# artists

name: 1KUB
description: energetic electro rock, rediscovering and recreating raves
homepage: 1kub
photo: /artists/img/1kub.jpg
society: NONE
page: 1kub
bio:
French artist, producer and professionnal of the performing arts, Lambert Alexandre aka 1KUB has been performing as a guitarist, DJ and composer since the beginning of the 2000s. He's performed in numerous shows in France, Switzerland and Canada as well as in different electro, rock and hiphop projects.

In 2017, he decided to create a new Electro Rock Live Concept in which musicians and technicians play in the pit, in the middle of the audience. The idea: To recreate and rediscover the so special vibrations of raves, to get rid of the scenic barriers, to connect the energies, and to share an intense moment on the dancefloor with the audience

Released in 2017, his first record "Midnight" is a clever mix of Electronica and Industrial music, an explosive cocktail in which massive electric sounds are interwoven with the sounds of guitars, bass and vocals. In 2017 and 2018, 1KUB played gigs and festivals all across France and Switzerland together with various other bands, such as: The Bloody Beetroots, Dope DOD, De Staat, Highlight tribe and many more

In spring 2019, 1KUB released his first Album "French Kiss", which consists of twelve tracks with worked textures and rhythm without compromise, surrounded by an atmosphere which is both dark and captivating, hot and dirty, evolving in electric and serious tones. For that purpose, he proposed a new video and light show. In this new album, 1KUB sounds like an intense and catchy ball of energy!


name: 4oresight
description: Chill Electronica with a Touch of Alternative House and Hip-Hop
homepage: 4oresight
photo: /artists/img/4oresight.jpg
society: BMI
page: 4oresight
bio:
Maryland producer 4oresight, brings a new perspective to music with his Alternative House & Hip-Hop style of production. Inspired by smooth abstract sounds from producers such as J Dilla, Neptunes, Flying Lotus, and house grooves from producers such as Kaytranada and Disclosure, he's developed a style of production that gives listeners a smooth hip-hop and groove vibe that's fresh to the ears. The main thing he prides himself on as a producer, is having a sound of his own and not copying the current trends of music, but instead, allowing the trends of music to inspire new ideas for creation.


name: A_Rival
description: chip-hop defined...electronic rap at its rawest
homepage: a_rival
photo: /artists/img/a_rival.jpg
society: NONE
page: a_rival
bio:
While many musicians continue to struggle to find their niche, in a few short years A_Rival established himself as a game industry renaissance man by developing a loyal following and fanbase from the national electronic gaming community through multiple means.

As, not only, a well-regarded "Street Fighter gaming competitor", A_Rival is best known for composing multiple soundtracks for Nokia's, now defunct, gaming division, as well as the title-screen music for Capcom's XBOX Live! "Super Street Fighter II HD Remix." A_Rival's remix of Clamato Fever is one of the most popular game music tracks on YouTube.com, having received hundreds of thousands of 'plays' to date.

His industry connections lead him to quickly develop and promote his underground performer persona, A_Rival, and his 8-bit infused "Chip-Hop" sound directly at those individuals who would become the core of his fanbase: The Electronic Gaming Community. Through his numerous industry connections and the ability to put on a riveting stage show, in under a year, A_Rival's stature in the gaming industry is that of a leading and in-demand performer at the biggest public and corporate parties held during the foremost Electronic Gaming Expositions in America, including MagFest, PAX (Penny Arcade Expo) and E3, and for corporations such as Microsoft.

In conclusion, Paul Lipson states, "A_Rival stands at the apex of video game history and new music innovation. The revolution is well underway, and it has an 8-Bit champion changing all the rules and setting the pace!"

For more A_Rival info, please visit www.planetskill.com or www.myspace.com/8bitpimp.


name: Abbas Premjee
description: A fusion of rock and jazz from the East and the West that brings minds, hearts and souls together
homepage: abbas_premjee
photo: /artists/img/abbas_premjee.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: abbas_premjee
bio:
The music of Abbas Premjee spans many genres, from rock and blues to world and classical.

Abbas has had an undeniable passion for music since an early age. He started playing guitar at 10 and remained largely self-taught until the time he began to formally study music. During his initial years, he played guitar for several rock and jazz bands. It was during this time that he was exposed to classical guitar, which led him to decide to study music formally.

He completed his Bachelors degree in Music theory and composition from Loyola Marymount University, and then his Masters degree in Classical Guitar from Southern Methodist University, where he studied under Robert Guthrie. A few years later, he returned to Pakistan and opened a recording studio and production house, working with local talent and producing music for TV. As Abbas later realized, coming back to Pakistan was an essential step in his musical growth as it led to his discovery of Indian Classical music. Here he found a world rich in expression. A world unknown to his Western ears. Keen to learn this new language, he took up the Mohan veena, a modern hybrid between a guitar and a sitar, and took instruction in from the legendary sitar player, Ustad Rais Khan.

Having lived the life of a classical musician on both sides of the fence, and as a rock and jazz musician earlier, Abbas thought of a world where all these expressions could live together. This led to his first CD "Elements", on which he collaborated with some of the finest talent in Pakistan. "Elements" was released in Pakistan in 2008. It was met with great enthusiasm and very positive reviews in some of the leading newspapers, vastly increasing the scope of music available to the people of Pakistan and introducing them to the subtleties of jazz and classical guitar built on ragas and drones. This was followed by the release of "Crescent Moon" in 2011, in which he featured the Mohan veena. Both these albums successfully combined the beauty and grace of the ragas with contemporary sounds and grooves from the rock and jazz genres.

In 2009, Abbas returned to the United States and has since taken up residence in Irvine, CA where he is active as a composer for media, a teacher, as well as a performer on the mohan veena.


name: Adam Fielding
description: atmospheric dance music with cool vocals
homepage: fielding
photo: /artists/img/fielding2.jpg
society: PRS
page: fielding
bio:
Adam Fielding is a UK based electronic musician specialising in blending rich soundscapes with strong melodies to create music that is both diverse and accessible, while retaining a strong emotional undercurrent. 2008 saw the release of his debut album "Distant Activity", in which Adam combined elements of atmospheric electronica with dance, shoegaze and symphonic sensibilities to create a unique musical experience.

Adam first started writing music at a young age in the mid-90s using a combination of an Atari STe and Protracker - free software released for the sole purpose of creating music on home computers. Although originally being more interested in computer programming than music, this dabbling with music would later go from being a mere hobby to becoming a passion for all things musical.

Although Adam's earlier tracks were geared more towards industrial and VGM styles while taking an interest in metal and post-hardcore music, his style would later evolve to encompass a wide variety of sub-genres including dance, ambient, synthpop, downtempo, breaks and neo-classical styles while retaining his unique production style and melodic focus. While studying as a music production student at the University of Huddersfield, Adam began to experiment with incorporating vocals and guitar elements into his music proper, with the former becoming a key element in many of his songs.

Adam has also used his writing and production skills in other projects, including sound design and freelance composition projects for various companies as well as having his music licensed by various firms and individuals. Adam has also worked on various collaborations and remixes with other like-minded musicians.

Visit Adam Fielding on the web at www.adamfielding.com.


name: Adriano Fontana
description: a trip with woodwinds and strings
homepage: adriano_fontana
photo: /artists/img/adriano_fontana.jpg
society: SIAE
page: adriano_fontana
bio:
Born in Genoa, Adriano Fontana started to study classic guitar when he was 7 years old. He holds a Bachelor in guitar jazz from the Conservatory "Niccolo Paganini" in Genoa. Along with concert and didactic activity he composes music for theatre, contemporary dance, readings, short films, post-scorings and internet web-sites.

Adriano plays mostly guitar (classical, electric and acoustic), but both in the composition and recording he also plays bass, double bass, piano, keyboards and percussion.

His album, "Small songs in a small kitchen" is the purely acoustic side of his production, based more on counterpoint and management of space and time rather than virtuosity. Fully recorded in a small kitchen in the historic center of Genoa (his house), it is a meeting place for actors, dancers and other performers. As an artist, Adriano is difficult to categorize, he professionally moves between classical music, jazz, contemporary and even rock and electronica.


name: Aitua
description: dreamy and beautiful original compositions on classical guitar
homepage: aitua
photo: /artists/img/aitua.jpg
society: NONE
page: aitua
bio:
Aitua is a french guitarist. She graduated at the Conservatory of Reims, simultaneously with her work as an Engineer. She devotes her free time to a life as an artist in several projects: she composes mostly for classical guitar and performs works from Public Domain.

Recently, Aitua formed the "Guitar Quartet Aitua" together with Pascal Bolbach, Amélie Thibault and Blandine Sibille. The Quartet gives concerts all over France and performs various types of music, mostly written for guitar. This includes compositions from Roland Dyens, Andrew York, and - of course - from Aitua herself.

In her role as a conductor, Aitua also organizes trainings for guitar and other instruments, such as flutes, strings, etc.

In 2018, Aitua was one of 7 students to win the "Gonzervatory Application" contest, which allowed her to participate in a 8 Day Music Performance Workshop hosted by Chilly Gonzales. This led to her first pop concert at the Trianon in Paris. Spectators at the fully-booked venue got to enjoy a set of tracks that Aitua had composed in just 7 days.

You can see the Chilly Gonzalez Graduation Concert here: https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/081276-002-A/chilly-gonzales-graduation-concert-du-gonzervatory-au-trianon/


name: Alan Marchand
description: Toe Teasin' Jazz Tunes For All Occasions
homepage: alan_marchand
photo: /artists/img/alan_marchand1.jpg
society: BMI
page: alan_marchand
bio:
Trained as a classical pianist, Alan Marchand soon tired of the printed page and turned to jazz as a medium for self-expression. His epiphany materialized with the realization that, other than an occasional wedding gig, there proved to be little market for his classical music talents.

As Alan's exposure to improvisational jazz developed, his opportunities as a jobbing musician grew apace. He joined the dance and floor show circuit and performed with combos and 15-piece bands in several major US cities.

In 2004, Alan founded an indie record label Backtalk Unlimited with studios located in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. In collaboration with other staff members, he has co-produced 17 jazz-related CD albums that are marketed worldwide.

Also playing with Alan are Thorpe Ziegler and Pauson Khand. Thorpe is a German native who emigrated to the USA, where he now works as an audio engineer while pursuing his musical interests as a jobbing musician. Thorpe's personal musical artistry is evident in extensive baritone saxophone solos, which are featured in several arrangements and recordings that he also co-produced.

Pauson is a native of Cleveland, OH. He studied musical composition at the Cleveland Institute of Music before deciding to pursue a career in audio engineering. Pauson's piano artistry is featured on several of Alan's albums.


name: Alex McCartney
description: Reflective, historically-informed performance on the lute
homepage: alex_mccartney
photo: /artists/img/alex_mccartney_low.jpg
society: NONE PRS
page: alex_mccartney
bio:
Continually in demand as an accompanist and soloist, lutenist Alex McCartney has performed extensively in the UK and abroad, working regularly with artists such as Emma Kirkby, The Academy of Ancient Music, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, The English Concert, The English Baroque Soloists, The Early Opera Company, The Royal Opera House, His Majesty's Sagbutts and Cornetts, Poeticall Musicke, La Nuova Musica, Ensemble Libro I, Ensemble Marsayas and The Royal Ballet. Alex also often performs live via radio and television.

Alex is regularly recorded and is a resident artist with his own record label Veterum Musica. Amongst an array of recordings, some featuring his ensemble Poeticall Musicke, Alex has recently released his critically acclaimed debut solo album of works by the lesser known composer Rene Mesangeau. Future solo projects include an album of works by Dowland, Holborne and Batcheler.

Occasionally Alex consults and teaches for film and television productions, the most recent being an adaptation of 'Wolf Hall' by the BBC broadcast in January 2015. In addition to on-set consultancy, Alex had the challenge of teaching the actors Damian Lewis and Max Fowler to play the lute to a professional standard in the short space of one month.

Alex teaches the lute at the University of Aberdeen, and at the Early Music Shop in London.

In 2015, Alex authored his first book "Memory Methods:Music" which provides a practical, waffle-free approach to both general and musical mnemonic methods.

In his spare time Alex enjoys making lutes in his studio in Glasgow. You can find out more about Alex on his website.


name: Alexander Lisenkov
description: Lounge and dance electronic music with elements of jazz and ethnic
homepage: alexander_lisenkov
photo: /artists/img/alexander_lisenkov.jpg
society: NONE
page: alexander_lisenkov
bio:
Alexander Lisenkov is a Russian multi-genre composer of music for TV, production music libraries and video games.

He started making music professionally in 2001 and his first release was on the independent ambient music label, Motovilo Records in 2003. Since 2007 Alexander has been producing a large amount of music for the one of the biggest music libraries in Europe, Intervox Production Music, based in Munich, Germany.

He is available for custom work including original compositions and remixes.


name: Alison Crum and Roy Marks
description: Ethereal, enigmatic and exhilarating renaissance miniature masterpieces for viol and lute
homepage: crummarks
photo: /artists/img/crum_marks.jpg
society: NONE
page: crummarks
bio:
Alison Crum is well-known throughout the Western World both as a player and teacher of the viol. As well as her recording of the Bach Gamba Sonatas with Laurence Cummings, she has made around one hundred recordings with some of Britain's finest early music groups, including The Consort of Musicke, The Taverner Players, The King's Consort, and many with the Rose Consort of Viols.

She is President of the Viola da Gamba Society of Great Britain, Professor of Viol at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London, and a visiting teacher at several colleges and universities both in Europe and the USA. Alison is the author of two highly acclaimed books on playing the viol, and has been called the doyenne of British viol teachers, directing numerous summer schools and workshops worldwide.

You can find out more about Alison on her website.

Roy Marks is Alison's husband. More widely interested in the Arts than his wife, he studied the piano as a child in the 50s, played lead guitar in a pop group in the 60s, studied at art school (graduating from the Royal Academy in London in 1975 where he studied painting and drawing), and in the early 80s studied classical guitar at the Guildhall in London.

He taught painting and drawing for a number of years, but in 1984 turned his attention almost exclusively to early music - to the recorder, the viol, and later, the lute. He performs with the Rose Consort of Viols, regularly teaches on workshops in England, Germany, Italy, and the U.S.A., and composes music for period instruments.


name: Allen Cote
description: American folk music sessions with feel good vibes
homepage: allen_cote
photo: /artists/img/allen_cote.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: allen_cote
bio:
"He speaks directly to the listener, almost with a burning hunger, but it's not necessarily love he's craving. It seems as though he wants some sort of commiseration between artists, or sympathy, or maybe, an agreement between the listener and the songwriter that there's something greater than either of them."
- Casey Grove, The Anchorage Express, 8-2-07
   "Combining Jeff Tweedy's heart with Townes Van Zandt's delivery, Allen Coté bridges genres and generations with conviction. Since moving to Milwaukee in 2007, Coté has played more than 300 shows and risen to be among the most respected players in the city's musical pantheon thanks to honesty and passion that run soul-deep."
   - Eric Levin, Underground and Intercontinental, 8-6-10
   
Allen Coté is a composer, multi-instrumentalist and multimedia artist, originally from Austin, TX and currently based in Milwaukee, WI. Coté is proficient in guitar, lap steel, bass, ukulele, mandolin and many others; and received the Wisconsin Area Music Industry's 2011 "Specialty Instrumentalist of the Year" award.
   
Allen Coté has contributed to recordings and performances by numerous national and international artists. He has also provided original scores and sound design for films and live theater featured at the SXSW Film Festival, Cincinnati Film Festival, Lone Star Film Festival, Milwaukee Film Festival, and Brisbane's Anywhere Theatre Festival.
   
Allen Coté and John Crockett have twice presented their sound installation "Tonal Motion" at the acclaimed Milwaukee Art Museum. A former journalist, Coté's photography has been featured in The Williamson County Sun, The Austin Chronicle, The Austin-American Statesman, and High Times magazine.
   
Currently, Coté composes the music for the Emmy-winning television show Wisconsin Foodie, airing several times weekly to the greater Midwest on PBS. He also provides music to marketing, new media firms, and teaches instrument lessons at Milwaukee Montessori School.


name: allMeadow and Rob Costlow
description: melodic piano electro-chill-mixed
homepage: allmeadow_remixes_costlow
photo: /artists/img/allmeadow_costlow.jpg
society: BMI
page: allmeadow_remixes_costlow
bio:
Switch On: Rob Costlow explains the story behind the album

Switch On is the result of a collaboration with allMeadow, an artist based in Bristol (United Kingdom). He mixed the tracks, incorporated a ton of creative elements, and performed all the bass guitar parts. What else would you expect from a person located in the drum and bass capital of the world? Strangely enough, allMeadow and I have never met in person. However, a web cam, mic and today's other great technology enabled us to produce a professional full-length album. Oceans cannot stop our creative spirits. We're kind of star-crossed musicians. :) We met online back in 2005 via mutual creative interests. We're both very proud of this effort and hope it is enjoyed by music lovers around the world. Kudos to allMeadow and his genius mixing mind!

Songs from all my contemporary piano albums were used to create the remixes. 7 of the 10 tracks are brand new. We included and remastered 3 tracks from my 2006 remix EP, Return. We felt they had to be added to the album flow as they fit so well with the concept. The very first track, "Air Cooled", is from a previously unreleased song I composed the parts for almost a decade ago. I'm quite happy to have it complete.

The music is intentionally quite different from my solo contemporary piano work (please note, I do plan to release more solo work). The album is filled with various tempos and instrumentation. The goal was to create a unique product that could serve many purposes, be it experimentation, entertainment, inspiration, or otherwise. The motive of the album is to stimulate and help drive a general sense of productivity. Hence, why the album is named "Switch On".


name: Almaghrib
description: Relaxed pop and reggae music made in Italy
homepage: almaghrib
photo: /artists/img/almaghrib.jpg
society: SIAE
page: almaghrib
bio:
Almaghrib consists of Giovanni Dattolo (Voice), Juani Romano (Bass) and Filippo Triolo (Percussions) who started performing live acoustic covers in a roots/reggae vibe back in 2015. They were joined by Giovanni La Croce on the guitar and, in 2016, by Lorenzo Giancontieri on second guitar.

By March 2016, the musicians were already performing in the clubs of the province of Trapani (Sicily), starting to write their own songs and planning to record them.

In April 2017, a demo of the songs was brought to the attention of producer Rudy Pusateri, who decided to accept the project and help with the creation and release of the album. After two and a half years of work, the album "Silenzio" was released on 23 September 2019, the day of the autumn equinox.

The following artists from Valle del Belice participated in the production of the album and left their mark: Nino Leone (frontman from Tintinnabula), Francesco Coco (trumpet player from Reggae Zone Family band and Brass Youth Jazz Orchestra) and Antonio Taddeo (writer, author of some pieces). The band has been promoting its work by producing video clips and organizing a live tour through Italy for post-COVID times.

Also, they are currently working on their second album, which won't strictly follow the bands previous style, since the search for new means of expression is one of Almaghrib's core motivations.

No matter what, Almaghrib's music will make you want to jump and dance during concerts by the sea or in the squares of Sicily. Also, the music will cause you to contemplate harsher realities, all while dreaming of a stay on the beach during sunset.


name: AlmaNova
description: lively flute/guitar duo
homepage: almanova
photo: /artists/img/almanova_2.jpg
society: BMI
page: almanova
bio:
The award-winning ensemble, AlmaNova, is an innovative flute and guitar duo presenting an eclectic program of chamber music. Flutist Jessica Pierce and guitarist Almer Imamovic are both masters of their instruments elevating the flute and guitar ensemble to the highest level of virtuosity and artistry.

Their live performances are filled with energy and passion creating a "...graceful, intuitively choreographed display of seamless connection." (Fresno Beehive).

AlmaNova met in France while studying at the famed Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris. They continued their graduate work at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and the USC Thornton School of Music. Since then they have had the privilege to perform extensively throughout the world including recitals in Paris, London, Sarajevo, Stockholm, Tijuana, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Kansas City, and San Diego.

In 2011, AlmaNova will begin their first tour of Japan. AlmaNova's recordings have been described as "...pure musical pleasure" (Flute Focus Magazine, 2009) and have received much critical acclaim. Their first CD recording Debut features original works by Mr. Imamovic inspired by the sounds and folk melodies of his native Bosnia. It was recently honored by the largest worldwide independent music organization, Just Plain Folks, receiving Best Instrumental Album, 2009 as well as Best Instrumental Song, 2009 for "Sarajevo Nights". Their second CD, Classic Giulian was awarded Critic's Choice, 2008 by American Record Guide calling it "...some of the best [Giuliani] I've heard".

Their newest release, After Hours, explores the music of Macedonia through thoughtful arrangements and more original compositions by Mr. Imamovic and Ms. Pierce.

Jessica plays Sankyo Flutes and Almer plays Kenny Hill Guitars exclusively.


name: Almer and Nirvan
description: soulful Balkan duo featuring acoustic guitars and voice
homepage: almer_nirvan
photo: /artists/img/almer_nirvan.jpg
society: BMI
page: almer_nirvan
bio:
Almer and Nirvan are a musical duo leaning on their roots from Bosnia and Herzegovina to create a new style that merges classical composition with traditional Balkan sound. Both artists were born in Bosnia and Herzegovina and are currently living and working in Los Angeles, California.

Almer lends his guitar virtuosity and his immaculate sense for musical arrangement to the duo, while Nirvan with his vocal interpretations and songwriting skills softens the classical style by giving it a free flow and modern musical influence. This is their first collaboration, which has given rise to "Life in Reverse", a debut album consisting of original songs and arrangements of old traditional Balkan music. This album is an excellent example of the perfect symbiosis of classical, traditional and modern directions in music today.

Almer Internationally acclaimed guitarist, composer and arranger Almer Imamovic is one of the leading musicians of his generation. In 2007, Mr. Imamovic made his American Debut with a ravishing performance of the famed Concierto de Aranjuez by Rodrigo with the Dayton Philharmonic, and has risen in the ranks of classical guitarists as one of the world's finest players and has had the privilege to perform extensively throughout the world.

He holds Master's Degrees in Classical Guitar Performance from the Royal Welsh College and University of Southern California and a Diplome Superieur from the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris. Mr. Imamovic is a highly sought after composer and his works have been featured in concerts on five continents. As a versatile and innovative guitar player, he is a master of the electric guitar as well as Latin and Balkan stringed instruments and can be heard on numerous major motion pictures and TV soundtracks.

He has been a master teacher/guest artist for many university guitar programs and was recently featured in Guitar Teacher Magazine as one of the finest teachers in the USA. He is a founding member of the world-renowned guitar and flute duo, AlmaNova with flutist Jessica Pierce for which he has composed over 30 compositions and released 4 albums, all of which have received great reviews and several awards. Learn more about Almer on his website.

Nirvan Composer, producer and artist Nirvan Pistoljevic was born in Sarajevo, but has acquired his musical style in New York City and Los Angeles, USA. "Life in Reverse" is his first musical venture that incorporates sounds from his native Bosnia and Herzegovina. To the Almer and Nirvan duo, he lends his vocal abilities as well as his composing and arranging capabilities. Nirvan studied classical guitar originally, but has focused most of his musical career on writing and producing music.

His style is a conglomerate of rock, jazz, and Spanish guitar influences, with focus on vocal interpretations. Although musically trained as a guitar player, he also enjoys playing drums and percussion and multiple other instruments.

For the last several years, Nirvan has been composing, arranging and producing artists, TV commercials and media projects from his Los Angeles studio. He has been featured in several films and has performed with various artists across multiple musical genres.

You can find out more about Almer and Nirvan on their website.


name: Altri Stromenti
description: 17th century baroque ensemble
homepage: altri_stromenti
photo: /artists/img/altri_stromenti_1.jpg
society: NONE
page: altri_stromenti
bio:
Wroclaw's Period Instruments Ensemble "Altri Stromenti" has existed since 1992. Its name - "other instruments", brings to mind baroque practice which allowed changing of voices in compositions. It also reveals the special character of the period instruments, i.e.: means "different" from contemporary ensembles.

The repertoire of Altri Stromenti comprises both "classical" as well as less well known 17th century baroque compositions which the group reconstructs and presents during "Baroque Concerts" organized in the House under the Golden Sun in Wroclaw (these concerts were started by the group and more than 50 have been presented).

Altri Stromenti performed also in Germany, France and Czech Republic ("Monuments en musique" festival in Strasbourg, International Festival of Early Music in Cracow, at the Royal Castle in Warsaw and three times during international festival "Wratislavia Cantans" in Wroclaw.


name: Aluminum Forest
description: folktronic - where parallel realities from the future meet the past
homepage: aluminum_forest
photo: /artists/img/aluminum_forest.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: aluminum_forest
bio:
Aluminum Forest are Pacman De Forest and Aluminum Earwig who met randomly in the early spring of 2011 while surveying uninhabited land in the western hemisphere. Sharing a mutual passion for the craft of musical expression, they began work experimenting with raw melodies fused with acoustic and synthetic sounds.

Inspired in part by elusive and anonymous street artists such as Banksy, they chose to keep their work largely under the radar. They donned monikers and masks in order to keep listeners from being distracted by the mundane aspects of their personal lives. Within weeks, an album was hashed out behind closed doors. Torn between realms of old school classical discipline and raw, distorted, electronic catharsis, they painted kaleidoscopic tapestries of timbre and texture into each song.

De Forest and Earwig are both highly accomplished musicians in their real world personas, having performed before sold out crowds, countless tours, achieving international radio airplay, and sharing stages and studios with some of the biggest artists in the industry. However, the aim of Aluminum Forest is simply to allow their music to speak for itself, devoid of superficial distractions. Their identities must necessarily remain unknown.

Aluminum Forest recently released their debut self-titled album and will be performing throughout the US in 2012.


name: Ambient Teknology
description: upbeat underground with shades of new wave
homepage: atek
photo: /artists/img/ambient_teknology.jpg
society: NONE
page: atek
bio:
Ambient Teknology aka Mark P. has been recording uptempo underground electronic music for over six years and is influenced by such artists as Kraftwerk, Orbital, Gary Numan, and Sven Vath. Ambient Teknology fuses early synth from the 1970's and 80's with the dance driven drum and bass riffs of the late 90's, resulting in a driving, upbeat sound full of ecclectic beats and the deliciously dark undertones of early new wave.

Born in Cornwall, England in 1966, Mark P. lived and grew through the UK punk and electronic scene and developed a sense of the true depth of sound synthesisers were meant to bring to music. Much of Ambient Teknology's music, in fact, is based on ideas involving a departure from the old, and a dawn into the new, and Mark continually incorporates new ideas, techologies, and sounds into his music as electronica and techno continue to evolve.

Self proclaimed as the only electronic artist in Cornwall, Mark has created quite a following for himself there. The official Ambient Teknology website receives thousands of hits from all over the world, and locally Ambient Teknology sells more than 100 CDs a month. Dedicated to creating exceptional dance underground for the local scene and the world at large, Ambient Teknology is on a mission to make music that the old and young alike can touch, feel, breathe, and most importantly-enjoy.

You can find out more about Ambient Teknology on his own website.


name: American Baroque
description: Spectacular Baroque and Classical chamber music
homepage: american_baroque
photo: /artists/img/american_baroque_1.jpg
society: NONE
page: american_baroque
bio:
Founded in San Francisco in 1986, American Baroque brings together some of America's most accomplished and exciting baroque instrumentalists, with the purpose of defining a new, modern genre for historical instruments. The group's adventurous programs combine 18th-century music with new works, composed for the group through collaborations and commissions from American composers. An ensemble of eclectic, accomplished, and artful musicians, the performances bridge a gap between the edges of the new music frontier and the familiar roads to music of the past, and expands the repertoire and scope of historical instruments into the new millenium.

In its early stages, American Baroque functioned as a studio band, its mission being to record hitherto unknown quartets by Telemann. Recordings of the "Paris" quartets and the Fourth Book of Quartets were released and enthusiastically received. In 1991, the group recorded French Cantatas of the 18th Century with soprano Julianne Baird, again released to wide critical acclaim on Koch International Classics. In 1992, American Baroque began exploring the territory of performing new music written for historical instruments through its collaboration with composer, member and gambist Roy Whelden and his pieces Quartet After Abel and Gamba Quartet, which resulted in a CD release on the New Albion label in 1993.

Intrigued by the unique timbres and subtlety of sounds inherent in their period instruments as well as the excitement and anticipation of performing new music, the group continued to pursue projects and programming that involved combinations of new and old elements. Another collaboration in 1995 with Whelden yielded the provocative CD Like a Passing River with poet and reader Rudy Rucker, also on the New Albion label.

Since its founding, the ensemble has been featured at the Tage Alter Musik Festival in Regensburg, Germany; the Berkeley Early Music Festival; the San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival; the San Jose Chamber Music Society; University of California; the San Francisco Early Music Society; on National Public Radio and West Coast Live; and in the Opus415 New Music Festival. In addition, ensemble members perform and record together in the finest period-instrument orchestras in America throughout the year. Recent projects include concerts at the University of Vermont and at Bowdoin College, and a multi-tracked studio recording of Songs of Cold Mountain, a cycle of texts by the 7th-century poet Han Shan. The 1998-1999 season included a commercial recording of eight pieces by the composer's collective, Common Sense, which were commissioned in 1996; and a theatrical and multimedia collaboration entitled "The Death of Anton Webern," written and directed by ensemble member Katherine Shao; the group will present a 2-week run of performances in May 2000.

American Baroque has also received support from Chamber Music America's Millenium Commissioning Program to collaborate with Stanford University composer Jonathan Berger on his new work, Of Hammered Gold (for flute, oboe, violin, viola da gamba and digital bird organ); the work was premiered at Stanford University's Lively Arts series on January 7, 2000. The ensemble has been recognized through grants and awards from the Aaron Copland Foundation, the Mikhashoff Foundation for New Music, and the Zellerbach Family Fund, and most recently won first prize for the 2000 ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming. American Baroque remains the only U.S. chamber ensemble committed to performing both new music and 18th-century works on historical instruments, while continuing to explore the issues raised by both genres, old and new.


name: Amfibia
description: electronic, acoustic, chillout, lounge, comopolitian, instrumental
homepage: amfibia
photo: /artists/img/AMFIBIA_small.jpg
society: SAZAS
page: amfibia
bio:
Amfibia is a musical symbiosis of two inspired Slovenian musicians - Stane Spegel and Bostjan Leben - who come from very different backgrounds. While Stane has mastered the art of digital production, Bostjan's world is that of acoustic, particularly ethnic instruments. Opposities attract, as they say, and the result of the collaboration is a stunning harmony of natural sounds, classical instruments and electronic sounds. The two musicians have proved that nothing can hold back creativity, regardless of musical genres. So, we can say that Amfibia stands for a specific approach to the fusion of acoustic and electronic music. If you want to call it lounge, that's fine too...

The music is complex yet accessible and the little details that you can hear only after a few listens are what makes it special. Songs are instrumental, some of them are graced by a seductive and charming saxophone of legendary artist and photographer Lado Jaksa.


name: Ammonite
description: delicate, stylish indie electronic
homepage: ammonite
photo: /artists/img/ammonite_1.jpg
society: NONE
page: ammonite
bio:
Ammonite are electronic producer Kolin Fraser (aka Biomechanoid) and angel-voiced vocalist Nicky Cairney. Together they create sumptuous electronic music which blends genres such as dub, trip hop, drum and bass, electro and pop and comes up with a style all of its own.

Meticulous programming and production, dynamic fluid grooves and beautiful melodic atmospheres are integral components of the Ammonite sound, and this is further defined by Nicky's extraordinary voice and lyrics. Nicky has been a singer and lyricist from a very young age and has been involved in various other musical projects before and since joining Ammonite.


name: Amoeba
description: cinematic pop-ambient
homepage: amoeba
photo: /artists/img/amoeba.jpg
society: BMI
page: amoeba
bio:
Amoeba is the result of a multi-decade collaboration between ambient composer Robert Rich and multi-instrumentalist Rick Davies. The two first met in 1979 after Davies returned from a stretch in England and Spain, and throughout the '80s the two would collaborate on several bands, including Quote Unquote and Urdu. To the union Davies brought a wealth of musical experience, and the ability to play winds, guitars, synth and percussion. He also brought an understanding of electronic music which had been deepened during his time editing magazines Music Technology and Home & Studio Recording.

Experimental musician Robert Rich was one of the first people to work with micro-toned synthesizers, and had performed legendary "sleep concerts"-eight hour long concerts of ambient music designed to be listened to by a sleeping audience. He also released several solo albums like Trances/Drones which came out in 1983 and Rainforest, which was issued in 1989. He has worked with Steve Roach, David Tom, Lustmord, Lisa Moskow, Vidna Obmana and Forrest Fang. Indeed, his musical aspirations reached all of the way back into childhood, when he was fascinated by the rhythms and textures of sounds in the world around him (croaking frogs, ventilator shafts, etc.). He built his first synthesizer from a kit at the age of 13.

The second album produced by Amoeba, Watchful is a masterpiece of collective work by Davies and Rich. Featuring a combination of multi-layered ambient textures and pop instrumentation, the album resembles many works that also existed on the edge of pop, like those by Talk Talk and Dead Can Dance. Receiving many positive reviews, Watchful proved that the artistic marriage of Davies and Rich was fruitful, indeed. Pivot followed in late-2000.


name: Amy Denio
description: Progressive 'world soul' music for thirsty ears
homepage: amy_denio
photo: /artists/img/amy_denio_low.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: amy_denio
bio:
Amy Denio is a multi-instrumental jazz composer, improviser and record producer based in Seattle, Washington. She has led many innovative musical ensembles from all over the world for nearly 30 years.

She has been funded by the National Endowment for the Arts; Meet The Composer; Doris Duke Foundation, Artist Trust, and The Seattle, King County and Washington State Arts Commissions, among others. She was an artistic Fellow at Civitella Ranieri (2004 Italy) and Artist Trust (2008 Ireland). In March, 2015 Earshot Jazz elected her to the Seattle Jazz Hall of Fame.

She co-founded the all-women Tiptons Sax Quartet in 1988. Since then they have recorded and produced 11 CDs, and have played jazz festivals and taught creative music workshops worldwide. Denio was commissioned by choreographer Pat Graney to compose 'Saxhouse' (1991); the Tiptons danced while playing. Other Tiptons commissions include 'Bus Horn Concerto' (1993; for sax quartet & 3 Metro buses); multi-media pieces 'Shop of Wild Dreams' (2006; with video and live painting) and 'Mythunderstandings' (2013/2015; with video and storytelling with Saanich Tribe musician Paul 'Che oke ten' Wagner).

Denio has recorded and produced music since she was a teenager. She has been commissioned to create soundtracks for choreographers Pat Graney (Saxhouse 1991; Tattoo 2000; Vivian Girls 2005; House of Mind 2008, Girl Gods 2015), Victoria Marks and Li Chiao-Ping. She wrote several soundtracks and received a Bessie Award for her collaboration with David Dorfman Dance. She's composed for chamber groups Die Knodel, Relache, and The Berkeley Symphony. She has made many soundtracks for art installations, theater, circus and cinema, producing over 50 recordings solo and in collaboration with artists in and from North America, East and West Europe, South America, Japan and Taiwan.

Her work has been performed at Carnegie Hall and The Brooklyn Academy of Music, and her piece 'Dishwasher' was included in the John Cage exhibit at the 1993 Venice Biennale. She has played in piazzas, arenas, churches, schools, prisons, ruins, greenbelts, and in an abandoned mercury mine.

Denio has collaborated with scores of innovative jazz musicians including Bill Frisell, Wayne Horvitz, Eyvind Kang, Fred Frith, Tom Cora, Jessica Lurie, Stuart Dempster, Paul Rucker, Hans Teuber, Emily Hay, Evan Flory-Barnes, and many others.

In 2014, she was invited by the Minister of Culture in Bolivia to collaborate with local jazz musicians, performing her compositions in the historic Teatro Municipal in La Paz. She tours extensively in Europe, especially throughout ex-Yugoslavia and the Balkans.

You can find out more about Amy on her website.


name: Amycanbe
description: alternative, pop, electronic, rock, trip-hop from Italy
homepage: amycanbe
photo: /artists/img/amycanbe_1.jpg
society: SIAE
page: amycanbe
bio:
Amycanbe hail from Italy. Originally comprised of Marco and Mattia, they formed in 2002 but actually started as a four-piece in 2005, after Francesca and Paolo joined.

After the first live performances in clubs, theatres and local bars, Amycanbe recorded a self-produced demo Yellow Suit - EP with 5 songs which attracted the attention of critics and attained widespread success. Blow Up magazine placed Amycanbe in the playlist of the best debutant Italian indie band of the 2005. The same year they opened for Skin, Sophia, The Devastations and Yuppie Flu and played the Roma Rock Festival stage.

   Photo credit: Bea De Giacomo
   
Their debut album Being A Grown-Up Sure Is Complicated was released in October of 2007, produced by Mario Thaler, to critical acclaim. This coincided with a first UK tour that saw the band playing in Leeds, Bristol, Oxford and Sheffield, as well as the album launch at 12 Bar in London, radio sessions for the BBC, and a second UK Tour that saw the band having some highlights in glorious music-venues such as The Borderline or Scala in London, Komedia in Brighton, the Croft in Bristol and The Gander in Bournemouth.
   
Back in Italy...the brilliant International Festival called "Assalti Al Cuore" in Rimini wanted Amycanbe for one gig that will be marked as one of the greatest in the band's history and marked a new musical direction and the start of their new project.
   
After one year of intense and succesfull gigs around Italy, the EP called "The World Is Round" was finally released on the 25th May 2011, preceded by a new single and video called "Everywhere". The next album as yet untitled, is just done and ready for an autumn release...
   
Amycanbe, now a cult alternative must in the Italian and Europen music scene, rapresents a real novelty for both the musical eclecticism expressed and the ability to carry audiences of their concerts into a dreamlike journey, armed with a colorful imagination, as well with the seductive and charming voice of their unique singer.


name: Anamar
description: songs with a Latin and Afro mood, blended with Tango, Milonga, Morna, Rumba, Habanera
homepage: anamar
photo: /artists/img/anamar1.jpg
society: NONE
page: anamar
bio:
WHAT IS TRANSFADO?

Lusitanian music, "tanguera", iberian, transatlantic, timeless, "transfadic".

Fado with a Latin and Afro mood, blended with Tango, Milonga, Morna, Rumba, Habanera... pleasure.

Vibrant songs. Theatrical impact. Deep voice. Piano, double bass and portuguese guitar.

Music for the soul. For the senses. For the body. Loud and sound. Bold music.

Transfado is universal, as we are.

Fados, warm and new, old and beloved, with other rhythms and sonorities.

We introduce uplifting emotions in the traditionally portuguese ecstatic intensity.

New lyrics for charismatic melodies and unexpected, unpublished songs.

Eternal poets and contemporary lyricists inhabit fado with other words, because Transfado is anti-tragedy, anti-depressive, self-motivating, accomplice, pro-active.

Yes, it is a Cd. And a Show. And a Manifesto.


name: Andre Rodriguez
description: melodic rock combining memorable melodies with thoughtful storytelling
homepage: andre_rodriguez
photo: /artists/img/andre_rodriguez.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: andre_rodriguez
bio:
Based out of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Andre Rodriguez is one of the premier indie-alternative songwriters in the Midwest. The newly released album, titled Somewhere New, is a compilation of Rodriguez's best songs from the past three years. Somewhere New is an artful presentation of songwriting, combining memorable melodies with thoughtful storytelling. Produced by Minneapolis' Luke Fredrickson, the new disc also features guest appearances by Andre's brother, Dan Rodriguez and Breanne Duren of Owl City.

