I first came across Dave Bandana years ago when he was in Salander, followed him to his journeys with Birzer Bandana before he formed The Bardic Depths and released the debut album back in 2020. His colleague Brad Birzer was still involved, but he had brought in a group of stellar musicians and taken a huge step up in every way. Now The Bardic Depths are back with the second album, and this feels far more like a group affair as opposed to a project. History professor Birzer has again worked with Dave on lyrics to much of the material, and the core musicians have been brought back from last time, namely Peter Jones (Camel/Tiger Moth Tales/ Red Bazar), Gareth Cole (Paul Menel/ Fractal Mirror) and Tim Gehrt (The Streets/ Steve Walsh). There are a cast of thousands in terms of guests (especially for backing vocals), but it is the core quartet who share the vast majority of the workload, with others being brought in to add additional nuances and layers as opposed to taking on key roles.
There are times when the music is quite Floydian, with “The Burning Flame” sounding as if it could have come from ‘Wish You Were Here’ with delicate keyboards and a wonderfully restrained guitar solo, while at others they are more into the crossover genre as opposed to symphonic. Whereas the debut album was also viewed in some ways as the third Birzer Bandana release, there is no doubt that what we have here now is a band very much performing on their own terms and with their own identity. Like most people in the prog scene, I am a massive fan of Peter Jones and what he has already achieved within the genre, but this is a band where he has little input into the actual songwriting and is onboard for his skills as a musician and singer, which means some of the pressure is off and there is no doubt he relishes the opportunity, with a saxophone lead on the instrumental “Colours and Shapes” (one of only two songs where he gets a songwriting credit) which is simply beautiful, dynamic and full of power.
Robin Armstrong (Cosmograf) has again been involved as a co-producer (as well as dropping in musically here and there), and he has worked with Dave to create an environment where the guys have been able to express themselves and allow the band to truly grow as a unit. This is by far the best album I have heard from Mr. Bandana over the years, and I am truly looking forward to see what comes of this band in the future. 8/10 Kev Rowland
As Martin Springett says ‘I am so fortunate to work with two brilliant musicians/producers in Kevin Laliberte and Norm Macpherson. I have wide musical interests and don’t care to be hemmed in by labels or listener expectations. With Kevin and Norm, I can travel to new and unexpected ports of call, and to many different musical worlds. A Bridge of Spirits connects them all.’
Bridge of SpiritsTracklist
1. Forever Leaving Home 06:05 2. The Sister of Theft 02:50 3. Woman In the Waves 05:56 4. Finding Home 01:48 5. Rare Birds 03:51 6. A Dance to the Music of Time 02:49 7. Bridge of Spirits 05:41 8. The Owl (long form) 17:04 9. The Gift 02:24 10. Strange Kingdom (Bonus Track) 04:49
Musicians on Bridge of Spirits
Kevin Laliberte – Flamenco Guitar, Electric Guitar, and Electric Bass Norm MacPherson: Slide Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Mandolin & Bassoon Dave Wilkie: Vocals Denise Withnell: Vocals Drew Birston – Fretless Electric Bass and Acoustic Bass Martin Springett – Guitars, Bass, and Vocals Sari Alesh – Violin Wayne Kozak: Soprano Saxophone
On Friday, August 26th the rock band Evership publishes the third and final single from their upcoming conclusion to the Rock Opera The Uncrowned King! The Law of Ages highlights the subtle and powerful range of vocalist Beau West and the classical influence of Shane Atkinson’s compositional prowess. Introspective and powerful, with notes as varied as Coldplay, The Scorpions, Kansas, and Queen, this single is a good power ballad suitable for modern, classic, acoustic, and progressive rock programs. A music video for The Law of Ages will be released on Sept.14th. The Uncrowned King – Act 2 will be released on October 14th.
