by Nick | Sep 19, 2018 | News
Performing classics such as “Feels Like The First Time,” “I Want to Know What Love Is,” “Heat of the Moment,” “Juke Box Hero,” “Only Time Will Tell,” “Cold As Ice,” “Sole Survivor” and more!
DEVGEL Productions announce that Lou Gramm and Asia Featuring John Payne have joined forces in an exciting 90-minute show featuring the hits of both FOREIGNER and ASIA.
Expect to hear classics such as “Feels Like The First Time,” “I Want to Know What Love Is,” “Heat of the Moment,” “Juke Box Hero,” “Only Time Will Tell,” “Cold As Ice,” “Sole Survivor” and more!
Dates to be announced shortly, with availability throughout 2018 – 2019.
LOU GRAMM
Is the original lead singer of Foreigner. Initially starting out as the drummer with the band Black Sheep, he joined Foreigner in 1976, and the band released their debut album in March of 1977. Their self-titled debut sold more than four million copies in the United States alone. Foreigner became the first group since the Beatles to have their first eight continuous singles reach the Billboard Top 20, with hits such as “Cold as Ice” and “Long, Long Way from Home” taking the world of rock music by storm. Gramm has also enjoyed a successful solo career in-between hiatuses with Foreigner, with his 1987 debut “Ready or Not” further proving his versatility in the music industry. Lou Gramm was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in June of 2013 and continues to tour as Lou Gramm the Voice of Foreigner.
JOHN PAYNE
Is a British musician best known as the lead singer and bassist of the progressive rock group ASIA. The early 80s marked the start of a solo career as a rock/soul vocalist, with Payne releasing several heavily played radio singles. Shortly after, Payne was employed as a backing vocalist by Roger Daltrey of The Who on his solo albums. This lead to a series of work singing backing vocals for a variety of prestigious artists and composers. John then formed The Passion with keyboardist Andy Nye before being approached by Bev Bevan of ELO to reform the band after the departure of singer Jeff Lynne. This was short lived as he was later invited to join the supergroup ASIA, where he fronted the group from 1992 to 2006, releasing 10 albums and embarking on several world tours. After a brief hiatus, John formed the progressive rock band GPS before returning to the reformation of ASIA as the new ASIA Featuring John Payne, which tours to date. He is also currently involved with various stage projects, including co-creating, performing, and writing an award-winning Vegas musical. His latest endeavor is The Rock Pack, which he plans to tour for many years to come.
This tour package is exclusively represented by Booking agent Charlie Davis at Paradise Artists
[email protected]
Management Lee Evans at Devgel Productions
[email protected]
Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 828-350-8158 (USA), glassonyonpr@gmail.com
by Nick | Mar 31, 2018 | New Releases, News
Origins is a sixteen track double album which include one hidden bonus track and celebrate’s 25 years and 11 release by LaRue.
The songs on “Origins” were written and recorded over 25 years. Some in a small recording studio in Tahlequah, OK over a year’s time with John “Yakfe” Timothy, and some in Los Angeles working extensively with John Payne as a co-producer, mixing engineer, bassist, and vocalist. Also, certain songs were known as some of the first prog projects done via internet transfer and finalizes with “Sussuration” and “Lemniscate,” completely produced and mixed by LaRue.
According to Lisa, “This album is extremely important – it’s important to me, as it represents 25 years of my life and some of the best work I’ve done with some of the best friends in the world. It’s important because it represents the unity and bringing together of many musicians, big and small, through the universal language, music. Lastly, it’s important to fans, as it represents some of the obscure work of many top-notch artists that they may not have in their collection. Melodic Revolution and Nick Katona have always been known for bringing artists together, so there is no better label to showcase this 25-year effort.”
“Lisa has a unique perspective to her music. Her Prog rock style is highly influenced by her Native American roots. The listener is drawn in by the mystical and avant-garde approach. From my point of view, it has always been a pleasure and great experience working with her music.” – John Payne
“A very atmospheric composition, with a lovely tranquil finale. I hear a lot of my father’s influence in it, a beautiful arrangement.” – Aaron Emerson (son of Keith Emerson) regarding the song “Aspiration”
Origins also features John Payne (Asia, GPS), Michael Sadler (Saga), Mitch Perry (Talas, Aerosmith), Gilli Smyth (Gong), Don Schiff (Rocket Scientist, Kracked Earth), Federico Fantacone (Orchestre Celesti) John Baker (Forever Twelve, Mars Hollow) as well as Steve Adams, Brenda K, Michael Wheeler, Merrill Hale, Svetlan Raket (Par Lindh Project), John “Yafke” Timothy, Michael Alvarez.
Origins is housed in a new style of Digipak called a Digipack Lite™ this is one of the most unique and eco-friendly packages on the market, in fact, the CD tray actually flexes and is more durable than the standard ridged plastic tray as it is made from recycled water bottles.
1) All pre-orders get shipped before the release date.
2) All Pre-orders supporters will receive a personalized thank you postcard.