Born in Rochester, Michigan, Andre started playing piano at the age of four and studied classical music throughout high school. During his teenage years he developed a love for composing and arranging. In 2000, he moved to Minneapolis to study music at North Central University where he received his degree in music performance. In 2005, Andre released his debut album, Closed Doors Open, which received praise from organizations such as Musician's Resource Magazine, We Are Listening, and TAXI. With the current arrival of his sophomore record, Weekly Indie hails that "Rodriguez is back and greater than ever."

You can find out more about Andre on his website.


name: Andreas Almqvist
description: elegant classical guitar
homepage: almqvist
photo: /artists/img/almqvistphoto.jpg
society: NONE
page: almqvist
bio:
The guitarist Andreas Almqvist was born in the north of Sweden 1948 his father was a merchant and his mother a Jewess, an emigre as a result of the second world war.

Andreas started playing popular music in local bands as a teenager but soon he changed to classical music. His studies of classical music has been carried out in various music schools and music high schools in Sweden and he also spent 3 years in Madrid (Spain) studing music and also studies in Barcelona. His music activities include teaching, concerts and he has also made a cd recording of modern "free form Avant Garde" music.


name: Andrew Jilin
description: merging classical European and traditional Japanese to create captivating cinematic flute music
homepage: andrew_jilin
photo: /artists/img/andrew_jilin.jpg
society: NONE
page: andrew_jilin
bio:
"Bamboo and Zen are one" - Philip Horan

Andrew Jilin has been playing music all his life. Having music in his blood, he played drums, bass and other instruments in rock bands. However, he felt particularly inspired when he heard the deeply touching sound of a flute. He describes its discovery as follows:

"It sounded like an ocean breeze, like a wind in the trees, like a whisper on the ear saying something very important and sacred. Time stopped. I was drifting freely through my feelings and thoughts, looking at them from the distance."

The instrument he had heard was a Shakuhachi, a Japanese Bamboo flute. In Japan, it had been played by Zen monks Komuso for ages. They had used it for enlightenment, not entertainment.

This moment in time marked a turning point in Andrew's life. He got his first flute, gave up smoking and started studying Japanese music at Moscow State Conservatory. Exciting things happened next: Andrew became a part of Moscow State Conservatory ensemble of Japanese music Wa-On (a harmony of sound in Japanese), found Marco Lienhard (his primary teacher now), and finally participated at the World Shakuhachi Festival 2012 in Kyoto, where he was the only one to represent Russia. In 2012, his first record followed: shakuhachi flute recorded live in different parts of the world.

Andrew Jilin is the founder and leader of the Russian Shakuhachi Society (http://shakuhachi.ru). His second album came out in September 2014, followed by concerts at Moscow State Conservatory, tea houses and clubs with solo shakuhachi, shakuhachi and classical guitar, shakuhachi with traditional Japanese instruments. Shakuhachi master-classes were scheduled for July, August, November and December in Moscow, Minsk (Belarus) and Saint-Petersburg.

Andrew plays music in any project he is involved in. In fact, creating music for the people is his biggest passion because he truly believes that music is a language of the Universe. Through music, we can exchange feelings and senses, dreams and hopes, peace and freedom of our souls. Music is always with him and everywhere he goes. Andrew never separates from his flute and tries to express his feelings in different places of the world. As he says:

"I do not need to have a full pack of amplifiers, wires, mikes and light equipment just to say: 'Hey, the sun under the sea today is so beautiful!'. In my music, there is the Sound and the Silence, which is as important as the Sound! This is real Zen life!"

For more information, visit:
http://www.andrewjilin.com - The official website http://toriband.com - Tori band - shakuhachi, classical guitar and violin http://www.shakuhachi.ru - Shakuhachi in Russia


name: AndrewPlusJohn
description: soulful electric guitar in a smooth and gentle landscape
homepage: andrew_john
photo: /artists/img/andrewplusjohn.jpg
society: STIM
page: andrew_john
bio:
AndrewPlusJohn is an instrumental group, led by composer/guitarist Johan Nilsson and composer/bassplayer/keyboardist Anders Tempelman. Their music is built around soulful guitar playing, inspired by the gentle Carlos Santana, the instrumental Pink Floyd and the low-key lyrical quality of Larry Carlton and Jeff Beck.

The group's music is best described as "a flowing, modern sound built on a soulful combo of guitar, keyboards, drums and bass - with other instruments and ambient textures added". Their compositions are inspired by west-coast smooth, roots, lounge-jazz and ambient/atmospheric music, but never takes away, or loses sight of, exceptionally strong melodies and down to earth groove.

But AndrewPlusJohn also offers another dimension: a magnificent landscape, a relaxed state of mind, broad fields and the feeling of sitting alone under a giant oak during a warm evening, with a gentle breeze upon your face.

There's an Italian phrase: "Cantabile". Look that up, and you'll be able to identify with what AndrewPlusJohn is all about!


name: ANDROMEDA
description: Dance pop power vocal diva!
homepage: andromeda
photo: /artists/img/andromeda_1.jpg
society: BMI
page: andromeda
bio:
ANDROMEDA's voice has taken her to Japan, China, Russia, India, Vietnma, Singapore, Croatia, Thailand, Czech Republic, Italy, Germany, France, the UK, Canada and all around the USA. Excited to be back in her native NYC she teamed up with pop writer and producer Steven Shewbrooks to create the debut dance album DREAM GIRL.

With performances blowing up the dance floor at NYC's Canal Room and Club XL, the album is sure to energize and hook you in. Catchy and powerful vocals speaking of love, loss, moving on, and plain having a good time, marry with beautifully structured synthesizers and beats from Steven. Listening to the music - you'll soon find yourself singing along with ANDROMEDA.

Steven's music is known for its steady in-store programmer and network television use, and ANDROMEDA's voice can be heard in everything from Broadway to Saturday Night Live backgrounds.

"Dangerously attractive...soulful voice."
New York Times

"...seductive voice and alluring stage presence."
Bangkok Post, Thailand

"Freshness, talent and sensuality."
Sant'Agata Press, Italy


name: Andy Carhart
description: acoustic and electronic rock guitar music with a contemplative character
homepage: andy_carhart
photo: /artists/img/andy_carhart.jpg
society: NONE
page: andy_carhart
bio:
Andy Carhart is an independent solo artist and multi-instrumentalist from Colorado who creates music encompassing many styles ranging from mellow to metal. His music is inspired by a mission of personal growth and a desire to evolve and connect with his soul while honoring his roots. His compositions are philosophical, introspective, and full of rich melody.

Andy's latest release, Circular (2016) showcases a passion for both the acoustic and electric guitar. The album is a contemplative work that invites the listener to embrace the moods and emotions of the changing moments of life. Andy brings forth a unique and immediately identifiable artistic style through the seamless blend of genres including instrumental guitar, folk rock, and electronica.

Andy's love for musical diversity is reflected deeply within his body of work that caters both to fans of the eclectic and lovers of technical proficiency as he draws inspiration from many genres and combines them with the teachings of life.

"Life is a journey. The whole experience is beautiful and amazing and I strive to remember and embrace that." ~ Andy Carhart

Photo: Chas Budde Photography


name: Andy Gabrys
description: classic jazz guitar sound in modern day setting
homepage: andy_gabrys
photo: /artists/img/andy_gabrys.jpg
society: BMI
page: andy_gabrys
bio:
Andy Gabrys is a multi-talented instrumentalist / composer living in Santa Fe, NM who enjoys a lot of coffee. He is originally from Chilliwack, BC, Canada where he learned to play saxophone and guitar in high school.

The album Constant comes from a 5 year period during which Andy lived in New York city and played at various venues with up and coming jazz artists. Andy's original music on this album is both forward-thinking and respecting of the jazz tradition, and while his guitar sound might be compared to Kenny Burrell or George Benson, his playing and composing approach shows the subtle shading and rich harmonies of Romantic era composers.

In addition to writing and performing original jazz music, Andy is a composer / producer of music for TV and Film.

Andy's music has appeared in multiple commercials:
* Knorr Soup
* McDonalds
* Galbani
* Oakley
* Buick / NCAA);

on various TV programs:
* Sesame Street
* American Pickers
* Inside
* Joan and Melissa
* Joan Knows Best?
* Wreck Chasers
* Flipping Out
* Howe and Howe Tech
* MTV Live
* Sex News and Rock N Roll;

and in a variety of short films, and the feature length films; Liberia'77 (2011) and spOILed (2011).

Before living in New York City, Andy attended the Berklee College of Music on scholarship (2002-2004) and graduated Summa Cum Laude.

You can find out more about Andy on his website.


name: Angelight
description: New Age/World Music for mankind from Russia
homepage: angelight
photo: /artists/img/angelight.jpg
society: NONE
page: angelight
bio:
Angelight is the pen name of a young Russian composer who was the founder of transformational change in the direction of music. His musical history began long before he released any musical works. He began a spiritual quest and achieved insight and the ability of clairvoyance. Soon after he discovered that he was able to cure people. During this time Angelight was enthusiastic of spirituality and psychology, and visited various scientific psychological seminars. At one of the the seminars, he presented his first music work, which opened a new page in the history of Russian music.

After this Angelight worked on 10 successive albums aimed at helping and improving mankind. Gradually, Angelight approached a new stage in his creativity. The result of this became the music series, "the appearance on light" with "Music From the World of Karlos Kastaneda" and "Gallery of Energy".

After this, Angelight wrote many articles about the technology of his transformational approach in writing music and began work on a whole new series of albums: "The Cured Powers of Music". His music is performed in concerts, through different auditoriums attended by children and retirees alike, Angelight is buoyed by the striking results that his music achieves.

Listening to his music, people become eager, sound and sure of themselves. Gradually, from different ends of Russia, come rave reviews about Angelight, his music and influence. His use of music in helping people has appeared in information to be used by teachers and doctors. Never resting, Angelight continues to sharpen his skill, and delve deeper into the secrets and mysteries of rhythms and melodies on an individual's consciousness.

He says. "I know the music is curing different diseases, but I must understand, as this occurs, why this happening and to explain it to my pupils and other people".

His latest contribution is a series of albums, with music aimed at reconstructing the harmony and communication between a mother and child.

Angelight is a great friend and associate of another Magnatune artist Anjey Satori and you can find out more about their work on their website.


name: Anna Rynefors and Erik Ask Upmark
description: swedish folk music
homepage: dram
photo: /artists/img/dram1.jpg
society: STIM
page: dram
bio:
With their fresh and unique take on Nordic music, the Swedish musicians Erik Ask-Upmark and Anna Rynefors - known as "Dram" - have taken the roots music community by storm.

With much charm and a big sense of humour, they perform traditional Nordic music in a captivating way that speaks to audiences everywhere. They are both "riksspelman" (a distinction awarded to the best players of traditional music in Sweden) and have toured extensively in Europe as well as in America.

The quietness of Sweden's wide open spaces shows through in the fragile melodies of this talented duo. A wonderful flow of ear-caressing musical sounds, performed with great skill on instruments such as the harp (which Erik is re-introducing into Swedish folk music after a centuries-long hiatus), the keyed fiddle known as Nyckelharpa which fascinates audiences everywhere, and finally the little-known Swedish bagpipes, a more mellow version of their Scottish counterpart.

Dram approaches Swedish music with respect and love, imparting a contemporary and passionate character to tradition, while maintaining the very soul of it!

For 2008 and 2009 Dram have several tours planned, including to England, Poland, Germany, USA and Japan.


name: Anneke Scott and Kathryn Cok
description: Virtuosic works for natural horn and fortepiano
homepage: scott_cok
photo: /artists/img/scott_cok.jpg
society: NONE
page: scott_cok
bio:
Anneke Scott (natural horn) and Kathryn Cok (fortepiano) first met through working with the European Union Baroque Orchestra. A mixture of mutual friends and a communual desire to explore classical and romantic repertoire for fortepiano and winds led to them first collaborating in the chamber music quintet The Etesian Ensemble and ultimately led to them joining forces as a duo.

Kathryn and Anneke were selected as Making Music's Concert Promoters Network Artists for 2008/2009 and toured Holland in 2009 as part of the Organisatie Oudemuziek Netwerk.

Anneke Scott began her studies with Andrew Clark and Pip Eastop at The Royal Academy of Music, London. Having been awaded prestigious scholarships she furthered her study of period instruments firstly in France with Claude Maury, and then in Holland with Teunis van der Zwart.

Since her graduation she has been in demand with ensembles in the UK and continental Europe. She is principal horn of Sir John Eliot Gardiner's Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique and The English Baroque Soloists, Harry Christopher's The Orchestra of the Sixteen and The Avison Ensemble and has frequently worked as principal horn with The Australian Chamber Orchestra, The English Concert, Europa Galante, Freiburg Baroque, The Early Opera Company, Concerto Caledonia and The Mahler Chamber Orchestra to name but a few.

For many years she has had a keen in interest in chamber music leading to her becoming a founder member of The Etesian Ensemble. Through this ensemble she met the fortepianist Kathryn Cok with whom she formed a duo specialising in classical and romantic repertoire for horn and fortepiano. In recent years the duo has been selected as artists for Making Music (UK) and Oude Muziek Netwerk (Netherlands).

In 2007 Anneke was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music, an honour awarded to past students of the Academy who have distinguished themselves in the music profession and made a significant contribution to their field.

"A remarkable musician, authority and expert on a notoriously tricky instrument, Anneke never forgets that performing is about communicating enjoyment and having the courage of one's conviction. Concerts with Anneke are always a musical adventure!"
Andrew Manze.

"In Anneke Scott we have a "natural" horn player in more ways than one. On an instrument which is perilous at the best of times her technique is such that one is aware only of intellect, musicianship and a glorious pallet of sound".
Pavlo Beznosiuk.

For more information please visit: www.annekescott.com.

Kathryn Cok pursues a varied career as a harpsichordist, fortepianist and academic on both sides of the Atlantic. She is well sought after both as a soloist as well as a continuo player.

Born in the city of New York, USA, Kathryn now lives in The Hague, Holland where she completed a Masters degree at the Royal Conservatory as a student of Ton Koopman and Tini Mathot on the harpsichord, and Bart van Oort on the fortepiano. Kathryn recently won first prize in the first solo competition for baroque instruments in Brunnenthal, Austria.

She works regularly as a soloist and continuo player with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, and other important early music ensembles in Europe and performs regularly as a soloist in many of the world's most renowned Early Music Festivals such as Oude Muziek, Utrecht, Brunnenthaler Concert Zomer, Bodensee Festival, and important keyboard collections in the UK such as the Cobbe Collection, Finchcock's, Fenton House and the Gemeente Museum, Holland.

She is co-founder of the Caecilia-Concert, a dynamic international group of instrumentalists specializing in performance and research of 17th century music for instruments and voices. Kathryn is busy as a researcher and teaches at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, Holland.


name: Anonymous Culture
description: stylish and sharp witted hip-hop
homepage: anonymous_culture
photo: /artists/img/anonymous_culture1.jpg
society: BMI
page: anonymous_culture
bio:
Hip hop artist AnonymousCulture (Anttwan Thames) intends to take Dallas by storm. AnonymousCulture is a Pleasant Grove local whose lyrical skill and crisp, stylistic delivery are garnering major attention on the Dallas music scene. His urgency on the mic is contagious, and the powerful social consciousness conveyed through his rhymes is a fresh breath of air for today's hip hop.

AnonymousCulture has been showcased at Dallas venues including the House of Blues, the Granada Theater, Club Clearview, Liquid Lounge, The Lounge on Elm Street, and Zu Bar.

In 2009, he released a series of mixtapes and a single, "Stacks," which were enthusiastically received by Dallas bloggers and hip hop fans. He also wrote and performed "The Truth," a theme song for Deion Sanders' little league team, which was featured on NFL Network as well as frequent collaborations with other Magnatune artist LehtMoJoe.

The releases displayed outstanding versatility while showcasing AnonymousCulture's cohesive and uniquely identifiable sound.


name: Anonymph
description: moody, pop-electronica with female vocals
homepage: anonymph
photo: /artists/img/anonymph.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: anonymph
bio:
E.V.deGuzman is a multi-instrumentalist/composer/producer from San Diego, California - creating accessible, moody, pop-electronica featuring female vocals and brooding melodies under the guise, Anonymph.

Blending melodic pop-sensibilities with an array of music influences borrowing sounds from classic orchestral, various electronica, to indie/alt rock and modern urban beats, deGuzman's Anonymph project initially aimed to highlight and seek relatively unknown (anonymous) and untrained, yet unique and gifted female vocal talents to showcase his songs. This lead to his work with Suzanne Johnson who he met in 2002 through his college roommate, whose previous singing experience was limited to youth choir performing. Johnson's pure vocal delivery suited deGuzman's instrumentation perfectly and justified her re-recording the remainder of the songs as the sole featured vocalist for his debut album under Anonymph.

All songs are self written, recorded/mixed, and instrumentation performed. deGuzman's musical background includes violin, piano, and classical guitar. He was a violinist with the Denver Young Artist's Orchestra, and performed as lead vocalist/guitarist and sole song-writer for the house band at the famed 'Muddy's' cafe in Denver, CO.

His first industry credit was gained in 2003 listed as the film composer for Tokyopop's "Street Fury:Blue" DVD release.

Mr. deGuzman has a bachelor's degree in Biology and has held a Doctor of Pharmacy since 2005.


name: Anthony Hugh
description: Singer songwriter with a little soul and grit
homepage: anthony_hugh
photo: /artists/img/anthony_hugh.jpg
society: BMI
page: anthony_hugh
bio:
Anthony Hugh is an American Songwriter/Composer/Producer originally from sunny Florida now in northern California. Playing professionally since the age of 17, this pianist and singer influences range from Stevie Wonder to Ed Sherran and his songs and compositions are just as eclectic and diverse. The love and appreciation of roots music, both rock and soul, is at the heart of what Anthony creates and has helped to shape his sound. A little bit of blues and soul grit flavored vocal give a nice seasoning to this eclectic artist.

A few of Anthony's credits include:
  * Writing "Sweet Kisses" which was released by Sony recording artist PYT
  * "Mean Ol Dog" named the official theme song for the US Pro Tour 2002
  * Wakeboard World Championships
  * Writing and producing "The Story and "The Glory" with Grammy and Dove nominee JJ Plasencio (Plumb, Six Pence)
  * Music directing for the Pop group "Boy Krazy"
  * Toured US including Vans Warped Tour, World Trade Aid with Charlotte Church and KISS' Peter Criss
  * As a producer, working alongside of O Town's Tommy Smith, Pete Thornton (Limp Bizkit) and studio vet Tony Battaglia (Run-DMC, Keith Richards, KC and The Sunshine Band, *NSYNC, Shinedown, Puddle of Mud)
  * Currently Leading the music and arts ministry at Adventure Christian Church in Northern California.
    
The latest venture...
    
Thirty years of experience, writing, producing and performing music, learning how to capture and invoke just the right emotion for every project led to the creation of Anthony Hugh Productions, in 2010 a full production studio specializing in making music for TV, Film and Musicals.


name: Anthony Salvo
description: solo and layered violin music on the theme of relational and spiritual intimacy
homepage: anthony_salvo
photo: /artists/img/anthony_salvo.jpg
society: NONE
page: anthony_salvo
bio:
Violinist Anthony Salvo is steeped in many world music traditions, including classical, jazz, gypsy swing, latin, and klezmer. He specializes in spontaneous, improvised composition and performance that expresses his understanding of deep spiritual and emotional experience.

Anthony has collaborated and performed with many artists and musicians, including Art Lande and Coleman Barks. He is a founding member of the avant-garde improvisational group, the Free Range String Quartet. From his passion for teaching and nurturing the possibilities for young people, he runs a full Suzuki violin studio.

He performs regularly as a solo artist, creating unique compositions for dancing, movement, and conscious listening. Anthony makes his home in Boulder, Colorado.

You can find out more about Anthony on his website.


name: AntiGuru
description: IDM in the style of early Warp
homepage: antiguru
photo: /artists/img/antiguru2.jpg
society: NONE
page: antiguru
bio:
AntiGuru has been writing music for over ten years now in various styles and under several aliases.

Lured into electronics and computer music in 1996, AntiGuru's main influences would be Juno Reactor, Panasonic, Slowdive, Biosphere, and The Boards of Canada. 

Convinced that true art lies within the process of creation, most of AntiGuru's time is devoted to writing music in his studio at the heart of the beautiful city of Victoria, in Western Canada.


name: Antiqcool
description: soul soothing acoustic guitar songs
homepage: antiqcool
photo: /artists/img/antiqcool.jpg
society: PRS
page: antiqcool
bio:
I find it quite difficult to describe myself as an artist, and the music I create. Although I tinker with other instruments, I feel most at home playing acoustic or electric guitar, I've been playing on and off since I was six years old, so I guess it's a big part of who I am now.

The idea for a song can start with a few words, or a guitar riff. I spend many hours recording basic ideas that sound interesting, then overdubbing other guitar parts, until I hear something that sounds right. If I get Goosebumps, it's usually a good sign. If you, the listener, play the finished song and get Goosebumps, then I guess I've done a good job.

I enjoy the process of creating arrangements for guitar, often a three or four part ensemble with other instruments thrown into the mix to add a little extra colour, and variety. I try to make my songs interesting, but not too complicated. I want people to go away humming the tunes I have created,

I love it when people say "I can't get that song out of my head". I recommend you stop reading and start listening now, so that you can make up your own mind...


name: Anton Cosmo
description: rock superstar to be
homepage: anton_cosmo
photo: /artists/img/anton_cosmo.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: anton_cosmo
bio:
Anton Cosmo is a native of Upstate New York. He is consumed by music. Anton was raised in a home filled with music . He is the son of Fran Cosmo former singer of the band "BOSTON". Throughout his life, it seemed he always had a guitar in hand. A self-taught musician, this was a common bond between him and his father.

Anton is also proficient on the piano, drums, and bass guitar. He spends most of his time writing and recording music in his home studio. Anton's music combines many different elements and influences from different generations. Anton slowly became a sought after studio session player and producer while writing, producing and performing his own music.

Three of Anton's songs, "Turn it Off", Stare Out Your Window" and "Cryin" are featured on Boston's last release, Corporate America (Artemis Records). The Corporate America album reached number 46 on Billboard's Top 100. After this album was released, Anton toured with Boston in 2003 and 2004. His first appearance was with Boston at the Fiesta Bowl as well as performing at Redsox and New England Patriots sports events. In 2003, Anton's song "Turn it Off" was the song that launched the beginning of the mega web-site Launch.com. In 2006 Anton wrote and produced the debut album "Alien" for the band Cosmo (Frontier Records). This album featured his father, Fran Cosmo, on vocals. This album was hailed as one of the best melodic rock albums of 2006 along with My Chemical Romance.

"I love to write music in many directions and use all my influences from artists such as Peter Gabriel, U2, Seal, Linkin Park and Enigma. There are so many types of feel it is hard to just focus on one sound. I like to call it "A GLOBAL SOUND" that can relate to different genre's and generations."

You can find out more about Anton on his website.


name: Antonio Ciacca Quartet
description: Jazz played with earthiness, fire and intellect
homepage: antonio_ciacca
photo: /artists/img/antonio_ciacca.jpg
society: SESAC
page: antonio_ciacca
bio:
Born in Germany, raised in Italy and educated in the United States, Antonio Ciacca is able to move as fluidly among those varied cultural environments as he does between his life as a performer, composer, father of five, and top-tier arts presenter. Notably, Ciacca has served as artistic director for the Italian cultural agency, C-Jam, and in 2007, landed a plum job as the Director of Programming for Jazz at Lincoln Center, the impetus for his move that year from Bologna, Italy to New York City.

Ciacca began his career as a sideman for such acclaimed jazz artists as Art Farmer, James Moody, Lee Konitz, Jonny Griffin, Mark Murphy, Dave Liebman, and Steve Grossman, who he cites as his mentor, and with whom he studied for three years beginning in 1990. In 1993, he moved to Detroit to study at Wayne State University with Kenny Barron, after which he studied privately with Mingus' pianist Jackie Byard in New York. While living in Detroit, he was first exposed to gospel music, which so impressed him with its passion and energy that he soon integrated it into his own developing style as a composer and performer; he eventually went on to produce a CD for the Detroit Gospel Singers.

One of the most important events in Ciacca's career was an invitation to join the legendary saxophonist Steve Lacy's quartet in 1997; he continued to perform with Lacy for seven years. Another key encounter that would have long lasting musical and professional repercussions for Ciacca took place in 1997. "Wynton Marsalis was performing in Italy with Elvin Jones, who is my son's godfather. I'd first seen him at the Bologna Jazz Festival in 1989, and he really first opened my eyes to jazz then. But when I first saw him, I had no idea we'd ever work together." Ciacca first performed with Wynton in Wess Anderson sextet at New York's Village Vanguard in 2004.

In 1998 he also began to perform with saxophonist Benny Golson, with whom he continues to collaborate. In 1995, Ciacca recorded his first CD as a leader, Driemoty, which was released on the label C-Jam. In 1999 he recorded in New York City Hollis Avenue for the German label YVP. In 2002, he recorded Autumn in New York for the Italian label Splash.

After returning to Italy, Ciacca performed throughout Europe, including an intense series of performances in London in 2003, which included appearances at Ronnie Scott's, the Royal Festival Hall Foyer, the National Theatre and the London Jazz Festival, with "The Monk Liberation Front" project, a six hour-long performance that involved thirteen musicians alternately playing Monk's unedited music; The Guardian called out Ciacca's performance as "terrific." After opening for Wynton Marsalis' concerts in Italy, in 2004 Ciacca returned to New York to again perform at the Village Vanguard with his own quartet, featuring renowned saxophonist Wes Anderson, subsequently touring with them throughout the US, UK, and Italy until 2005.

In Italy in 2004, Ciacca recorded a trio project, Ugly Beauty with the late Dennis Irwin and Detroit mate Ali Jackson for the legendary Italian label Soul Note which he supported with a European tour.

In 2007, Ciacca's extensive music industry experience and comprehensive artistic vision led to his being tapped to take on the position of Director of Programming at Jazz at Lincoln Center, where he works closely with JALC Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis.

That same year, he met Jana Herzen, founder of Motema Music, at a performance at the Historic Langston Hughes House in Harlem, an intimate brownstone parlor performance space that is sponsored in part by the label. Herzen offered use of the Fazioli piano at the Hughes House to Ciacca for his rehearsal needs, and over the next few weeks she took so well to Ciacca's playing and compositions that the current recording deal was initiated.

In 2009 Ciacca turned 40. His year long celebrations included: appearance at New York Blue Note, one week engagement at Dizzy's, performances at the Rochester and Detroit International Jazz Festivals, European Tour with George Garzone and Joe Locke special guests, release of his first Music Book, "the Music of Antonio Ciacca "Vol. 1", an invitation to teach "Business of Jazz" at Julliard. The participation at the Detroit International Jazz Festival has been for him the climax of a fantastic journey started in Detroit in 1993 when Antonio first touched the USA soil.

2010 marks the release of the second album with Motema Lagos Blues, in two months this album became a rare gift to the jazz world, documenting for the first time the pure joy of be-bop, gospel, and blues influenced pianist/composer Antonio Ciacca's powerful long-term musical relationship with sax legend Steve Grossman. Grossman who rose to fame in the 1970s through incendiary and groundbreaking sessions with Miles Davis, joins Ciacca's deft ensemble (Stacy Dillard, Kengo Nakamura & Ulisses Owens) to swing with impeccable style on this historic disc.

Nowadays the New York based pianist and composer Ciacca enjoys his work as Director of Programming at Jazz at Lincoln Center, his family of wife and 5 kids and his beloved jazz piano playing the city jazz clubs.


name: Anup
description: electro Indian sitar
homepage: anup
photo: /artists/img/anup.jpg
society: {}
page: anup
bio:
Anup Patel is a unique musician who combines traditional classical Indian music with western pop music. Anup proficiently plays the sitar, table and the keyboard, with his personal favorite being the sitar. Although Anup does not consider himself a master, he has been playing both tablas and sitar for over 30 years, a fact which is easily noticeable in his music.

Anup's main goal in the music world is to remove cultural barriers by fusing music from various cultures, without losing the original spirit of the music. He wants to share with the world the musical ecstacy that he feels by transforming simple and complex Indian scales into easily understandable and enjoyable songs. He would like to remove the sombre and complex image that has surrounded classical Indian music. He wants to emphasize the universality of musical notes.


name: Arphaus
description: aficionado of deep house, IDM and ABBA
homepage: arphaus
photo: /artists/img/arphaus.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: arphaus
bio:
Arphaus (aka Arp Laszlo) is an electronic music producer whose melodies, textures and beats have been featured in television shows, websites and advertising. He has been strongly influenced by Aphex Twin (SAW I and II), Massive Attack (their Mushroom period) and early 90s trance (before it became a drug-addled mint for overpaid, overhyped and underskilled djs).

He feels writing about himself is pretentious but can't help it since no one else seems to know a thing about him. Creating this bio has resulted in him constantly referring to himself in the third person.


name: Art Sonic
description: acoustic guitar folktronica with elements of ambient atmospheric Americana
homepage: art_sonic
photo: /artists/img/art_sonic.jpg
society: NONE
page: art_sonic
bio:
Art Sonic is a brainchild of music creator Richard Lisaj, from Toronto, Canada. It can be best described as acoustic guitar folktronica with elements of ambient atmospheric Americana.

Richard creates a colorful atmospheric blend that is as equally well suited for cinematic use as for headphone indulgence. In Art Sonic, he blends in sounds of nature that he captured on a 3-week long road trip to the American Southwest.

Richard has also released music as Dubtrak and Intersonic Subformation.

Under the Dubtrak moniker he has been delivering a unique blend of dub, global beats and psy-trance-electronica since 2008 and released two full-length albums of original material, collaborated with a sitar player Ragaboy, remixed tracks by Dubmatix, Citizen Sound, Pacifika, Baj Tajpan, Delhi 2 Dublin and Matisyahu. Dubtrak's music has been compared to The Orb, Underworld and Banco de Gaia.

As Intersonic Subformation, Richard is explorating dreamy soundscapes that offer expensive views of Cosmic Vistas rewarding the listener with raw, awe-inspiring, emotions. Attention to details, lush sound design and pristine production place these compositions somewhere in the netherworld between dark and melodic ambience, with a healthy dose of pure electronic space music.


name: Artemis
description: Alternative / Downtempo / Electro-pop
homepage: artemis
photo: /artists/img/artemis_new2015.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: artemis
bio:
If such a joyous sonic welter as the music of Oakland's Artemis needs a handle, then call it "pavement psychedelia," or "urban robot raga" or "trip-pop." On a song like "Hypno," spectral keyboard washes and sinuous dance beats set up a feeling of warm alienation before the singer's voice heats things further. Over the thump and shimmer, she croons with detached fervor, the production dissolving in a storm of pixie-dust disco until a rude riot of effects snaps the tether and she vanishes.

Aesthetically, the band is a poppier variant on trip-hop, with layers of beats and synth effects providing atmospherics for sophisticated classic rock song structures and the velvet swoop of Artemis's vocals.

Artemis co-produces and performs with various members of the RTFM collective, which includes the polymathic likes of Daniel Berkman (aka Colfax, multi-instrumentalist and wizard of the kora, a twelve-string harp-lute used extensively in West African music), Cliff Tune (the drummer, who adds to orthodox skin-pounding masses of programmed beats layered for pallidly funky effect), Keith Crusher (producer, programmer and sonic theoretician) and newcomer Daniel Durrett, who doles out mind-bending effects with ease, lowering the ambient temperature to dry-ice.

Despite the variety of syncretic means, the whole wraps around the singer in true rockist fashion like a flash-frozen Big Brother and the Holding Company. The music pulses with downtempo beats while ambient sound FX sinks tethers from the world outside into the listener only to pull them pleasantly loose with the band's coruscating riffs and hooky churn. Artemis presides over this aural slow-burn like one of Wim Wenders' angels; warm, wise, detached and waiting for you.

Press and Praise
Artemis' releases Orbits (2007), Gravity (2005) and Undone (2001) are all top sellers on Magnatune, and have garnered praise and press in publications from the New York Times to Remix, Electronic Musician and Keyboard magazines.

Her music receives global airplay and is featured regularly on major podcasts and popular online radio shows such as Dave's Lounge, SomaFM, Groovera, and Below Zero. Songs have been licensed for television, video and compilations, and she has recorded and collaborated with producers worldwide including Banco de Gaia's Toby Marks and former Duran Duran manager Paul Berrow.

Tracks from her release, the Auralei EP (2010), have already won awards and spotlights, with the Colfax remix of 'Here and Now' earning top marks at the first Epiphyte Records Test Press event of 2010.


name: Arthur Yoria
description: catchy, whip smart alt-rock
homepage: yoria
photo: /artists/img/yoria1.jpg
society: BMI
page: yoria
bio:
Arthur Yoria is one of those musicians that have the rare ability to churn out one gem of a tune after another. His uncanny ear for melody, hooks, and arrangement is paralleled only by his captivating voice which seems to carry the weight of a thousand break-ups, but somehow manages to soar effortlessly to a place where joy, goose bumps, and repeated listens are unavoidable. Built on beefy rhythms, unforgettable riffs and clever lyrics that can quickly go from touching to venomous, Arthur's songs are models of contemporary pop song craft.

After stints in the Houston based bands, The Jeepneys and Lavendula, Arthur decided to set out on his own and released a self-titled EP in 2001 to much critical acclaim as well as some interest from various major labels. With a solid backing band and a commitment to play live as often as possible, the end of the year brought with it a nomination in the Houston Press Music Awards "Best New Act" category and a management deal with Los Angeles based Kio Novina Management (Tenacious D, Sugarcult, Actual Tigers).

Following the release of another critically acclaimed EP, can you still look adorable in 2002, Arthur and good friend, former Houston Rocket, Matt Maloney began talking about forming a record label for the purposes of releasing a full-length CD. Two years, a few SXSW showcases, maybe the most nominations for a single artist in the Houston Press Music Awards (for the past three years) and several drunken conversations about the state of the music industry later, Matt and Arthur have finally made good on their plans.

I'll Be Here Awake is Arthur Yoria's debut full-length, self-released album. A stunning achievement, this album shows the Houston based, Chicago native at the apex of his talents. From beginning to end, this 37 and-a-half minute concept pop/rock masterpiece delivers one swift kick after another while leaving imprints, not soon erased of it's well-crafted melodies, undeniable hooks and raw emotions. One of those rare releases that not only wins over the reluctant music snob, but gets the reluctant music snob's grandmother humming; I'll Be Here Awake is that CD that becomes more reliable than your best friend.

"I just wanted to make a very simple and to the point, rock record about this very nasty and egotistical fictional character that I vicariously live through from time to time," Arthur says, "I went easy on the overdubs after the basic tracks were on tape in order to avoid making the big and lush, singer-songwriter-type record that I was supposed to make and unlike a lot of past studio experiences, I ended up having the time of my life in there. I just hope that the playful atmosphere as well as the contrast between that atmosphere and the sometimes not-so-pleasant subject matter comes through when people listen to this thing."

Ian Varley plays in Arthur Yoria's live band and is the organist in Drop Trio, a groove-oriented organ-based funk jazz trio.


name: Ash Ganley
description: masterfully nuanced AAA rock
homepage: ash_ganley
photo: /artists/img/ash_ganley.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: ash_ganley
bio:
Some artists you just know are going to be doing their craft, no matter what and no matter where, for the rest of their life; it's just what they do. They'll grow and change with their songs and the music they play, and so will their music grow and change with them as they move through life. This kind of dedication, over time, can yield some powerful music and goes a long way in creating the kind of creative environment in which the song and the artist become inseparable; where the listener knows, somewhere down deep, that this symmetry of song and singer is the real deal, forged in the fires of life.

Ash Ganley is that type of artist. Ash has been a humble apprentice to many a musical muse over the years, and spent his time touring and recording in bands - as both a bandleader and side man - that have ranged in style from Reggae to Bluegrass, Alt Country to Blues Fusion and Rock and beyond. All of these different styles naturally found a hybrid home in Ash's own unique voice as a singer, songwriter and guitarist.

In an age where too often the desire for instant gratification and disposable commercialism have wed to dominate the music marketplace, rare is an artist like Ash Ganley who is able to distil down his myriad musical experiences into such a potent, well-honed mix of roots rock, timeless acoustic pop, and edgy Americana Soul music in a way that sounds seamless, comfortably familiar and totally signature.

An Ash Ganley Show literally covers all the bases, from an intimate acoustic duo; to the rootsy acoustic slide guitar with stripped down, Delta-inspired drums and bass; all the way up to the high energy full band Americana/Rock/Soul sounds. From Red Rocks to back yard parties, Ash has learned the art of audience-performer energy transference and taps into that natural communion effortlessly.

Ash has a clearly authentic quality to his commercial sound.

"These Ash Ganley tunes are really good listening and it occurs to one right away that a principle reason is the background vocals of Andria Ganley, which are spot on perfect! She sounds, to me at least, like one of my favorite singers, Margo Timmons. The quality she brings to the sound of this band really elevates it to a higher level. Ash has that assured virility in his sound that you hear in guys who have achieved a certain level of professionalism. There is a quality in his sound that says he has arrived at his musical destination, which is powerful stuff."
- rarwriter.com, an LA Based Music website and blog.

Highlights from Ash's career include:
* Reggae On the Rocks (Red Rocks), played twice.
* Film on the Rocks 2007 (as headlining band w/7000+ in attendance).
* Headlined: KBCO Stage at Taste of Colorado in downtown Denver in 2009.
* Multiple appearances on prestigious 97.3 KBCO "Studio C".
* Entire album selected for playlist on 99.5 FM KQMT "The Mountain".
* Signed with NOMA Music in Jan 2011 and already has multiple placements in major tv productions.
* Openers for Little Feat, William Topley, Jimmy Cliff, Burning Spear, Derek Trucks Band, B.B. King, Steel Pulse, String Cheese Incident and many others.
* Song "I Walk Alone" from album Cruel Waters selected as title, theme and credits song for new independent film "Night at the Zoo", staring former Deadwood stars W. Earle Brown and Sean Bridger's in partnership with Michael Hemschoot ("The Matrix", "Master and Commander: Far Side of the World").

You can check out more about Ash on his website and MySpace page.


name: Askold Buk
description: guitar-driven, groove-oriented feel-good jazz/r&b tunes
homepage: askold_buk
photo: /artists/img/askold_buk.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: askold_buk
bio:
"I think a lot of today's instrumental music takes itself so seriously that it intimidates people - it's quite different from the great instrumentals I remember that were catchy, feel-good tunes with no pretense," observes guitarist Askold Buk. "My goal is to recapture that vibe by writing music that is as much fun to listen to as it is to play."

Buk certainly creates that mood on his eponymously-titled debut album, which was featured on Groove Boutique (a nationally-syndicated soul/jazz radio show), and added to over 20 national and international jazz playlists.

The album has garnered great reviews, most notably from famed critic Nat Hentoff, who wrote:

"Askold Buk plays with the passion born of complete mastery of his instrument so that - as Dizzy Gillespie once said of superior players - he knows what notes not to play. Buk communicates with great presence, but without showboating or otherwise indulging in technical virtuosity for its own sake."

Askold is no stranger to instrumental music - he has scored numerous episodes of the Emmy-winning PBS documentary series Frontline, as well as 20/20 (ABC), Primetime (ABC) and In Search of America (ABC). He wrote and produced the score to the documentary feature film Obscene, which premiered at the 2007 Toronto Film Festival.

Buk's songs were featured on The Hills (MTV), P.O.V. (PBS) and New York 1. In 2008, he wrote the music for the permanent interactive installation at the Action Center Museum to End World Hunger in New York City.


name: Asteria
description: late-medieval vocal and instrumental music
homepage: asteria
photo: /artists/img/asteria_8.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: asteria
bio:
In October 2004, Asteria burst onto the national early music scene, winning Early Music America's first Unicorn Prize for Medieval and Renaissance Music with a performance heralded by the New York Times as "intimate and deeply communicative...meltingly beautiful." This engaging duo brings out the passion and emotional impact of late medieval vocal and instrumental music with timeless love songs of wide appeal, transporting their listeners back to the age of chivalry.

