I am rock singer and songwriter from Deep River, Canada. I’m the first Canadian-born generation to immigrant parents from Trinidad & Tobago (#jumpup), with ancestral roots originating in India (#zen).
My musical style is best described as a unique marriage of symphonic rock with the melodies and instruments of the east weaved. Imagine heavy guitars, soaring orchestras, killer drums all balanced with the delicate instruments of India such as sitar, sarangi, tabla and santoor. These instruments aren’t just an accent or a hook, they inform the song from the moment I first put pen to paper and often, the rock elements are built around the Indian ones. On my last record “Samsara”, I had twelve (!) musicians directly contribute to my project and true to form, this new EP will have a similar scale.
It’s been two years since the release of “Samsara” and I’m hungry again to return to the studio. Featuring all, new, original material, this EP will be the fourth major project I’ve released since 2009 (never mind the few singles and collaborations that exist out there on the interweb). This time around, the legendary Joost Van Den Broek is sitting in the producer’s chair and I’ve got a team of amazing collaborators around the world ready to help breathe life into this project.
A TASTE OF WHATS TO COME
“Rani Chatoorgoon is unknown to me but what a discovery I have just made. Her voice is beautiful sometimes it’s like an angel sings and it goes well with the musical style.” ~ Louis Hamel (full review here)
Since 2009 I’ve been releasing music independently, traveling and living around the world to better refine my sound. I’ve been influenced by a wide range of artists including Within Temptation, Evanescence, Sarah McLachlan, Loreena McKennit, The Cranberries and A.R. Rahman.
I always try to tell a story through my music. A story rooted in the truths as I’ve come to know them. Whether that story is one I’ve experienced or one I’ve observed, I write about people, their light and dark sides, about events in this world and their consequences so that collectively, my songs become a diary of the life I’ve led. My last record was warmly embraced by critics around the world who opened their minds to an unfamiliar style and credited the scale of the production and uniqueness of the music (read more reviews here).
The Rites of Spring festival aka RoSfest is an annual progressive rock festival which takes place at the end of April or in early May. Established in 2004, the festival was held at the Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania until 2007, and then moved to the Keswick Theatre in Glenside, Pennsylvania for 2008 and 2009. In 2010, the festival moved to the Majestic Theater in Gettysburg, PA. where it celebrated its15th Anniversary throughout the weekend of May 4th, 5th, and 6th. 2018. On the last day of the festival, George Roldan announced that Polish Prog Metal Band “Riverside” will be one of many bands that will grace RoSfest in 2019.
May 21 just 14 days after the festival George Roland makes an announcement that RoSfest will be relocating to Sunny Florida for the No. 16, here is a posting from the official website.
The RoSfest community is very important to me on so many levels and my long-term goal is to keep RoSfest going for as long as we can in order to benefit the “progressive music family” as a whole for both musicians and Prog music lovers alike. The Majestic Theater in Gettysburg, PA has been a memorable host to us for the past eight years, but even though our reputation continues to grow as the best North America Progressive Rock Festival, our audience attendance has been slowly declining.
As many of you are aware, we recently relocated to Sarasota, Florida. Our decision in selecting this location was not only because of its beauty, beaches, arts, and entertainment but because we believe Sarasota would make the perfect location for RoSfest to continue to survive and grow. Besides having an incredibly approachable downtown social area with blocks of restaurants, bars, hotels, Saturday morning Farmer’s Market, and shops that are bordered by Parks on the Sarasota Bay, Sarasota is home to the SARASOTA OPERA HOUSE offering an incredible acoustic experience residing in a $20 Million renovated theater. Our new home theater is in WALKING DISTANCE to hotels, restaurants, shops, and parks surrounded by views of the Gulf.
There are many additional attractions that people from all over the world visit Sarasota as a destination vacation spot for such as Siesta Key Beach, “Rated as the #1 Beach in the USA, 2017”, Selby Botanical Gardens, The Ringling Museums and Grounds, The Mote Marine Lab & Aquarium, the Art Center Sarasota, The Circus Arts Conservatory, Longwood Key, St. Armands Circle, and Lido Key for Kayaking the Mangroves or the Bay. In the coming weeks, we will share additional information about Sarasota that will include maps, photos, videos, and details to help familiarize everyone with the area. New host hotels will be designated and after hour parties will continue, but all within walking distance as most of you have requested.
I’m aware that this news may upset some of our supporters, but please understand that in order for RoSfest to survive, we’re hopeful that our RoSfest family will give Sarasota a chance so that we can keep bringing you the best that progressive music has to offer!
Legendary US progressive rockers Spock’s Beard release their 13th studio album ‘Noise Floor’on May 25th, 2018. As revealed previously, for this album Ted Leonard, Alan Morse, Dave Meros & Ryo Okumoto are joined in the studio once again by drummer & original member Nick D’Virgilio.
Following the release of the opening track from the album, they are now pleased to reveal the second track from the record, titled ‘Somebody’s Home’.