About this Song In this part of the rock opera, the wrongful king, the younger twin prince, has been crowned, leaving the rightful heir hopeless, until he meets Wisdom. The message here is when unjust life situations create uncertainties that are of such a scope as to be beyond our control, Wisdom encourages us to be patient and not reactive and comforts us with the knowledge that ill-gotten gain is temporal and truth, eventually, will be known.
About Evership Rock band Evership is the conceptualization of composer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer/engineer Shane Atkinson, along with lead vocalist Beau West. Few recent acts have made a bigger splash than Evership in the world of modern art/progressive or symphonic rock. Their impactful 2016 self-titled album catapulted them to the forefront of the rock world. This led to main-stage performances at the largest of US Art/Prog rock festivals RoSFest and ProgStock and over 50 glowing national and international reviews and interviews. Each successive album has been honored in the yearly “Best of’s” by critical reviewers. The response to The Uncrowned King – Act 1 was astounding. Highland (Issue #108) hails Evership as “firmly establishing themselves in the Progressive American Landscape” and UK’s ProgRadar sites “Evership is the new face of American Prog”.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA: The Haight Street Art Center will open The Secret Path: The Art of Roger and Freyja Dean, an exhibition of original art works by famed UK artists Roger Dean and his daughter Freyja Dean. The Secret Path will immerse visitors in an extraordinary world where life and landscape invoke the splendors of nature through the visionary imagination of the Deans. The exhibition opens August 25 and will close October 30, 2022, before touring to other venues.
The presenting sponsors of The Secret Path: The Art of Roger and Freyja Dean are Blue Planet Alliance and Chambers Obscura.
“To see the art of Roger and Freyja together in this unique, groundbreaking exhibition is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for visitors to experience the magical environments created by this father-daughter duo,” said Kelly Harris, executive director of the Haight Street Art Center. “Both artists have universal appeal, and we are proud to be able to offer our patrons a chance to be a part of this stunning and psychedelic fantasy.”
Known for his groundbreaking work with Yes and other rock bands, Roger Dean’s six-decade career includes a dazzling range of media and formats. His daughter Freyja has followed in her father’s footsteps, earning international acclaim for her paintings, sculpture, and fabric art. With paintings, drawings, sculptures, and other media, this exhibition connects all facets of the Deans’ wide-ranging and restless imagination.
Visitors to the Art Center will recognize famous paintings that became the artwork for some of Roger’s legendary album covers, as well as studies of his extraordinary design work including his iconic Yes logo. Curated by Roger in consultation with Freyja, the exhibition includes more than 50 works that will furnish patrons with an imaginative and immersive environment that speaks to the challenges of the present while embracing the promise of the future.
“I am honored to help support The Secret Path coming to San Francisco and the work of the Haight Street Art Center in sharing these fantastical worlds through this remarkable exhibition,” said Brian Chambers, co-founder of Chambers Obscura. “I’ve had the pleasure of working with Roger for many years, and through him I have come to appreciate his daughter Freyja’s work as well. She has her own distinctive voice, but not only does she demonstrate how deep the creative genes are in the Dean family, her work complements his in powerful and unexpected ways.”
“I’ve worked with Roger for 35 years and could not be more honored to support The Secret Path at the Haight Street Art Center,” said Blue Planet Alliance Founder Henk Rogers. “In all my years in publishing, I’ve never met an artist as talented and easy to work with as Roger. We’ve worked together on dozens of projects, starting with the cover and logo for the game Super Black Onyx to the Tetris logo, our biggest and most widely known collaboration, for a game that has sold 500 million copies. Roger’s art has enriched us in so many ways.”
Known as the “only member of Yes who doesn’t play an instrument,” Roger Dean is revered as an award-winning album cover artist, yet his talents go far beyond one medium: his work spans fine art to graphic design, architecture to stage sets, from small-scale drawings to stadium-sized vistas. Freyja Dean’s paintings, sculpture, and fabric art chart the relationships between landscapes and life. Her art reveals the narratives of those geographies and beings, illuminating the lessons they can teach us. Together, the art of the Deans guides viewers through a journey filled with stories. Those stories are about magic: the magic in nature, in natural phenomena and formations, in the seasons and the flow of time.