Eric Redlinger's sweet tenor and skill on the lute are complemented by his expertise in early music, earned through study at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis and extensive archival research into original sources. Following graduation from Middlebury College, Eric spent several years immersing himself in the European musical archives of the Hague, Basel and Marburg. During this time he also did post-graduate studies in composition and musicology at the Frankfurt Conservatory of Music and studied medieval lute with Crawford Young and voice with Richard Levitt at the Schola. He now makes his home in New York, where he has studied with Drew Minter and Gary Ramsey.

Sylvia Rhyne brings to the partnership not only her quicksilver soprano but also a strong dramatic connection with the audience, gained from a professional career in musical theater. She has starred internationally as Christine in The Phantom of the Opera and on Broadway as Joanna in Sweeny Todd under the direction of Stephen Sondheim, Harold Prince, and Susan Schulman.

Raised in London and the Pacific Northwest, Sylvia grew up surrounded by classical music, opera and dance. She pursued a passion for early music at Carleton College, guided by Stephen Kelly, taking leading roles in early operas and operettas on her way to a degree in music. She studied also with Wesley Balk at St. Olaf College and recorded with Dennis Russell Davies and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. Arriving in New York, Sylvia was invited to sing with the New York City Opera and began ongoing coaching with Marcy Lindheimer.

Eric and Sylvia first connected through singing with John Hetland's Renaissance Street Singers, a group that brings a cappella 15th and 16th century music to New York City sidewalks and parks. The pair immediately discovered their mutual interest in earlier repertoire and began meeting regularly to work on late medieval pieces, gradually developing their passionate approach to the music. Asteria's performances convey the anguish and ecstasy of the poetry and the rapturous beauty of the interweaving vocal and instrumental lines.

The result of Asteria's exploration can be heard on their first recording of 15th century chansons, Le Souvenir de Vous me Tue.


name: Atomic Opera
description: progressive world-influenced hard rock.
homepage: atomic_opera
photo: /artists/img/atomic.jpg
society: NONE
page: atomic_opera
bio:
With dark, heavy grooves and a big, sweeping sound, Atomic Opera is firmly rooted in a rock and metal tradition that began with Black Sabbath and was continued by Metallica, but adds lilting, irresistably Beatles-ish melodies and unexpected, towering harmonies evocative of prog rock bands like Rush and Yes. Add the presence of Frank Hart's sophisticated arrangements for cello, acoustic guitar, mandolin, dulcimer, organ, recorders and hand percussion, and you get a stellar old world art rock sound with a progressive folk metal edge. This brooding yet accessible music was born of same fertile Houston scene that produced Galactic Cowboys, The Awful Truth, and King's X, which shares some of the Atomic Opera's spiritual focus and prog rock influences.


name: Attic Trax
description: Chilled downtempo with a bit of attitude
homepage: attic_trax
photo: /artists/img/attic_trax1.jpg
society: PRS
page: attic_trax
bio:
The man behind the sound of Attic Trax is Richard Jacob, writer, sound engineer and producer who has worked on numerous projects encompassing a variety of musical styles from classical recording, live indie bands as well as numerous dance projects including producing the 1998 MOBO winner "Get Up" by The Jazz Stepper's.

We are a recording project that has been going for about nine years. Most of the musicians used are either friends or family. The music represents an accumulation of all theirs and my musical influences. The end result can vary from Nu Jazz to Indie rock. The constants though are strong grooves married layers of sounds and atmospheres. The end result is mainly down tempo with a bit of attitude.

Creative Inspiration is taken from everyday life - travel, family, films, politics, pets and pubs along with such musical influences ranging from Lemon Jelly, Zero 7, Groove Armada to Led Zeppelin, Beth Orton, The Stone Roses mixed with a bit of the Chemical Brothers and Faithless.

The other key part of the project is Steve Jones, the quiet and understated genius behind the Attix Trax guitar sound. The complete master of a layered tapestry of electric sound, he also brings it down nicely with dexterous acoustic gems.


name: Audio70
description: groovy fusions between Electronica and Prog Rock on the keyboard
homepage: audio70
photo: /artists/img/audio70.jpg
society: NONE
page: audio70
bio:
The man behind Audio70 is called Luigi Ballotta, a keyboard player from Italy. His passion for music showed early on, leading him to listen to various authors and genres from early childhood, such as the singers of the Italian music scene of the 70s and 80s, including Italo disco, jazzrock, progressive rock and electronic music/new age. Luigi then played in several rock bands in his area, among others a progressive rock group which would greatly influence his way of playing and composing music. In short, his passion for music and the musical genres was and still is unbridled. In addition to listening to music, a considerable part of his time is spent on studying the piano and on practicing his piano play.

All of the above culminated in a debut album that expresses well Luigi's understanding of music. His one rule is that there’s no rules!

Luigi practiced every single part of his tracks to perfection, to the point that for all except the drum parts and some repetitive synthesizer bits no post-production or computer editing was necessary.

To Audio70, music serves to express sensations - be that a distant or near memory or anything else that generates an emotion - which could hardly be expressed with words. In other words, playing and composing music allows Audio70 to express a hidden part of himself; to bring feelings and emotions hidden in the depths of the soul to the surface.


name: Bach Collegium San Diego
description: Bach, historically informed, vibrantly performed
homepage: bach_collegium
photo: /artists/img/bach_collegium.jpg
society: NONE
page: bach_collegium
bio:
Bach Collegium San Diego ensemble was founded in 2003 to diversify the music offerings in the San Diego community by providing engaging, accessible, historically informed performances of repertoire from the Renaissance, Baroque, and early Classical eras.

Its principal members bring longstanding experience from such international ensembles as the Academy of Ancient Music, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, as well as from this country's leading ensembles as American Bach Soloists, Philharmonia Baroque, and the Portland Baroque Orchestra.

Additionally, the ensemble is dedicated to engaging soloists and ensemble singers from some of this country's most gifted young artists who specialize in early music. During its first eight seasons, the ensemble has earned an impressive reputation, captivating diverse audiences by their unique style and highly expressive and provocative approach to the Renaissance and Baroque repertoire.

The ensemble regularly participates in an international tour to Mexico City with performances at the Festival Internacional del organo Barroco, and most recently were sponsored by the United Stated Embassy to perform in Bolivia at the IX Internacional de Musica Renacentista y Barroca American 'Misiones de Chiquitos' where they had the honor of performing at the historic Jesuit missions at Concepcion and San Javier.

The ensemble has premiered many historically informed performances in San Diego which include Handel's Theodora and Messiah, Bach's St John Passion, B minor Mass, and Magnificat, Monteverdi's 1610 Vespers, Mozart's Requiem, and staged performances of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas. The ensemble is fast developing itself as one of the exciting early music ensembles to watch on the West Coast.


name: Barbara Leoni
description: blues rock
homepage: leoni
photo: /artists/img/barbara_leoni.jpg
society: NONE
page: leoni
bio:
Barbara Leoni grew up in Wisconsin and moved out to LA to attend Musicians' Institute in Hollywood. After graduating with honors from GIT (Guitar Institute of Technology), she became an active working musician in the LA area. She traveled the United States opening up for such acts as the Beach Boys and Steppenwolf.

She has also traveled abroad to play for the military in such places as Greenland, Kuwait, Bahrain, Bosnia, Kosovo, Macadonia, Germany, Norway, Sigapore, Japan and Korea. Now, finally, Barbara has used her cumulated experiences and musical talents to produce her first solo CD entitled "Human Needs".

Her soulful and expressive guitar playing and singing reflect her diverse influences. The CD also displays her talents as a songwriter and engineer. She was lucky to marry into a musical family - her husband, Danny Leoni, supplies top notch bass lines and her brother in law, Jerry Leoni, rounds out the rhythm section with his solid drum grooves.

THE MUSICIANS:
* BARBARA LEONI : Lead Vocals, ALL Guitars
* DANNY LEONI : Bass, Duet Vocals (on Ring Around The Rosey)
* JIMMY BRITTON : Keyboards
* JERRY LEONI : Drums (Dont Rain On My Parade, WaterFall, Haunted)
* DOMINIC GRECO : Drums (Demons, Ring Around The Rosey)
* JASON PIPKIN : Drums (Another Time, Human Needs)
* ANNIE BERTUCCI : Background Vocals


name: Barbepeste Official Orchestra
description: Ahoy and shiver your timbers to some Irish World music with a smattering of pirates
homepage: barbepeste
photo: /artists/img/barbepeste.jpg
society: NONE
page: barbepeste
bio:
The Barbepeste Official Orchestra (or B.O.O) is a French quartet, halfway between traditional Irish music and world music.

Comprising Yann Righetti (cithern, mandolin, baroque guitar), Isao Bredel (nyckelharpa, singing), Yann Voegel (low whistle, tin whistle, ney, alto recorder) and Guilhem Puech (surdo, cuban cajon, military drum, darbouka, bendir), the band likes to play with old traditional Irish songs and give them new colors.

And what about the "Captain Barbepeste" and the pirate aesthetics that flavors the entire project?

Well, that's the common thread, the guiding light that gives sense to the global picture. One can imagine a lot of different things listening to the B.O.O., but the band always pictures pirate ambiances when composing or arranging a song: one dreams of sirens and tempests, one of jetties and taverns, one of ships that ran aground and desert islands.

This pirate aesthetic goes beyond the music: historical costumes, old musical instruments, and a gorgeous artwork around the first album, designed by Jean Luc Masbou, a famous French comic strip writer who turns out to be a B.O.O. fan!


name: Barks and Crock
description: Berlin based electronic music - from ambient atmospheric to dance
homepage: barks_crock
photo: /artists/img/barks_and_crock.jpg
society: NONE
page: barks_crock
bio:
Grown up in East Germany (GDR), Steve Crock initially came into touch with music through American radio stations and RIAS at an early age. He listened to the music and taped it up on audio cassettes. Soon after he cut his teeth in DJ'ing (House, Acid, Funk). After the fall of the Berlin Wall he went to his first club-music party in Munich.

He visited the Love Parade and gradually came in contact with Berlin's underground club scene. Later on he interested himself in Goa and Psytrance, appeared as a DJ in that scene and was desirous to produce his own music of that style. So he got the essential equipment and "learning by doing"; produced his own tracks. Crock graduated as a sound engineer (SAE Berlin). On the Internet Steve Crock made contact with Ben Barks in 2007.

Unlike Crock, Ben Barks was born and raised in Western Germany and gained an early musical education by his father's rock 'n' roll records as well as by the British Forces Radio's 80's music. As a teenager he learned to play the guitar and fell in love with blues music. As a prisoner of his Western German wasteland circumstances, Ben was primarily influenced by Metal, Punk and Britpop (Oasis, Blur) before he focused on 'the classics' (Beatles, Stones, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors).

He acquired his first expieriences as the leader of a band which was oriented towards Hardrock (Hellacopter, Motörhead etc), but for Barks pure guitar music always seemed to be too single-edged, until some day he booted the computer and added electronic drums and keyboards. For a long time he absented himself from rock 'n' roll and the stage and along the way exclusively produced electronic music. He moved to Berlin and was fascinated by the electronic music scene. As mentioned before he met Steve Crock on the Internet and since then they've been working together as producers.

They started their collaboration as 'Long Trigger', an electro-and-guitar-band with a female voice. Long Trigger appeared live in clubs and festivals until the female singer left the band. After that 'Long Trigger' was born, with Ben Barks as leader plus an additional guitarist. Long Trigger played a mixture of electronic music with strong guitar riffs. At that time the artist duo did a quick side-trip and produced tracks and remixes for a soundtrack (Angel's Call). But since 2010, Barks and Crock have exclusively been focused on producing and occasional collaborations with featured artists of Berlin's electronic music scene.


name: Barry James
description: instrumental music with an edge
homepage: barry_james
photo: /artists/img/barry_james_new.jpg
society: BMI
page: barry_james
bio:
At the age of six, Barry James started piano lessons to play the classical music he heard his mother listen to on the radio. Picking up the trombone in junior high gave him a taste for the style and flexibility of jazz music, which he utilized through high school in various jazz performing groups, orchestras, and pit bands for school plays. Then while browsing a rummage sale table he stumbled onto a beat up old acoustic guitar. Soon he was practicing for hours at a time to find the limits and textures of this new instrument.

Barry has been collaborating with other musicians since 1995, and is a veteran of many groups, including the dream pop band, The Sunflower Conspiracy, and the Tucson based alternative rock band Affirming the Consequent. In addition, he has written film score and songs for various projects, including the short film, The Human Condition, which debuted at independent film festivals in April 2008, and the infectious theme to and overall musical signature of the ironic and entertaining webisode comedy, Crewing Up.

Barry James uses guitars, effects, and computer recording techniques to create a sound that is as orchestral as it is modern. His work often brings comparisons to Brian Eno, Radiohead, Peter Gabriel and Enya.

If anyone is poised to inject new life into the ambient sound it is Barry James. His work in music is genre-spanning and continues to evolve as he seeks out new projects and creates new challenges for himself. James is heavily involved in exploring the push and pull between music and images.

You can learn more about Barry on his website.


name: Barry Phillips
description: Scandinavian folkish cello
homepage: phillips
photo: /artists/img/phillips.jpg
society: BMI
page: phillips
bio:
Cellist, arranger, and composer Barry Phillips explores the line between traditional folk and classical music through beautifully clean arrangements that draw on the past, yet always look ahead to the future. From his recordings of American Shaker melodies to an album of Rumi's poetry set to strings, Phillips' expansive body of work has been gleaned from traditions around the globe and encompasses more than eight centuries of music.

Phillips' newest album Trad. is a contemporary celebration of Scandinavian folk songs and original compositions. In addition to Phillips on cello, Trad. features two of Sweden's premier players: master nyckelharpist Olov Johansson of the band Vasen and virtuoso fiddler, Olof Gothlin. The album's title combines the abbreviation for the English word "traditional" and the Swedish and Norwegian word "trad," meaning "thread." It's an album rich with the character of Scandinavian folklore, while its modern, streamlined arrangements make for a sound both elegant and earthy.

Phillips holds a Masters of Music degree in composition from the San Francisco Conservatory and has collaborated with Ravi Shankar on several compositions, including two pieces for celebrated cellist Mstislav Rostropovich. In November of 2002, he accompanied Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, and other rock luminaries in The Concert for George-a memorial to George Harrison at The Royal Albert Hall in London. He has performed and recorded with such world renowned artists as fiddler Alasdair Fraser, harpist Aine Minogue, and the legendary British rock group Camel.

Phillips' previous recordings include Gourd's Shaker Trilogy (co-produced with William Coulter): Simple Gifts, Tree of Life, and Music on the Mountain. He also composed and produced The World Turned Upside Down, a reinterpretation of popular colonial American music that was featured in the PBS production of Ken Burns' Thomas Jefferson.


name: Barry Sulkin
description: Reflective instrumental guitar melodies
homepage: barry_sulkin
photo: /artists/img/barry_sulkin.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: barry_sulkin
bio:
Barry Sulkin is a musician living in Nashville, Tennessee and is one half of Magnatune artist Heavy Mellow. On this solo effort, he continues in a similar style of acoustic instrumental compositions centered around fingerstyle guitar played with natural fingernails, and is accompanied by guest musicians on various tracks. His music creates atmospheres that are relaxing, melodic, meditative, reflective, and lively.

Originally from Memphis, he began playing fingerstyle guitar while attending college in Virginia, and progressed to exploring alternate tunings, lead, and various types of guitars and other string instruments. Guitars used for this project are six-string classical and steel, and twelve-string, sometimes in standard tuning, and sometime in common alternatives of drop D and open D. Also used are some lesser known tunings picked up from others along the way, that he refers to as raised C, aerial C, and double drop C.

Some of these songs tell a story without words, some capture the essence of a place or time, while others are simply melodies offered to relax the mind and space around the listener.


name: Beat Under Control
description: jazz/dub intense electro funk
homepage: beatundercontrol
photo: /artists/img/beatundercontrol_1.jpg
society: STIM
page: beatundercontrol
bio:
Beat under control - a new project led by the Swedish bassplayer Ulf "Rockis" Ivarsson introduces a unique mix of dub, jazz, funk, electronica, roots, rock and global beats.

On the album "The Introduction" Ulf Ivarsson (who has previously toured and recorded with artists such as Thomas Dileva, Sky High and Hedningarna) teams up with Goran Kajfes on trumpet, celloplayer Raymond King, guitarist George Nakas and Per Wiberg on keyboards. These are some of the most interesting players on the contemporary Swedish music scene.

The opening track "Blue Lights" shows some of the many varied influences that forms the basis of "Beat under control". Goran Kajfes plays the majestic theme and improvise together with Per Wiberg over Ulf Ivarssons basslines, that leads us through a musical landscape which incorporates sounds and beats associated with both Miles Davis (Bitches Brew era) and eastern music.

Kajfes appears again on the next track "Sacred" a pulsating piece of ambient electronica. The track also features Raymond Kings electrically fuelled cello harmonies.

"This is beat under control" - the third track is built around a hard driving beat in the Roni Size school of drum-n-bass. The melody that leaps with the first basstheme is played on a Augustus Pablo-inspired melody and shows Ulf Ivarssons influences from reggae music.

The next title "Direction Dub" goes more in the dub direction. The production of this modern dub track feature a melodic sound and Raymond King playing atmospheric cello parts over the almost minimalist beat anchored by heavy bass. George Nakas adds colour with his whammy bar guitar playing.

Trumpet player Goran Kajfes returns for the fourteen minute long "Speechless ", which mixes modern electronica with both funk (funkadelic meets DJ Shadow) and early underground electronic music (70's Tangerine Dream).

As with all B.U.C. compositions the music is built around the energic and imaginative bass playing,in this case strikingly simple repetitive synth bass lines.

The last track "Saturn Blues" is basically a modern funky blues with a beat. All musicians featured in this line up of Beat under control reappear in this final track.

Ulf Ivarsson plays bass on the album "Love and you and I" by Magnatune artist "Lizzi".


name: Beight
description: highly listenable indie pop gems
homepage: beight
photo: /artists/img/beight.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: beight
bio:
After several years of performing around Minneapolis as a solo artist, Brad Senne decided it was time to record a full length album and the end result is File In Rhythm, eleven indie pop gems driven by catchy melodies and quiet ardor.

The album, which Senne recorded under project name Beight (pronounced "bait"), features him on guitar, bass, piano, and vocals. He set it down at Flowers Studio in Minneapolis, where Senne enlisted the engineering/producing expertise of Ed Ackerson (Polara, Kraig Johnson and The Program). Ackerman also contributed some keyboard and bass to a few tracks, while Peter Anderson (The Ocean Blue, Mark Mallman, Polara) sat in on drums.

Senne's melodic fluency and lyrical skills shine through on every single track-from the bright, radio friendly "File in Rhythm" and "Parallels" to the simple, subdued beauty of "Without Warning" and "In the Middle." The second to last tune on the album, "Invisible City," has a big and cinematic yet tender and downcast quality that makes it feel like a lost track from Lost in Translation. Someone call Sofia.


name: Bella Gaia
homepage: bella_gaia
photo: /artists/img/bella_gaia_small.jpg
society: BMI
page: bella_gaia
description:
an iridescent landscape of gossamer melodies and labyrinthine rhythms, with a sense of celestial wonder

bio:
No matter how many times we've all heard it, it bears repeating: We have only one planet to call home. It's an extraordinarily beautiful planet, teeming with diverse life and vital natural resources, sustaining a great human civilization. But it's a planet that's crying out for help. The sooner we all realize that, and heed its call, the longer Earth will be our home.

"Out of this World" - USA Today
Kenji Williams is acutely aware of that reality, and Bella Gaia, the astoundingly moving multimedia presentation that he's envisioned and executed, is his way of helping to spread the message. Encompassing live music and dance, breathtaking film and timelapse photography, cutting-edge data visualizations produced by NASA supercomputers, Bella Gaia is at once both infinitely entertaining and a stimulating educational experience. The project warns us that human civilization threatens to destroy the very fabric of life upon which the habitability of the planet depends, while also reminding us of the deep creativity humanity possesses and which needs to be employed if we are to enjoy a viable future. It is an "Exploration of the relationship between human civilization and our ecosystem through time and space." Williams explains.

Conceived with enthusiastic input from NASA, and featuring spectacular imagery simulating Earth as seen from space - as well as visually striking reminders from terra firma of the delicate balance between our planet's miraculous splendor and its fragility - Bella Gaia (Beautiful Earth) has been hailed by euphoric audiences around the world, including many in the scientific community, as a celebration of life.

"Sublime" - Village Voice NYC
Civilizations need a habitable planet and as the eminent opera singer Beverly Sills once noted, "Art is the signature of civilizations." With this in mind, Bella Gaia showcases the amazing art and cultural heritage of civilizations inhabiting planet Earth through live musical and dance performance on stage and large-scale projected visuals on screen.

"Discover what it's like to be an astronaut" - Washington Post
For creator and composer Kenji Williams, the classically trained violinist behind it, Bella Gaia serves as both a culmination of his many years as a visionary musician and composer and an opportunity to impart a critical life or death message through his art. The genesis of Bella Gaia, Williams explains, occurred at the end of 2005, when he was in Kazakhstan to witness the launch of a Soyuz rocket. There Williams met American astronaut Mike Fincke, who had lived on the International Space Station for six months. "I asked him what changed when he went into space," says Williams, "and he told me that before that his favorite planets were Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, but once he went into space and looked out the window of the space station, he completely fell in love with planet Earth, and Earth became his favorite planet. I just got really inspired by this story."

It was during that trip that Williams conjured the idea to create a multimedia project that simulated space flight and induced the transformative experience that astronauts have in space. "That was the genesis of Bella Gaia, and we now have real NASA astronauts attesting to Bella Gaia's successful simulation of spaceflight, and its inherent transformative power. Among them are Piers Sellers, a veteran of the Atlantis and Discovery space shuttles, who said, "It is as if you were an astronaut looking down, meditating on human civilization. Bella Gaia is just beautiful. It really felt like I was back in space."

"Stunning" - Scientific American
Created in conjunction with NASA, BELLA GAIA has now become a world-renowned, award winning live performance with "breathtaking audio-visual explorations that will transform your view of life on earth" (AZ Weekly) and a "sound that mesmerizes audiences" (Hollywood Progressive).

A bridger of music, visual arts, and science, Williams has won international awards from The Canadian Society of Cinematographers, The Sundance Film Festival, and most recently The Macau International Fulldome Film Festival for "Best Soundtrack". Not to mention, he has collaborated with consciousness researcher Deepak Chopra and even had a live televised jam session with International Space Station astronaut, Koichi Wakata.

Williams is joined by an all-star cast of musicians on the new album, including Sound Healing artist Kristin Hoffmann, tabla master Deep Singh, and Japanese koto master Yumi Kurosawa. A "deeply moving and shimmering soundscape" (Blog Talk Radio) complete with virtuosic violins, soothing vocals, and exotic instrumentation (koto, tablas, Egyptian nay flute), Bella Gaia takes listeners on a journey to uncharted musical territory with "haunting classical/world fusion music ... creating a mesmerizing spectacle that should not be missed" (Huffington Post).

You can also check out Kenji Williams' solo project here on Magnatune.


name: Ben Rusch
description: Unique to the power of twenty-two (so far...)
homepage: ben_rusch
photo: /artists/img/ben_rusch1.jpg
society: PRS
page: ben_rusch
bio:
Ben Rusch is an award-winning multi-instrumentalist and songwriter based in London (UK) who has written 22 (seriously: twenty-two) full-length albums' worth of Pop, Folk, Rock, Progressive Rock, Neoclassical Music and anything in between.

With so many influences to be discovered in Ben's music, you never know what brand of musical goodness you might find when you turn the next corner - but you can guarantee that every single track makes for an engaging spin.

And while the music is constantly surprising, the songs themselves remain accessible. Songwriting awards in the last 12 months alone include a Runner-Up prize in the 2010 Nashville Tennessee Concerts Song Contest with the song "Where The Wild Things Are", two Finalist placings in the 2010 Show Me The Music international songwriting competition for the songs "Where The Wild Things Are" and "Fissile Isle", a Finalist placing in the 2010 international songwriting competition Expose Yourself, with the song "Your Eyes Are Like Fire", a Semi-Finalist placing in the 2010 international songwriting competition Song of the Year with the song "Achitects of Time", two honorable mentions in the Nashville songwriting contest SongDoor 2009, for the songs "A Small Selection Of Things" and "Your Eyes Are Like Fire", and a semi-finalist placing in the 2010 UK Songwriting Contest with "Until the coast is clear" as well as the Song of the Day accolade on FM 102X Radio (June 2010).

The list goes on and on, and by now you can tell where this is going: Ben has been referred to as "one of the most inventive and talented songwriters in the business today" and he has every intention of continuing to live up to these laurels.

Check out Ben's website for more sonic delights and musical goodness

"Unique, interesting and intelligent; indescribably good. Ben's musical education comes through loudly and clearly with complex and interesting arrangements and timing in all his work. Comparison is almost impossible."
Expose Yourself international songwriting competition 2010

"The Architects of Time" album manages to go places a conventional folk rock album cannot go. Out of Time is the first track on the album and by far one of the most amazing progressive rock instrumentals I've ever heard."
Derek Leduc, Lipstik Indie magazine

"Nuanced, balanced, intriguing, highly inventive - the Poet Laureate of Indie Rock. Humor, intelligence and deviously good song craft inform the process in one of most original albums I've had the honor to listen to lately."
Wildy Haskell, Wildy's World music blog

"Extraordinary musicians produce extraordinary music. The songs transcend all conceivable stylistic frameworks. The music is uniquely rewarding and reveals new facets every time you listen to a song and allow yourself to become immersed in its appealing intensity. The flawless lyrics are full of fantasy, imagination and substance, achieving a near-literary level of sophistication."
Andreas Keller, Die Rheinpfalz newspaper


name: Benji Goodrich
description: Solo piano to relax with
homepage: benji_goodrich
photo: /artists/img/benji_goodrich.jpg
society: NONE
page: benji_goodrich
bio:
Benji Goodrich started playing piano at the age of 7. He hated it. Like most kids learning to play an instrument he wasn't motivated to practice and wanted to give up. Thankfully his mom wasn't so easily deterred by her strong-willed child, and God had bigger plans for this stubborn pianist.

It was in the 5th grade when he first realized that this thing he stuck with had potential when he played a (very) abridged version of Beethoven's famous 5th Symphony; and people liked it! Playing for others' enjoyment became the motivation he needed and he never looked back.

Benji started composing music in early high school and released several albums in the late 90's. And music became an integral part of his life. It was during this time that he started playing on the Church of the Chimes worship team and discovered a love of worshiping God through music. It was also through music that he met his wife (see notes on "Stargazing"). And most recently with the release of "Waiting" music has an even more emotional connection.

While Benji and his wife, Missy, have a biological son, they have been called to adopt from Ethiopia. "Waiting" has been one way they have been earning funds to cover the adoption expenses and bring awareness to their journey.


name: Beth Quist
description: electro-Balkan / Indian meets New Age.
homepage: beth_quist
photo: /artists/img/beth_quist1.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: beth_quist
bio:
"It was Beth Quist who inspired me to create Magnatune...
John Buckman - Magnatune

...Over dinner 8 years ago, I learned of Beth's 4 octave voice, of her singing on a top-10 worldwide hit by "Delirium", and sadly of her struggles to get paid by the music stores that carried her 3 self-released CDs. She declared that she was no longer going to distribute CDs to the public, because the fight with the industry just wasn't worth it. I was depressed to learn that such a talented person might vanish from our culture.

Happily, when Magnatune launched, we found an audience for Beth's music. She was our top seller for our first 3 years."

It's been 7 years since her previous solo album, and she's been busy. When she wrapped up her stint at Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas, they had to redo the show's music as they couldn't find another singer who also played so many instruments and the stage music had been written to her abilities. She's also toured with Bobby McFerrin's Voicestra since 1997, and appears on his albums "Circlesongs", "Mouth Music", and "VOCAbuLarieS". Beth has also composed over 50 scores for dance, theater, television, & film.

Beth Quist is a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and composer, who began playing piano at age 2. Not only does she have an amazing 4-octave soprano voice, but she plays piano, keyboards, santour (hammered dulcimer), dumbek, daff, guitar, flute, and various other toys that she can get her hands on. Her music combines influences from the Balkans, the Middle East, and India with her Western upbringing.

For more on Beth, please go to her website and MySpace page.


name: Beyond 7
description: 7 slices of raw guitar pop
homepage: beyond7
photo: /artists/img/beyond7_1.jpg
society: SOCAN
page: beyond7
bio:
Before five...there was seven. Or, if a band's preoccupation with numbers makes any more sense of it, before Five Star Fall there was Beyond 7. If you liked the Automatic Ordinary album by Five Star Fall, you'll enjoy Revelations Per Minute by Beyond 7. This is the power pop trio that singer Gordon Deppe and bassist Tom Lewis would eventually twist and turn into what would become Five Star Fall. It shows them at a much rawer, guitar-based point in their lives, but highlights the same sense of adventure and lyrical wit that would later culminate in Automatic Ordinary.

This Canadian trio is rounded out by Terry Martel on drums, who's quirky Keith Moon inspired style is featured on the psychedelic album closer Beyond Seven. There's just one question that these lads avoid answering...

What's with all the numbers? Maybe one day the riddle will be solved.


name: Big Bad Sun
description: raunchy blues rock
homepage: bigbadsun
photo: /artists/img/bigbadsun.jpg
society: NONE
page: bigbadsun
bio:
Although "Big Bad Sun" band leader Chris Juergensen is best known for his session work and abilities to combine both Jazz and Rock into his own brand of fusion, most people didn't know that he grew up copying Albert King and Jimi Hendrix.

After his first solo release "Prospects," a very east-coast influenced instrumental fusion recording, he debated doing something new and a Blues recording seemed the most logical. The first CD, "Big Bad Sun," became an international success, with the opening track, Sweet Melissa being used in the Australian short film, "Regrets."

2008 would bring about the next release, "Strange Phenomena," a half live, half studio recording featuring more of a wide range of styles. Soon after release, "Nothing's Got Me" from the recording climbed the Podsafe Music Network charts to number two and still remains popular in playlists all over the world.


name: Bill Robinson
description: New Music in the Classical context
homepage: bill_robinson
photo: /artists/img/bill_robinson.jpg
society: NONE
page: bill_robinson
bio:
Bill Robinson was born to a musical family in Denton, Texas in 1955. He started piano lessons at age three and violin at ten, and moved to Massachusetts in 1961. Composition started in 1972 while a student at Phillips Academy Andover. After that came a year at Eastman School of Music, then many years at NTSU in Denton (now UNT). He earned a BM in composition there in 1984. After the Rainbow Gathering in the North Carolina mountains in 1987, Bill moved to the Charlotte area and has been in North Carolina ever since, except for two years on the road in the Southwest.

Bill came to Raleigh in 2001 to study physics at NCSU, and earned a BS in 2004. He graduated with a PhD in May 2010, and promptly joined the physics faculty as a lecturer, teaching two courses online. He has constructed a novel plasma confinement experiment investigating ball lightning. He is active in the study and practice of yoga, Hinduism, Dances of Universal Peace, and mystical practices of many kinds, and is a devotee of Neem Karoli Baba. This strongly influences his music, most of which is devotional in nature even if not explicitly indicated.

His compositions include:
  * woodwind, brass, string, viol, piano, and synthesizer quintets;
  * a recorder and a string quartet;
  * songs, sacred and satirical;
  * Mantra Cantata and Strange Songs for soloists, chorus and orchestra;
  * eleven sonatas for solo violin or viola;
  * a piano sonata and a set of variations for piano or harpsichord;
  * sonatas for cello, flute, and two for violin with piano accompaniment;
  * a duet for violin and cello;
  * a trio for violin, oboe and piano, another for clarinet, cello and piano, and another for soprano, violin and piano, another for mezzo-soprano, oboe, and piano, and yet another for violin, cello, and piano;
  * two quartets for violin, clarinet, cello and piano;
  * concertos for violin, piano, and string quartet with orchestra;
  * a sextet for clarinet and strings;
  * a work for two horns and strings;
  * a symphony based on speeches by Martin Luther King;
  * music for concert band;
  * and three short works for orchestra.
     
Playing violin had to stop in 1981 due to arthritis. Despite a couple of attempts to start again, he is unable to perform and is limited to synthesis and submitting scores to other musicians. The music is intended for the general audience that goes to classical music concerts; it is not designed to be enjoyed only by new music specialists. Since 2006, Eric Pritchard has introduced the music to some of the best musicians in the Raleigh and Durham area, and concerts are starting to result. From 2010 to 2014 there were annual concerts of his music each February; this may resume in future years.
     
Bill has produced eleven CDs and DVDs independently. In 2011, Bill wrote the Autobillography which has all the details of his life. His website at billrobinsonmusic.com has all his scores and recordings, as well as his book in print and audio versions.
     

     
A note about the musicians on this recording:
     
Grand Serenade
     

  * Fred Jacobowitz
  * Bonnie Thron
  * Thomas Warburton
    
Fred Jacobowitz received his Bachelors and Masters degrees from the Juilliard School, where he studied with the late Leon Russianoff. He made his New York Debut at Carnegie Recital Hall (now Weill Hall) as winner of the Artists International Competition. He was a featured soloist on radio stations WBAI and WQXR in New York City, with the Goldman Band, and in recital throughout the Metropolitan New York area.
    
As a chamber musician, he has participated in the Marlboro Music Festival and played in the Verrazano Winds Woodwind Quintet in Brooklyn, New York. Mr. Jacobowitz was Principal Clarinetist in the Annapolis (Maryland) Symphony Orchestra from 1989-2002. He is equally at home in the worlds of Classical, Jazz and Folk, having performed and recorded with his Kol Haruach Klezmer Band (www.kolharuach.com) and his duo, Ebony and Ivory. He has performed as recitalist and soloist throughout the US and Canada and in Panama.
    
Mr. Jacobowitz now resides in Raleigh, NC, where (when not performing out of town) he teaches and freelances, and he can often be heard playing concerts with his wife, North Carolina Symphony Principal Cellist Bonnie Thron. He runs his own business, Case Closed (www.case-closed.us), fixing musical instrument cases and is a sometime Little League Baseball Umpire.
    
Bonnie Thron; Principal cellist of the North Carolina Symphony, Bonnie has been a concerto soloist with many orchestras in North Carolina, New England, Maryland and Panama. She has been a soloist and frequent collaborator with the Brussels Chamber Orchestra during their summer North Carolina residencies.
    
Bonnie plays with the Mallarme Chamber Players and was involved in their latest CD release "Songs for the Soul" which consists of music by African American composers. Formerly a member of the Peabody Trio and the Denver Symphony, she also performed with the Orpheus Chamber Ensemble and Speculum Musicae in NYC. She has been a frequent guest artist with the Apple Hill Chamber Players in her home state of New Hampshire and participates every August in the Sebago Long Lake Music Festival in Harrison, Maine.
    
As well as degrees from the Juilliard School, Bonnie also has a BSN from the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and worked for several years as a nurse in Baltimore.
    
Thomas Warburton, pianist, has lived and performed in the Triangle area since the fall of 1969. In 2005 he retired after 36 years on the music faculty of the University of North Carolina. He has performed in solo and collaborative recitals in a variety of venues, especially California, Michigan, Ohio, and New York. He has been associated with the Mallarme Chamber Players since 1993 and appears on three of their recordings including a recent CD of TJ Anderson's Spirit Songs with Bonnie Thron.
    
He regularly substitutes as organist for churches in Durham and Chapel Hill. He has given first performances of music by a variety of American composers including TJ Anderson, William Albright, Sydney Hodkinson, and most recently Allen Anderson, who wrote "Some Ragged Spots" for him in 2009.
    

    
Ananda Sonata
    

  * Eric Pritchard
  * Thomas Warburton
    
Eric Pritchard violinist, has been a member of Ciompi Quartet since 1995 and was formerly the first violinist of the Alexander and Oxford Quartets. Mr. Pritchard has taught at Miami University, San Francisco State University, City University of New York and the North Carolina School of the Arts.
    
He was winner of the National Federation of Music Clubs Award in Violin as well as the first-prize winner at the Portsmouth (England) International String Quartet Competition and the Coleman and Fischoff national chamber music competitions. He has performed widely as a recitalist and as soloist with the Boston Pops and orchestras in Europe and South America. His major teachers were Eric Rosenblith, Josef Gingold, Ivan Galamian and Isadore Tinkleman and he holds degrees from Indiana University and the Juilliard School. He has performed many works by Bill Robinson since 2006.
    

    
Clarinet Sextet
    

  * Fred Jacobowitz
  * Nathan Leyand
  * David Marschall
  * Eric Pritchard
  * Mary Kay Robinson
  * Bonnie Thron
    
Nathan Leyand, cello, attended the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with Nathaniael Rosen. Before moving to the Triangle, he was principal cellist of the Des Moines Symphony and member of the Pioneer String Quartet. Leyland has performed as soloist with symphony orchestras in Ohio, New York and Connecticut, and as recitalist and chamber musician in much of the United States. He is currently an active freelancer in North Carolina, performing with the Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle, Mallarme Chamber Players, the Carolina Ballet Orchestra among others.
    
David Marschall has been a member of the North Carolina Symphony since 1987. He was appointed Associate Principal Viola in 2007, and this season he is serving as Acting Principal Viola. Since 1990, he has spent his summers playing in the orchestra of the Santa Fe Opera. David is a member of the chamber ensemble Quercus, and he is a member of New Music Raleigh, an ensemble dedicated to the music of living composers. He performs regularly in the Peace College Chamber Music Series and with the Mallarme Chamber Players.
    
David has also served as Principal Viola for the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra andw the Columbus Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra. He was a member of the New Orleans Symphony, the Innsbruck (Austria) Symphony, the Des Moines Metro Opera, and the Colorado Philharmonic.
    
A native of Columbus, Ohio, David studied first at Ohio State, and he received his Master's degree from the Peabody Conservatory, where he studied with Karen Tuttle. His viola was made in 2009 by Grubaugh and Seifert of California. David's wife, Amy, teaches German and English at Raleigh Charter High School, and they have two sons, Philip and Owen.
    
Mary Kay Robinson, violinist, is a 1968 graduate of the Juilliard School, where she studied with Dorothy DeLay and Ivan Galamian. She studied chamber music with Felix Galimir, Donald Weilerstein, Josef Gingold and members of the Guarneri String Quartet. She furthered her education with studies with Glenn Dicterow, Gregory Fulkerson and Gerald Beal. Her first job after graduation was as violin instructor at the University of Tennessee, in her hometown of Knoxville, where she filled in for her former teacher, William Starr, who was on sabbatical in Japan. She was a member of the University of Tennessee String Quartet and later held a similar position in the University of Maryland String Quartet.
    
Mary Kay was member of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra from 1969 to 1973, where she also participated in many chamber music concerts with her orchestra colleagues. Later she joined the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and substituted for many years with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. She has played chamber music with many illustrious musicians including Paul Neubauer, Kerry McDermott, Muneko Otani, Dan Foster, Yehonatan Berrick, Fred Sherry, Steve Balderston, and Peter Lloyd, Andres Cardenes, and David Harding.
    