Watch the video now here:
Dave Meros called the track “one of my favorite songs on Noise Floor”, while Ryo Okumoto comments “This is a great song by Ted Leonard.”
The album has been receiving brilliant reactions, and you can find a few of them below:
“one of the most defiantly immediate, hook-laden and upbeat records of their career.” – Prog Magazine
“The album endorses the group’s skill at balancing great songwriting with clever muso ingredients, and surely confirms their status as prog royalty.” – Guitar Techniques
“Melody is paramount, and Noise Floor is sensational.” – The Prog Report
In what will be 25 years since the release of Enchant’s debut album ‘A Blueprint of the World’, the San Francisco-formed progressive rock/metal group will celebrate with a special limited 10 CD boxset compiling all of their studio albums, from the aforementioned debut, right up to 2014’s ‘The Great Divide’ .
Out on July 20th, 2018, the package also features 2 discs of bonus tracks that include a selection of demo versions, live tracks, acoustic versions & instrumentals, plus extensive liner notes covering the entirety of the bands career up to now, and brand new interviews with various members past & present.
The band comments: “We are super excited that after 25 years, Inside Out Music is releasing an Enchant box set! The box set will contain every song we’ve ever done, demos, pictures and a detailed history of the band! We’re are honoured to be at this point in our career to have this milestone and look forward to sharing it with Enchant fans young and old!”
The band are also currently hard at work on a new studio album, of which the band comments: “We are currently working on material for what will be our 9th studio album! Things are coming along quite well and we are nailing down the songs for the new record out of a plethora of material. I won’t give too much away but I will say that I think Enchant fans are in for a treat! We hope to have it out later this year or early next year! Stay tuned!”
1. A Blueprint of the World (1993)
2. Wounded (1996)
3. Time Lost (1997)
4. Break (1998)
5. Juggling 9 or Dropping 10 (2000)
6. Blink of an Eye (2002)
7. Tug of War (2003)
8. The Great Divide (2014)
9. Bonus Disc 1 (featuring demos)
10. Bonus disc 2 (featuring demos, acoustic versions, instrumentals & acoustic versions)
Look out for more information on their new album in the coming months!
HAKEN recently announced the release of their first ever live album, titled ‘L-1VE’, scheduled for release on June 22nd, 2018.
Now they are pleased to launch the first clip taken from the live set, and you can watch ‘In Memoriam’ live in Amsterdam here:
The band comments: “In Memoriam is one of those tracks that always works really well live for us. I think because there’s a lot of cool riffs and grooves which get people moving.
Also it’s the coolest thing in the world to hear people singing along with the chorus; we really love that interaction and of course our fans all have wonderful singing voices!”
‘L-1VE’ will be released as a 2CD/2DVD Digipak package & as digital download. The DVD will include 4 bonus tracks filmed at ProgPower USA 2016 that also includes Mike Portnoy’s cameo appearance on gong, as well as all of the official videos from the ‘Affinity’ album. The main show and the bonus material on the DVD are also mixed in 5.1 surround sound.
1.affinity.exe/Initiate
2.In Memoriam
3.1985
4.Red Giant
5.Aquamedley
6.As Death Embraces
7.Atlas Stone
8.Cockroach King
9.The Architect
10.The Endless Knot
11.Visions
DVD Bonus Material
1.Falling Back to Earth
2.Earthrise
3.Pareidolia
4.Crystallised
Also includes music videos for Initiate, Earthrise & Lapse
Following the release of the bands much-acclaimed fourth studio album ‘Affinity’, they embarked upon their 10th anniversary tour across Europe & North America. Recorded and filmed on April 13th, 2017, at the legendary Melkweg venue on the Amsterdam stop of that tour, this represents the band’s first ever live document with tracks from across the bands discography.
“The release of official live material is a project that is long overdue and we know our existing fans have been crying out for this for some time now. Whilst we have filmed and recorded many shows in the past we have always felt there were elements of our shows that could be improved ‘visually’ before we documented and immortalised this for the world to see and that the timing for a live release never felt right for us. This is just our nature as creative people to be so extremely self-critical and constantly strive for perfection. It is largely due to the will of the people that the idea of this project became a reality. Both the band and the label were inundated with emails requesting a live release in some shape or form, and it was actually rather flattering, so giving the people what they wanted just felt like the right thing to do.”
Artwork was once again produced by long-time collaborators Blacklake, who continued the love of 80’s culture that they demonstrated on artwork for ‘Affinity’. The live audio was mixed by Neal Morse & Winery Dogs alumni Jerry Guidroz.
The band have also revealed they have started work on their fifth studio album. They comment: “We’re currently getting our teeth stuck into the writing process for Album 5 and great ideas are forming and evolving as we speak. It’s still early days but there is a sense among us that Haken may take a darker path with this one. However, the playing field is still wide open and the direction this record takes could alter at any point. One thing is certain: We will endeavour to stick to our mandate of strong melodies and Killer riffs! ”
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