3) All Pre-orders of Origins also come with 2 tracks now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released
All orders include a digital booklet with purchase
Important Links:
Official Website: https://www.lisalaruemusic.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lisalarue2kx
ReverbNation https://www.reverbnation.com/lisalarue
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/LisaLaRue2KX/videos
Melodic Revolution http://mrrmusic.com/lisa-larue/
by Nick | Feb 14, 2018 | News
LaRue became the first female artist signed to the Sound of America Records label (SOAR) a sub label of Natural Visions, the first all-Native American record label founded by Grammy Winner and Motown producer Tom Bee.
In 2008 LaRue was nominated for a Hollywood Music Award and was also awarded The Oklahoma Music Award for “Native American Artist of the Year.” Her band 2KX was Nominated as Instrumental Band of the Year in 2011 by the Los Angeles Music Awards.
Lisa has also appeared on recordings by others, including Head Transfer Process (Stargazer), Esquire with Nikki Squire (“Stay Low”), Don Schiff, Ryo Okumoto, Oliver Wakeman, Steve Gresswell, Quester and Beyond the Labyrinth.
Origins is a double album celebrating 25 years and 11 release by LaRue, featuring some of the best musicians in the business; John Payne (Asia, GPS), Michael Sadler (Saga), Mitch Perry (Talas, Aerosmith), Gilli Smyth (Gong), Don Schiff (Rocket Scientist, Kracked Earth), Federico Fantacone (Orchestre Celesti) John Baker (Forever Twelve, Mars Hollow) as well as Steve Adams, Brenda K, Michael Wheeler, Merrill Hale, Svetlan Raket (Par Lindh Project), John “Yafke” Timothy, Michael Alvarez.
A Statement from Lisa
“I look forward to being part of the Melodic Revolution family, and hope to collaborate with other MR artists, and interact with the fans. Great prog has come from the vaults of Melodic Revolution, and I hope I can contribute to that.”
Important Links:
Official Website: https://www.lisalaruemusic.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lisalarue2kx
ReverbNation https://www.reverbnation.com/lisalarue
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/LisaLaRue2KX/videos
Melodic Revolution http://mrrmusic.com/lisa-larue/
by Nick | Dec 14, 2017 | News
What do you get when you match a Brit from London who loves American AOR with an American from California who grew up on British Prog? Dukes of the Orient is the masterful pairing of vocalist John Payne (ex-ASIA, GPS) with keyboardist Erik Norlander (Last in Line, Lana Lane, Rocket Scientists) who now present their eponymous debut album, ten years in the making. Payne’s powerful arena-seasoned vocals carry soaring melodies and lush harmonies over the sea of classic synthesizers and keyboards artfully painted with Norlander’s signature sonic palette.
Payne says of the album, “With Dukes of the Orient we have dug deep with analog soundscapes, superlative musicians, and song-driven epics. Add to this the masterful artwork of Rodney Matthews and a journey that started with the supergroup ASIA, we give you the next chapter, one we are extremely proud of.”
The two are backed by a world-renown ensemble of top musicians including Jeff Kollman, Guthrie Govan, Moni Scaria and Bruce Bouillet on guitar, Molly Rogers on strings and Jay Schellen on drums. Payne provides bass guitar and additional lead and rhythm guitar parts to complete the audiophile production. The album was mixed on a traditional analog console to preserve and enhance the natural depth, clarity, and soul of the tracks with great care taken to avoid over-compression, extreme equalization, and distortion.
Dukes of the Orient has its origins in 2007 as “ASIA Featuring John Payne,” a band that continued on after ASIA keyboardist, Geoff Downes, left the band to re-form the original 1982 lineup. Payne recruited Norlander to join Guthrie Govan and Jay Schellen for tour dates in the US and initial recordings, some of which endured to appear on the Dukes of the Orient album here. Govan left the band to form The Aristocrats and was replaced by guitarist Bruce Bouillet followed by Jeff Kollman and Moni Scaria. The final lineup resulted in the track, “Seasons Will Change,” released as a video in 2013 and also now appears on the Dukes of the Orient album. Following the death of original ASIA vocalist, John Wetton, in early 2017, Payne and Norlander decided that these recordings should give birth to a new band, both out of respect for Wetton and for clarity with the Downes-led ASIA.
John Payne grew up in Luton, England. Upon moving to Harpenden, England in his teen years, he started his first band. His love of music started long before, though. As a young teenager, he taught guitar at school and also played into the early hours of the morning at clubs in a local cover band. Tired of playing other people’s songs, he formed a three-piece called Moonstone. With influences such as Santana, Hendrix, Trower and Deep Purple, Moonstone toured both locally and around the UK rock circuit. With encouragement from Jim Rodford of The Kinks and Rod Argent, the music bug would not let go. John went on write, tour, session (both as a vocalist and guitarist), record and produce. Moving to London gave him his first break singing backing vocals for Roger Daltry of The Who on the album Under a Raging Moon. This started much session work leading to purchasing The Wall, his first recording studio, which would be one of many. Between session work, Payne was invited to Power Station recording studio to record vocals for the group ELO at the invitation of drummer Bev Bevan and producer Jim Steinman. When legal complications regarding the name arose, Payne made the decision to return to London, where he was invited to join Asia in 1992.
