic ballad category as well and rounds the album off nicely.
An album well worth the wait, which sees the band successfully marrying the modern hard rock sound with their more traditional ballads and harmony led hard rock tunes. Some die hard old school fans maybe left disappointed with the more modern approach but for most this is the album fans have been waiting for and then some.

****1/2
Jason Ritchie

NO MORE KINGS Astonish (2007) www.

Based around Pete Mitchell (vocals) and Nail robins (guitar/bass/keys/percussion/cello/programming), they have produced a debut album that covers many musical bases and in their at times off the wall lyrics they reminded me of XTC. Vocally Pete Mitchell has a very melodious voice that sometimes reminds you of James Morrison and Lenny Kravitz.
Plenty to enjoy on here including ‘Zombie Me’, with its hilarious zombie chorus – ‘All the zombies in the house go ‘Yeah’, classic! It also features a very catchy chorus and is an airplay friendly tune for sure. ‘Sweep The Leg’ has been gaining the band exposure on You Tube with the song’s accompanying video and again it is a very accessible pop rocker. The band do jump around musically from the funked up ‘Go Breathed’ to ‘Mr B’ which is like the Beatles jamming with Lenny Kravitz! Whilst ‘This’ is a beautifully composed and arranged song, bringing to mind the best moments of Simon & Garfunkel.
A very varied and enjoyable debut album from a talented duo (backed by other musicians as and when required). An album that reveals unexpected treats with each listen, highly recommended.

****
Jason Ritchie

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