She has toured with Solisti New York and spent many summers playing with the OK Mozart Festival, Grand Teton Music Festival, and Bellingham Festival of Music. All the while she has maintained an active private teaching studio and worked on the ground floor of a joint project with the NJ Symphony and the Newark city schools, bringing string teaching to second, third and fourth graders. She helped develop the NJ Symphony's Outreach program, which today carries music to people all over the state of NJ from hospitals and nursing homes to museums, libraries and schools. In 2008 she taught at Duke University as well as maintaining a private studio. Also that year, she performed Bill Robinson's Sonata for Solo Violin #4 at Brevard, NC.


name: Bjorn Fogelberg
description: ambient and soft electronica
homepage: fogelberg
photo: /artists/img/fogelberg.jpg
society: STIM
page: fogelberg
bio:
Bjorn Fogelberg started to experiment with electronic music on a Commodore 64 back in 1985. Since then he has released two commercial CDs and has been featured on four compilations. Bjorn easily moves between different genres of electronic music.

His second CD "Karooshi Porn" explored the realm of ambient and soft electronica. His later work includes dance remixes of other artists and his own blend of euphoria-laden dance music.


name: Block Scholars
description: Award Winning Independent Hip Hop Group
homepage: block_scholars
photo: /artists/img/block_scholars.jpg
society: BMI
page: block_scholars
bio:
Making waves in the Indie world and now garnering some interest from industry movers and shakers, Block Scholars are taking no prisoners in this game.

Block Scholars is the indie Hip Hop musical collaboration between NOBULL (Bennett Baskerville; Bronx, NY) and Slimdog of Slimdog Productions (David Bell Jr.; Akron, OH), with the pair rapping their way through some of the freshest Hip Hop beats around.

Originally a three-piece featuring 2mental (Nathan Andreas; Philadelphia, PA), the group first met each other through Myspace and mutual friends in 2005. Home now in Colorado Springs, CO, the rap act is heavily influenced by an eclectic mix of music ranging from Biggie Smalls, 2Pac, Madlib, Dr. Dre, Pharrell and Prince to even Jazz, Opera, Rock and Classical music. They are also considered a "triple threat" because collectively they can write high quality lyrics, produce and perform their own music.

Block Scholars received the 2011 "Excellence In Songwriting" Award from The 18th Annual Billboard/Starmaker 360 Worldwide Songwriting Contest for placing in 3rd out of 1000s of entries in the Rap/Hip Hop genre, plus getting an "Honorable Mention" for (RnB/Hip Hop) and semi-finalists in the (Unsigned Only) categories in the 2010 International Songwriting Competition for the song "Time Machine", both of these contests known for being the two of the best songwriting competitions in the world.

They are one of three grand prize winners in Patron XO Cafe's 2011 Music Project, where they won sponsorship from Patron XO Cafe to help further their career with judges from SPIN Magazine and RCRD LBL (a free mp3 download music blog featuring emerging artists), nominated for Best Hip Hop Artist/Song from Hollywood Music In Media in July 2010 and January 2011 for the songs, "Flossin'" and "This Is For My People (The Rhythm Of A Scholar)" respectively, selected as one of the "Next 1000" artists to watch for in 2009 by URB Magazine, and were named the 2009 KIAC Open Songs Competition Winner in Hip Hop for their track, "Livin' In Tha' Jungle ft. 2mental". They also have received the "Collective Works Honor" from SongOfTheYear.com in 2009 for high scores on multiple works in that contest.


name: Blue Wave Theory
description: high-energy surf-inspired instrumental rock
homepage: blue_wave_theory
photo: /artists/img/blue_wave_theory_new bw.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: blue_wave_theory
bio:
Blue Wave Theory is an American instrumental rock band formed in 2007 in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. The group's sound is rooted in surf music of the 1960s, but delves into many genres including elements of garage, punk, psychedelic, progressive, funk, reggae, and space rock. An accomplished group of musicians whose versatility is as broad as their personal backgrounds with decades of musical influence, ranging from Dick Dale, Link Wray, X, Ramones, King Crimson, and Rush, to the funk of Dennis Coffey and psychedelic surf of The Mermen.

The band's music is entirely instrumental and performed in the classic power trio format: guitar (Steve Rabeler), bass (Kevin Stamper), and drums (Rob Wolleben). The insistence for each musician in this trio to keep true to their personal styling and inspiration gives Blue Wave Theory a distinctive stamp of uniqueness and creativity.

Blue Wave Theory and their hectic eclectic brand of instrumental surf rock has shared the stage with the legendary Dick Dale as well as some of the finest East Coast surf bands including Mister Neutron, The Octomen, and The Supertones. The band regularly performs at some of the coolest music venues in Philadelphia, New York City, and New Jersey including World Cafe Live, The North Star, The Record Collector and Otto's Shrunken Head. In addition, BWT has appeared at regional music festivals including Surfapalooza and Twangstock.

Magnatune released the eponymous "Blue Wave Theory" album in 2010. A second album "Superstorm" was released in 2013. Individual songs have appeared on instrumental surf compilations including "Off the Deep End" (2011) and "Radical Waves" (2012). BWT's music has been licensed for a wide variety of purposes including DIY Network television broadcasts, Red Bull Media House productions, and hot rod DVD's.


name: Bluesboy Jag
description: authentic 1920's solo blues guitar
homepage: jag
photo: /artists/img/bluesboy_jag.jpg
society: NONE
page: jag
bio:
I started playing rock guitar in 1978. OK, I banged on it a few times in 1976 but that doesn't count. I started playing in a cover band in Little Rock while still in high school. You know the story; Zep, Who, Stones, Skynyrd, etc.

I did that for a few years then started to teach guitar while in college. I opened up my own recording studio in 1984 (still in business) and recorded about 40 90 minute cassettes of my own music over the next 20+ years. This was more experimental/rock/imporovisation music in the vein of old Pink Floyd or Captain Beeheart.

I got into blues after discovering Robert Johnson and RL Burnside in 1998. I had heard lots of blues over the years but the only artist I really liked was Stevie Ray Vaughan. My music sounds nothing like him however. I had put down my guitar for a few years after getting hooked on computers. I only played sporadically but I noticed that I was abscent mindedly playing old blues riffs.

I remembered that I had the Robert Johnson box set from the 30's and I started listening to it, not really intending to learn that style. A co-worker at the time was listening to internet radio and one fo the stations played lots of old blues artists like Son House, Mississippi Fred McDowell and of coure Robert Johnson. I was immediately hooked on the raw, funky style and investigated further.

Learning these songs by ear was difficult as many are tuned differently from traditional guitar tunings and many artists of that era used capos to change keys which made it almost impossible to figure out what the tunings were. Eventually I stumbled across a video of Bukka White playing what looked like open E tuning. I tried it and voila! I was playing Robert Johnson licks in no time.

I recorded my first 4 cd's in a little less than 12 months, 3 more followed in quick succsession.

After years of playing complicated and almost orchestrated music that took days or weeks to record one song, it was refreshing to be able to knock out several songs in a day with just a guitar and a microphone. The fingerstyle picking allows the guitarist to use the thumb for the bass notes the the first and second fingers for the melody and chords. A full band can be imitated with just one guitar in this manner. This is one of the defining techniques of country blues (also know as delta blues). I've also taken up the blues harp which is featured in many of my songs as a solo or melodic intrument.

I'm also recording what I call 'full band' blues at home on my trusty Apple Mac which includes electric guitar, bass, drums, and even some electronica influences. Many of these songs reference the minimal sounds of the Chess Records recordings of Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and Little Walter. So far I have recorded two CD's of 'electric blues'. I hope you enjoy my music - many people believe the blues is a dyiing art from ut nothing coudl be further from the truth, if anything it's growing and web sites like Magnatune can do nothing but help further 'the cause'.


name: Boulevard
description: Up-beat rock and new wave for the 21st century
homepage: boulevard
photo: /artists/img/boulevard.jpg
society: BMI
page: boulevard
bio:
Led by songwriter and singer Benji Barton, the Athens, GA-based Boulevard delivers a stylish set of rock, new wave and romantic appeal. Boulevard has the kind of sound that brings back the flare and charisma of what rock and roll should be, along with a performance that would make Bowie or the Stones proud.

Recording and performing since the early-2000s, Boulevard has ruffled more than a few feathers. It seems everyone has formed an opinion about the glamorous sound and vision of Boulevard. In December of 2005, Boulevard's Vice and Daring went to college radio, becoming 8th most added in the first week. Vice and Daring, an EP with no label support, out-added Death From Above and almost out-added The Darkness who debuted at #7 on the CMJ charts. With this kind of response from both fans and the industry alike, Boulevard was drawn to New York City to pursue an even more modern, progressive sound.

"Boulevard sounds as if they're on their fourth or fifth album here as the maturity of the songs and music is its greatest asset...It's an impressive batch of tunes from a band sounding far wiser than their years."
PopMatters.com

"Boulevard's self-released Signal has that whole "Someday, Susie, we're gonna get out of this two-bit town!" energy that befits the band's bouncy, vaguely rebellious and very much youthful pop-rock riffs."
Time Out New York

BOULEVARD Personnel:
Benji Barton: voice, guitar, keyboard
Donovan Babb: drums
Robert Caruthers: guitar, vocals
Stephen James: synthesizer, tambourine
Holden Spaht: bass


name: Brad Senne
description: dreamy, acoustic folk rock
homepage: senne
photo: /artists/img/bradsenne.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: senne
bio:
In early 2007, Senne bought a laptop computer and recorded the basic tracks for The Shapes That Shift Us. The album was mixed with additional instrumentation added at Crazy Beast Studios with Ben Durrant (Andrew Bird). The song "Caroline to Maine" is a catchy folk-rock gem that keeps listeners humming for days, while "Drift Gently" is reminiscent of the sparse finger-picking style found in Beck's album Sea Change.

Brad frequently plays in Minneapolis as a solo musician and with the band Beight.

Members & Instrument

J Tyler O'Neill: Piano, synthesizer, vocals
Ben Durrant: Electric guitar, arp, accordion, banjo, vocals
Ryan Lovan: Drums
Channy Moon Casselle: Violin:


name: Brad Sucks
description: brilliantly sardonic indie rock
homepage: brad_sucks
photo: /artists/img/brad_sucks2.jpg
society: SOCAN
page: brad_sucks
bio:
One of Magnatune's best selling artists and an Internet phenomenon, Brad Sucks is Brad Turcotte of Ottawa, Canada-one of the first artists to take full advantage of the free culture movement for self-promotion and distribution. Inspired by peer-to-peer file sharing of music, he began releasing his incredibly catchy indie pop songs online in 2002 and has since developed a significant online fanbase that includes remixers, visual artists, and a host of others whom he regularly invites to participate directly in his projects.

In 2005 he released his fan-funded debut album, I Don't Know What I'm Doing as well as its complete audio source. The self-produced 12 song set has been compared to Beck, Moby, Folk Implosion, and John Vanderslice and received a great deal of college and commercial airplay all over the world, including Australia, the UK, and the Caribbean.The music has been licensed by VH1, as well as several radio and television commercials. In 2007 a double album of remixes of I Don't Know What I'm Doing was released on Magnatune, featuring many of ccMixter's most popular remixers.

Since Brad was one of the first to make the decision to release his music under a Creative Commons license, he was free to promote it through sites such as Magnatune, ccMixter, and the Podsafe Music Network, and he received a significant amount of publicity through blogs and interviews in free culture magazines such as Red Hat Magazine. Brad has also been featured in Maxim, The Seattle Times, NPR's All Songs Considerd, Flak Magazine, The Economist, and the Toronto Star, among many other publications.


name: Braindouche
description: experimental ambient, all flavors, no waiting
homepage: braindouche
photo: /artists/img/braindouche1.jpg
society: NONE
page: braindouche
bio:
Braindouche! is an ongoing experimental podcast in completely freeform digital audio publishing. It's about discovering new sounds and playing with the new forms in new media.

Braindouche! has covered a lot of ground since it's inception in 2006, from award-winning Theater-Of-The-Mind story production to radio shows, comedy, audio collage, sound art, and original music. Braindouche! is a contemporary sonic journey, combining avante garde sound art, experimental digital music and outsider radio production with a standing critique of New Media and existing podcasting tropes.

Braindouche!, the person, is the alias of producer Meredith Matthews. Like most normal people, she spent some time not practicing her piano lessons in kindergarten, sang in the school choir, taught herself to play the guitar in highschool, and took a few minutes to try writing and performing songs.

Unlike most people, she also spent hours with her first computer, digging little sound files out of games and turning them into new things with Windows Sound Recorder, as well as all of her time in high school and college making radio, trying and failing to break into the broadcast industry as a radio producer.

Now, older and with profoundly more awesome toys, she experiments with whatever she can find to discover new sounds.

"I don't compose music as much as discover it and then spend a lot of time pointing it out to others."

She creates websites and sound and words in Buffalo, New York.

Braindouche!, the musician, presents the best music from Braindouche!, the podcast, made by Braindouche!, the person.


name: Breaker
description: grit, guts, gall and Granite
homepage: breaker
photo: /artists/img/breaker.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: breaker
bio:
Daddy's little girl ain't a girl no more. No, no, no. She turned 18, packed her Jeep (leaving enough room for her New York attitude, of course), and headed for Hollywood...and we all know what happens in Hollywood.

Fueled by an intrinsic need to express, to create, and to rock faces, BREAKER is the musical creation of lead singer, Liz Granite. Shortly after arriving in the City of Angels, Granite began cutting demos and developing what would soon be the BREAKER sound. Her voice, chock full o' grit and unbridled emotion, captured the attention of record producer, Dean Dichoso. Granite wrote and recorded the band's debut record, "The More I Want, The More I Get" with the support of Dichoso, who also played bass and guitar on the 10-track album. It wasn't until the completion of the album that Granite assembled a live band who could truly bring BREAKER to life.

When Will Walz agreed to engineer Granite's vocals alongside Dichoso, he didn't realize he'd be getting a band out of the deal. Granite and Walz became fast friends, and when it came time to find band mates, Walz was a shoo-in to be BREAKER's bassist. The pair teamed up with drummer, G Herrera, who had caught Granite's eye tearing up the LA music scene with a couple other hot bands. The trio rounded out their five-piece line-up with two guitarists who were brought to them by the miracle of Craigslist. The band played their first show together in April of 2009, just two months before the release of their first album, and haven't stopped since.

Combining contrasting worlds of bombast and bliss, BREAKER's music is as seductive as it is damn-near fatal. The five-piece proudly serves up a juicy slab of female-fronted guitar-driven rock with a sweet dose of off-kilter mood and a little heartfelt angst (for good measure). In-your-face vocals paired with provocative lyrics cap off the band's inimitable sound.

Ten powerful songs from their debit album demonstrate the depth and diversity of Breaker's talent while maintaining a straightforward and unapologetic attitude throughout.

CBS's Rockstar: Supernova winner, Lukas Rossi, offers his distinct vocals to the rock duet, "Tenfold True", and Candiria drummer, Ken Schalk, keeps the beat boisterous and untamed throughout this refreshingly raucous record.

BREAKER is breathing new life into music's staling rock scene. By pouring their busted hearts n' souls into each and every song and performance, BREAKER stands apart from the crowd, offering fans straight-up, unfiltered rock packaged in well-crafted and catchy songs. Their live shows, which are akin to New Year's Eve, a rowdy bachelor party, and a high school kegger all rolled into one, have been winning over fans throughout southern California.


name: Brian Bunker Trio
description: A riotous romp through the worlds of jazz, classical and rock
homepage: brian_bunker_trio
photo: /artists/img/brian_bunker_trio.jpg
society: BMI
page: brian_bunker_trio
bio:
Brian Bunker is a jazz and studio guitar player and media composer, who was born in Orange County, CA, and studied at the University of California, Riverside. His eclectic career has brought him to Alaska and the Caribbean while performing as a guitarist for showbands on Cruise Ships, to vast stretches of Europe and the Middle East while performing for the US Army Europe Band, and to the stages and studios of the American Southwest with groups ranging from Elvis Impersonators to Country Dance bands. He has written for television and film, including placements on 'Keeping up with the Kardashians' and 'Road Rules,' as well as a wealth of smaller productions.

He is joined on his first album by Daniel Fritz, a stalwart veteran of jazz dates and indie rock gigs around the Southland, Maurilio Mina, originally from Switzerland but now practicing his unique brand of funky, adventurous electric bass playing in Southern California, and Chris Conner, a true professional who has played with some of the greats of Los Angeles Jazz Guitar history. Together, they've crafted some unique and catchy songs that blend the best of jazz, rock and classical together into their own signature hybrid.


name: Briddes Roune
description: 13th century medieval English songs
homepage: briddes_roune
photo: /artists/img/briddes_roune2.jpg
society: NONE
page: briddes_roune
bio:
The name Briddes Roune (BREE-dess RONE) is Middle English for bird song/conversation/speech and is a reference to the fact that two of the three of us are named Robin. I formed Briddes Roune specifically to record early medieval English songs, a repertoire I have been singing for several years. As anyone who's read Chaucer aloud knows, Middle English has a delightfully musical lilt, making it a fun language to sing, and the English fondness for thirds and sixths gives the music a sweetness that is unusual for that time.

This recording includes the songs of St. Godric, who claimed that all of his songs came to him in visions. For example, during a vision in which he saw Mary Magdalene and the Virgin Mary, the Virgin taught him "Sainte Marie viergene," saying that if he found himself in pain or tired or succumbing to temptation, he should sing this song and she would come quickly to his aid. Godric died in 1170, making these songs the earliest songs in English with extant melodies. More on St. Godric can be found in the liner notes.

I am particularly drawn to the songs without fixed rhythms. The rhythms of songs such as "Stond wel, moder, under roode" and "Ar ne kuth, ich sorghe non" are driven by the speaking rhythms of the words and by musical intuition. I like the improvised quality of these songs, and I enjoy the extra opportunity to express the text.

Performing medieval music involves some challenges not faced by those interested in later music. Instrumental accompaniments were almost never written down, and even the choice of instruments used was quite free. What you hear on this recording is very much our own arrangement. Our instrumental parts arise from a combination of planning and improvisation. Instrumental countermelodies are generally written out in advance by either Kathryn or myself. Drone parts are generally worked out in rehearsal. The process goes something like this:

Kathryn: How about this?
Robin S.: ...mmm...no...maybe an A? ...no...a D? ...no....
Kathryn: What about this?
Robin S: Yeah, that's best.
Kathryn: That's what I played originally.

All instrumental preludes and interludes are improvised.

In addition to the challenge of writing our own instrumental parts, very few English songs have survived with their melodies, although we have many lyrics. For the surviving melodies, I have used E.J. Dobson and F. Ll. Harrison's book, Medieval English Songs. For others (e.g. Lenten is come, Lutel wot hit any mon), I have set lyrics in the style of that time and place. I typically start by choosing a mode, which defines what notes are in the scale and which are most important, and then I start playing with the words, improvising tunes. When I get a fragment that I like, I write it down, and gradually the piece begins to take shape.


name: Brigitte Meuwsen
description: positive vibe electro pop
homepage: brigitte_meuwsen
photo: /artists/img/brigitte_meuwsen.jpg
society: BUMA
page: brigitte_meuwsen
bio:
Brigitte Meuwsen's music does not fit into a square box, she writes from the heart, whatever the vibe is then that's what it is, It's just pure and honest, which could be Pop, Rock, Reggae, Soul, Flamenco, Folk, Country, Dance. Only starting to write songs in 2008, she has now emerged into a very prolific lyricist and songwriter.

Brigitte Meuwsen is Dutch woman living in Switzerland and has been dreaming of making music for many years now, and through joining MySpace, she became friends with London born Jamaican raised producer, songwriter, guitarist, performer, Steve Wellington a.k.a. Dreadlox Holmes, who added her as a friend after she left a comment on Roachford's MySpace page of whom Brigitte is a huuuuge fan.

Brigitte the dreamer and Dreadlox Holmes finally met in London, Brigitte brought him a gift of some amazing Swiss chocolate so that he would not forget her, and he did not, the two met once again at Roachford's Gig in the Jazz Cafe, in April 2008. Two weeks later Brigitte was back again where she recorded her debut single "That's What It's All About" between Dreadlox's Havavision Studios in Camden London UK and Soundville Studios Luzern Switzerland, her first single was released on Dreadlox Holmes's Independent label HAVAVISION RECORDS in 2008.

She is very excited and happy about these step in fulfilling her dreams, Brigitte says, to make my dreams come true, i just had to Believe in them and Go for it!! I've done this to show my three daughters that they have to follow their dreams and never give up!!

She has received loads of radio and club play, licensed "If U Know Wha I Mean" to one of the biggest Dutch dance music labels "Spinnin Records", Made in NL "Dutch House Sound" Compilation.

Find out more about Brigitte on her Facebook page and MySpace pages.


name: Broken Poets
description: indie rock when lyrics were king
homepage: brokenpoets
photo: /artists/img/brokenpoets.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: brokenpoets
bio:
Interview with Tim Mcdonald of the Broken Poets
From Earthvillage.com, interview By Gary Ponzo
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Used by permission

Tim sat down with me recently to discuss his career and the revelation that we are responsible for the maintenance of nature and ourselves. Something which he believes so strongly that fifty percent of the new CD's proceeds will be donated to The Natural Resources Defense Council, Greenpeace and Oxfam. I started by asking him why he wrote songs:

Tim McDonald: Well (Laughing) I probably started as a teenager just needing to work through any stress that I had and didn't know how to express it any other way, but now it's sort of evolved into something else. It's more of a craft and I'm able to do it and think at the same time (Laughs).

Earth Village: The band began in New York and made a pit stop in New Orleans and Austin before settling back down in your hometown of Phoenix.What was your New York experience like?

TM: New York was great. I got to work with some unbelievably talented people, Robert Scoville (Tom Petty's sound engineer) and Jonathan Mover (Drummer with Fuel and Alice Cooper), plus Keith Lentin who is one of the top session players in New York. Also, I got to play in the same clubs that Dylan played in and record at Skyline Studios where bands like Fleetwood Mac and David Bowie recorded. As a matter of fact Steely Dan came in right after we did our demo, so I guess you could say we got to open up for them at the studio (Laughs).

EV: You were there on September 11th?

TM: Yeah, I love New York. I was deciding between LA and New York and chose New York because of the people. I mean, if you're going to be rejected they'll tell you right to your face instead of behind your back and that's just so refreshing.

But yeah, September 11th, it was horrible for the entire country, but in the city itself, it was just . . I mean six months later they were still having funerals and it just seemed like the bottom dropped out. That's when I thought about New Orleans (Laughs) I guess I was just going on tour of all the disaster sites.

EV: Then Austin?

TM: Yeah, I liked the music scene there, but it just seemed too small after New York. That's when I came back to Phoenix and the funny thing is, I grew up here my whole life hearing the words Paradise Valley and I never really got it, I didn't even think about what those two words meant, I just took it for granted I guess and after two years in New York I came back and I'm like, "Paradise Valley," I get it now, it's freaking paradise.

EV: So now you're back in Arizona and have your own record label, Wordvendor, how has the digital age affected your career?

TM: I tell you honestly, the greatest thing that ever happened to me was never really getting signed by a major record label. I mean I had one record deal with a company that really didn't have any money, so we got shelved and stuck in a corner. I'm so glad to be out of that. Now with Wordvendor, I'm in full control and I've got a catalog of music that I can license. The worst thing a band could do right now is sign with a record label, because they still haven't figured out how to deal with the whole digital sales side of things.

EV: "Optimism in E-Minor," was such a great collection of songs

TM: Thank you.

EV: How do you follow up something that you had so much success with, or do you always feel that your newest CD is like your new baby?

TM: Yeah, I really do think that the new record is better, I feel like we tried to write pop songs on "Optimism in E Minor" and the new one is just a little more heartfelt.

EV: As with all emerging artists you sometimes need to find other ways to pay the mortgage. Tell me about the time you decided you weren't going to do anything but take your guitar and live by whatever you made on your music alone.What was that like?

TM: Wow. Yeah, well, I decided to go play coffee houses throughout Arizona and into California and back, and just tour and tour and it's kind of funny because even though people seemed to like the music and they bought my CD's, I felt that the audience would look at me like . . . how good could I really be if I was playing in a coffee house . . . I mean you're only going to be taken so seriously when you're in that kind of venue, no matter how talented you are. I felt that people were listening to my songs thinking that they were songs that were being played on the radio, but they just didn't know who sung them. So I decided I needed to go back to just writing songs and picking my spots. And with the band I've been lucky enough to fall into some decent opening gigs over the last few years with Seven Mary Three, James McMurtry and Ian Moore.At this point it's a matter of quality over quantity.

EV: But could you survive on your music alone if need be?

TM: Oh, absolutely. I mean I'd barely get by, but I could make it work. I'll always find a way to make it work.

EV: Now, tell me about the title of the new CD, "Everything in Nature," and how you got so involved with environmental issues.

TM: Okay so I'm outside thinking about my career and questioning all these decisions, what I should be doing, and just thinking about myself so much and I'm staring at the trees and the nature around me, and thinking--I mean I'm a songwriter so I think too much already anyway--and I'm going over thoughts in my head and I started to realize that everything around me in nature wasn't asking these questions. And that was the first thought that came to me--how interesting, maybe I could write a song about it, but it just hit me that everything in nature has its own pre-determined will already set within it. I mean we might think we have free will to do what we want, but in a way our body becomes a fully grown body on its own will, I mean you're not telling your body to become a fully grown woman or man, so there are things, even within ourselves, that are already set in place, but we're the only thing in nature that is aware of itself, and therefore it must be our responsibility to help maintain it. So it was that initial realization that sparked the inspiration for the songs, and once the record was done I thought -- Let's give back instead of worrying about ourselves so much. It just seemed the obvious thing to do considering where the songs came from.

EV: For an artist like yourself who's not wealthy or financially set, it's a pretty bold move to donate so much money (50% of all the proceeds) to these causes, so it's obviously something you must feel strongly about.

TM: Yeah, it really had an impact on me and made me realize how selfish I'm being and we're all being, I mean the songs on the record really speak to that. We're all here trying to make our mark on the world to the detriment of the planet.In fact we're releasing this video now for the song "Idle Thought" and you want to know what the great thing about the video is?

EV: What?

TM: We're not in it. (Laughs) ... I mean I'm not knocking other bands, but we're all stuck in this mentality of, "What new guitar can I hold in the video while I'm strumming my chords and acting like I'm singing my song. What look can I give? " It's just so ridiculous. When I came up with the idea of not being in the video I started watching other videos and thought we're just repeating ourselves over and over--you know, "How cool can I look? How can I be a rock star?" and I never wanted to be a rock star, it's never been about that. Maybe when I was really young that might've been exciting, but I've never really wanted that. Just think how many times an artist's video will get in the way of perceiving a song? When you're in your car listening to a song on the radio, the songwriter's words become images in your mind, and it becomes your song.

EV: You create your own video to the music.

TM: Exactly. But then you watch the video on TV and you're stuck with Billy Idol in your face. (Laughs) Everyone seems to be busy playing rock star so it's all about them and not the song, I mean I realize we have to have some kind of image and I understand that, but if I'm going to be about anything it's going to be about the songs, not about, "How cool can I look." I know I'm guilty of doing the same thing, and it works for a lot of bands, I just think an artists can get in the way of their own song, and in this case I would have.

EV: Do you think of yourself as a storyteller or someone who molds images in someone's mind?

TM: Yeah, the songs seem to come in different spurts like that. One minute I'm telling a story and the next I'm throwing out images, it's hard to put a finger on what I do. I guess I put words together that create images and usually a story unfolds from there. But it's never contrived.

EV: If you knew definitively that there were no listeners left on the planet and it was just you . . . no one else.Would you still be writing songs?

TM: Wow, that's a great question. Well, okay, here's the dilemma. I've always heard these musicians say, "I don't give a crap what people think about my music," and the first thing I think is, "If you didn't care what people thought then go out in the desert and play. Why are you bothering to play where anybody could hear you." And so of course there's always that side of me that wants to be heard. But I have to be honest there is this other side of me that just enjoys sitting by myself and writing songs. Maybe just playing for the cat, although I guess you could consider that an audience.

But, yeah, an artist always wants some reflection from an audience, everybody does, if they say they don't then I think they're lying. So I guess to answer your question, yes I would still play, but it would be discouraging to know that it would never be heard.

EV: Early in your career, like many young artists, you drank and smoked to excess at times. Then around 21 or so you just quit everything. What effect did that have on your songwriting? And your life, for that matter.

TM: Yeah, I guess I was heading down a path that wasn't going anywhere and I was kind of hiding from my feelings, but as soon as I stopped drinking I'll tell you what, everything just opened up and I was able to access a part of my creativity that I was never able to access before and that just keeps growing and getting richer and richer and it all started when I quit. I'm just so grateful to be able to look back and see where I came from. It gives me some perspective.

EV: So what's the future look like?

TM: Well, I'm already writing songs for the next record, but that's probably a couple of years away. I'll be spending most of my time promoting "Everything in Nature." I've got this great publicist who is able to get the record into the right hands for reviewing. Then of course I have Wordvendor, which is the greatest thing now because I can actually steer my career in the direction I want and have total control--I mean do you think a record label would allow me to give 50% of my proceeds to a cause like Greenpeace? Don't get me wrong, a record label knows how to make money, and I guess that's my next challenge. But I couldn't be happier with the path I'm heading down now. It's an exciting time to be an artist.


name: Brotha D
description: Music for your mind, body and soul
homepage: brotha_d
photo: /artists/img/brotha_d_small.jpg
society: NONE
page: brotha_d
bio:
... who is Brotha D ...

Generally speaking I don't like to talk about myself in simple past making sure I mention everybody I have shared the decks with... or every god damn track I have released... or event I have participated in...so let's put it this way.

I've been a music lover ever since I remember, crate digger and record collector for a while now, DJ and producer for some time as well. Sometimes I go by the name of D'Experiment sometimes as Brotha D. That's all you need to know! Now sit back, relax and enjoy the music!

Peace and Love
Brotha D

Link up with me on soundcloud if you feel like you want to.


name: Bruno Elisabetsky
description: Instrumental Brazilian Jazz compositions to light up your day
homepage: bruno_elisabetsky
photo: /artists/img/bruno_elisabetsky.jpg
society: NONE
page: bruno_elisabetsky
bio:
Bruno Elisabetsky is a composer (feature films, TV shows, theater, documentaries, podcasts, commercials), music producer, guitarist (6- and 7-string guitars, acoustic, electric, nylon and steel), and singer. Born in São Paulo, Brazil, Bruno lived in Tel Aviv and Barcelona. He currently works from his own studio in São Paulo.

Bruno's instrumental music works include two albums recorded by Quarteto Quadrantes: "Passos Largos" (2013) and "Sinuosa" (2015), both exclusively featuring his compositions. The Bruno Elisabetsky Trio is soon to record a new album with his latest creations. Bruno has also extensively performed as 7-string guitarist with choro and samba groups, including "Chorando aos Prantos" and "Praça do Samba". He has also been featured as on-stage live musician on theater productions ("Leonce e Lena", "O Fino no Samba", "Quem Vem Lá"), and as accompanying musician for singers such as Emmanuel Donzela, Olivia Byngton and Rubi.

Bruno is presently involved in several projects as songwriter, composer and producer of original music and cover songs for podcasts, feature films, screenplays, documentaries and fictional shows, among others.


name: Burning Babylon
description: Super fine dub
homepage: burning_babylon
photo: /artists/img/burning_babylon.jpg
society: BMI
page: burning_babylon
bio:
Burning Babylon is a one man dub reggae project from Boston, Massachusetts. Created by Slade Anderson, the heavyweight rhythms of Burning Babylon's sound are firmly anchored in the 1970's Jamaican roots tradition, but with an ear for the neo-dub stylings of the present day.

Slade came to dub relatively late in his musical career. For fifteen years he played guitar in various punk/metal bands in the Boston area (The Freeze, Straw Dogs), and at the time, "heavyweight" meant snarling guitars and screaming stacks of Marshall amps.

During the mid-90's Slade began to play bass seriously, a move that coincided with a decision to investigate reggae. He went in search of a sound more earthy than the mainstream reggae he'd heard, and discovered artists like Glen Brown and King Tubby.

"It was drums drenched in reverb, horns and guitars echoing into oblivion, and the most heavyweight bass I'd ever heard," says Slade.

It wasn't long before Slade become throughly preoccupied with dub and was deep into study of the rhythms and vibe. Some time later, Slade recorded his first dub track, and Burning Babylon was born.

"I have my own unique take on dub," says Slade, "but I've certainly been influenced by those that have come before me."


name: Burnshee Thornside
description: funny, funky blues
homepage: thornside
photo: /artists/img/thornside1.jpg
society: STIM
page: thornside
bio:
First, a true story.
When Thornside was in his mid twenties, he worked at McDonalds. Believe it or not, he came so far as to being a "white shirt", bossing around. But of course Thornside had a boss over him, a crazy but nice man from Iran. When he heard that Thornside sang and played the trumpet, he immediately insisted (or "decided" is probably the right word) that Thornside should play for the guests between four and five every Tuesday. Thornside called his old friend Burnshee, with whom he was playing in different bands, and asked him to play with him. They formed a duo, performing jazz standards and some dixie, in the corner of the McDonalds restaurant at Kungsgatan in Stockholm, Sweden. Thornside singing, playing trumpet and banjo, and Thornside playing the guitar. Two hundred Swedish kronor and a free meal was the deal. And the start of what 15 years later would be Burnshee Thornside, the funky jazzy whacky duo from Sweden. (What the guests thought at the moment is not very clear. One thing is for sure: they did not come only to hear Thornside and Burnshee.)

It started in the early 80's
Johan Nilsson and Jens Henriksson - Burnshee Thornside - met in their teens and formed many bands playing mostly funk. It was the days of the "slapping bass" so you had to get hold of a good bassplayer, who knew how to use his thumb. Compared to the rock bands, you also had to have horns, and you had to know how to arrange for horns. Trumpets, saxophones, trombones. Thornside, being also a trumpet player, knew that, so we had great horn arrangements from day one. We made a lot of our own music, played many gigs, and we listened to Earth Wind & Fire, Kool & The Gang, Steely Dan, Koinonia, Gino Vanelli, Chaka Khan, Rufus, James Brown, jazz and blues, Zappa, Weather Report... Sometimes Burnshee and Thornside would meet up in the rehearsal studio to record together, on their own. A little pleasure they had, together with the 4-track Fostex Cassette Recorder. It sounded very Motown...

The year 2003
After pursuing different careers (IT, Advertising, computers), of course neither Thornside or Burnshee made a living out of music, altough it gave some good extra money, Burnshee finally made one of his dreams come true: his own studio in the basement. Based around a Mac G4 and Logic. All of a sudden Burnshee and Thornside were back were it all started. Recording, making music, composing, arranging. They looked at each other and decided to start all over. But first they had to get rid of their Swedish sounding names - Johan Nilsson and Jens Henriksson - so they named themselves Burnshee Thornside and their first recording in the new studio was of their old song "Hey Hey Hey" (which now appears on the Burnshee Thornside Album Blues and misc.) After that they composed 14 brand new songs and invited the magic musician Tomas Bergquist in to play drums and bass (he is still with us). The releasing of "The Art Of Not Blending In" was quite successful, there being no record label behind it. We got some airtime on a small radiostation in Oregon, and Australia, and we sold some albums via magnatune.com who supported us from the start. Everybody said it sounded like Steely Dan and Michael McDonald, mostly thanks to Thornside's voice, we guess, but also due to the fact that the music is kind of Rhythm & Blues. With a jazzy feeling. And then a bit funky. And with horns. The lyrics, that's quite another story. They are not only about love. They can be about anything...

The years 2004 and 2005
In 2004 Burnshee Thornside released "Blues & misc.", as the title reveals, a whole lot of blues, but also funky jazzy stuff, 12 tracks. A bit more simple. Not as many horn arrangements. Not as many background vocals performed by great sounding female singers. But still very good. (Some regard "Blues and misc." as better than "The Art Of Not Blending In".)

And then, in 2005, came "Rock This Moon". 15 new tracks, back to more horns, more background vocals, more 70's jazzy/funky Steely Dan-ish. With fun, intriguing and whacky lyrics.

Is this only the beginning? Yes, we think so! And maybe, just maybe, one day people will come to McDonalds only because Burnshee Thornside is playing in the sound system.


name: Cancer Killing Gemini
description: a blend of modern rock, downtempo, industrial and post grunge
homepage: cancer_killing_gemini
photo: /artists/img/cancer_killing_gemini.jpg
society: BMI
page: cancer_killing_gemini
bio:
Eric Michael Cohen is the songwriter for Cancer Killing Gemini, a genre-crossing constantly evolving rock / electronic band from Boston, MA. Their music may be described as "McCartney and Mutemath meets Nine Inch Nails".

Eric is joined by Frank Hegyi on drums, Andrew Padua on bass, Chuck Pukmel on guitars and Max Butler on keyboards.

Previous to CKG, Eric was involved with an electronic project called Kittymonkey where he sharpened his skills with softer material in the style of Massive Attack, Portishead and Zero7.

The material you will find here at Magnatune encomapsses Eric's hard rock tendencies as well as his love for organic down tempo.

Members of CKG have shared the stage or been on bils with:

Rage Against The Machine, B.B. King, Leslie West, KISS, Carly Simon, The Damned, Come, De La Soul, Ted Nugent, Chixdiggit, Therapy, Run DMC, Hugh Cornwell, Skid Row, Kate Taylor, David Garibaldi, Accept, Quiet Riot, Arlen Roth, Jim Belushi, Letters To Cleo, Fuel, Disturbed, Angelspit, Nina Hagen and others.


name: Canconier
description: Medieval music from the 12th to the 15th centuries
homepage: canconier
photo: /artists/img/canconier.jpg
society: NONE
page: canconier
bio:
Canconier is a San Francisco Bay Area early music group devoted to medieval repertoire from the 12th to the 15th centuries, occasionally including traditional music from related regions (Scandinavia, the Balkans, and the Middle East).

Created by multi-instrumentalist Tim Rayborn and recorder virtuoso Annettte Bauer as a duo, the group also features the talents of Bay Area favorite Shira Kammen on bowed strings, and the beautiful voice of Phoebe Jevtovic.

The musicians bring an amazing variety of experience to the group:

Annette Bauer (recorders, voice), a native of Germany, studied at the Schola Cantorum in Basel, Switzerland, and performs with the Baroque ensemble Les graces, the Farallon recorder consort, and Istampitta, as well as having taught at the SFEMS and Amherst summer workshops.

Tim Rayborn (percussion, psaltery, harp, voice, symphonie, etc.), lived in the UK for seven years, taking his Ph.D. in medieval studies at the University of Leeds. He has performed with Tintagel, Ensemble Florata, Sinfonye, Ensemble Alcatraz, Anne Azema, Kitka, and many others.

with:

Shira Kammen (vielle, harp, voice), is well known for her work with Ensemble Alcatraz, Project Ars Nova, the Boston Camerata, John Fleagle, and other groups too numerous to mention...

Phoebe Jevtovic (voice), has sung with a number of fine groups, including the Baroque ensemble La Monica, the Waverly Consort, the American Bach Soloists, and Kitka.


name: Candidate
description: Hook-laden anthems of survival and triumph
homepage: candidate
photo: /artists/img/candidate.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: candidate
bio:
Why not pack up and leave to chase a dream in New York City? You only live once and even then for a relatively short period of time.

In the beginning there were three men in Lexington, KY. These men were Cedric Sparkman, Laurence Adams and Jason Matuskiewicz.

Really, though, this band started at one discrete moment in time. In Hazard, Perry County, Kentucky, the foothills of Appalachia, when Cedric saw Laurence buy a copy of The Smiths' Hatful of Hollow at the local Wal-mart and thought, "Hey, that boy who could barely play 'Hey Jude" might be pretty cool after all." So, as young, foolish musical men are so often wont to do, they decided to start a cover band - a mixture of The Smiths and David Bowie covers. Yes, in Hazard, Kentucky. I know, right?