“This exhibition invites viewers to become participants,” Roger Dean notes. “We are all fellow travelers on the secret path of life. The signposts along the way are our art works, but the destination—the future—belongs to everyone.” For the Deans, this exhibition is an important step in that journey. “We must believe in a future worth striving for,” Freyja Dean explains. “For all of us, there is a secret or hidden path whose entirety we cannot see while we live it.”
The Haight Street Art Center serves San Francisco’s thriving poster art and artist communities with education and cultural development programs, and exhibitions. Drawing upon music, art, social and political counterculture history, we provide a space that bridges communities through social activism and artistic expression.
The nonprofit Haight Street Art Center is located at 215 Haight Street, at the corner of Laguna Street. The Center is open weekly on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 12-6 pm. Its outdoor Garden Gallery is open daily (7 am – 9 pm). Admission is always free. For more information about the Haight Street Art Center, its exhibitions, events, and programs, please visit www.haightstreetart.org
From 2002 to 2015, NEMO have been one of the leading Prog Rock bands in France. In 15 years of existence they conquered the world community of Prog lovers with their nine studio albums.
Supported by the international progressive press, self distributed worldwide with internet networks and a high-performance webshop (www.quadrifonic.com), the band has been booked by big festivals in Europe and in the USA.
Nemo has in particular shared the stage with: Focus, Adagio, The Flower Kings, 3, Anglagard, Galahad, Carptree, Pat McManus band, Fish, Vanden Plas, Saga…
In 2015, after the extremely well received album “Coma”, they decided to take a break of indefinite duration. This new recording of their debut album is not a comeback, but a way to thank the fans and to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the record.
New totally re-recorded version of NEMO’s first album, by the band’s most classic lineup (Jean Baptiste Itier, Lionel B. Guichard, Guillaume Fontaine and JP Louveton). The band, in a prolonged dormancy since 2015, recorded from a distance, and the result gives a huge added value to these tracks that have not aged a bit.
“We are going to tell you a story, an extraordinary story. A story of exploits and discoveries. A story of challenges and progress. We are going to tell you the story of these men who moved the world forward, who pushed back the barriers of the impossible. In these stories, the visionary spirit is at the service of the imagination, and the imagination is an accomplice of progress. The characters we’re about to show you, straight out of fiction, have ignited science and reformed the world…”
Release Date: August 29, 2022 Title: Les nouveaux mondes Format: Digital HR/CD/Vinyl Style: Progressive Rock Country: France Label: Quadrifonic Artworking 2022: Stan-W DECKER
Tracklisting 1. Abysses (10.03) 2. Dr Fergusson et les caprices du vent Vol.1 : Au dessus des toits (6.39) 3. Danse du diable (2.48) 4. Tempête (7.18) 5. Dans la lune encore (6.23) 6. Dr Fergusson et les caprices du vent Vol.2 : Au dessus des pyramides (5.58)
PHILEAS (20.41) 7. Départ / Europe (4.57) 8. Les fleuves sacrés (3.16) 9. Luna (5.54) 10. Nouveau monde (6.34) BONUS 11. Africa (5.51) 12. Bataille navale (11.08) Total Playtime: 76’56
Discography
Les nouveaux mondes – July 2002 Eve et le génie du mal (EP) – September 2004 Prélude à la ruine – September 2004 Immersion publique (Live) – October 2005 Si (Partie 1) – April 2006 Si (Partie 2) – l’homme idéal – January 2007 Si (Live) – January 2009 Barbares – January 2009 La machine à remonter le temps (Live) – October 2010 R€volu$ion – May 2011
Le ver dans le fruit – September 2013 Coma – August, 2015 Pièces de collection – October 2018 Présages – November 2018 Le ver dans le fruit (Prog en Beauce 2013 Live) – May 2020 Les nouveaux mondes (2022 edition) – September 2022
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