Payne has since toured as “The Parson” in Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds, toured and recorded with GPS, co-created and co-wrote the Las Vegas musical Raiding The Rock Vault, and formed The Rock Pack, hosting a plethora of iconic classic rock vocalists. His love of music and analog recording has taken him on a journey as multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, composer, scriptwriter, studio engineer, and producer.
Erik Norlander was born in Hollywood, California and went against the tide of 80s Sunset Strip pop metal, instead learning the craft of progressive rock keyboards inspired by the founding fathers of the movement, Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman, Eddie Jobson, Patrick Moraz and others, many of whom became friends as Norlander’s career developed. Both Emerson and Wakeman even wrote liner notes for Norlander’s early solo albums. As part of his indoctrination into the genre, he became obsessed with synthesizers and classic keyboards of all kinds, learning the subtleties of sound design and the inner workings of these arcane instruments including his own 1967 modular Moog synthesizer famously dubbed the “Wall of Doom.” This led Norlander to actually work on the design of synthesizers including the legendary Alesis Andromeda analog hardware synthesizer and IK Multimedia Syntronik virtual instrument among many others. Norlander has released 10 solo albums, 7 with his prog-rock band, Rocket Scientists, and 10 albums with his vocalist wife, Lana Lane. He also works with the Bob Moog Foundation to forward the legacy of the maverick inventor.
Dukes of the Orient to release their eponymous debut album with stunning cover art by Rodney Matthews on February 23, 2018, with select tour dates to follow.
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by Nick | Aug 18, 2017 | News, Tour
August 17, 2017 – Globetrotting guitarist extraordinaire, JEFF KOLLMAN (BOMBASTIC MEATBATS, ALAN PARSONS LIVE PROJECT, ASIA feat. JOHN PAYNE), is making his long-awaited return to Japan with his celebrated progressive rock trio COSMOSQUAD in support of their new album, “The Morbid Tango”, with shows in Osaka, Nagoya, and Tokyo starting this Friday. Kollman is also set to reunite with the ‘Voice of Rock’, GLENN HUGHES (DEEP PURPLE, TRAPEZE, BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION), for a string of special shows in Australia and New Zealand in September and October. In addition, Kollman has announced the remastered re-issue of his acclaimed third solo album, “Shedding Skin”, originally released in 1999.
States Kollman: “Well, back on the road after squeezing in some family vacation time in the Midwest. No rest for the wicked as they say! Extremely excited to finally get back over to Japan with COSMOSQUAD and playing “The Morbid Tango” material for the fans. Osaka, Nagoya, Tokyo – here we come! Also, in case you haven’t heard yet, I’ll be joining ‘Big Daddy’ GLENN Hughes for a half dozen shows in Australia and New Zealand in September and into early October. Looking forward to re-connecting on stage – it’s been quite a while since we last played together but Glenn is always amazing to work with. We will perform full concerts of classic DEEP PURPLE material. So many great tracks on “Burn”, “Stormbringer”, and “Come Taste The Band”. Glenn and Purple fans will be in for a real treat! And in-between those two treks I’ll be doing ASIA and a pair of ROCK PACK shows – those are always fun to do. How could it not when you’re standing next to singers like Lou Gramm, Steve Augeri, Bobby Kimball, and John Payne playing some of the most iconic rock songs ever written? – Last but not least, I’m finally getting around to putting my third solo album, “Shedding Skin”, back in print. I just got the re-mastered master back from Borislav Dimitrov at HiZ Productions who also mastered “The Morbid Tango” for us, and it’s sounding killer! The official release date is Friday, September 1.”
Exact JEFF KOLLMAN tour dates are as follows:
COSMOSQUAD:
Aug. 18 – Shangri-La, Osaka, Japan
Aug. 20 – Club Upset, Nagoya-Ikeshita, Japan
Aug. 21 – Unit, Tokyo, Japan
ROCK PACK (feat. Lou Gramm, Steve Augeri, Bobby Kimball, John Payne):
Aug 27 – London Blues Fest, London, ON, Canada
Aug 30 – Jean Piere Complex, Port of Spain, Trinidad
ASIA feat. JOHN PAYNE:
Sep. 02 – Woodstock County Fair – Woodstock, CT
GLENN HUGHES:
Sep. 20 – State Theatre – Sydney, Australia
Sep. 24 – Perth Concert Hall – Perth, Australia
Sep. 26 – Horncastle Arena – Christchurch, New Zealand
Sep. 27 – Michael Fowler Centre – Wellington, New Zealand
Sep. 29 – Hamer Hall – Melbourne, Australia
Oct. 01 – Qpac Concert Hall – Brisbane, Australia
Oct. 02 – ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre – Auckland, New Zealand
Links:
COSMOSQUAD – ‘The Morbid Tango’ live
COSMOSQUAD Japan Tour 2017 trailer