They carried this back to the teaming metropolis of Lexington, KY, where both were then living. In the meantime, Laurence met Jason, who was then but one modest young man playing acoustic singer-songwriter shows somewhat haphazardly - with little ambition and even less effort. After some time in Morehead, Kentucky, the hardwood capital of the world, and Heidelberg, Germany, Cedric returned to Lexington, and he and Laurence succeeded in putting together a Smiths cover band that didn't actually play Smiths songs, called Varsovia - which is to say it comprised equal parts pastiche and encomium. They invited Jason to join the band, but with the catch that he play bass, an instrument he had never played before. It turned out Jason was a natural. And Varsovia released two EPs, brilliantly titled EP1 and EP2 - before calling it a day in 2009.

In the interest of making everything as difficult as possible, which, along with arguing like brothers, is a favorite Candidate pastime, after deciding to form a new band, Cedric, Jason and Laurence wrote over 30 new songs before playing a show. After a couple of shows, the band recorded an album, A New Life. Although the songs were all written collaboratively, the album contained a loose narrative roughly following the dissolution of Jason's marriage. They released the album in June 2011. The album was received well, but tragedy befell the band and robbed the band of its momentum.

Meanwhile, over the course of his time in the band, Cedric Sparkman succumbed to that emotion that is the inveterate enemy of rock n roll, love. When his girlfriend (who is wonderful by the way) graduated from her MFA program in New York City, she and Cedric decided they would live there. And so he did in August 2011. Jason, deciding there was little to keep them at his lucrative career as a young lawyer, other than money, comfort and the promise of being able to buy food in the future, and Laurence, wishing to test his mettle in the Brooklyn wastes, they would join Cedric - chasing a dream in the big city.

Shortly after arriving in New York, Candidate met Chris Infusino, a real live pro drummer, who joined them for their first show in NYC. He killed it. After the show, Jason asked Chris if he would like to join them in recording the band's next album. Chris asked when this recording was to begin, to which Jaosn replied, "Next week." Ah, Candidate, always keeping everything as difficult as possible. Chris cleared his schedule and joined the band.

Teaming up with boy genius and super producer, Justin Craig, the band make their second album. The sound they made could not be placed in any particular subgenre, so they called it dreamrock - a sonically expansive, and forward looking mixture of post-punk and shoegaze with 80's and 90's American indie, grunge and britpop. The album continues and concludes the narrative that started on the first LP, "A New Life." This time, however, the narrative was shaped by Cedric, although the narrator is the same mostly fictional character. The album reflects the personal struggles and ultimate triumph he experienced upon his move to New York.


name: Capital Sons
description: Heart on our sleeves Rock and Roll.
homepage: capital_sons
photo: /artists/img/capital_sons_new.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: capital_sons
bio:
Seamlessly blending their musical influences and pop-rock nature into a high energy, unique and lyrically poignant mix, Capital Sons has a sound that is fresh, yet recognizable.

Led by Karl Obermeyer, Capital Sons brings undeniable melodies and heartfelt lyrics to audiences, all anchored by a rock steady rhythm section. The band members - Obermeyer on vocals and guitar, Mark Marrinan on drums, Cy Dodson on guitar and keyboards, and John Tetrault on bass and vocals - have earned a reputation as an original and expressive band making their mark on the Twin Cities and beyond.

With the release of their critically acclaimed self-titled EP (2005), Capital Sons has had generous airplay on FM 89.3 The Current. Word of mouth has spread and their live performances routinely draw loyal fans into venues throughout the Twin Cities.

Their debut album offered creative pop-rock harmonies with a classic feel, and their sophomore release Dirty Neon (2009), featured more heartfelt lyrics and intriguing song arrangements. "Our music is heart-on-your-sleeve rock and roll," says Obermeyer, "no fluff, no gimmicks, we get up on stage and play our songs. We play the music that comes naturally to us...it's that simple."

Capital Sons' newest release, Swim the High Tide, features the band's most mature music thus far. The album finds the band incorporating complex harmonies, Hammond organ, piano, ukulele and even sitar to round out this solid collection of songs. "This is definitely the strongest and most interesting music we've created yet," says lead singer, Karl Obermeyer, "We're firing on all cylinders musically."

You can find out more about Capital Sons on their website.


name: Carey Clayton
description: Meditative yet Pulsing, Textural yet Driving, Future Americana music
homepage: carey_clayton
photo: /artists/img/carey_clayton.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: carey_clayton
bio:
Carey Clayton is a guitarist, composer, and music producer in Brooklyn, New York. Carey is very active in the New York music scene as a live and session guitarist. Carey leads the jazz/rock instrumental group Carbon Mirage and plays in many other New York area bands including folk/jazz/rock group Aviyda and the Kleshas and the Hip-Hop outfit IAMPOPULA.

Carey grew up in Los Angeles and began music at an early age studying classical music on piano. However, he was quickly drawn to the guitar by the sounds of Jimi Hendrix and other rock and blues artists. Carey's musical interests would soon expand into many other types of music. In high school he began to study jazz and take an interest in the music of Wes Montgomery, Miles Davis, and John Scofield.

Carey went on to study music at the University of Miami, where a world of music opened up to him. There he dove into an electic mix of music with everything from John Cage to D'angelo; Milton Nasciento to Medeski, Martin and Wood. In 2012, Carey relocated to New York City and began his career as a working musician. Since moving to New York, Carey has been a prominent musician, performing with many RnB, Rock, Gospel, and Jazz groups. Recently expanding his skill set to recording and production, Carey is now involved in a number of recording and producing projects from his home studio.

The album Oak was recorded entirely in Carey's home studio. This album has lots of layers to it; with many interweaving guitar parts, overlayed vocals, and ambient effects. Initially conceived as a collection for yoga practice or meditation, the music began to evolve in another, sometimes more aggressive direction, as evidenced in the song "West Texas Sunrise".

"This is an autobiographical piece about a cross country trip I was taking with a friend, where along the way, somewhere in the middle of nowhere West Texas, while speeding down the highway I blew two tires and nearly flipped the car over. We spent all night waiting for a tow truck under the beautiful open sky, and ended sleeping that night in the parking lot of a tire store." This song in particular and the collection overall is an effort in uniting those horrific moments with those beautifully serene ones.

You can find out more about Carey on his website.


name: Cari Live
description: thoughtful expressions through intelligent new age
homepage: cari_live
photo: /artists/img/cari_live.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: cari_live
bio:
Who is Cari Live?

In the summer of 2010, the universe was trying to tell Cari to slow down and find her authentic self. Through the guidance of a dear friend, she dared to plug in the cord: to connect the keyboard to the computer and a new way to express herself. Cari wrote music as a child, but was frustrated with the rules and focused on her flute. Her father played trumpet in orchestras, her mother a concert pianist, and the entire family played instruments. When they get together, an impromptu session of music lasts for hours. As a classically trained musician, with a masters in music from the University of Manoa, Cari has performed in orchestras and ensembles in Montana, Colorado, Oregon, and California as well as playing for Bob Hope, John Denver, Red Skeleton, and Walter Matthau.

She was inspired by Hearts of Space, feeling a connection as she also began to study Music Therapy in college. Cari talked about writing music someday, but found many distractions, some led her far away from her dreams.

Today the music flows easily and with great passion. Cari is searching for the sounds that bring her relief from the stress and busy lifestyle she is still recovering from. She feels the music puts her into a trance, drifting into a magical journey. She is newly inspired as she discovers new techniques in the recording studio.

Her music can be described as Ambient and New Age, although a friend called it Intelligent New Age. The soothing and meditative style is an attempt to bring peace back into the world. Living in northern California, Cari creates and shares with her family of four (viola, cello, clarinet/sax) and Zoe, her golden retriever.

"An artist is... (one) who accesses the creative energy of the Universe to bring forth something on the material plane that wasn't there before."
"Simple Abundance" by Sarah Ban Breathnach


name: Carlos Schwarz
description: passionate, evocative, and captivating new age
homepage: carlos_schwarz
photo: /artists/img/carlos_schwarz.jpg
society: SOCAN
page: carlos_schwarz
bio:
Carlos Schwarz was born and raised in Mexico where he spent all his childhood with diverse musical teachings coming from both parents. His German ancestry father brought a lot of traditional accordion playing to his life before moving onto professional piano training.

Carlos's early interest in composition and arrangement was widely open by various studies in jazz piano and modern harmony with a renowned TV composer. While entering the world of incidental music combined with various influences from New Age artists, Carlos started composing a very distinctive style of music creating a subtle blend of New Age with a touch of Celtic and Electronic music.

After relocating to Vancouver, Canada, he began pursuing a musical career as a composer and has been honoured by several industry awards including a nomination for best New Age artist at the Hollywood Music and Media Awards 2012 and a top 3 finalist for the Roland Synth Contest 2010.

His debut album, Sea to Sky, is an album created with great passion that compiles all his musical journey throughout his life. Every song uniqueness will take you to different places. This music will evoke a feeling of serenity with empowerment within you.

Piano is always present in his recordings, strings form a very important part of his arrangements, ethnic instruments from the Middle East and Asia are also used, and everything blended together with various female voices which add a very subtle and atmospheric ambience to his songs.

You can also check out Carlos Schwarz on his website.


name: Cary Chow
description: virtuoso piano
homepage: carychow
photo: /artists/img/carychow1.jpg
society: NONE
page: carychow
bio:
Cary Chow captivates and electrifies audiences wherever he performs. Whether he is in Montreal or New York or Beijing, he receives both critical and popular acclaim. His intense yet engaging stage presence once earned him the moniker "a composite of Vladimir Horowitz and Ozzy Osbourne". The breadth of his repertoire extends from J.S. Bach to Franz Liszt to George Crumb and beyond, and he seamlessly traverses these epochs and genres.

Cary Chow has performed with conductors as diverse as Mario Bernardi and Gerard Schwarz in concerti from Mozart through Rachmaninoff; collaborated in recital with cellist Shauna Rolston, violinist Moshe Hammer and clarinetist Jonathan Cohler; and performed many recent works by pre-eminent composers such as Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Gilles Tremblay and Derek Bermel. At sixteen years of age, he performed his New York debut recital at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Cary Chow's first solo CD recording was released in 1999 on the Tintagel label, and featured Rachmaninoff's First Piano Sonata and the Variations on a Theme of Corelli. His second solo CD, an independent release entitled Zirkus (Step Inside), featuring Carnaval and Kreisleriana by Robert Schumann (with its distinctive artwork and accompanying publicity photos) was released in 2007, and continues to generate enthusiastic reviews. Future solo recording projects in the CD/SACD/DVD-A formats include Liszt B Minor Sonata and Apres une lecture du Dante, the late Prokofieff Sonatas, Beethoven "Hammerklavier" Sonata and Samuel Barber's Piano Sonata.

Until 2006, Cary Chow taught at the University of Victoria and the Victoria Conservatory of Music; he now coaches the Young Artist Experience at the University of British Columbia. From 2004 - 06, he was Collaborative Artist in Residence at The Morningside Music Bridge program in Calgary, Canada. Since 2005, he appears as Guest Professor at the Central Conservatory of Music Attached Middle School in Beijing, China; in 2006, he made his first appearance at Xing Hai Conservatory in Guangzhou, China. He also teaches in his private studio in Vancouver, BC. Cary Chow studied with Winifred Scott Wood, Rena Sharon and Robin Wood at the Victoria Conservatory of Music, and with renowned pedagogue Christopher Elton at the Royal Academy of Music in London, England.

"Effortless virtuosity...imbued with classical elegance, as well as tremendous power." -Deryk Barker, Music in Victoria

"Those wise enough to slip this CD [Zirkus] into their collection will be rewarded with a truly magnificent rendition of Kreisleriana." -James Wegg Reviews

www.carychow.com


name: Cary Kanno
description: Uptempo, happy, banjo-driven acoustic folk pop
homepage: cary_kanno
photo: /artists/img/cary_kanno.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: cary_kanno
bio:
Cary "CKP" Kanno cut his teeth early with bands in Chicago Illinois. The Abstract Giants (hip hop/ funk band ), and Doko Benjo (rock/ funk band) were locally successful and served as a springboard to foster his talents as a multi-instrumentalist songwriter. His solo career began when he simultaneously released two solo albums simply called "Cary Kanno One" and "Cary Kanno Two". Reception to the records were overwhelmingly positive. They were played on over 150 radio stations worldwide, and the album charted on the CMJ charts. From there he released 8 more original music albums. Total spin counts for his records on Pandora are over 350,000. Songs from these albums have been placed on over 100 different TV shows/ films/ commercials, including Kellogg's Frosted Flakes, Gas Jeans (Europe), Volkswagen, The Voice (NBC, 15+ plays), Honey Boo Boo, Nashville, Pawn Stars, Americas Pregame NFL (Fox), Discover Channel, TLC, WE Network, Bravo Network, Nissan, Ford Motor Co, Putumayo World Music, Weeds on Showtime, and many more. Last year Cary had over 1.2 million in-store radio plays throughout Europe.

Cary plays over 80 live gigs per year. In the summer of 2018 he played a series of 4 shows at the United Center (Chicago) before the Paul Simon, Smashing Pumpkins, and Phil Collins shows. He also played a 16 gig summer concert series for Miller Coors and a local radio station. He has opened for many well known acts including: Rusted Root, Gabriela y Rodrigo, Robert Randolph, The Gza, The Rza, Lyrics Born, Buckwheat Zydeco, Poi Dog Pondering, Eyedea, Andrew Bird, Bernie Worrell, Doomtree, Del the Funky Homosapien, and many more. He has sung the national anthem at Wrigley Field, played shows for NFL players, Real Madrid and the MLS All-stars, the mayor of Chicago, played in Tokyo, Japan, and has played volunteer shows for children with cancer and children with severe burns.


name: Castle Pines
description: easy&#45;to&#45;listen&#45;to pop rock with a fresh attitude
homepage: castle_pines
photo: /artists/img/castle_pines.jpg
society: BMI
page: castle_pines
bio:
Castle Pines is a four piece Alternative Rock Outfit from Corona, CA. Dutifully dedicated and charismatic members include Leandro Barrientos (vocalist) and Ricky Garvey (lead guitarist), Sterling Fairfield (percussionist) and Jesse Briseno (bassist) The band, likened to a fervent local movement, has relentlessly worked every aspect of their music, online presence and message over 10 years to garner international attention from radio stations, blogs and press. Castle Pines are somewhat of an anomaly in the independent music world. Basing the band off of a family home lost in the market crash of 2008 and crafting songs with emotive and frantic sensibilities, Castle Pines built a familial, passionate following and branded themselves as the "blue collar " indie-alternative heroes of their hometown, the "non-cool kids" that fell through cracks of Suburban America.

Encompassing the many facets that new technology and the volatile music industry offers, Castle Pines founded a publishing company "CP Por Vida Music Publishing" in 2017, using the trended hashtag of their own creation #CPporVida. Their upcoming album "Por Vida" aptly titled from the Spanish "For Life" will be released as a collection of 7 singles alongside of music videos curated by different film makers to give the album a unique visual and sonic experience from the perspective of different auteurs.

Recording for the "Por Vida" album was a monumental and arduous challenge for the members of the band. The Summer of 2017, as the band was doing preliminary recordings, founding member and drummer Sterling Fairfield was rushed to an emergency operation due to complications of Crohn's Disease. An ailment that Sterling dealt with his entire time gigging, recording and playing with Castle Pines, he nearly died on several occasions and had his entire lower intestine removed. This left the band in an unsure place for the recording of their album. Sterling, being the diehard loyalist to the band and message, struggled through weeks of recording in a cottage in Southern California, stitches fresh from an incision down his chest, and performed beautifully for the album. An album, with all odds against it, was recorded through perseverance through adversity, dedication and in no small part to the accommodating and kind efforts of Matthew Faulkner of Beta Waves Records who moved his entire studio to a cottage near the home of Sterling, in case he suffered another medical emergency.

The Castle Pines discography has been a testament to the band's ability to maneuver through changes and hardship. Their first release, "Bless this House EP" is a collection of 6 songs written in a dingy, rundown apartment in the summer of 2010. Songs like "I saw you on the Radio" and "I'm a Volcano" have not only become fan favorites at live shows and on streaming platforms, but reflect the extremely colorful musical palette and diversity of the scenes and genres each member was raised with. Punk, emo, hardcore, grind, indie and alternative meld into a sonic landscape that is completely Castle Pines own sound, developed in the now defunct, all-ages venue in Corona, CA "The Showcase Theater".

In 2014, Castle Pines released their full length album "Summer Blood", focused on hypnotic textures, dynamic musical language and the narrative of growing up in the 90's suburban sprawls of Southern California, it was released through a successful crowdfunding campaign and met with praise from both local fans and the international music, blog and arts community. The album features "Palm Springs" a driving and powerful journey through youthful family trips in a minivan to the aforementioned desert oasis in Southern California. It has been featured on radio stations in Brazil, the UK, New Zealand, South Africa and the US.

"Por Vida" the album that almost never was is a testament to staying the course and faithful commitment to the art in the pangs of heartache, ailment and suffering. The band is grateful for the love and support it has received from the online community, their fans and family and is eagerly excited to premier their latest work. In an industry exploited for commerciality and financial gain by juggernaut corporatism, a little garage band, from the suburbs of California, protesting the status quo and proclaiming the importance of art and music, loyalty, persistence and honesty is a fresh and needed voice in the stifling noise of the modern market.


name: Caustic Casanova
description: Highly electric, extremely eclectic heavy rock
homepage: caustic_casanova
photo: /artists/img/caustic_casanova.jpg
society: NONE
page: caustic_casanova
bio:
Caustic Casanova is a hard rock power trio operating out of America's proud capital city (of rock!), Washington D.C. The CC has been tearing up stages and studios alike with their unique brand of diverse, heavy music since their inception on the campus of The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia in 2005, where they were named "Williamsburg's Finest Band" by Submission Magazine.

In 2008 the reunited CC released their first ever full-length studio album, a fourteen song, seventy-two minute tour de force entitled Imminent Eminence. Caustic Casanova has gigged in DC, Delaware, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia since returning to live performances in summer 2008.

They have been described as "Riff Emperors" (The Pinhook, Durham, NC) who possess "...an air of optimism and freshness that's been lacking from the music scene for well over a decade now (Voltcase)."

They finished second in The Deli Magazine Readers' Poll for "Best Emerging Artist from DC/Baltimore 2010," out of over 40 nominated artists. In summer 2011 they headlined on the big red stage at the legendary Fort Reno Summer Concert Series in Washington, DC, bringing their "original brand of off-metal, slight psyche, quirky and powerful rock music" to their biggest live audience yet (DC Rock Live).

Their latest record, Someday You Will Be Proven Correct, produced by J. Robbins and mastered by Bob Weston, was released February 7th, 2012 on Mad Love Records.

A sampling of the praise for Someday You Will Be Proven Correct thus far:

"A blistering showcase of the co-ed D.C. outfit's uniquely brainy hard rock. Heavy yet clever in a Torche-meets-Dismemberment Plan kind of way-yes, it's that addictively strange-Someday leaves a complex, acidic aftertaste."
THE ONION AV CLUB

"Ted Nugent banging away at Jilted John, or Henry Rollins in a sit com with Emo Philips...Caustic Casanova are The Eels gone rawk, they are They Might Be Giants on steroids and they could be important."
UNPEELED

"Killer powerhouse drums...pile-driving bass lines...precise difficult guitar riffs...and vocals that really kick. Who could ask for anything more?"
LMNOP

"Literary, political and tangentially astral, Someday You Will Be Proven Correct is an energetic blast of sci-fi postpunk."
CAUGHT IN THE CAROUSEL


name: Cavalcade
description: Throw-back beats, vintage vibes and modern melodies driven by electronic pulses
homepage: cavalcade
photo: /artists/img/cavalcade.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: cavalcade
bio:
Benny Earl Sanches (aka Cavalcade) has been producing, remixing and creating original music compositions for over two decades. Originally from Houston, Texas Benny began his career in 1990 while working for the infamous Enron Oil and Gas Corporation.

Having had enough of Corporate America he took his gear and inspiration on the road to San Francisco, California. There he had a 10 year run, creating works under the moniker iNTROSPEKT and crossing paths with inspirations such as Meat Beat Manifesto, Depeche Mode, Cabaret Voltaire and The Cocteau Twins to name a few.

After being underground and quietly continuing production for several years, Benny resurfaced and established his own record label, Electric Meter Room Records. Benny, aka Cavalcade by now, emerged with a new sound and the labels first release - a 5 song EP that features remixes by some of Cavalcade's top inspirations. The release includes remixes by Meat Beat Manifesto, George Cochrane (Weatherhouse / Black Flamingo), Velapene Screen and LoFeye. A full length video was shot for the release by award winning Director and Film Producer Sophia Medium, for the headlining track titled "Bypass" - a stellar remix of Cavalcade by Jack Dangers of Meat Beat Manifesto. The video drew over 8,000 views in just a few days while the online review and label website attracted over 40,000 hits in a few months time.

In 2011 Cavalcade released a full length album titled "Dare to Think" on Low Down Grooves with distribution thru IODA in San Francisco. Cavalcade's latest full length album titled "Failure" is being released Summer 2012 through Magnatune. With new releases on the table Benny is still moving forward and staying busy producing in the Echo Park community of Los Angeles. This winter's focus is a full length album that will include his remixes of selected artists and influences. Production for those remixes has already begun on songs by artists Josie Cotton, LoFeye, Masterslave, Weatherhouse, Marissa Gomez and the Ghosts of Echo Park, Tommy Santee Clause, Rod Cumming, AK and her Ashklinovs and more.

Lastly and simultaneously, another new and exciting collaboration is well under way between Cavalcade and George Cochrane, an effort called Papa Fritas, a throw-back House and Techno sound that is being cooked up for release in late 2012. So stay tuned....


name: Ceremony of Darkness
description: Step into the darkness and surround yourself in intense rock
homepage: ceremony_of_darkness
photo: /artists/img/ceremony_of_darkness.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: ceremony_of_darkness
bio:
Born in Champaign, IL, Ceremony of Darkness is comprised of members unique even among their brethren inhabiting the darker corners of the music scene. With backgrounds in literature, music theory, the military, and even boxing, the members of Ceremony of Darkness are as varied as the tracks on their premiere album "13".

Sin and J started the band with a predominantly metal focus. Over time they found that some of the slower songs they threw into sets during longer shows were taking hold within certain segments of the fan base. There was enough demand for their more melodic works that they began to get booked regionally for acoustic sets. Eventually, Ceremony of Darkness was able to find its balance and could play its melodic works, basic rock songs, and its heaviest metal tracks together in a way that honestly displayed the band's identity and appealed to all corners of their diverse fan base.

When asked about the approach of Ceremony of Darkness, Sin explains, "Look, I may personally love metal, but even the heaviest fans like to slow it down or lighten it up now and then, just so long as they don't feel like they 'sold out' along the way. It is all about identity and balance. If you lose who you are by not writing in the same exact key or style every time, you are probably not being yourself anyway. Our music is intense for the most part, but it isn't as if we sit around mad or sad all day either. At shows we will party and joke with our fans as much as they will let us. I just don't think you can take yourself too seriously, no one else does."

Though they may not take themselves too seriously, they do take their music seriously. Tempo changes, intricate guitars, and varied vocal styles are utilized to create just the right effect for each individual song Ceremony of Darkness writes. Their premiere album "13" showcases 13 of the over 100 songs Ceremony of Darkness has worked to perfect. "13" forms a unique expression of dark rock appealing to mainstream listeners as well as fans of metal, and those within the darker subcultures of music. Ceremony of Darkness does not fear displaying the varied nature of their influences, as anyone attending a show will clearly see by the diversity of their fan base. Vocalist Sin explains, "We [the band members] come from different backgrounds and have different musical tastes. Some of us have our roots in metal, while others come from a jazz background or are into mainstream rock. Rather than fight it, we embrace the elements involved and believe that just like an individual has different aspects to their personality, if they are being honest, so will their music. Being one-dimensional as a band would be disingenuous and essentially amount to calling our fans one-dimensional too, and we don't want to do that." In fact, "13" features songs ranging from slow and melodic (Breathless), to straight forward rock (Freedom), to songs one might consider throwback death metal (The Surgeon of New Orleans).

When listening to "13" a return to intricate guitar musicianship will be noted as well as vocal styles that change to suit each song rather than making the music conform to the vocals. One dominant theme in the music of Ceremony of Darkness that will become evident to listener however is the dark, emotional, and haunting imagery that brings a mood of intensity to each song. "I have always been a fan of Poe," recalls Sin, "and what I took from his style is that no piece of your work should detract from your overall purpose. In the case of songwriting, we try to remove anything that is not in some way essential to the song's design. Our music is about emotion, so we describe each emotion in the greatest detail that we are able."

The Band Members -
Sin - vocals and rhythm guitar
J - Rhythm and lead guitars
Ryan Basch - Bass
Brandon Zeisler - Drums
Jason Dix - Drums (alternate)
Brian Mantia - Guitars
George Kiser - Additional live guitars (alternate)
Alex Lopez - Additional live keys

Ceremony of Darkness have WON Best Metal/Hardcore Album of 2010, by the Independent Music Awards.

Their song "The Surgeon of New Orleans" has also been nominated in the Metal genre for the Hollywood Music in Media Awards.

For more on the band please visit their website or MySpace page.


name: Chad Farran
description: an impressive journey through Latin rhythms and moves
homepage: chad_farran
photo: /artists/img/chad_farran_1.jpg
society: SESAC
page: chad_farran
bio:
Chad Farran has made a name in the San Diego music scene by playing hundreds of shows with many local bands throughout the region, producing music for TV shows and independent films, and recording album projects for local musicians.

Over the past 5 years he has been involved in the production of music for the popular surf/travel show On Surfari that airs on FOX network's Fuel TV, and has managed to capture the essence of foreign countries that the show travels to by studying the traditions and instruments from each place, incorporating them into musical pieces, and creating a contemporary and refreshing soundtrack.

Farran's most recent release is On Surfari Sessions, with 22 songs featured in the first season of Fuel TV's On Surfari. The album features a rich landscape of music with ethnic instrumentation and grooves inspired by travels to India, Panama, Mauritius and New York.

In 2007 Farran released an album from the original compositions he had written as a singer/songwriter. Another Ride uses the same techniques as his soundtrack work to fuse Latin sounds and rhythms with the acoustic pop melodies that were inspired by influential recording artists both in the U.S. and abroad.

Farran's interest in Brazilian culture makes an impressive influence on Another Ride, as he weaves stories of love found and love lost with the rhythms that enchanted him on his travels throughout that country. The Brazilian styles of Samba, Bossa Nova, Reggae, Forro, and Maracatu can all be heard in his songs, as he showcases his talents on the instruments he collected and brought back.

The live shows can range from a mellow solo performance to the energy of a full band, but always captivate audiences with diverse instrumentation and lyrical content sung in both English and Portuguese.

Chad now begins the task of opening the minds of the music lover and enticing them with the infectious rhythms and melodies he has captured so well on his albums.


name: Chad Lawson
description: Multi-award winning pianist and composer who is not afraid to put his hat in anything
homepage: chad_lawson
photo: /artists/img/chad_lawson2.jpg
society: BMI
page: chad_lawson
bio:
Multi-award winning pianist and composer Chad Lawson has an impressive list of accomplishments in recent years that many artists could only hope for in a lifetime. He has released seven critically acclaimed albums, worked with renowned musicians and producers and has the distinguished honor of being a Steinway artist.

Born in North Carolina, Chad knew he wanted to be a musician at the age of five. He pursued this dream at age 18 when he enrolled at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. While in school, Chad began his career as a studio musician and after his studies at Berklee, he decided to go on tour with Babik Reinhardt (son of legendary jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt).

Following his stint on the road, Chad formed the Chad Lawson Trio. They released their self-titled debut album in 1997 followed by Dear Dorothy; The Oz Sessions (jazz trio arrangements of The Wizard of Oz) in 2002 and Unforeseen two years later. Taking a sabbatical from the jazz trio in 2007, Lawson went on tour in Europe and South America with Julio Iglesias as a keyboardist.

In 2009, Chad released his first solo album, Set on a Hill. The album was produced by the legendary Will Ackerman (Grammy winner/Founder of Windham Hill Records) and was voted "Album of the Year" by Whispering Solo Piano's 1 million listeners.

2011 was a year of overachievement for Chad as he generated two albums and one single. The Piano was released in October to rave reviews and also awarded, "Classical Album of the Year" by Solopiano.com. In August 2011, Chad offered Song of Prayer, a 32-minute improvisational single. This musical masterpiece provided the perfect soundtrack for introspective reflection and meditation. He ended the year with the full-length, A Solo Piano Christmas, featuring his renditions of classic Christmas songs. Reviews New Age proclaimed, "Superb! 5 out of 5 stars."

The Space Between, released in 2013, is Chad's latest effort. The album hit #12 on Amazon's Adult Alternative Chart which is an impressive feat for an independent release. Named by CDBaby as an Editor's Pick, The Space Between is also being recognized internationally on premier music podcast RTVE, the NPR equivalent in Spain, where "I Wish I Knew" and "A Love is Born" is on their playlist.

Four songs from The Space Between can also be heard on "Echoes," a nightly melodious soundscape featuring ambient and downtempo music that is broadcast on over 120 public radio stations across the United States. The host, John Diliberto, an award-winning radio producer and music writer, has earned the reputation of only playing groundbreaking music and rarely selects pianist tracks for his program. By adding, "I Know a Love so Fair and True," "A Love is Born," "Falling Together" and a cover of Band of Horses' "No One's Gonna Love You" to the "Echoes" song rotation, this highly influential tastemaker reaffirms the artistic significance of Chad Lawson and his works.

Chad's music has been played on NPR, Delta Airlines flights and in Starbucks coffee shops. Television shows (Dawson's Creek, MTV's Teen Mom 2), movies (DoughBoys, Plimpton!) and commercials (Bacardi, Relais Chateaux upscale boutique hotels) have also utilized his works. The Notebook, an upcoming Broadway musical where Chad was brought on to arrange and notate the show's musical pieces.

While working as a keyboardist with an artist on Sony Records, the late and legendary music producer Phil Ramone told celebrated music director Jack Douglas, "You have an amazing keyboard player." It was an unforgettable compliment that Chad still cherishes to this day.

Chad Lawson is a master musician and artist extraordinaire. This brilliance is evident in his gifted original compositions and his exceptional interpretations of the beloved classics.

You can find out more about Chad on his website.


name: Chambure Vihuela Quartet
description: Dance music and songs of Renaissance Spain
homepage: chambure_vihuela_quartet
photo: /artists/img/chambure_vihuela_quartet.jpg
society: NONE
page: chambure_vihuela_quartet
bio:
The Chambure Vihuela Quartet is a group of American musicians who formed around the joy of playing Spanish Renaissance music. They are the only group to play Spanish polyphony on a set of matched instruments modeled on one of the few surviving original instruments, the "Chambure" Vihuela, now in the Cite de la musique in Paris, France.

The Vihuela Society of Spain says of the recording: "...excellent work of arrangement and interpretation ... resulting in something completely new."

Edward Martin (soprano vihuela) has studied with lutenists Paul O'Dette, Toyohiko Satoh, and Hopkinson Smith. He holds the position of Adjunct Professor of Lute at the College of Saint Scholastica. In 1984, he performed in the First International Lute Competition in Toronto. Having extensively performed throughout the United States, Martin has made recordings for Minnesota Public Radio, and these performances have also been broadcast on the American Public Radio network.

He is a member of various ensembles, a duo with tenor William Bastian, a baroque lute duo with lutenist Paul Berget, and Duo Chambure with lutenist Phil Rukavina. In the summer of 1997 and 2001 he was invited to be the Renaissance lute instructor at the SFEMS Renaissance week at the Dominican College, San Rafael, California. He has frequently been guest lecturer, teacher, and performer at annual summer seminar of the Lute Society of America, and serves on its Board of Directors. Ed Martin is widely known for his recordings here on Magnatune.

Phillip Rukavina (alto vihuela) has performed both nationally and internationally as a lute and vihuela soloist, ensemble performer, and as a continuo lutenist. He studied lute with Hopkinson Smith at the Academie Musical in Villecroze, France and in Basel, Switzerland.

Phil is a founding member of the Venere Lute Quartet and Duo Chambure, with fellow vihuelista Edward Martin. Duo Chambure has recorded the entire Vihuela duets of Enriquez Valderrabano here on Magnatune. Phillip is also a regular guest instrumentalist with the early vocal group the Rose Ensemble. He has performed with numerous instrumental ensembles, including the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the New World Symphony, Ars Antiqua, and the Lyra Concert Baroque Orchestra, to name a few. He directed the Lute Society of America's Summer Program at the Amherst Early Music Festival in 2005, 2007, and 2009 and he regularly teaches on the faculty of the Lute Society of America's Summer Seminar at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. He directed the LSA Summer Seminar in 2008 and 2010 and will do so again in 2012.

Rockford Mjos (tenor vihuela) performs as a soloist on lute, Baroque guitar and theorbo and contributes to ensemble productions with his performing skills, sensitive accompaniment, and broad repertoire knowledge. In the Netherlands he co-founded The Beggar's Banquet, an innovative ensemble which often created their own arrangements of Baroque popular music and which was showcased at the Dutch Embassy in London.

His exploration of early music sources has resulted in countless performances of little-known compositions and modern editions. Mjos has concertized thoughout northern Europe and the midwest United States, at early music festivals in Utrecht, Wroclaw, and San Antonio, and has broadcast on Minnesota Public Radio and Dutch National Radio. He studied at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague where he worked principally with Toyohiko Satoh. In addition, Mjos has been honored with numerous national awards for his graphic design work.

Tyler Kaiser (bass vihuela) was born in Duluth, Minnesota and has composed, performed, taught and lived in this area longer than some would consider prudent. So, most of his credentials are from this area because he likes to serve his community but, he has received numerous grants, commissions and awards from organizations such as the National Endowment for the Arts, the American Composers Forum, the American Society for Composers, Authors and Publishers, the McKnight Foundation and many others.

He has had some works published by Wolfhead Music in the U.S.A. and by Edition Corvus in Germany. His catalog of compositions includes two comic operas (working on a third), two symphonies, numerous works for orchestra, concert band, chamber ensembles and numerous arrangements for assorted early instruments. As a performer he has been involved with many of the organizations of the Duluth area including the Duluth-Superior Symphony Orchestra, the Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra, the Northland Opera Theater Experience, Lyric Opera of the North, the Center for Early Music Orchestra, the Arrowhead Chorale, Colder by the Lake Comedy Troupe, the Northshore Big Band, and numerous faculty recitals at the College of St. Scholastica and the University of Wisconsin, Superior - both institutions where he also teaches.

Soprano Carrie henneman Shaw, winner of the 2010-2011 McKnight Artist Fellowships for Performing Musicians administered by MacPhail Center for Music, has made her mark as a singer who brings a sense of adventure and style to the concert stage. Acclaimed as a "major musical force" (St. Paul Pioneer Press), Shaw collaborates with organizations across the country, such as Boston Early Music Festival, The Newberry Consort, LIBER, dal Niente New Music, The Rose Ensemble and the Bach Society of Minnesota, and is co-artistic director of St. Paul-based Glorious Revolution Baroque.

As a soloist, Shaw avidly explores both virtuoso avant-garde chamber music and seventeenth-century vocal works with equal passion. Carrie holds a doctorate of musical arts from the University of Minnesota, undergraduate degrees in music and English from Lawrence University, and has served as an instructor at the national Lute Society of America conference in Cleveland.


name: Charlie Beresford
description: beautifully, dark, acoustic progressive
homepage: charlie_beresford
photo: /artists/img/charlie_beresford.jpg
society: PRS
page: charlie_beresford
bio:
Now based in the Welsh Marches in the UK, musician/producer/artist Charlie Beresford spent his formative years in Coventry, the Detroit of the UK. (The city brought the world 'The Specials' and Sir Frank Whittle, the father of jet propulsion). Having started his creative life in Fine Art (training as a painter and printmaker in the early 90s at the then Falmouth School of Art and Design), the methods of visual art continue to haunt the way the music is made. Just as likely to be influenced by the noises of industry and traffic as by the music of James McMillan, Charlie's music is a dark, down tempo animal: more beauty than beast. Voice, acoustic guitar, strings, reeds and electronics all intertwine in defiance of being given a genre title. European underground site Funprox described it as blending 'elements of folk and haunting, contemplative pop into a brooding sonic mixture', whilst Christopher Dane Frick said Charlie's music 'paints a slow, bleak, yet somehow beautiful sonic picture, using coarse brushes and organic earthy tones.'

"If ever a visual artist and technically astounding guitarist were to collide, it would be here. Intense, fragile - this could stop anybody in their tracks." Sheffield Telegraph

In the last decade he has worked on some 14 albums spanning most genres from large choral works to intimate folk record. Alongside this, he has created numerous scores for short films and engineered for the likes of the BBC, Smooth Operations, Topic Records and Soundtree.

"Manages to sound comforting and sinister at once, a sure sign of genius." Musicemissions.com

In 2001 he met Tim Harries, a dark- toned bass player who has worked in most fields of music from folk to freeform jazz. Tim has recently been working either live or in the studio with Georgian singer Katie Melua, producer William Orbit, composer J. Peter Schwalm, choreographer Hofesh Shechter and the English Folk Singer June Tabor.

Before 'Dark Transport', he collaborated with Charlie Beresford on 'The Room is Empty' and they are now working towards their third album together. Tim is also involved in drummer Martin France's improvised/electronic project Spin Marvel and his own Sister Rotunda, featuring Spoken Word artist Paul Williams, aka DJ Flypaper.

"Thank heavens there's music like this that puts your head back where it should be... Truly beautiful." (Late Junction, BBC)


name: Cheryl Ann Fulton
description: World-class performer and teacher of Medieval, Baroque, Welsh triple, Celtic and Concert harps.
homepage: fulton
photo: /artists/img/fulton1.jpg
society: BMI
page: fulton
bio:
Recognized as a leading pioneer in the field of historical harps and a popular performer and teacher of Celtic lever harps, Dr. Cheryl Ann Fulton has enjoyed a wonderful international performing, recording, teaching and scholarly research career since 1984. One of the world's leading harpists known for her exceptional artistry and expressive style, she performs on triple harp, medieval harp, renaissance bray harp, double action pedal harp and contemporary Celtic lever harps. Her solo recital performed at the John F. Kennedy Center featured five historical harps on one program of which the Washington Post said, "Fulton drew from all of them a serene and delicate sound... remarkable instruments which Fulton played with total skill and reverent affection."

She earned a BS degree in pedal harp, and an MM and DM in early music/historical harp/musicology from the Jacobs School of Music of Indiana University, Bloomington where during her graduate work she was a dedicated student of Thomas Binkley. Dr. Fulton is a contributing scholar for the latest edition of the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians and authored a chapter for A Performers Guide to Medieval Music (IU Press, 2000). She was awarded the Burton E. Adams Prize for Academic Research for her doctoral thesis on the history of the triple harp. In 1987 she received a Fulbright award for research and performance in Lisbon, Portugal and while there served as principal harpist for Portugal's leading orchestra, the Orchestre Gulbenkian.

She has performed with many distinguished early music ensembles including Voices of Music, Ensemble Alcatraz, The Galax Quartet, El Mundo, Anonymous 4, Sequentia, American Bach Soloists, American Baroque, The Boston Camerata, Camerata Mediterranea, Chanticleer, etc. She served on the faculty for the Amherst Early Music workshops for over twenty-five years and was the first Director of the San Francisco Early Music Society Medieval Music Workshop. She is the founding President of the Historical Harp Society and is Director for the HHS 2015 Conference.

A versatile recording artist, she can be heard on over thirty albums and soundtracks broadly ranging from medieval, baroque, orchestral, and contemporary music to Celtic music and film scores, on major labels including PolyGram, Deutche Harmonia Mundi, Koch International Classics, Nonesuch, Erato, Dorian, Gourd Music, and others. Her first solo album, The Airs of Wales, brought her recognition and acclaim as a "genuine virtuosa of her instrument."

She founded and directs the medieval harp choir Angelorum and they are currently working on a recording of the music of Hildegard von Bingen with Karen Clark and Varja Voices.

Dr. Fulton is on the faculty of The Thornton School of Music at USC. She is a highly sought after teacher of her Touch and Tone Technique for Harp and has a private studios in the San Francisco Bay Area in Oakland, El Sobrante and Los Gatos, and also teaches via Skype.

When she is not harping she is playing with, training and showing her two Belgian Tervuren dogs or out riding her two Arabian horses on the trails in the East Bay hills.

You can find out more about Cheryl on her website.


name: chILL
description: grunge driven rock mixed with modern metal
homepage: chill
photo: /artists/img/chill.jpg
society: TEOSTO
page: chill
bio:
"Are you tired of the narrow-minded and often impersonal music we are being force fed every day?"

"Would you like to hear something genuine and special in these hollow times of superficial recycled entertainment?"

chILL's music could be described as some kind of "controlled chaos", where catchy rock blends seamlessly into modern metal. The band's goal is to make internationally competitive music without any kind of restrictions or preconceptions, and to create something genuine and special in these times of superficial recycled entertainment. All the solutions in their music are not necessarily always by the book and they shouldn't have to be. Grungy vocals and monster metal riffs mixed with plenty of catchy hooks and beautiful melodies will keep you wanting more.

Lyrics tell real stories of life, death, love, betrayal, hate, violence, addiction and alienation in a world that seems more and more chaotic every day. Man's compulsive need to destroy himself and everything surrounding him never seizes to amuse.

In March 2007 the band took a creative break from live shows, and started writing and recording material for their debut album: "controlled chaos". Almost a year passed (9 months to be exact) until it was time to break the silence with an explosion. chILL's 11-song debut album was recorded by Miska Rautiainen at the band's own "Twisted Studios" and was mixed by Finnish Sami Koivisto at Biotech Audio Solutions (Koivisto has mixed many Finnish bands like "Waltari", "Nicole", "Deathbound" and "Havoc Unit").

chILL is something entirely different. Hate it or love it, just try to keep an open mind.

For more on chILL visit their own website and MySpace page.


name: Chinaski
description: dark and driving energetic alternative rock
homepage: chinaski
photo: /artists/img/chinaski.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: chinaski
bio:
Post-grunge auteur act Chinaski carries alt rock right up to the edge with its distinctive interpretation of modern rock. It's a power punch to the innards driven by brains and brawn; it grabs your mind and electrifies the body. Chinaski is the rock of today and tomorrow. According to Chinaski, "Our music combines the driving rhythms and guitar barrage of early 90s rock with a songwriting style that falls just left of the mainstream."

Outlet
Music is the spirit escaping and finding communion with others. Music offers a one-of-a-kind portal of communication. "Music is much more than entertainment," says one member of Chinaski. "It's an outlet. The music that moves us has an honesty that helps anchor us and reflects our true selves back to us." It's a circle of energy made possible through Chinaski's galvanizing songwriting.

Straight Shot
The process begins when the audience is hit by Chinaski's lean and mean, smart and stripped-down audio action. The band's music feeds the intellect as well as a person's visceral need for moving music. "Intelligent lyricism, no-frills musicality and a straight shot directly into the listener," is how Chinaski describes it. "Chinaski has a simple approach to rock, that rock itself shouldn't be so simple."

The Artist at Work
Chinaski derives its name from the works of Charles Bukowski. "Chinaski valued alcohol and the madmen and women of the world," explains a member of Chinaski. "He lived to create and illuminate the underbelly of Los Angeles." Chinaski says that the cleansing honesty of Bukowski's character is reflected in the music of this band. "Despite its grunge roots, Chinaski is not a peek into the past, but rather a roadmap beyond music's future horizon."


name: Chiwawa
description: He who sings thinks no evil
homepage: chiwawa
photo: /artists/img/chiwawa.jpg
society: SOCAN
page: chiwawa
bio:
CHIWAWA's music can be labeled as alternative/pop/rock. The musicians' wide musical background however, constantly drives CHIWAWA into prolific, rich and seductive territories. The infectious grooves and luscious melodies, topped by Laurie's unforgettable, five octave range voice, define CHIWAWA's unmistakable sound. Some call it post modern post punk electro-acoustic hybrid. Others call it simply Rock or Pop.

In studio, CHIWAWA plays vocals, bass, guitars, synths, drums and percussion. They can be experimental at times in their songwriting, but always have an ear for a good catchy pop tune. On stage, CHIWAWA electrifies as a duo as well as a full 4-5 piece band.

Players:
Laurie Gordon - vocals, keyboards
Krassy Halatchev - bass, vocals, percussion, guitar, programming
Christina Dupre - guitar, vocals

CHIWAWA is a rock/pop electronic duo with Laurie Gordon (vocals, keyboards, guitars, bass, toys), the daughter of Hungarian immigrants, and Krassy Halatchev (bass, vocals, guitars. drums, knobs), born and raised in Communist Bulgaria.

CHIWAWA's sound is a fluctuating mood, a wave of changing winds, polarity in vast directions pointing to a single target - harmony! Lead vocals are equally distributed between the male and female singers. Instrumentation goes from sparse and gentle to abundant and manic. The band's forte is heavy grooves and visceral adhesive melodies. On stage, CHIWAWA electrifies with two or three, or four or more bodies, dabbling with instruments and computers, topped with a solo violin or a trumpet.

Laurie met Krassy in 1991 when she answered a classified ad which read: "International Band Seeks Female Vocalist." What "International" really meant was four young Bulgarian immigrant musicians defecting Communist Bulgaria in a band called Ping-Pong. With Laurie they became Short Confession. Within three months of their meeting, Krassy was being deported and Laurie had "no choice" but to save the band. What started out as a "greencard marriage" blossomed from desperate measures into true love; Laurie and Krassy settled into the Bohemian culture of Montreal, Canada. in 1994 Laurie started her own band CHIWAWA with Luc St. Pierre (keyboards, programming). Krassy, now playing in The Clouds (former Ping Pong), filled in as a drummer for CHIWAWA. A couple of years later he became a permanent member (bass, programming). Soon after Eric Willis (guitars) also joined the band. CHIWAWA's debut album, "The Sick World Of Yona", was released in 1998; produced by Steve Whitfield (The Cure, The Mission), it quickly became a hit with the critics.

Despite a diagnosis with early breast cancer a week before the debut release, Laurie continued to perform and front CHIWAWA, writing songs and releasing Chimeres (2002), Bright (2005), Always About You (2007) and Bus Stop Chinese Buffet (2009). Laurie came through louder and bolder then ever and made a full recovery. CHIWAWA continued to write songs (not all released) with different songwriters and musicians, including Camelle Hinds (Paul Weller) Russ Broom (Jann Arden) and UK garage king Mikey Benn.

The duo also worked with the late Oscar nominated animator Ryan Larkin on his final animation film "Spare Change", which Laurie directed on Ryan's behalf after his death in 2007. Ryan was considered "the Frank Zappa of animation." Laurie's company MusiVision and The National Film Board of Canada were the producers of "Spare Change", which is based on Ryan's experience as a panhandler begging for spare change on the streets of Montreal. Ryan moved in with CHIWAWA in the last years of his life and came back to his art. A feature documentary film of how Ryan Larkin and CHIWAWA became friends, and together performed a small miracle will air on CTV Television early 2011. Delicious CHIWAWA music is featured in both films.

CHIWAWA's latest album Watermark was released in 2010. The first two singles from it ("Don't Twist My Mind" and "Calma Calma") are already making waves on the radio.

Currently CHIWAWA is scoring the soundtrack for academy award winner Co Hoedeman's new animation film "55 Socks". The band is also preparing to commence work on a brand new feature film by a 3-time Oscar nominee Gerald Potterton. Future projects include two more feature films, beginning production in 2011 and 2012.

You can find out more about CHIWAWA on their website.


name: Chris Britton
description: virtuoso performances of Bach on unaccompanied flute
homepage: chris_britton
photo: /artists/img/chris_britton.jpg
society: NONE
page: chris_britton
bio:
Born in London in 1953 but now living in Oxford, Chris Britton's flute-playing career has been very diverse, ranging from orchestral playing to solo performances in such glorious settings as Christ Church in Oxford. His early training (which also featured bassoon studies) was at the Royal College of Music, London, for which he won a scholarship, then academic study at the University of Birmingham (music and German), but majoring in performance in his final year.

He has been a student in private lessons and masterclasses of such distinguished flautists as James Galway, Susan Milan, Peter-Lukas Graf, Atarah Ben-Tovim, Graham Mayger and Peter Lloyd. He freelanced with BBC orchestras, appearing as a concerto soloist and broadcasting frequently on BBC Radio 3. He has played under eminent conductors such as Rudolf Schwarz, Norman Del Mar, Richard Hickox and George Hurst. More recently, alongside a busy and successful career as a flute and recorder teacher, he has been active in diverse forms of chamber music: with the Pavlova Wind Quintet, duos with the guitarist Raymond Burley and with the percussionist Keith Fairbairn.

Recent concerts have featured him in events as extraordinary as appearing with the Oxford Trobadors in performances of Occitan songs, in a prison with his wind quintet, and improvising with the ex-Swingles Singer Wendy Nieper! He also enjoys playing Latin-American songs with his trio Serendipity (flute, guitar and percussion).

Chris has long been fascinated by the idea of re-arranging music from its original format. Having grown up during the era of 'switched-on' Bach (Jacques Loussier, Swingle Singers, Modern Jazz Quartet and others) he soon became aware of the exciting possibilities of hearing early music presented in a new way. Well-known precedents for this are Bach's re-arrangement of Vivaldi's string concertos for harpsichord, and Mozart's re-working of Bach's preludes and fugues for string quartet. Chris is currently working on arrangements of keyboard music for his wind quintet. As a keen pianist and harpsichordist he has perhaps greater access to unusual early and more recent compositions that a more conventional wind-player may not be aware of. He is also about to record an album of Bach pieces that he and Raymond Burley have arranged for flute and guitar.

Apart from arranging, Chris is concerned to give his instrument genuine solo stature. The flute has long been recognised as an important orchestral instrument, but it was only in the late 20th century that solo flute recitals became the norm. Even so, flautists suffer the frustration that much of their repertoire is second-rank compared to the great masterworks for piano or violin.

Having heard a performance of Bach's Chaconne for solo violin while at university, which seemed to create an entire orchestra from 4 strings and one player, he felt the flute could do something similar, especially the modern Boehm-system flute with its extended range of notes and tone-colours. Bach himself obviously thought highly of the flute and wrote much of its greatest repertoire (solo sonatas, trio sonatas, obligatos in choral works, concertos), no doubt inspired by the recent great improvements in the construction of the instrument and the presence of virtuosos like Pierre-Gabriel Buffardin and Johann Joachim Quantz. With that in mind, his approval of this album is not impossible to imagine.


name: Chris Field
description: Music in the Twenty-First Century, a hybrid blend of classical and ambient music
homepage: chris_field
photo: /artists/img/chris_field_new.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: chris_field
bio:
"As far as debut albums are concerned, composer/producer, multi-instrumentalist Chris Field's "Sub-Conscious" is an outstanding record: great compositions and arrangements, first rate performances and most importantly a defined point of view."
Zonemusicreporter.com

Chris Field is a Los Angeles musician, songwriter, singer, and film composer. He played guitar in rock bands during the 1990s, and then began writing film music. He produced a prolific amount of film music for movie trailers and wrote the iconic theme "Gothic Power". His influences are diverse, from Neil Young and Led Zeppelin to Beethoven and Prokoviev. He has written, performed and produced two albums, Personal Elegy and Sub-Conscious.

About this album, Chris says:

"It's about what's going on behind our thoughts, our sub-conscious. I like to sleep with music very low and once in a while I find my mind halfway between awake and asleep. I feel and perceive things much differently then and can get a much stronger perception of my spirit. Maybe its something like meditation, I don't know. I tried to capture that in this music.

Also, because its not created for film or picture, I had to draw from my own experience. I wanted a smooth arc in the music so that it wouldn't be startling for the listener. It builds smoothly to the peaks. This is something I noticed when falling asleep to music. If there are too many abrupt dynamics, it can be jolting.

At the same time, I wanted to keep it exciting when listening at louder volumes. I think this is what, to me, makes new age music unique. It has a smooth flow. There are lots of influences on this album: classical, rock, jazz and cinema, etc., but I applied the new age feeling to it."

Sub-Conscious was awarded Best Neo-Classical Album, 2006.


name: Chris Juergensen
description: Crystalline Jazz Guitar
homepage: chris_juergensen
photo: /artists/img/chris_juergensen3.jpg
society: NONE
page: chris_juergensen
bio:
Native New Yorker, long time studio musician and session guitarist Chris Juergensen is in constant demand as a sideman, front man and clinician. He has played sold out venues as intimate as the world famous Blue Note and as large as the Long Beach Auditorium.

As a studio guitarist, sideman, frontman, session player and clinician, native New Yorker Chris Juergensen's guitar playing has taken him around the world. After being invited to be a faculty member at the prestigious Musician's Institute in Los Angeles for six years he left the states to become the Director of Education at Tokyo School of Music in Japan where he currently resides.

His newest CD, "Prospects" has been critically acclaimed throughout the world. Chris has played and/or recorded with such artists as Lincoln Goines (Mike Stern), Richard Hartley and Soul Resurrection, Toss Panos (Steve Vai, Mike Landau), Billy Sheehan (Mr. Big), Keith Wyatt (The Blasters), Ralph Humphrey (Manhattan Transfer, Frank Zappa, Wayne Shorter), Kim Plainfield (Tania Maria, The Pointer Sisters), Jay Dibbs (Vanessa Williams), Steve Bailey (The Rippingtons, Dizzy Gillespie), Jennifer Batten (Jeff Beck, Michael Jackson), Mike Shapiro (Al Jarreau, Sergio Mendes), Jerry Watts (Andy Summers, Billy Idol), Russel Ferante (Joni Mitchell, Yellowjackets), Kevyn Lettau, Hussain Jiffry (Robben Ford, Michael MacDonald, Whitney Houston, Chaka Khan), The Hideous Sun Demons.


name: Christian Laki
description: a blend of artsy, quirky, 60's retro
homepage: christian_laki
photo: /artists/img/christian_laki.jpg
society: APRA
page: christian_laki
bio:
Christian Laki has studied several styles of guitar, bass guitar, double bass, piano, songwriting, lyric writing, composition, arranging, singing and music technology with renowned Australian musicians and composers such as Ricardo Andino, Ron Philpot, Craig Scott, Alistair Spence, Sandy Evans, Gordon Kerry, and Anna Pimakhova at respected institutions such as The Sydney School of Spanish Guitar, The Australian Institute of Music, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and University of New South Wales.

Alongside his studies, Christian spent several years playing both as a jazz and rock musician around Sydney. As a songwriter he has had much music played on radio and television, including music written for the last two series of Pizza shown on SBS television and released on DVD.

Until a few years ago he fronted his own band The Chagalls who regularly performed shows around Sydney and their debut single "Lost in Touch" received airplay on both Triple J and SBS television as it was included in the comedy series Swift and Shift Couriers.

After having had several of his own indie rock bands, he has now gone solo, focusing on writing songs and music for film and television, the latest being incidental piano music for the trailer for Lou starring John Hurt. He is now working on an original score for award winning short film producer/director, Keith Johnson, called 'Little Lies' to be entered in film festivals world wide this November, starting with The Berlin Film Festival.

He currently has several contracts with sync licensing companies both in Australia and overseas for the use of his songs and music.

He works as a full-time musician, composer, and music tutor. He writes, records, and produces his tracks in his home studio, playing almost all instruments and singing all parts. Recently Christian became a reviewer of songwriting submissions for Song Central, Australia.

He has been composing, performing, and teaching for more than 30 years.

Members
Christian Laki / vocals, guitars, basses, keys, drums, arranging, engineering, and production.
Sarah K / additional backing vocals.
Studio Pros / additional keys and drums, mixing, and mastering.
Sean Carey / mixing.
Kathy Naunton and Kevin Paul / mastering.
Matt O'Connor and Taxi Music / A and R.
Annie Walter and Georgia Perry / graphic artwork.

Influences
The Beatles, Neil Finn, Josh Pyke, Sting, Radiohead, Bob Marley, The Cure, Elliot Smith, The Wombats, and The Arctic Monkeys would be among his favourite artists at the moment.


name: Christopher Currell
description: inspiring musical journeys to your deeper consciousness
homepage: christopher_currell
photo: /artists/img/christopher_currell.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: christopher_currell
bio:
For a total of over 30 years, Christopher Currell has composed, performed and synthesized a broad range of music, including classical, jazz, rock, avant-garde and pop. Christopher has worked on a wide variety of projects from film scores to pop albums to video games to theme parks. Christopher is pioneering in the field of guitar synthesis. Some of the exceptional musicians Christopher has had the privilege of working with include Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson, Paul Simon, Meatloaf, Luther Vandross, Denny Seiwell, Jennifer Batten, Sheryl Crow, Jimmy Smith, Stevie Wonder, Allan Holdsworth, Stryper, Dokken, and Stanley Clark.

MICHAEL JACKSON - BAD
Christopher Currell performed the Synclavier, Digital Guitar, and many special effects on this award winning album. Christopher also helped arrange the hit "BAD" along with Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones. Christopher also played Synclavier and Digital Guitar on Michael Jackson's "BAD" world tour.

MICHAEL JACKSON - HISTORY
Christopher has also contributed to Michael Jackson's album "HISTORY." Christopher's listed album credits include: Rhythm Arrangements, Synclavier, Guitars and Percussion.

NEW DIRECTIONS
Since working with Michael Jackson, Christopher has pursued questions concerning the basis of the subjective and objective nature that sound has on the human mind and physical system. Most importantly, how sound can link the human mind and spirit to universal consciousness. Christopher has discovered that the answers to these questions are to be found in the area of quantum physics...more specifically, having to do with Quantum Holography and phase-conjugate-adaptive-resonance (PCAR). This research has cumulated in the form of his music project called ishwish, also available on Magnatune.

MUSICAL ADVENTURES
Christopher likes to create music also as an art form as well as a spiritual adventure. Between his research and live performances of ishwish, Christopher creates and produces various personal, experimental and artistic music projects. These activities are accessible as Christopher's solo projects, the first being released as "Heart Sutra."

Currently, Christopher resides in Japan where he lives and creates in the mountains and forest overlooking the ocean and Mount Fuji.


name: Claire Fitch
description: ambient cellist
homepage: fitch
photo: /artists/img/fitch1.jpg
society: IMRO
page: fitch
bio:
An exciting blend of acoustic cello and effects opens the door on the music genre, "electro-acoustic-ambient" . Cellist Claire Fitch is always eager to introduce new sounds and possibilities to the worlds of ambient music and classical music. Influenced by working with some of Irelands best musicians in 2007, Celocity is the result of inspiration and creative free thinking.

Celocity was recorded at the Fitchsounds studio, which overlooks the Cooley Peninsula and is situated at the edge of the Boyne Valley. The energy created by this magical place is evident in the influence of ancient and modern celtic Ireland. Claire uses a Thomas Smith cello which was made in 1774.

"Playful melancholy" is how Celocity has been described. The core of which draws on a rhythmic energy not previously seen in the other Ambiencellist releases. Take a musical journey into the world of acoustic-electric cello soundscapes. Let your consciousness be awakened by the hypnotic sound of Claire Fitch's cello playing.

Two other albums, Ambiencellist and Ambiencellist Part II, are also available
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About Claire Fitch

Claire Fitch started to play the cello at 14, then studied at Birmingham Conservatoire and the Royal Academy of Music.

The Ambiencellist project was started in 2002 and currently has 2 CDs and 1 digital download in it's catalogue. Written and produced by Claire Fitch, they are closely linked to the summer and winter solstice and are evocative of the magic of ancient celtic Ireland.

As a recording artist she has contributed to various film soundtracks, such as The Tailor of Panama, The Tie That Binds, The Boxer, Some Mothers' Son, War Of The Buttons, Thumbelina and Lassie. Claire owns a music production company www.fitchsounds.com and has written music for games, film, corporate video, theatre and television.

Claire Fitch has performed on stage and in the studio with artists such as U2, Kate Bush, The Corrs, Shania Twain, Riverdance, Elmer Bernstein, Brian Kennedy and Smokey Robinson. In 2007 Claire toured with jazz singer Dorothy Murphy and, more recently in 2008, with Carmel Conway.

Claire works with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, the Orchestra of Saint Cecilia and the Irish Film Orchestra.
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About the Instruments

The Thomas Smith cello was made in 1774, in a pub called the "Harp and Hautbois" in Pall Mall, London. "Hautbois" is French for "Oboe" and the original label can still be seen inside. To put it's age into perspective, in 1774 Handels' Messiah had just been written, Louis XVI was on the Throne in France and Captain Cook was exploring the world.

In 1989 the cello was sitting in a cupboard in Birmingham, England. It was covered in spots of white emulsion paint, badly damaged and not getting much attention. My parents approached the owner to buy the cello, but the deal was that they had to pay for another cello to be refurbished at the same time. So we took advice from J & A Beare in London and decided it was well worth the risk. Four months later a totally refurbished Thomas Smith was carried out of the repair shop. It had been bought back to life and I've been playing it constantly ever since.

The sound is rich and mellow, a constant pleasure to play. Just to think of the age of the wood is mind blowing, let alone the other cellists that might have played it. I have an aim to try and find out the history of it at some point, there needs to be some serious research done.

I use Belcanto Gold strings, have fitted a Big Twin, K & K Pickup and have a Stahlhammer endpin.

The computer I use for music making is a Mac G5 Dual 2ghz with 4gb RAM. I write and improvise using Logic Studio software and a variety of software synthesizers and effects. Absynth, to name one, is a software synthesizer built by Brian Clevinger. Sounds that I can only dream of are made possible by the clever programming of sound designers such as Colin Fraser and Tim Conrady. Ben Gillet of Camel Audio has created a beast of an effect in Camelspace, which is total sonic inspiration. Also the guys at Ohmforce need a mention with their wacky, creative effect design. The sounds I play are all routed through these software effects and the results just keep on getting better. Acoustic-Electro-Ambient cello music is born!


name: Claudia Schwab
description: Irish, Indian, Swedish and Eastern European music styles overlaid with Austrian yodelling
homepage: claudia_schwab
photo: /artists/img/claudia_schwab.jpg
society: IMRO
page: claudia_schwab
bio:
Growing up under the roof of her two fiddle-playing parents in a small town in Austria, music was a central and fundamental part of Claudia Schwab's life from childhood on. At the tender age of three, she took up a three stringed fiddle and started to jam along with radio, LPs, orchestral music, and with her family. At the age of five she finally received her first violin lesson from her mum. Soon after that she enrolled in piano, singing and recorder lessons at the music school next door.

Over the years she performed the roles of first violinist in the youth orchestra, the Joey's Ba-Rock Ensemble, leader of the second violins in the Schweizerorchester Frohnleiten and was involved with the school's vocal ensemble and various choirs. Somewhere in-between she also had a short affair with the trumpet and hip-hop dancing. From the age of 10 until 19 she frequented the Musikgymnasium Dreihackengasse in Graz/ Austria where she found out about voice leading, the circle of fifths and counterpoint and had her first experience of being part of a show in the opera house Graz. As part of the Schweizerorchester, the international YMISO orchestra and the music gymasiums's own orchestra she enjoyed trips to Egypt, California, Germany, Italy, Hungary and Slovenia.

Whilst the initial classical training formed the main part of her music making for many years, during her time at the Musikgymasium Claudia started to become interested in jazz improvisation, Eastern European folk and Irish trad, musics that were played at folk festivals around the area, and got swept away with the Styrian folk music revolution which took Austria by storm, refilling the valleys and mountains with beautiful yodelling and alpine fiddling.

In 2005, she accidentally emigrated to Ireland to learn some Irish traditional tunes. In her newly found second home Sligo, she got intensely immersed into Irish traditional music. In 2008 she took a trip to India where she started to study North Indian Classical Music with violinist Sukhdev Prasad Mishra. In 2012, Claudia completed her undergraduate arts degree in music and psychology at UCC achieving first class honours, followed by a sponsored masters degree in ethnomusicology which she completed in 2013.

Alongside working on her own solo project which she performed in Ireland, Sweden, Slovenia and Austria, she is currently touring through Switzerland, Germany, Moldova, New York, Austria, Ireland, Italy and the Czech Republic with Austrian string-trio Netnakisum (AUT), Irish Indie band Tucan (IRE), Marti Taern (EST) and Stefan Hedborg (SE) (Claudia Schwab trio), german Jazz legend Matthias Schriefl, the Cork Gamelan orchestra (IRE) and Scottish fiddle-singer Kate Young (Kate and the Austrian).

'Amber Sands' was released in spring 2014. By now a regular feature on Irish and Austrian national radio programmes, 'Amber Sands' has received great reviews from a variety of magazines such as Songlines, MICA Austria, and the FATEA magazine and has been nominated in 3 categories for the Songlines Music Awards 2015.

You can find out more about Claudia on her website.


name: Cobb Bussinger
description: Melodic, passionate, introspective and transcendent journeys to the heart
homepage: cobb_bussinger
photo: /artists/img/cobb_bussinger.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: cobb_bussinger
bio:
As Cobb says it: "My mom made me play that accordion until one arm was twice as strong as the other." When he finally realized this, he switched to organ and guitar, which were already in his home since his father played quite a few instruments. He started his own group at the age of ten, which continued throughout high school. The day he could legally drive, he took off to find good musicians in central Philadelphia and joined a band that eventually turned into "Rock Island" where he found a fair amount of success and learned a tremendous amount about the music business.

Cobb studied Piano and 18th & 19th Century Music Theory and Composition at Combs College of Music in Philadelphia and Film Music at UCLA Film School in Los Angeles. Cobb is currently based in El Paso, TX and stays busy in his state of the art studio producing, orchestrating, and recording music for varied projects.

You can hear his music on HBO, History Channel, ESPN, Discovery Channel, and on a variety of national TV station news buffers. He has been the composer on many documentaries and films including "I Don't Buy Kisses Anymore" - Winner, "Top Applause Award", Santa Clarity International Film Festival starring Jason Alexander and Nia Peeples, "Eye of the Storm" - Winner - "Angel Award" starring Connie Sellecca and Jeff Conaway, and "An Empire Conquered" starring Joseph Campanella. He also arranged and produced "Rude Dude" and "This Isn't Love Anymore" for Tony Guerrero's #9 charting album "Another Day, Another Dream."

Other projects include trailer music for "The Muppets" and "State of Play," starring Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck. Currently, Cobb has music on The Late Show with David Letterman, The Price is Right, The Young and the Restless, Two and a Half Men, CSI:NY, CBS News Sunday Morning, The Mentalist, NFL Football, and others.

Cobb has two CDs available: "Breath of Life" and "Nebula."


name: Colfax
description: a nostalgic rush of analog soundscapes, magnetic tape and glitchy beats
homepage: colfax
photo: /artists/img/colfax_1.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: colfax
bio:
Colfax is the electronic music pseudonym for Daniel Berkman, a San Francisco based multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer who's debut electronic album "Tape" was released on RTFM Records in 2010. Having composed dozens of electronic scores for film and for bay area choreographers since 1998, Berkman has honed his skills as a performer and composer and is renowned for his innovations in electro- acoustic music and live looping techniques.

Colfax is a distillation of musical ideas around blending old and new technology, reviving dying audio formats such as analog tape, analog synthesizers (particularly the Roland Jupiter 8 and Sequential Circuits Prophet VS) and a fascination with the past. Clearly inspired by artists like Boards of Canada and Freescha and early electronic music and music concrete of the 1950's, 60's and 70's, Colfax is another take on electronic music nostalgia. Since 2008, Colfax has been a featured artist for LoveTech, a bay area collective of extraordinary electronic musicians, composers and controllerists.

The Colfax remix of 'Here and Now' by Artemis earned top marks at the first Epiphyte Records Test Press event of 2010 and in November of the same year, Colfax remixed the Artemis/Divasonic song 'Truth' which was released as a single and featured on the RTFM Records Magazine Edition.

In collaboration with Lynda Arnold (aka Divasonic), Berkman will be releasing a duo piano record called "Hammer Inventions". It features piano compositions and layered orchestrations made entirely of sounds generated from the piano and will be out on October 15, 2011 on www.digitalblissproductions.com.

Colfax is currently working on his follow up to "Tape", a project called "The Jupiter Expeditions". It was recorded entirely on the Roland Jupiter 8 synthesizer and explores the planet Jupiter, it's moons and it's mysteries and features sampled voices by astronomers such as Carl Sagan, telling the ever evolving story of the most intriguing and perplexing astral body in our solar system. Release date TBA!


name: Colin Booth
description: solo harpsichord music
homepage: colin_booth
photo: /artists/img/colin_booth.jpg
society: NONE PRS
page: colin_booth
bio:
Colin Booth has combined the careers of harpsichordist and harpsichord-maker for more than 30 years. He has sold several hundred instruments, of which an unusually large proportion has gone to Early Music professionals.

As a player Colin has performed in many countries from Denmark to South Africa. He also plays and teaches throughout the south-west of England, has conducted courses at several centres, and is a regular contributor to the annual Dartington International Summer School.

His recent book "Did Bach Really Mean That? Deceptive Notation in Baroque Keyboard Music" is an introduction to some of the most important conventions underlying the notation used by Baroque composers.

Colin has chosen for many of his recordings, music unjustly neglected - or just not yet discovered. But he has only gone for repertoire which he considers great music, even if by composers less well-known.

"My aim", he says, "is to get under the skin of the music and move the listener. An ability to thrill people or convey pathos is not so often associated with small-scale keyboard works by lesser composers. But where I find these qualities in the music, I want to pass them on to others."


name: Collection Get
description: jazz vocalist + sad robot = indie pop
homepage: collection_get
photo: /artists/img/collection_get.jpg
society: NONE
page: collection_get
bio:
Robo/human duo Collection Get! sounds like a low-bit star fighter, crashing though a lush palate of hi-fi indie electro textures. Rare vintage synths, nintendos, old computers and an unreasonable pile of live instruments provide the backdrop for Grace Hrabi (vocals + keys) and Eliot Britton (brooding robot voice, beats, bass and synths).

Robot and Girl:
Grace and Eliot met at music school (University of Manitoba). They were both members of a ten piece ska. During this period they released albums and performed regularly, but more importantly they became friends and realized they share a similar but odd sense of humor. Collection Get! work well together because their contrasting musical backgrounds and approach to music. Eliot's technical skills and robotic approach to rhythm plays well off of Grace's jazz background and ability to breathe attitude and style into the music. Despite their good working/performing relationship, old rivalries often flare up, transforming rehearsals into into gaming sessions where Grace almost always wins. Especially at anything involving puzzles.

Collection Get! was originally conceived as a cartoon project. When they decided to play live shows they realized they couldn't afford on stage holograms. Since they couldn't agree on costumes, they opted to be real people too. They still argue about whether or not Eliot could get away with wearing a transformer helmet... he's keeping his eye out for one and has a plan to re-wire the helmet's mic into a vocoder. Keep an eye out for pictures.

As for live performance, Grace sings and plays most of the Keys, Eliot takes care of the bass lines, drum machines, turntables and robot voices.

Album Origins:
The project started in 2009 and grew from 8bit remixes and songs that Eliot started working on with his recording engineer / producer friend Chris Johns.

After arguing about the cultural value of "lofi" aesthetics, hipsterisim and nostalgia, they came up with a challenging album concept. Other than a cloying cultural reference, what is it about lo-bit sounds that makes them beautiful and worth using? What can you do with these sounds to tell a story, to play with their cultural value and meaning?

The disparity between hifi / lofi sound sources was a great way to expand the sound palate. Sound quality was used to achieve colours, textures and timbres impossible otherwise.

This project dragged Collection Get! kicking and screaming away from a purely digital production setup, and triggered their obsession with analog synthesizers and unique DIY sound sources. However, Eliot remains deeply suspicious of the trendy vintage gear, and is only putting up with it until he finds a better digital alternative.

Save As is a very personal and emotional project, despite a light-hearted sound. Generally, the lighter the track, the more tragic the real life circumstance that inspired it. For example, the bright and cheery track 1 is based on one of the most devastating events of Eliot's life.

Currently:
Eliot:
-Doing PhD in Music Composition and Research at McGill University.
-Teaches electronic music production.
-Trying to figure out how to reconcile my academic and pop music backgrounds.
-Favorite videogame: Castlevania.

Grace:
-Jazz singer vocalist based in Winnipeg Manitoba.
-Designs and produces fashion accessories, and shares her creative sense of style with others.
-Taking pictures of her cats.
-Favorite videogame: Dr. Mario.


name: Commusicare
description: musical conversation from the Renaissance to the Baroque
homepage: commusicare
photo: /artists/img/commusicare.jpg
society: NONE
page: commusicare
bio:
Heidi Groger born in Eichstatt, Southern Germany, specialized on Viola da Gamba and Baroque cello. She finished her master degree with distinction at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague (2007). Scholarships and prizes at the Early Music competitions in York (UK), Wassenaer (NL) and Neuburg/Do. followed. Heidi has performed with Rene Jacobs, the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, the Berliner Baroque Soloists and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Daniel Harding. Since 2010 Heidi has played a reconstruction of a highly ornamented viola da gamba after Tielke loaned and made by Tilman Muthesius, Potsdam/ DE.

Annegret Hoffmann, born in Berlin, has been active in (church) music since her earliest childhood. She studied violin (amongst other instruments) with Mechthild Blaumer in Saarbrucken, who evoked her interest in historically informed performances. After diplome degrees in both violin and music pedagogy, she went to Italy to specialize in Early Music, studying baroque violin with Enrico Gatti in Piacenza (Italy). Since 2009 she has continued her studies at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, where she founded the Ensemble Hoffmann-Groger-Feder. Specializing in 17th century music, this recording marks their first CD production. Annegret performes regularly as a soloist and concertmaster and has played with Elizabeth Wallfisch, Michael Chance, Enrico Gatti and accordone. She is a regular member of Accademia Hermans (Italy).

Lorenzo Feder, born in Schio (Italy) in 1980, started studying piano at the age of 8 with Renato Maioli. After his piano diploma (2000), he studied harpsichord with Patrizia Marisaldi at the Conservatory in Vicenza. He was the recipient of the Huygens Programme scholarship from the Dutch government, afterwich he took postgraduate studies at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague with Ton Koopman, Tini Mathot and Patrick Ayrton. He performs as a soloist and continuo player on harpsichord and organ in international festivals throughout Europe and Mexico playing with soloists like Emma Kirkby, Frank Theuns, Michael Chance, Monica Huggett and with the baroque ensembles "Il Tempio Armonico" (Verona) and "I Musicali Affetti" (Vicenza).


name: Connor B Fitz
description: a one man indie project - half shy romantic hermit, half loud obnoxious rocker
homepage: connor_b_fitz
photo: /artists/img/connor_b_fitz.jpg
society: APRA
page: connor_b_fitz
bio:
In seven or so years as a session musician I've done some pretty strange and interesting things. I've played country songs on the back of a truck next to a spit-roasting pig; jazz standards at swanky cocktail bars; disco songs in lavishly decorated ballrooms, rock songs in sweaty, seedy cesspools; reggae with the local stoners on the streets of Byron Bay; show tunes for the old folks at RSL clubs; Christmas carols with school kids; soul music in Papua New Guinea at a venue surrounded by shotgun-wielding guards; blues tunes for mafia guests arriving by private helicopter; jaunty theatre numbers in an outback musical complete with horses and motorbike acrobatics.

I've been treated like dirt by the super-rich; treated like a king by those with nothing. I've played to crowds of three and crowds of thousands. I've thrashed drums to within an inch of their life, and I've been told to turn down an acoustic guitar. I really do love the muso life. But up to this point I have always just coasted along as the hired help. Playing for others is easy and fun, but I eventually started wondering if writing and recording my own music could be even more satisfying.

So, this music is what I've kept to myself the whole time. It is a solo project in the truest sense of the word - I wrote the songs and played all the instruments. I even sing - a first for me. I am a fairly shy person, and I have always been reluctant to front my own music. But after years of working with crap singers, I decided that I, too, could be a crap singer.

The album documents a few of my highs and lows of recent years. I tried to keep things fairly positive the first time around - I'll save the cynical songs for when I'm in the depths of the inevitable drug habit.

I hope you enjoy it.


name: Connor Thuotte
description: guitar driven alternative rock
homepage: connor_thuotte
photo: /artists/img/connor_thuotte.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: connor_thuotte
bio:
In 2009, then 17 year-old Liverpool, NY native Connor James Thuotte released his debut album, Sunblind. A fully acoustic album, Sunblind's soothing melodies and references to beach, surf and sun were strongly influenced by the works of Jack Johnson and John Mayer.

Connor's 2011 sophomore album, Caught Between Summers, maintains the singer/songwriter essence from Sunblind while progressing towards a full band sound. The acoustic-rock mentality driving the album stays consistent through-out all of the pieces while never leaving two songs sounding alike. For each hard-driving ballad there is an acoustic piece to compliment it. On top of the tight drum lines, smooth bass grooves, and crisp acoustic guitar are the lyrics and stories which tie it all together.

Connor has also authored and performed an original song entitled Wishlist included on the 2011 Christmas album Freezin for a Reason to support the New York Special Olympics.

In the summer of 2012 he wrote and performed the syracuse.com promo for the New York State Fair. His music has been featured on local radio, the Syracuse Post Standard music notes performance series, an Oswego State University Spotlight issue and local television. Connor continues to write, produce, record, perform at venues in-and-around the Syracuse area all while pursuing degrees in cinema studies and audio production.


name: Conway Hambone
description: Multi-genre instrumental and vocal conquests made with love and fuzz
homepage: conway_hambone
photo: /artists/img/conway_hambone.jpg
society: NONE PRS
page: conway_hambone
bio:
Pop tunes, and rocking good times for everyone on the crooked streets.

20 years of strumming and humming and its still coming folks!

Get on it with Conway Hambone with his quest to fix the tunes going round in his head at night!

Rock n Roll, Dub and Soul, Reggae, Funk and Electronic.
And some, Ukulele, Yodel, Ska!

Influenced by the sounds of the past, mixed up with whats up ahead.

The musings of Conway Hambone just cant be stopped!


name: Cozmikbeats
description: Funky Soul Beats with Urban Hip Hop flare
homepage: cozmikbeats
photo: /artists/img/cozmikbeats_low.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: cozmikbeats
bio:
Hailing from the depths of South New Jersey, Cozmikbeats or Dre Jackson is a hip-hop producer currently based in Philadelphia, PA.

In the tradition of left-field beatmakers like the DJ Premier, Pete Rock and Dr. Dre. Cozmikbeats is a man of many cultural influences, with a sound that owes as much to the Soulful Funk of Parliament/Funkadelic and as it does to classic old school RnB, pulling from all corners of the music world to craft soulful beats that are as sonically beautiful as they are rhythmically.

While Cozmikbeats started making beats as a bedroom producer in 1996, it wasn't until he moved to Philadelphia attending Temple University and became a part of the city's hip-hop scene that he really began to make a name for himself with his production skills on his first production projects on Philadelphia Native Rasheed, and Remix albums for local Hip Hop groups. He has placements on Network TV's "Rich Kids of Hollywood" and on upcoming mixtapes projects of J.Fash and Teflon.

You can find out more about Cozmikbeats on his website.


name: Craig Hanson
description: exquisitely moving Baroque organ music
homepage: craig_hanson
photo: /artists/img/craig_hanson.jpg
society: NONE
page: craig_hanson
bio:
Craig Hanson is organist at the First United Methodist Church in Corvallis and teaches at Oregon State University. Prior to coming to Corvallis he lived many years in Japan and Switzerland. An active performer, Hanson is a member of the Telemann Trio Berlin and gives solo and chamber music recitals. He has recorded several CDs and performed on the radio and television in Europe, Asia and the United States.

Hanson studied piano and organ at San Diego State University and received an organ diploma from the Conservatory of Music in Basel, Switzerland.

In addition to organ and piano, he plays harpsichord, fortepiano and clavichord, speaks nine languages, and is an avid photographer, biker and outdoorsman. He makes his home in Corvallis.


name: CrimsonFaced
description: guitar-edged industrial electrorock
homepage: crimson_faced
photo: /artists/img/crimson_faced1.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: crimson_faced
bio:
Imagine, what if Nine Inch Nails,Metallica, King Crimson, Ozzy, Sabbath, Nirvana, The Beatles, Zeppelin, Cheap Trick, Van Halen, Stone Temple Pilots, Steve Vai, Beethoven, My Chemical Romance and Frank Zappa were all thrown into a blender with some Tequila and strawberries... Then add a bong hit or two... That just BEGINS to tell the story...

Hold on to your hats because the roller coaster is going off the tracks... Michael Trapp, a.k.a. Mike E.T., a.k.a. The Alien, a.k.a. Captain Freak is a "serious musician." For whatever absurd reason - this label has had almost evil overtones in the 90's and even into the new millennium.

He has attended Mannes College of Music in Manhattan and graduated Berklee College of Music in Boston. For those 4 years he focused exclusively on practicing and writing music. After graduation he played in some heavy progressive chops bands in N.Y.C. and L.A. such as Danse Macabre, DreamSpeak, The Fringe and Dreamer. All broke up due to internal differences just as they were getting press and an audience. Fed up with bands in general he became a hired gun, becoming the 2nd guitarist in Eddie Ojeda's (Twisted Sister) band.

He bought his own crappy studio and recorded "The Furious Guitar" demo which was featured in a Guitar Player's magazine piece. In the 90's Mike met his dream vocalist Matt Wells. He joined Matt's band Bad Habit - a pure power pop outfit with heavy arena rock overtones; then came Nirvana and the band disintegrated after being offered a minor record deal. In retrospect Mike E.T. is thankful Bad Habit never made it. Nirvana opened up a whole new can of worms man, and that was right after hearing Nine Inch Nails for the first time. I was never gonna be the same person. Matt and Mike then went on to record an album for there own selfish purposes and Bliss(This)' "Chasing the Mad Rabbit" was born. Unfortunately for Bliss(This), just as positive reviews and feedback were heading the bands way, Michael's ex-wife was stricken with a serious illness and the music had to be put on hold. During that time, he wrote and demoed the entire "Captain Freak" album. With Mike's ex-wife's illness finally in check he bought a new studio and started recording. But then Matt's wife became pregnant and Mike was pushed into handling all the vocal and instrumental duties. "F*** it," said Trapp, "I'll change the name of the band to CrimsonFaced and take over the f***ing world anyway." During this dark period of his life Mike also re-wrote and re-arranged and added new songs to "The Furious Guitar" - A 13-song instrumental guitar CD that is one part genius/one part insanity. Fans of over the top guitar playing and amazing instrumental melodies will be FLOORED. It was also during this period that Mike met the beautiful and talented Cash Casia; he was hired for some NYC showcases and recorded on her demo currently being shopped to major labels.

In 2005, Mike E.T. now of CrimsonFaced released the stunning "Captain Freak" CD. 13 songs of rock and roll majesty, a tapestry of rock's powerful take no prisoners history. Bored of all the nameless faceless rock of the new decade the Alien gave music's boring landscape a serious kick in the ass. And now in 2009 OMFG can it be can it be? The long awaited follow up to "Captain Freak" is FINALLY HERE! WTF was Mike E.T. doing over these last 4 years? Geez, you would think a musician that locks himself up in his Sober Sucks Studios would come out once and a while to play - but not Mike E.T. The Alien was lovingly caressing his guitar strings in the most god awful perverted way. His poor keyboard was banged and hammered from one end of the studio to the other. Between writing music for a futuristic CGI movie still in development and adding some cool tunes to a soon to be filmed PORNO (hehe, I said porno ;-))) Mike E.T., between psychotherapy sessions with his mixer/therapist Paul Kurzweil, wrote and recorded 18 songs, 13 of which come together on the deliciously demented and aptly titled "Lunatic Binge." Whereas "Captain Freak" was mostly in your face the entire CD, "Lunatic Binge" veers from sick rock and roll to melodic musings about life. Think Trent Reznor meets the Bee Gees; after a drug binge. Think Pink Floyd for the 21st Century. Think Ozzy and a sequencer doing battle for each others' soul.

Mike E.T. hopes you enjoy his creation. He poked his head out of his studio to give the world Lunatic Binge, and now he has once again crawled into his studio, locked the door, put a huge dresser against the door, and has imprisoned himself with 50 cases of Corona, 5 bottles of Patron, 5 guitars and 12 Virgins. See you in 2 or 3 years...

Brief Mike E.T. Interview

Why the name CrimsonFaced?
Ahhhhhhh... That one's easy... CrimsonFaced is a loving tip off the hat to my need for Samuel Adams Light, Jose Cuervo Gold, and Frey Vineyards Merlot!!!

Do you play live?
Not at this time. If there is a demand for it I will hire a band and get to it. I am a very spiritual and whacked out of my head performer. The stage is a whole different ballgame than the studio. I feel like an uncaged wild animal when I perform... been known to have sex with my guitar on stage!

How, do you think, does the internet (or mp3's) change the music industry?
The internet is the single greatest thing for the musician.... EVER!!!! F*** the record companies and their endless stream of sound-alike bands. F*** the no talent pretty boys and girls who saturate MTV. I care about the songs. If they are great you have my attention. Anything less and I'll pass.

Would you sign a record contract with a major label?
I highly doubt it. It would have to be on my terms... and I doubt that would be o.k. with any label.


name: Crystal Kovach
description: moody blend of electronica and rock
homepage: crystal_kovach
photo: /artists/img/crystal_kovach.jpg
society: BMI
page: crystal_kovach
bio:
An established professional, Crystal Kovach has performed all over the country with a number of national acts, including opening for Seu Jorge and playing some of the top Las Vegas hotels. She recorded backups on a song slated for Sting's new album "If On A Winter's Night..." and spent several years touring with Broadway shows in leading roles.

A native of Northern California, her career began while still in high school when she began performing professionally with one of the top regional theaters in the country, the San Jose Civic Light Opera. She graduated from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York and toured nationally for a number of years. Her theater credits include "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" (national tour) as Rosemary, "A Chorus Line" as Diana Morales (singing What I Did for Love), and "Me & My Girl" as Sally.

In Las Vegas she performed with the female vocal trio Crimson Phoenix, singing lead and backup vocals for extended engagements at the Paris, Caesar's, and the New York, New York among others.

She is married to composer/producer Jake Kovach, who brought his unique sense of texture and soundscape skills to the creation of her debut album "Underground".

For more on Crystal please go to her website.


name: Curl
description: Groovy, French downtempo electro-rock songs
homepage: curl
photo: /artists/img/curl_new.jpg
society: SACEM
page: curl
bio:
Curl were initially an Electronic project started by French Producer and Guitarist Frank Amendola (Corpus Delicti) at the start of the Millenium.

Albums Ultimate Station and Inner were released (EMI France). Curl has since developed into an international collaboration.

From 2009 the music has featured the soaring melodic vocals of English Rose, Hayley Alker, additional guitar from Wil Sintaste, bass guitar from Manu Acqualeni and drums from UK Producer Jonny Callender (Cranes, Vex).

2011 saw Curl release the Long Player We are Complex across Europe through the Paris based label D-Monic.

2014 saw the release of the new album Exit Real Life, a new wave, dreamy production that will send the listener through an emotional sonic journey. Angelic combinations of twisting guitar chime, fluttering synthesizers and beastly rhythms are married to Goddess like vocal melodies - intense sonic sculptures for the audio palette.

The 'Award winning' French film documentary 'Les Enfants d'Okeanos' (The Children Of The Sea) featured a soundtrack that was exclusively from the album 'Exit Real Life' in the Spring of 2014. The film was directed by Fabrice Begotti who has since been filming a new video with the group on the Cote D'Azur.

Curl is a truly international project with the group sharing studio time between Nice and Marseille on the South coast of France and Portsmouth on the South coast of the UK.

Psychic Uri Geller was quoted as saying "Lord Admiral Nelson and Napoleon Bonaparte are big fans of Curl and regularly get together to listen to their music over several tots of rum". What else is there to say?


name: Da Camera
description: Celtic Renaissance/Baroque Ensemble
homepage: da_camera
photo: /artists/img/da_camera3.jpg
society: PRS
page: da_camera
bio:
Da Camera is a versatile ensemble, crossing the line between 'early', 'folk' and 'contemporary' music. Their programmes range in repertoire from the passamezzi of the 15th century, via traditional Celtic and English music, through the baroque, to newly-commissioned works. Three new works have been commissioned by them to date. All members of the recorder family feature alongside many different sizes of viol with harpsichord or organ accompaniment. The ensemble has performed at London's Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room, for the BBC on many occasions, at many major festivals around the UK - including Totnes Early Music Society, Finchcocks' Festival, Chester Summer Music Festival and Dartington Summer Festival - and many other venues. Emma, Susanna and Steven are all in demand as freelance musicians with many of the UK's leading period groups and they all teach on various music courses and summer schools, including Dartington International Summer School.


name: DAC Crowell
description: deeply ambient new music
homepage: dac_crowell
photo: /artists/img/crowell.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: dac_crowell
bio:
I have always had trouble describing my work.

The problem is partly due to the fact that no easy 'pigeonhole' seems to exist for the music that I create. Some have tried to call it 'New Age'...but often it has too many abrasive elements, dark tones, and sometimes actual noise to fit that. Others have considered it 'Space Music'...which is a bit closer, although I'm not exactly sure what space my work would be describing. 'Ambient' therefore seems to fit best, as it does tend to be music that's suitable for a 'backdrop'...but at the same time, music that also describes a certain 'ambiance'. Music that's a snapshot of sorts of places, feelings, sensations, states of mind, and the like.

Years and years ago, around the same time I was first learning piano as a small child, I also encountered the shortwave radio. It fascinated me...this box of strange sounds, pulsations, voices from other places phasing in and out. And then later in the 1960s, I heard the first stirrings of the Moog synthesizer...and others as well, as I attended a concert given by David Rosenboom while still in the second grade, with him performing his meditative style of electronics on a massive ARP 2500 rig. I suppose it was that formative experience that cemented what I was to try and do in my life.

As the 1970s progressed, I encountered a number of important musical 'signposts'...the work of Eno, Stockhausen, Cage, the music of the 'Krautrock' and punk scenes, and so on. All of these were, I think, important musical influences because they were not so much music that I only listened to, but music that made me want to try and do what I was hearing in it. I banged around some with some industrial/noise ideas, worked some in the early phases of the punk scene in Nashville (and yes, we did have one there), but it was also during this same period, around 1979-1980, that I started tinkering with tapes, delays, simple synths and sometimes just raw electronics. Everything that goes up to now seems to stem from there.

I studied composition at Middle Tennessee State, under Dr. Thom Hutcheson, to whom I'm forever indebted because he allowed me a massive amount of rein to experiment in the electronic music studios there...as well as the commercial studios which were very much on par with typical industry-standard facilities of the day. These were critical times, with Hutch allowing me to try as much as I could, making important mistakes alongside successes. Later on, I studied under John Anthony Lennon at Tennessee, then with Salvatore Martirano at Illinois...both while I was in attendance there, and then off and on privately after a little 'falling-out' I had over some aesthetic differences with the rest of the composition faculty there. Sal taught me one thing that's been important...trust instinct and a belief in yourself and in your music. And from the early 1990s on, I have. Very much so.

I went on from there, gradually building up a studio from a room-corner pile of gear into what I have now, which is requiring the complete remodeling of the walk-up attic of our rural home. In a decade's time, it grew like topsy. As did my music, as I explored deeper and deeper introspections in my 'ambient' work, and I explored the ranges of rhythmic expression in early IDM-style techno. But throughout both, there was and still is a strain of sound that owes its origins to the avant-garde. I have never really gotten away from it, and I don't think it would be in my best interests to try. It's the little bit of cayenne pepper that adds a 'zing' to what would otherwise be a typical dish. And given that I like spicy things, well...

In the past few years, I also was privileged to study with Karlheinz Stockhausen, at his Courses for New Music in Germany. It was not so much an experience of learning basics, but an affirmation that I was pursuing the right directions. Everything that he said or discussed, I already believed or had arrived at a similar conclusion myself. It was very liberating, I said at the time, and from those days on, I've felt a freedom to take what I feel, hear, envision, and set this down as best I can, following instinct, capturing the immediate 'now' of a work.

And it's that 'now'...that is the key here. Framing the 'now', following a sense of the true nature of things, relying on instinct and a fluid mind...all of these things are my guideposts, along with so many things I've heard and experienced. Works that capture a certain 'now', such as "Mendota" and its impression of sunset colors sliding across a vast frozen lake and snowscape...or "SPCTR", which attempts to magnify the 'world inside a single tone'...these and so many other 'nows' are the ones I try to paint as best as I can in the sounds that I use. And perhaps the results evoke other things, as everyone's experience of something as fundamentally communicating as music is colored by their own experiences in so many ways.

In Zen disciplines, one hears of the concept of 'samu'...work as meditation or practice. And I view what I do, when I'm creating or performing, or even tweaking the settings on an existing work...as a manner of that same practice. But it's a practice with an open mind, receptive, waiting for something to sound from beyond the fundamental self and not merely 'just doing something, no matter what'. Creativity within a mindful state, and continuously trying to seize the 'now' in a work...it's not the easiest way I can think of to work, nor the easiest way that I have worked over the years. But it is the right way for me, as trying to be a 'New Music star' only ever led to a lot of ego-driven angst and annoyance. That's not who I am, not my nature, not my music.

Where from here, then? Who can say? Not me. None of those 'nows' have happened yet, so I suppose I'll simply have to wait for them so that I can encounter each one. I encourage you to wait and see what happens, as well.


name: dammerson vaughan
description: atmospheric, evocative, film-y instrumentals
homepage: dammerson_vaughan
photo: /artists/img/dammerson3.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: dammerson_vaughan
bio:
dammerson vaughan, like so many electronic musicians of this era, came of age as a rock musician. In college at Chico, CA, dammerson decided it would be cool to be in a rock band, play gigs, tour in vans and meet girls. He was right. It was cool.

Talented but untrained, dammerson taught himself to play the bass guitar by playing along to Bruce Thomas's bass lines on early Elvis Costello records. This proved to be a highly effective method because within months he was proficient enough to audition for and join the popular local band, The Downsiders. The Downsiders went on to record several albums for Black Park and Mammoth Records, though dammerson had left to pursue his own vision of self-recording.

dammerson bought one of the earliest TASCAM semi-pro multitrack recorders and began teaching himself to manage signal flow, lay down tracks, overdubs and build songs playing all of the parts himself. In 1990 Devil in the Woods Records released a cassette-only album of his original material under the name The Opaque. This release was favorably reviewed both locally in the Chico News and Review and nationally in Option Magazine.

dammerson missed playing live and joined two other Chico bands, Goodbye Johnny (Richard Buckner's first band) and These Days, who became a premier local band with a loyal following. These Days was shopping around a polished 4-song demo and came very close to signing a recording contract before lead guitarist John McKinley's erratic behavior caused the band to disband.

By the late 90's dammerson had moved to Seattle and in 1999 with the advent of Pro Tools entry-level 32 track digital system the digi 001 and the introduction of the Mac G4, dammerson made the move from analog multitrack to digital recording and never looked back. dammerson built a home studio and began mastering records for local independent artists while himself mastering the art of digital composition techniques and new software such as Ableton Live, Propellerheads Reason and eMagic Logic.

dammerson's compositions are primarily instrumental, moody and evocative and perfect for film/video application. His vision was to begin placing songs in TV shows and independent films. He eventually placed several pieces in industrial videos by UK director Grant Pollard, formerly of BBC TV.

Currently dammerson licenses songs for use by independent video producers to use royalty-free and continues to look for collaborations with film directors.


name: Damsel Down
description: uplifting rock to take the top down and drive to
homepage: damsel_down
photo: /artists/img/damsel_down.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: damsel_down
bio:
Hailing from a small city Concord, North Carolina, Damsel Down has made a big impact on the local music scene in the short period of time they have been playing as a band. With their 2010 debut release, "Now We Rise", Damsel Down has created a major buzz. The first singles 'Shine' and 'My Way' have been featured on radio stations internationally, podcasts, FM hit radio stations, and in the internet radio as well, topping the charts in the United Kingdom. In the United States, Damsel Down has topped many alternative and rock charts including the number one position for weeks at a time on Revebnation.com.

Four musicians with very different musical backgrounds have found their place in a highly competitive musical market that is Charlotte, North Carolina. The band consist of David Burke, projecting out clean crisp vocals, JT's forward tempo beats, Darrin Craft's pumping bass riffs, and finally Kyle's intricate power guitar. Damsel Down's music has been described as melodic driven contemporary rock. Together as a quartet, Damsel Down's members provide a seasoned breed of music that has been found pleasing to the ears, and attracts people from every walk of life.

As professional musicians, they have continued to prove themselves as assets to major promoters as well as live music venue and club owners. Priding themselves on hard work and good music, Damsel Down has accomplished in a short time what many people work years to achieve. Damsel Down has been featured on major festivals, including 'The Coca-Cola 600 Festival' opening for Corey Smith. Damsel Down was also been nominated for 'Best Rock Band' for the 2010 Carolina Music Awards, held yearly in Raleigh, NC. Damsel Down has also opened for the likes of Wheatus, Corey Smith and Middle Class Rut.

The album "Now We Rise" was reviewed by nationally published "Creative Loafing". Jeff Haynes described, "Damsel Down's music lies in that radio-friendly brand of metal - melodic lyrics combined with heavy drumming and some loud and energetic guitar riffs. It's music that's built for clubs and larger venues - you won't hear this blowing the doors off of a small place. There aren't a lot of local bands in this genre, of this quality - most of them sound more basement-friendly. There are some '80s metal elements in here, as well, but without sounding dated."

Damsel Down continues to strive at delivering good solid music to a growing fan base, and taking on new markets by storm.


name: Daniel Bautista
description: while my guitar gently shreds
homepage: daniel_bautista
photo: /artists/img/daniel_bautista.jpg
society: NONE
page: daniel_bautista
bio:
Daniel Bautista is a Spanish guitarist (born in Malaga in 1980) who has been in a number of bands like Evil Inside, Hipospadia or Ciruelo Cilindrico.

He started playing the guitar in 1993, at the age of twelve. His first guitar was a classic one; it wasn't until 1994 when he bought his first electric guitar: a red used Aria Pro II. And this year he also started playing in bands.

Daniel Bautista's solo career really begins in 2000, when he still was in Hipospadia. He recorded two experimental albums called "Autoindulgence" and "Alone", only for his friends. Some material from these works can be found here and there in his albums.

In 2002, a Hipospadia's project to cover classic pieces would become the "Classics and Soundtracks" collection over the years. During the 2002 Summer, Daniel also composed many experimental songs, which were published in the album "Recycle Bin" (2008).

In 2004, he started his website, where he publishes all his news, dates, music and photos.

Daniel came back to its solo career in 2007. While he (patiently) waited for the release of the Ciruelo Cilindrico material, he composed and recorded the EP "Music For A Film", a soundtrack played by a rock band.

Since then, he has released (and is still working in) a number of albums with experimental and progressive rock/metal, classic covers, technical guitar stuff, acoustic pieces and orchestral music. He has left all his bands in order to have more time for his great passions: his family and his music.


name: Daniel Ben Pienaar
description: virtuoso pianist playing Bach's 48
homepage: pienaar
photo: /artists/img/pienaar7.jpg
society: NONE
page: pienaar
bio:
Daniel-Ben Pienaar was born in South Africa. He was educated at the Royal Academy of Music where he won the Queen's Commendation in 1997. He now teaches piano and lectures at the Academy.

His solo discography includes both books of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, the Chopin ballades, the first complete recording of the keyboard music of Orlando Gibbons and, on Avie, Mozart's eighteen piano sonatas and Bach's Goldberg Variations.

A release of Beethoven's Diabelli Variations is projected for 2012.

Recent concert work includes sonata cycles of Mozart (at Oxford University) and Schubert (at the Royal Academy of Music). Upcoming engagements include appearing at the Singapore International Piano Festival and performing Bach's complete Well-Tempered Clavier at King's Place in London. Chamber music activities include three discs for the Linn label of music for trumpet and piano (mostly in his own arrangements) with Jonathan Freeman-Attwood.

Praise for Daniel-Ben Pienaar's complete Mozart Piano Sonatas (AV2209)

"Interpretations where, within the letter critically observed, a numinous power breaks free. Momentous Mozart."
Gramophone

"Pienaar responds with an astonishing range of expression and colour."
The Sunday Times, London

"It is, quite simply, one of the finest complete recordings."
Fanfare

"Ein Wunder, nicht weniger."
Rondo Magazin

Official webpage: www.danielbenpienaar.com

   Photo credit: Uta Knizia


name: Daniel Berkman
description: 21st century ambient African Kora
homepage: berkman
photo: /artists/img/berkman1.jpg
society: NONE
page: berkman
bio:
Daniel Berkman is a San Francisco based composer, multi-instrumentalist and innovator of the kora (a 21-stringed harp/lute from West Africa).

His early recordings for kora highlighted his use of electronic devices and loop boxes to transform his kora in real time in live performance. His first three cd's, "Heartstrings", "Feverdreams" and "Headlands" mark this period between 1996 and 2000 which feature Daniel creating other worldly soundscapes and a playing technique drawing on his myriad influences, including that of the great kora masters of our time.

While on the road as guitarist and kora player with Djali Kunda Kuyate (the twins) in December of 2002 through Senegal, Gambia and Mali, Daniel not only studied kora and ngoni with various masters there but captured his experiences on minidisc.

The result is his latest work, "Calabashmoon", a collection of crafty and poignant kora pieces woven with a tapestry of sounds and impressions of West Africa.

Daniel also plays guitar, handsonic, kora and gravikord for Artemis and is a featured electronic artist on rtfm records under the moniker "vessel".

Daniel has also composed many ecclectic scores for choreographers and dance companies in San Francisco, notably Sarah Shelton Mann, ODC, Company Chaddick, Lizz Roman and Dancers, Kunst-Stoff and many others.

Daniel Berkman also plays in the band of Magnatune artist Artemis.


name: Daniel Estrem
description: colorful classical guitar
homepage: daniel_estrem
photo: /artists/img/daniel_estrem.jpg
society: NONE
page: daniel_estrem
bio:
Daniel Estrem began his musical practice on keyboard at age 5 with the urging of his parents. In 1960 the fire for classical guitar was ignited after hearing a Segovia recording. He began study of the guitar at age 11 with Dr. James Condell, a teacher of classical and jazz guitar in Moorhead, MN. Living 60 miles away in Fergus Falls, the determined young student would ride the train to Moorhead every other Saturday for lessons. The luring attraction of the rock band era forged by the Beatles in the mid-60's consequently led him to electric guitar and the dissection of popular songs. This rather basic skill learned at an early age has proved very useful later in life with more complex musical forms.

Estrem later studied classical guitar with Jeffrey Van in St. Paul, MN, and taught classical guitar at Macalester College, Augsburg College, and Hamline University in Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN. His affection for classical, jazz, world, popular, blues, and early music has made his performances somewhat difficult to classify. Rather than remain strictly within one genre he prefers to perform and arrange pieces from a variety of sources. He keeps an ever-changing repertoire on 8 and 6-string classical guitars, 7 and 6-string acoustic guitars, 7- string jazz guitar, electric bass, 8-course renaissance lute, tenor ukulele, sarod and bouzouki.

Estrem is best known for his recorded guitar duet work with John Holmquist. Their first LP recording, Music of Edvard Grieg (on the Cavata label) consists of Estrem's transcriptions of 11 Lyric Pieces and the Holberg Suite, published by Music of the Americas. He was the arranger and producer of 5 CDs of jazz standards recorded with Holmquist on the Projazz label which were distributed internationally. The duo concertized extensively for many years and performed on NPR's "St. Paul Sunday" program, a nationwide broadcast. They had the opportunity to play for Segovia while the maestro dined at a private home after giving a concert. He seemed unfamiliar with the duet repertoire and kept requesting more music (as he consumed his steak).

In 1978 Estrem graduated from the University of Minnesota Dental School and the evening of graduation gave a solo concert at Macalester College. The concert hall date had to be reserved 9 months in advance and the Dental School only announced its graduation day 6 months in advance. Although the over-scheduled day was somewhat of a coincidence, a friend commented that this was a sign that music would continue to be a passionate force for many years to come.

Estrem says, "listening to good music is fine, and can be very moving, but I love to play it. The musical vibrations going through my body somehow make me feel better and more alive. It's especially magical when a musician is able to get into that "zone" where technique simply flows and time is suspended. There was a now-defunct music store in the Twin Cities that had as its motto, If you really Love music ---Play It. Of course, they had an ulterior motive, but I always liked that phrase. I love intimate music....solos, duets, trios or quartets. It's possible to get a good look into the soul of the artist with a small ensemble. There is no language like music when it comes to expressing emotions."

One of Daniel's previous releases on Magnatune was "Edvard Grieg" a re-release of a recording made in 1980. On it Daniel collaborates with John Holmquist, together they performed as a duo until 1988. John won first prize at the Guitar 78 International Competition in Toronto and a Solo Recitalist Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. He has toured extensively and recorded several outstanding solo CDs. He was the head of the guitar department at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music in Milwaukee as well as the head of the guitar programme at the Cleveland Institute of Music.

On Daniel's album "Preludes and Fugues of Jeremiah Lawson vol 1", Daniel plays the works of Jeremiah Lawson, (b 1974) a guitarist and composer living in the Seattle area. He received a B.A. in journalism from Seattle Pacific University in 1997 where he studied guitar with Hilary Field and composition with Eric Hanson.


name: Daniel Halliday
description: guitar&#45;based soundtracks suitable for indie&#47;arthouse&#47;noir genres
homepage: daniel_halliday
photo: /artists/img/daniel_halliday.jpg
society: PRS
page: daniel_halliday
bio:
Daniel Halliday is a multi-instrumentalist from West Yorkshire, UK. He has previously worked under the aliases Motodestra and Pictureville but uses his own name for solo guitar work. Daniel's first album, Motodestra (self-titled) was released in 2005, to excellent press from the All-Music Guide, NY-based The Big Takeover and Hot Press (Australia) magazine, in which Motodestra was named the "best album to have missed our shores in 2005" by Ari Stein.

After an EP of acoustic music under the name Pictureville, Daniel decided to take a different approach to composition and recording for his first solo guitar album, First Signs.

First Signs (October 2008) was recorded in real-time, without overdubs, using a looping pedal to create rich, atmospheric layers of sound from a single guitar, and has been favourably compared to The Durutti Column, Brian Eno and Ry Cooder.

Daniel released a solo acoustic guitar album called Haunts on Bandcamp in 2013.

His latest release is Compositions For Film Vol. 1, an album of tracks written with soundtrack use in mind.


name: Daniel Knowler
description: organic, atmospheric acoustic-guitar textures
homepage: daniel_knowler
photo: /artists/img/daniel_knowler.jpg
society: PRS
page: daniel_knowler
bio:
Guitarist, sound artist and gentleman, Mr Daniel Knowler is the founder of the Actual Size label and member of various groups outside of music's mainstream, including The Infinite Three, Leisur Hive, Cindytalk and Slunq.

Daniel's primary concerns are the avant/drone rock group The Infinite Three and as guitarist for experimental veterans Cindytalk. He has performed and recorded improvised electronic music as Sweetie; collaborated with Doug Shearer on the "phonetic hardcore" project 6 Pregnant Lambs, and with Maria Vellanz on "Rock", a re-imagining of John Cage's 'Ryoanji'.

Our Wet Geometry, Daniel's first solo release is an album of atmospheric acoustic guitar pieces. Instrumental songs ranging from cinematic textures and post-rock crescendos to plaintive folksy finger picking. Taking cues from folk, blues, pop and soundtrack music Our Wet Geometry takes a more melodic turn than most of his previous work.

Hidden within the organic orchestration however are ciphers more in keeping with Daniel's background in experimental music: field recordings, subtle electronic drones and electronic treatments follow the melodies around like grey shadows.


name: Daniel Shoskes
description: A feast of Baroque lute
homepage: daniel_shoskes
photo: /artists/img/daniel_shoskes.jpg
society: NONE
page: daniel_shoskes
bio:
Daniel Shoskes is a lutenist in Cleveland Ohio. His instruments include Baroque lute, Renaissance Lute, Archlute, Vihuela and Baroque Guitar. He has studied with Pat O'Brien and David Dolata and has had masterclasses with Paul O'Dette, Nigel North, Stephen Stubbs, Robert Barto and Richard Stone.

He has performed continuo with the Case Western Reserve Baroque Orchestra and with Apollo's Fire, The Cleveland Baroque Orchestra. He has also performed with the Cleveland based groups Buckeye Baroque and Cantores Cleveland and given solo recitals at the Lute Society of America's Summer Seminar.

He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Apollo's Fire and Early Music America.

You can find out more information about Daniel on his webpage and check out his videos on Youtube.


name: Daria
description: Music to inspire all the World's children
homepage: daria
photo: /artists/img/daria.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: daria
bio:
World Music Children's Performer, Daria (Daria Marmaluk-Hajioannou) has spent over two decades performing around the globe, creating music to inspire all the world's children. Her music mixes authentic traditions and instruments with a spirit of joy and hopefulness that has won her fans from Siberia to South America. In a recent article, the Christian Science Monitor declared: "When Daria Marmaluk-Hajioannou makes music, the world listens -- literally!"

With 7 CD's and mini-cd releases that have won educational and entertainment awards (NAPPA, Parent's Choice, Best of Children's Music Web, etc.) Daria's music spans a range of folk traditions from Early American to Andean music, Hispanic Heritage Music to Native American and almost everything in between! Among the languages heard in her music are English, Spanish, Quechua, Ladino, Yiddish, Zulu, German and Haudenasaunee (Iroquis).

Daria's songs have been used widely in the USA as well as around the world. Her "Beautiful Rainbow World" song (from the CD of the same name) was chosen as the text for a photography book of global children as well as in an anti-apartheid program in South Africa. It was also featured in "Teaching Tolerance" programs in the USA and in a curriculum called "Respecting Others" in Australia. Daria's "I Have A Dream" Song is used across the USA to celebrate Martin Luther King Day. Her Earth Day anthem "We've Got The Whole World In Our Hands" has been used in the USA as well as in Singapore, Scotland, Malaysia, Japan and China. Her bilingual songs in Spanish and English such as La Cucaracha (with over a million hits on Youtube) are part of ESL and ELL programs for English learners.

Additionally, Daria was chosen as the first artist to contribute to the audio version of the popular Highlights/Hi Five magazines. Twenty of her songs were chosen as part of a English language music service in Korea and songs from her Cancioncitas De Los Andes release are being used as the music bed for online webisodes of a popular teen graphic novel series called "Five Nations" from Tumble Creek Entertainment.

You can find out more about Daria on her website.


name: Daughters of Elvin
description: Medieval Songs of Love and Enchantment
homepage: daughters_elvin
photo: /artists/img/daughters_elvin.jpg
society: PRS
page: daughters_elvin
bio:
Daughters of Elvin were formed in 1996 with the aim of presenting early music in a new and exciting way and of reaching as diverse an audience as possible. Evoking the spirit of Medieval Europe with music, masks, dance and giant stilt puppets they give powerful displays of colour, movement and sound.

Based around carefully researched music, they bring to life images inspired by Medieval paintings, carvings and literature and are equally at home at festivals, churches, art centres, street and outdoor events.

Daughters of Elvin have been described as amongst the best in Europe. They have toured throughout the UK, Ireland, Europe and Scandanavia appearing at everything from Early Music festivals, rock festivals, street festivals, historical fayres, churches, stately homes and castles.

They have worked for English Heritage, education authorities, museums and in 2001 they were commissioned by the National Trust to create a series of shows which featured a medieval circus of fantastical masked beasts. They have featured in several television programmes including Channel 5's 'Time Warp Wedding' and have been played on Radio 3's Late Junction on numerous occasions.

The members are:
Steve Tyler: Hurdy gurdy, gothic harp, cittern, lute and percussion
Katy Marchant: Director and mask maker. English bagpipes, recorders, pipe and tabor/salterio.
Dhevdhas Nair: Hammered dulcimer, percussion
Sophie Brumfitt: Voice
Jennie Cassidy: Voice
Mike Edwards: Bass and treble viol
Ricardo Barros: Dance
   Photo credit www.spiderwoodimages.com
   
'Brilliant, I love your music'
   - Alan Lee, artistic director, Lord of the Rings trilogy
   

   

   Daughters of Elvin's live performances evoke the spirit of Medieval Europe with music, masks, dance and giant stilt puppets which give powerful displays of colour music and sound.
   
To view further images of the incredible masked beasts please visit: myspace.com/daughtersofelvin
   Photo credit www.stonefree.org


name: Dave Preston
description: intense ambient guitar over a sonic kaleidoscope
homepage: dave_preston
photo: /artists/img/dave_preston.jpg
society: BMI
page: dave_preston
bio:
Dave Preston's textural guitar music ranges from melodic to brooding, dynamic to intimate, reminding me fondly at times of Lanterna. Thoughtful, never facile."
- Robert Rich

Denver guitarist Dave Preston has played with: Matt Morris, Justin Timberlake, Charlie Sexton, Keaton Simons, One Eskimo, Trace Bundy, Tab Benoit, Megan Burtt, John Common, Hello Kavita and Gregory Alan Isakov,.

He has played on The Late Show with David Letterman, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, CBS Morning Show, Lopez Tonight, as well as a live performance/recording on "HOPE FOR HAITI NOW" with Justin Timberlake and Matt Morris. He has also been recognized internationally for his ambient guitar work through radio and other media outlets.

Preston's first ambient music release, "BE" gained national radio play through NPR and international radio syndication through Radio Despi (Spain) and Echoes (USA), "BE" debuted in September 2008 at 91 on the New Age Reporter Charts. The following month, after continued heavy rotation on an increasing amount of radio stations and syndicated shows, "BE" shot up the charts to 66.

"(Preston's) music ends up being some of the most inspirational and thought provoking ambient work we've ever heard...In other words, if you aren't familiar with this ground breaking artist yet, you will be in the very near future."
- Jason Schleweis / Crush Music Magazine

The second ambient release from Dave Preston, "Soundtrack For Motion" is a meditation of motion and movement in all it's forms, both physical and metaphysical. As he did in his ambient debut "Be", Preston intricately weaves uncommon intensity and passion into the sonic landscape and manages to accomplish something rare: ambient music that is capable of a wide range of feelings. From the transcendent "Blind Lovers Hand In Hand", the near sacred rage of "The Blood In Your Veins, and the wailing of "A Giant Leap Of Faith" to the "Blade Runner" atmospherics of "Spinning Away From The Earth" (a collaboration with Mingo), "Soundtrack For Motion" shows significant growth and maturing of Preston as an ambient artist.

"It is his creative and unique talents that will undoubtedly one day earn him praise for his incredible scores for major motion pictures, worthy of Academy Awards."
- Chris Vetrano / Tragic Kingdom / Idol Insider

In 2008, after Tennman/Interscope recording artist Matt Morris asked Preston to join his band, Morris and Preston began shaping "BE-JOY" (third track from "BE") from an ambient soundscape, into a melodic, pulse driven POP song. Co-produced by Justin Timberlake, "Just Before The Morning" (Matt Morris/"When Everything Breaks Open") carries charting promise and marks the beginning of a writing friendship.

You can read more about Dave on his website.


name: David Modica
description: layers of lush acoustic guitar
homepage: modica
photo: /artists/img/modica-main_new.jpg
society: NONE
page: modica
bio:
David Modica's haunting music on acoustic and electric guitar touches the listener's heart with the anticipation and ultimate fulfillment of the journey home. His delicate melodies, continually reinventing themselves, and the rich colors he gently coaxes from his instrument, reflect his experience both as a musician, and as an individual who has spent the major portion of his life seeking inner understanding.

David's style is all his own, developed over many years as a performer and composer. His work involves various techniques including finger style, flat-picking, jazz chording, spontaneous improvisation, classical, rock, blues, and folk. David pulls these various elements together in a unique mix that creates a timeless space in sound.

David music has been used in films by independent film director Ray Nomoto Robison, including Sixes and the One Eyed King, which won the Audience Choice Award at festivals in Miami and Louisville as well as the Best Feature Award at the Rogue Independent Film Festival in Oregon. David's music has also been used to open author Guy Finley's numerous radio programs and multiple audio albums. Actor Desi Arnaz Jr. uses David's music to welcome the audience to shows he produces at his historic Boulder City Theatre in Boulder City, Nevada. Mr. Arnaz says, David's music "has a wonderful calming effect on people waiting for the show to begin."

With ten albums released to date and songs reaching the top 20 on iTunes New Age charts... David's musical style is perpetually evolving Ð from acoustic guitar to electric guitar, native flute, keyboards, percussion and moreÉ DavidÕs compositions continue to push the limits on style, sound and originality. His albums are lyrical, complex, and invite the listener to join in the exploration of all the beauty to be found within and without one's own being.


name: Dayazell
description: ancient and traditional world music
homepage: dayazell
photo: /artists/img/dayazell_group.jpg
society: NONE
page: dayazell
bio:
The members of Dayazell play original music, freely inspired by ancient and traditional repertories. From Andalusian Spain to Persia, through Italy, Armenia or Mongolia, Dayazell takes you on a trip toward unrecognized landscapes of world music.

Line-up
Yann Righetti (cistre, oud)
Isao Bredel (nyckelharpa, voice)
Yann Voegel (flutes, ney,chalumeau, voice)
Guilhem Puech (darbouka, tar, drum)

Can you describe your music in a few words?
Isao : To put it in a nutshell we play ancient and traditional world music..
Guilhem : ..with a small preference for the mediterranean sea, for now.
Yann : It's a "travelling" music. A music that is good to listen with your eyes closed.
Nnay : It sounds funny but the music we play is mainly a music we like to play. It takes its roots in tradition as much as in our imaginations.

Where does the repertory comes from? What are your sources, your inspirations?
Yann : As Guilhem said, the repertory mainly comes from the mediterranean area. Some songs we play come from old manuscripts (European medieval ones, like the "Cantigas de Santa Maria", or the "Llibre Vermell de Montserrat"), but most of them come from oral transmission.
Nnay : We always seek songs that create an emotion whitin us..
Yann : ..and then we rearange them, with our own sensibility, with our own musical culture.
Isao : Some artists are also great inspirations, sometimes even direct sources. I'm thinking of bands like "Oni Wytars" or "Accentus"
Guilhem : To emphasize what Yann was saying about our musical culture: we do listen to lots of different things, individually, but also together. When we're on tour, the car radio will play jazz, hip hop, post rock, electro. Obvisously, it does influence our music, in a subtil way.

Actually how do you create? How do you choose your themes, how do you do the arrangements?
Guilhem : When we are in a creative process, eveyone proposes themes that they found during their own research. Then we only keep the songs the four of us love. If we work on a theme that has already been recorded by another band, we try to take distance from the existing version. We keep the melody, and force ourselves (when it's possible) to forget about the structural, melodical and rythmical arrangements.
Isao : We save lot of space for the improvisation, that's often how we appropriate the songs, how we create music "around" the original theme..
Yann : ..and our songs do evolve a lot. They are never set in stone. They change, every year, we always look for the more sensitive and the more pertinent version we can offer.

What about your musical backgrounds?
Guilhem : except Nnay we are all autodidacts. So Nnay, you go first!
Nnay : I began the flute in 1994, in a MJC, for four years. Then I continued in an "Ecole de Musique" for 7 years. In the same time I experienced jazz music, playing the saxophone. Later on, moving in the south of France, I discovered jazz manouche, Irish music, and traditional French music. I learnt to play the thin whistle with Jacob Fournel, and recently I took some ney lessons with Hristos Barbas.
Yann : As an autodidact, I've played all kinds of stuff; flamenca, country, Irish, medieval. I've been involved in different projects, such as "Kassla Datcha" (klezmer music) or "Noon" (australian folk music). I also worked with other kinds of artists, African story tellers, jugglers. Now I'm taking lessons with Lakdar Hanou, a great oud player from Algeria.
Isao : Autodidact as well ! I learnt the hindoustani singing with a master in India in 2005 and now I take some lessons with a French teacher, Michele Zini. As far as the nyckelharpa is concerned , I learnt all by myself, playing with other musicians, like Dayazell! And now I may take some lessons with Didier Francois, an amazing nyckelharpa player. He lives in Belgium and is famous, among other things, for his collaboration with Marco Ambrosini.
Guilhem : Well, as Yann and Isao, I'm mainly autodidact. I've been working on different kind of drums : djembe, cajon, drumset and been involved in different kinds of bands : medieval, post rock, Irish, psychedelic. As far as the Arabic drums are concerned, I've had the chance to take 3 years of lessons with Ali Alaoui, an amazing darbouka player from Morroco. He's been, among other things, solist and arranger for the National Orchestra of Morocco.

Tell us about the origins of Dayazell? How did you met? For how long have you been playing together?
Yann : The initial project was a trio, with Baptiste Couget (former flutist of the band), Guilhem and I. At the time I was playing with Baptiste within a musical/theatre company called "Alchymere", Baptiste was playing with Guilhem in a post rock band, and Guilhem and I were playing together in an Irish band. We were actually all playing together, but only "in twos". The idea came to form a trio.
Guilhem : Then we met Isao. She had two interesting cards to play : a really perticular way of singing, her own way, really sensitive and an atypical instrument : the nyckelharpa. It "worked" really fast, everything was pretty natural.
Nnay : Guilhem and Yann were looking for a flutist, but for their Irish band. That's how they found me. Then Baptiste left Dayazell to focus on another project. I began to play with them within Dayazell, and the feeling was good!
Isao : It was the end of the year 2009. We've been playing together since then.

A strong feeling of unity and complicity radiates when you're on stage?
Yann : Yeah, we are really lucky we found each other. We have the same expectations, the same desire to seek for a better sound, always. And we do listen to each other a lot. We come frome different musical backgrounds, but, in the end, it creates unity and balance.
Guilhem : The idea of energy is something that does make sense for us, rather we are rehearsaling, recording, or performing. The energies that circulate within us, and with the audience are essential data in the equation, but it happens naturally, we do not try to identify or rationalize it.
Nnay : We've been playing together a lot. So now, when we're on stage, we feel "like home"..
Guilhem : ..and also we are good friends, in "real" life! I think that helps the music a lot.

You also work with a theatre company called "Armutan" Can you tell us more about this project?
Isao : It's a company that works on historical themes. It gathers comedians, musicians, sword fighters, jugglers, dancers..
Yann : ..and one of those themes is "Al Andalus", the medieval Arabic Spain. We participate to this show as musicians.
Nnay : It's a lot different from the usual gigs, but we love it : we wear medieval costumes, and play underneath this really big berber tent. The audience seats on carpets and pillows. The proximity with the audience creates interesting dynamics.
Guilhem : Indeed, the collaboration with Armutan leads us to play in different kinds of places : in the street, under a tent, in castles and churches. The great part is that, in those festivals, we reach a much larger audience, a more popular audience : people who would never come to a World music festival or an ancient music festival and they love it!

To conclude would you tell us a few words about your projects?
Nnay : We've been working lately on 6 or 7 new songs. We try to find new colors, while keeping the existing spirit.
Isao : We want to "visit" new areas, to push the frontiers a little bit farther.
Yann : We've ben talking a lot about a side project, with some electro music..
Guilhem : ..but it's top secret ! For now we're focusing on the next tour, we have some really nice concerts coming!


name: Dead Leaf Echo
description: dreamy shoe-gazing pop
homepage: dead_leaf_echo
photo: /artists/img/dead_leaf_echo.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: dead_leaf_echo
bio:
Taking their cue from Nabokov's masterpiece Lolita, Dead Leaf Echo have become commentary on a new style. By crafting every aspect of their sound and vision they remain one of the few left willing to work on high art as concept.

Their latest record 'Truth' features 6 songs of pure devotion mixed by 4AD alumnus John Fryer (NIN Depeche Mode). This follows months after their last release 'Pale Fire' featuring the epic title track mixed by Ulrich Schnuss (Coldplay, Mojave 3).

Originally formed in 2006 by lead vocalist and guitarist LG, he is joined by Ana B (guitar) Christo B. (guitar, keys) and J. Parker (drums). The group brings a complete visual landscape to their live shows by always being backed by projections.

Dead Leaf Echo is currently in the studio recording their 1st LP with Producer John Fryer (NIN, Depeche Mode). It's being recorded at The Mission Sound which has recorded some of music's biggest acts. Before it's release their 3rd EP will come out this spring. It will consists of Remixes and Collaborations. You can find the band on tour this spring and at SXSW.

"Some of the best live music in the city."
- Time Out, New York

"We like Dead Leaf Echo's dreamy shoegazing pop"
- The L Magazine

"A post-Romantic approach to music, fashion even New York City itself... is the kind of wisdom Robert Smith masterfully conjured in his youth"
- The Deli Magazine

You can also find out more about their up and coming shows on their website and follow them on facebook and twitter.


name: Deep Winter
description: Garage Rock, Alternative Rock, Blues Rock
homepage: deep_winter
photo: /artists/img/deep_winter.jpg
society: NONE
page: deep_winter
bio:
Deep Winter is a garage rock duet from Izhevsk, Russia formed in 2012. Their music sounds like an intense and dynamic hybrid of classic rock and hard blues.

It's easy to hear the influences of other numerous sub-genres here, all being a logical extension of classic rock'n'roll with a sharper and more modern edge.

You can follow Deep Winter on their FaceBook page.


name: Dejan Ilijic
description: piano landscapes meet electronic, jazz, Balkans
homepage: dejan_ilijic
photo: /artists/img/dejan_ilijic.jpg
society: NONE
page: dejan_ilijic
bio:
Dejan Ilijic and his music share the same birth-date - they were born together, have grown together, and they coexist living in a very intricate union.

Serbian writer Danilo Kis erased many of the differences between his life and his work, and he insisted on the unity of the two. Dejan shows similar intentions. The musical background of his family, involvement in the magic since his earliest age, talent and interests to develop that gift, are more than just commonplace biographical data.

Today he lives in Nis, the major city in Eastern Serbia: he is a classically trained musician who has made attempts at different forms and styles of music, and he has explored them both in the bands he was a member of or as a solo artist.

There are some constant points, however, throughout his spiritual biography which remain despite everything: his fondness of classical music, jazz, and intricate rhythmic patterns typical of the Balkans (he was born in Macedonia, one of the cradles of such music), as well as his ability to blend the past and the present without visible stitches, may be said to be his trademark.

These qualifications are far from even giving a hint of description of his work. His creative persona is still emerging and maturing, in a process which is never-ending, as is typical with true artists. His expression is likely to become even more articulate, given his dedication to his cause.

All you have to do is put your trust in his hands.


name: Delko
description: dusts off the rock
homepage: delko
photo: /artists/img/delko.jpg
society: NONE
page: delko
bio:
To rock, no need to destroy motels rooms and / or having a string of dirty groupies - even if it's cool, it's unhygienic. Spirit and belief are enough.

The proof lies in Delko, a French rock band from Haute-Loire. Don't even try to find this place on the rock map, the god of the riff simply ignores it. It was an admitted fact until these self-taught musicians set themselves as demiurge of neo grunge.

Influenced by Nirvana, Foo fighters and Johnny Cash, their powerful and dark melodies will drag you into an artistic world that looks like a post-teen delirium. No meaning or litany of the dead leaves, you will feel a psychedelic shock reflecting a disillusioned world that dive into the abyss the absurd.

With each album, they give a rough ride to the conventions of rock, mistreat compulsory figures and finally regenerate the genre. In his time, did Picasso make anything else with the great masters of painting? In other words, the result is surprising: grunge, punk and metal. All tracks are orchestrated by a classic squad (bass, drums, two guitars) reaching a professional level. Don't trust their geek faces!

If you have the opportunity to hear their concerts, you will experiment an unplugged atmosphere in the bottom of a dark bar tasting a cold beer. And if you go further, you will surely meet them at their den, the delpo, half-garage and halt-recording studio. Above the door you will read: DIY "do it yourself" ... what a program! Isn't it?


name: Destiny Love
description: Inspirational singer/songwriter music for relaxation
homepage: destiny_love
photo: /artists/img/destiny_love.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: destiny_love
bio:
Destiny Love is the founder of a vocal technique called Embodied Voice. This fully embodied sound can be felt through Destiny's voice. Her music carries a feeling of relaxed embodiment.

Home in the Light was Destiny's first studio album and features 13 world instruments: harmonium, bouzouki, sitar, japanese flutes, grand piano, classical bass, viola, guitar, ukulele, keyboard, various world percussion, and Destiny's soothing vocals and inspiring lyrics. It was a labor of love to create, as she was pregnant while recording the first half, and recorded the second half after giving birth to her daughter. It was professionally sound engineered by Scott Miller and mixed and mastered by Alex King Harris (Rara), in Ashland, Oregon.

She self-produced her second album, Earth Embodied, which consists of earthy beats, spacious instrumentation, and powerful and inspiring lyrics. These songs have been played during births, yoga classes, ecstatic dances, podcasts, a documentary, and funerals. The lyrics and melodies are catchy and easy to sing along with.

Most recently she has released two singles, Dirty Little Lies (Taking Back My Power) and Change is Churning. Both tracks have potent lyrics with catchy hooks, inspiring lyrics, and groovy beats.

Destiny is currently in the process of recording new music, to be released soon.

www.DestinyLoveMusic.com


name: Destroy The Colossus
description: Technical Death Metal
homepage: destroy_the_colossus
photo: /artists/img/destroy_the_colossus.jpg
society: NONE
page: destroy_the_colossus
bio:
Hailing from California's Bay Area hardcore scene, Destroy The Colossus first emerged with their previous moniker, Turok in 2006.

Swaying from the conventional path, Turok aimed to bring a brutal mix of genres emphasizing on technical metal, but never forgetting the crushing breakdowns that we all love. With a new line-up, a slight change in style, and a realization of potential legal woes, Turok changed their name to Destroy The Colossus to further reflect their evolving musicianship.

Since the beginning of 2008, Destroy The Colossus has been gearing up to push their musical limits even further and bring to fans a mind-crushing tour de force of bludgeoning destruction that will leave fans satisfied but better yet begging for more and with the latest release of their self produced full length, "Centuries", fans may just get more than they bargained for.

You can find out more about Destroy the Colossus on their MySpace page.


name: Diana Rowan
description: a harpist of unusual power and beauty
homepage: rowan
photo: /artists/img/rowan3.jpg
society: NONE
page: rowan
bio:
Which is first - breadth of repertoire or musicianship? No matter. The sum total will titilate even the most jaded audience. Diana is an astounding harpist - playing pieces that range from inspired traditional-based tunes to improvisational skin-prickling scats. Consider it a blessed time, to have this music seep into your being."
- Anne Emerick, Wisteria Ways concert series, January 2009

Harpist Diana Rowan's playing has been described as having "unusual power and beauty." Born in Ireland, she lived and studied on the East Coast, in Europe and the Middle East before settling in Berkeley, California. Each place profoundly influenced her music, which weaves Western classical sensibilities with Balkan, Sephardic and Middle Eastern inspiration, emphasizing both the primal and ethereal aspects of the harp, ancient and modern.

While traveling the world influenced Diana's music, the people around her had an even stronger impact:

"Everything aligned," says Diana Rowan, speaking of the pivotal concert where she first heard historical harp and saw some of the people who would be important in her music life later on. A friend [Anna Kallis, high school friend from the Cyprus years, designer of all Diana's graphic art] had persuaded her to go to a performance of San Francisco Bay Area favorites Kitka and the Ensemble Alcatraz. It was a meditation concert, with no applause. The musicians sat in the center of a circle, with the audience surrounding them. The whole experience was a revelation for classically trained Diana. The Balkan music of Kitka, then directed by Bon Singer, brought nostalgia for Diana's youth, living in Cyprus and Iraq. Ensemble Alcatraz, with Shira Kammen on vielle, Peter Maund as percussionist, and Cheryl Ann Fulton playing her historical harp, captured Diana completely with their classical discipline yet playful spirit.
- from the interview with Meghan Collins, Harpbeat Fall 2008

Leaving her former life as a classical concert pianist, Diana studied with Cheryl and Maureen Brennan, and now collaborates frequently with Bon, Peter, and Shira, as well as beloved newer acquaintances:

"I believe music is the creation of much more than the actual performer. All people who have come before, the 'muse' or collective consciousness, the audience in its widest sense, all hugely affect the emerging piece of art. I think the time of lionizing the individual performer is waning, and the realization that we co-create art and life is dawning."

Performing worldwide (from the Australian Harp Festival to the Smithsonian to medieval Cypriot halls) and recording frequently, Diana can be heard on many CDs and soundtracks for film and TV, including her two solo albums Panta Rhei and The Bright Knowledge.

www.sirenharp.com
www.pantarheicd.com
www.thebrightknowledge.com

"Diana's shining soul and sparkling personality are conducted through her fingers through her harp to the very heart of any listener. She could take Happy Birthday and interpret in such a way that you'd laugh, cry and change your life."
- Bon Singer, premier conductor of Balkan music in the US, founder of Kitka and Ya Elah

"Extremely beautiful playing...most gratifying...such fine musicianship"
- San Francisco Classical Voice

"Her harp is lyrical and ethereal, yes, but also uncommonly primal and percussive, rife with her signature follow-through, where even aural decay delivers deeply felt musical nuance."
- Laura Glen Louis, author of "Talking in the Dark"

"You are truly a gift sent to me by the Harp Gods...you are the culmination of all my work, the highlight of my entire harp making career. There is no one I've ever heard that is so "at one" with the Nova harp, and takes it on journeys that can't even be imagined by others."
- John Westling, master luthier and creator of Diana's harps


name: Diggsville
description: Lush and emotive Downbeat Groove
homepage: diggsville
photo: /artists/img/diggsville.jpg
society: BMI
page: diggsville
bio:
From the moment Diggsville took the stage, their eclectic sets of down-tempo groove and funk-infused lounge stirred fans into a stupor of chilled out beats. Evoking musical effects of DJ Shadow, Jamiroquai, Moorcheeba, Portishead and Massive Attack, Diggsville's lush female vocals, dreamy keys, enigmatic samples, funky bass, driving drums and wild sax unite for a uniquely seductive blend of retro and contemporary elements.

Diggsville began as a musical entity while contributing to the soundtrack of the independent film, "In the Wake" by Erica Jordan. After cruising the festival circuit, percussionist Randy Odell and vocalist Karen Mitchell enlisted the piano skills of David von Holder. His rich synth textures and poignant melodic sensibilities provided the perfect complement to Randy Odell's timely grooves, both coming from a strong jazz and RandB background. Bassist David Hermocillo drives it to the ground and saxophonist Nadine Whitfield adds subtle soul to the evocative lyrics and haunting vocals of Karen Mitchell for an extraordinary sound, drawing upon influences that include hip-hop, electronica, slow-core and jazz.

Their first album, Songs from Nowhere, which was coproduced by Garth May of Fuzz Productions is satiating music junkies everywhere with substantially captivating grooves.


name: Diometrix
description: ambient post-rock from the cold heart of Siberia
homepage: diometrix
photo: /artists/img/diometrix_1.jpg
society: NONE
page: diometrix
bio:
"all you need to hear the story - is to click play..."

diometrix - is a project, started by two friends from Siberia, specializing on cold instrumental sound. Their music is a mix of ambient, electronica and post-rock, with the reflections on desolation, coldness and detachment from the world.

During a long siberian winter of 2010, two friends from childhood - Roman and Alexey decided to make music which would fit what they were surrounded by. Unexpectedly, during the first recordings, they've found a third musician - Alexander, who perfectly flowed into their mood and participated in all the following recordings. Thus begun the recording of Newfoundland".


name: Dixie Cannon
description: Rock solid Pop rock, Vintage rock, Classic rock, Folk rock and Art rock
homepage: dixie_cannon
photo: /artists/img/dixie_cannon_new.jpg
society: NONE
page: dixie_cannon
bio:
Dixie Cannon was born in 1971 in the city of Krivoy Rog, Soviet Union. For a time he lived in Moscow, where for more than twenty years he was the leader of the folk-rock band Barley Corn. During this time he worked as a music producer and songwriter for Barley Corn, participated in concert tours, live performances and TV shows, and wrote music for theatre and movies.

In 2008 his work was recognised by one of the best music producers in the world, ex-chief of Abbey Road studios, Haydn Bendall. In 2013 Dixie Cannon left Russia and now lives and works like a freelance music producer, composer and songwriter in such Asian countries as India, Nepal and Thailand.

You can check out Dixie's video "I Catch the Wind" below:


name: DJ Cary
description: chill out compilations built from Magnatune music
homepage: cary
photo: /artists/img/cary1.jpg
society: VARIOUS
page: cary
bio:
Cary Norsworthy's favorite musical genre is downtempo, but she's adept at making all sorts of compilations. Her Magnatune series of mixes began with Downtempo Chill in the spring of 2005-a release that resulted in podcasters all over the world discovering and playing Magnatune artists.

Cary was drawn to Magnatune because "the variety and quality of the music is so great, and I'm really impressed with how well they treat their artists. It's fantastic to see musicians getting an equal share of every sale-no one else is doing that."

Since then, she's edited several popular compilations, combining tracks from a wide range of Magnatune artists to create a chilled-out mood. With deep, slow grooves that are sometimes jazzy, sometimes trip-hoppy, but always tranquil and soothing, Downtempo Chill and Downtempo Chill 2 take the edge off faster than a dry martini with their airy modernism and sophisticated grace. They feature an array of best-selling Magnatune artists including Curl, Cargo Cult, Drop Trio, Four Stones, and many more.

After Dinner Lounge is a chilled out melange of tracks that range from downtempo to world grooves with an occasional hint of Classical. "I wanted to give it a slight Buddha Bar-like feel," says Cary. As its title suggests, After Dinner Lounge is the perfect album to put on after dinner and relax with your friends.

Eastern Grooves combines lush, laid-back tracks with a Middle-to-Far-East feel, featuring Magnatune artists such as Stellamara, Beth Quist, Cargo Cult, and Shiva in Exile.

Burbling with cool, liquid synths, Power Synths is a sublimely chilled-out yet subtly energetic mix of electronic grooves that each feature powerful, melodic synths-seamlessly merging tracks from fourteen different Magnatune artists.

Always peddling her musical tastes around the globe, a couple of Cary's playlists were featured in The iPod Playlist Book from Peachpit Press. In addition to her music habit, she's also an artist, and her CD covers feature some of her own photomontage work. While she cites Magnatune as her favorite record label, she also can't resist the following venues for hardcore music acquisition: Amoeba Records (Berkeley, San Francisco), Concerto Records (Amsterdam), Soul Seduction (Vienna), where she was featured in their December 2005 Radio Days broadcast, and gemm.com.


name: DJ Markitos
description: happy trance
homepage: dj_markitos
photo: /artists/img/djmarkitos.jpg
society: NONE
page: dj_markitos
bio:
DJ Markitos (Marcus Stolarcik) is a young producer of electronic music from the Slovak Republic. He focusses on Trance and Techno music.

During his university years he met people from the music department and eventually went to work as a sound engineer on Slovakian radio. For many years he has worked in radio, playing pop chart music and refining his technical skills. After spending time abroad, he experienced totally non-commercial style of music, which led to his buying an early sequencer and making his own electronic music.

DJ Markitos's music is normally played around 140-160 BPM and usually has a four-to-the-floor beat. There is a great deal of repetition, provided by arpeggiators and bass lines. Listen for synth effects and layered sounds. The music often builds to a crescendo several times throughout a song. Many tracks devolve into a spacey ambiance or floating piano-type lines at the end.

The "Slower Emotions (138 BPM Remixes)" album is a collection of remixes of songs from DJ Markitos' earlier albums, changed to be at a constant temp of 138 beats per minute. Originally, these songs were remixed for a company releasing the music as exercise-music, sold for Dance, Aerobics and other places where a constant tempo would be helpful. The music worked differently slowed down (most of the songs were originally faster) and it was thought that a release of the remixes might be interesting.


name: Dmitry Krasnoukhov
description: New age romantic piano music
homepage: dmitry_krasnoukhov
photo: /artists/img/dmitry_krasnoukhov_small.jpg
society: NONE
page: dmitry_krasnoukhov
bio:
Born in the town of Sukhoi Log, Sverdlovsk region, Russia, in the family of a military man, Dmitry Krasnoukhov finished music school in 1982 in the town of Wunsdorf, Germany. He was transferred from grade 4 to grade 6 due to his outstanding learning skills. Dmitry is very fond of the European pop music of the 80's (ABBA, SPACE), Soviet singers (ZODIAC), selection, arrangement of these melodies and performance.

Dmitry is a regular participant of festivals: "Orpheus" (Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi), "Pedagogic of the 21st century" (Odesa) and was an award winner at the Performing Arts Festival in Vicenza (Italy, 2000)

Since 2002 he has had a keen engagement in composition and piano improvisation impressed by the creativity of Kevin Kern (San Francisco) and has created a collection of beautiful melodies and undertaken many concert activities.

Some of his projects to name a few: the soundtrack for "Ukrposhta" TV commercials, over 2 hours of music for the children's programs at the Ukrainian radio, participation in the opening of salons ("FIAT", "Kontsepty", "Conika", "Odessa-Kino"), a gift album for "Christina Top Cosmetics", participation at Expoplaza exhibition (Italian massage techniques, decorative landscaping) at the opening of private picture galleries, celebrations, psychological conferences and festivals.

Since 2009 Dmitry has been a member of the Ukrainian National Musical Society of the Union of Composers of Ukraine. Currently, he is engaged in concerts, research and publishing activities as well as art therapy, organizing concerts during the theater season in Kyiv and other cities of Ukraine and foreign countries, and in the Crimea during the Summer.


name: Domased
description: old school trance.
homepage: domased
photo: /artists/img/domased.jpg
society: NONE
page: domased
bio:
Ladislav Zajic is Domased Electronica. He is based in Slovakia and his music ranges from old school trance, to ambient and IDM. Ladislav is 28 years old and started in music with producing of electronic music in 1998 in DOS Fasttracker.

An early influece was old school trance, such as Cygnus X, L.S.G., Pete Lazonby as well as the harder Hardfloor. Later influences include the ambient projects f.s.o.l. (Future Sound of London), Biosphere and more experimental pieces from Aphex Twin. Domased Electronica does not do any live performing, but is thinking about using live instruments with more experimental samples of his own. He enjoys adding music to silent films at his local cinema.


name: doublethink
description: paradoxical post-alt rock
homepage: doublethink
photo: /artists/img/doublethink.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: doublethink
bio:
Frustrated with society, religion, and the human condition, doublethink takes the opposites: loud and quiet, fast and slow, positive and negative, and brings them all together into their music and their lives. The bands aggression evolves with each harsh New England winter.. and overflows with an intense and uncompromising sound.

doublethink (n.): Thought marked by the acceptance of gross contradictions and falsehoods, especially when used as a technique of self-indoctrination:

"Doublethink... is a vast system of mental cheating"
(George Orwell).

Find out more about doublethink at their website and MySpace page.


name: Doug Hamer
description: Solo Fingerstyle Guitar and Beautiful Impressionistic Instrumentals
homepage: doug_hamer
photo: /artists/img/doug_hamer.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: doug_hamer
bio:
Growing up in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, Doug Hamer began playing guitar and writing music in his early teens. His early musical influences were Chet Atkins, the Beatles, Paul Simon, Jimi Hendrix, Todd Rundgren and Pentangle.

He studied classical music, composition, and music theory at Olympic and WWSU, with his later influences including J.S. Bach, Bola Sete, John Renbourn, Lenny Breau and Ralph Towner.

Doug Hamer is an accomplished finger-style guitarist and melodic composer. It is often said that he literally paints his music with color, texture and the many moods of nature. His life interests include a passion for horticulture, his wife and best friend; Children's book Illustrator, Bonnie Hamer, guitar collecting, landscaping, hiking, and photography.

Doug still performs in the greater Seattle area doing fund-raising events for a variety of charities, with one of his favorite musical highlights being his featured appearance on KCTS TV, a PBS station in Seattle, Washington.

Recently, Doug's album "Rainforest Suite", came in at number 11 on Ireland's Top New Age album play list for 2005. With his love of nature and his Celtic roots apparent in his compositions, Doug's listening audience often finds his timeless music both relaxing and inspiring.


name: DP Kaufman
description: ambient, melodic electronica meets neo-classical
homepage: dp_kaufman
photo: /artists/img/dp_kaufman2.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: dp_kaufman
bio:
Under the moniker of D.P.KAUFMAN, film and television composer Doug Kaufman started creating unusual but accessible experimental electronica in late 2009 during free time between commercial projects.

He worked under candle light deep into the night, constructing and perfecting odd little instruments that opened up entirely new sonic possibilities.

The first result of those efforts is "As the Ruin Falls", a collection of diverse but cohesive instrumental pieces spanning a range from neo-classical to IDM. While often melodic and peaceful, the album also descends occasionally into industrial chaos - reflecting the inner turmoil of the project's poem namesake.

Working out of his studio in the mountains of North Carolina, Kaufman has started writing for another project; this one incorporating an even larger sonic palette and broader range of instruments and voices.

You can find out more about Doug on his website.


name: Dr Kuch
description: Fun electro-poppy dance up and down tempo chill out
homepage: dr_kuch
photo: /artists/img/drkuch_cover_small.jpg
society: NONE
page: dr_kuch
bio:
Three guys -- Anielo, Nikotep, and Krafany -- from Nantes, France are responsible for the super catchy electronic music of Dr. Kuch. In their own words, they are "regular gender fellows," who have "all necessary stuff that would impress anyone who love sound engineering." And the list does impress: Arp Odyssey synthesizers, a Mini-Moog, Fender Rhodes, a Honner Clavinet D6, a Hammond L100 organ, a Neve digital music console, Pro-Tools, MCI multi-tracks, LeXicon processors, an RE-501 analogue effects box, a DBX digital processsor, Eventide harmonizers, AMT microphones...

Thousands of other guys could claim just such a stockpile of technology, of course, but the music of Dr. Kuch is exactly ten thousand times more charismatic than theirs. Sensing our ambivalence for non-Dr. Kuch produced music, Anielo asks, "Does anyone know how to save musical creation?" He is, apparently, "very upset of listening shit anywhere."

We couldn't agree more.

Krafany adds that he is a "regular small and thin guy," who has "all necessary fingers to give some kind of pleasure to any girls who love piano."

Yep, we think that just about sums it up. Just listen to the album, ok?


name: Dr Sounds
description: spacey ambient/dark new age
homepage: dr_sounds
photo: /artists/img/alex_forselius1.jpg
society: STIM
page: dr_sounds
bio:
Dr Sounds is Alexander Forselius, a Romanian born artist, creating spacey ambient/dark new age tracks using mostly free software packages. He entered the music market on the internet by the famous download.com music store where he got over 800 downloads on his top track, "Chronomics".

The artist was earlier this year featured on the Higher-music blog for his excellent tracks "Solid Structures" and "Clarity of soundscape". JS. Epperson, of a leading American university for studies on healing music research said, "the tracks hold a very impressive minimalism style, but keep the clarity intact".

The artist has also been featured on the Swedish radio "Total Normal", a independent mini radio station, aiming to give people with mental health conditions a voice in a very hard world.

Alex has Aspergers Syndrome and feels that he is a little different in thinking and experiencing the whole world. "I think my brain values mathematics and logic before feelings, and this is one of the reasons why its easy for me to to get caught out by the emotional, social oriented human life society. Therefore I mostly feel integrated with the computer, and feel a deep relationship with it.

With my music, I describe the experience of flying through several worlds, changing shapes and having another life context. In my childhood, I had many dreams about traveling through worlds, I've drawn inspiration from TV, memories from my early childhood (which was in a childrens home in Romania, and the poverty that surrounded me) and the need to get instant satisfaction for intellectual stimulation, trying to avoid situations where I'm must allocate space for other people.

My music is new age and ambient style, and I think is an expression of my life experiences so far, similar to how Michael Jackson retold his childhood experiences in his hits. The difference being that while pop music mostly sing about their expressions, I've referenced them as a kind of unique, unnatural sound structure, implemented together within a common ambient scale.

I think my music, in contrast to pop music and other music, requires more interaction with the listener, because new age music fits well in particular environments, planetariums, floating meditation, fitness centers,etc.

Having unique personal feelings, a brain that focus on logic every time conflicts with the illogical social world, my experiences in childhood and autistic experience of the unorganized social world, is transmuted to unique, illustrative, ambient soundtracks that don't follow a given musical genre."

For more on Alex please go to his website.


name: Drop Trio
description: groove-oriented organ-based funk jazz trio
homepage: drop_trio
photo: /artists/img/drop_trio6.jpg
society: BMI
page: drop_trio
bio:
Drop Trio is a melody-driven funk jazz band from Houston, Texas. Their solid musicianship and incredible energy on stage have been drawing kudos across Houston and beyond. In the words of the Houston Press:

"Houston isn't the greatest city in the world for live jazz, but folks like Drop Trio are out to change that. They don't really fit in with the avant-garde, the martini sippers or the purists; they're more for the young cats who like their jazz a bit funked up with lots of energy. Drop Trio is anchored by a rhythm section tighter than the Texas education budget and a Rhodes keyboard that gets pushed to its limits on every cut."

Since their debut in fall 2002, Drop Trio has quickly gathered a loyal Houston following. The trio tours regionally, playing packed rock and jazz clubs, coffee shops and festivals. Feature articles in the Houston Chronicle and nominations in the Houston Press Music Awards, only months after the band's inception, have given the band broad exposure and an exponentially growing fan base.

Drop Trio's music careens between styles, with feet squarely in the New Orleans funk and Acid jazz camps, and nods to such diverse influences as progressive rock, classical composition and electronica. Their sound simultaneously appeals to the jazz sophisticate and the jam band devotee, while their virtuosity earns them fans in unlikely camps. In a recent appearance on Reprogram Radio, a hip hop and DJ showcase on KPFT 90.1, they earned the respect and appreciation of the local DJ scene as one DJ, put it, their music is "top-notch stuff."


name: Dubmaster Conte
description: Dub, reggae, electronica, downtempo, chill out, trip hop
homepage: dubmaster_conte
photo: /artists/img/dubmaster_conte.jpg
society: NONE
page: dubmaster_conte
bio:
Born in Milan, Stefano Contini (aka Dubmaster Conte), is a producer with various musical projects to his name.

Starting as a teen playing bass guitar in a punkrock band inspired by The Clash he found his way to listen to some serious dub producers such as King Tubby, Lee Scratch Perry and Mad Professor that inprinted forever the musical roots and inspired the mixing techniques of Dubmaster Conte. "Ecotrip" released in 2000 was his first solo autoproduced album, containing a collection of earlier dub/trip hop songs with an ambient flavour.

At the same time he started to put down the foundations of Entheogenic Sound Explorers an ambient electronic duo, inspired by the music of The Orb, The Future Sound of London and various ambient Artists (Oophoi, Brian Eno, Aphex Twin,...). Actually Entheogenic Sound Explorers published 4 albums for the Dutch label Databloem (2007-2013) and recently a new EP for Bass Star/Geomagnetic records (2014).

In 2002 he moved from Milan to Amsterdam were he met Mc Tabbloyd, a Jamaican singer and producer. Together started the Dmt Sound System which participated at different gigs and acts (they were a finalist in the 2004 Diesel U Music Award in Amsterdam). Back in Italy in 2006 they won the first prize as urban act in the Diesel U Music Awards Italy.

From 2005 to 2009 Stefano has been beatmaker and producer for the hip hop acts Hinterland Milano and for Il Buon Garzone.

In 2008 he started with the former member of Entheogenic Sound Explorers a new live band where Dubmaster Conte took back his first musical passion: the bass guitar. The band name is Liquid Rainbow, the musical style is a mix of electronica, psychedelic rock and, of course, dub. Four albums were published between 2009 and 2014. On the album "8x8" he mixed 8 dub versions of the original Liquid Rainbow songs with his unique style.

Finally in 2014 he released with Magnatune his second solo album "In Dub" where he plays, mixes and dubs all the tracks. A work completely dedicated to his first musical and genuine love : Dub Music

You can listent to more of Dubmaster Conte on his website.


name: Dubtrak
description: unique blends of dub, global beats and downtempo ambient electronica
homepage: dubtrak
photo: /artists/img/dubtrak.jpg
society: NONE
page: dubtrak
bio:
Dubtrak is a brainchild of a music creator Richard Lisaj, from Toronto, Canada. He has been delivering his unique blend of dub, global beats and downtempo ambient electronica since 2008.

Dubtrak’s music has been compared to The Orb, Underworld, Banco de Gaia, and the likes, yet, it's been stressed, it incorporates many organic ingredients with some added exotic spices, making it uniquely cross-genre. The ability to seamlessly blend psy-dub vibes, with deep basslines and sounds of sitar, didgeridoo and many other ethnic instruments gained Dubtrak following in far corners of the planet.

In addition to number of full-length albums of his original material, Richard collaborated with a sitar player Ragaboy, and remixed tracks by Dubmatix, Citizen Sound, Pacifika, Baj Tajpan, Delhi 2 Dublin and Matisyahu.

Richard has also released music as Art Sonic and Intersonic Subformation.

As Art Sonic Richard released "Roadside Sketches" - an album of acoustic guitar folktronica with elements of ambient atmospheric Americana.

Under the Intersonic Subformation moniker, Richard is explorating dreamy soundscapes that offer expensive views of Cosmic Vistas rewarding the listener with raw, awe-inspiring, emotions. Attention to details, lush sound design and pristine production place these compositions somewhere in the netherworld between dark and melodic ambience, with a healthy dose of pure electronic space music.


name: Dufay Collective
description: instrumental and vocal music from the Middle Ages and Reniassance
homepage: dufay
photo: /artists/img/dufay_new_group2.jpg
society: PRS
page: dufay
bio:
The Dufay Collective has been performing and recording its unique brand of early music since 1987. During this time the group has performed at major festivals and toured throughout the world, receiving critical acclaim from Cairo to Carlisle. The group has made a series of highly successful recordings of a wide-ranging repertoire of instrumental and vocal music from the Middle Ages and Renaissance, including the Grammy nominated 'Cancionero'.

Their recordings have all met with critical acclaim, but never resting on their collective laurels the group, now directed by William Lyons, strive to create entertaining and informative performances and recordings. They can also be heard on the soundtracks of several feature films including Hamlet, Harry Potter 3 and Shrek 3.


name: Duo Chambure
description: Spanish renaissance vihuela duets
homepage: duo_chambure
photo: /artists/img/duo_chambure_1.jpg
society: NONE
page: duo_chambure
bio:
Formed in 2003, Duo Chambure is named for the "chambure" model vihuelas da mano used by Edward Martin and Philip Rukavina to perform music from Renaissance Spain, including Valderrabano's duets. The duo has performed numerous times throughout the United States, most recently appearing in concert at the lute Society of America 2004 Summer Seminar, held at Case Western University in Cleveland. As individuals, Edward Martin (soprano, alto, and tenor vihuelas) has performed and taught lute extensively throughout the United States, and he teaches lute at the College of St. Scholastica, where he holds the position of Adjunct Professor of Lute. He has other recordings on the Magnatune label.

Phillip Rukavina (tenor and baritone vihuelas), studied lute with Patrick O'Brien at Sarah Lawrence College in new York and with Hopkinson Smith at the Academie Musical in Villecroze, France, and in Basel, Switzerland. Phillip appears on several CDs on the Lyrichord label with the ensemble Minstrelsy! and with the Venere Lute Quartet on "Sweet Division", released in 2003 by the Lute Society of America. Phillip supplied the solo lute music heard on the High Bridge audio tape release of "The Last Unicorn" as read by the author, Peter Beagle. Phillip teaches privately in St. Paul, Minnesota


name: Duo de Bois
description: exquisite chamber music
homepage: duo_de_bois
photo: /artists/img/port3.jpg
society: NONE
page: duo_de_bois
bio:
Stephen Schultz, called "among the most flawless artists on the baroque flute" by the San Jose Mercury News, and "flute extraordinaire" by the New Jersey Star-Ledger, is solo and co-Principal flutist with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and performs with other leading early music groups such as Musica Angelica of Los Angeles, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Chatham Baroque, and American Bach Soloists. Concert tours have taken him throughout Europe and North America with featured appearances at the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York, the Musikverein in Vienna, Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, Carnegie Hall, Royal Albert Hall in London, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Gottingen International Handel Festival, Library of Congress in Washington D.C., Tage Alter Musik Festival, Regensburg, Berkeley Early Music Festival, Monadnock Music, J. Paul Getty Museum Summer Series, San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival, San Jose Chamber Music Society, and the Nakamichi Early Music Festival.

A graduate of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Holland, Schultz also holds several degrees from the California Institute of the Arts and the California State University of San Francisco. Currently he is an Associate Teaching Professor in Music History and Flute at Carnegie Mellon University and director of the Carnegie Mellon Baroque Orchestra. Schultz's engaging teaching style has left its mark at California State University at Long Beach and Sacramento, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Holy Names College, the University of Southern California, and the University of California at Davis and Los Angeles. Mr. Schultz is also a featured faculty member of the Jeanne Baxtresser International Flute Master Class at Carnegie Mellon University and at the International Baroque Institute at Longy School of Music.

In 1986, Mr. Schultz founded the original instrument ensemble, American Baroque. This unique group brings together some of America's most accomplished and exciting baroque instrumentalists, with the purpose of defining a new, modern genre for historical instruments. The group's adventurous programs combine 18th-century music with new works, composed for the group through collaborations and commissions from American composers. Collaborations with such artists and composers as Rudy Rucker, Jonathan Berger, Carl Stone, and the Common Sense Composers Collective yielded an unprecented number of commissioned works written specifically for the group's instruments. The ensemble remains the only U.S. chamber ensemble committed to performing both new music and 18th-century works on historical instruments, while continuing to explore the issues raised by both genres, old and new.

As solo, chamber, and orchestral player, Schultz appears on nearly fifty recordings for such labels as Dorian, Naxos, Harmonia Mundi USA, New Albion, Amon Ra, and Koch International Classics. Schultz has produced and edited forty CDs for his colleagues and has also performed and recorded with world music groups such as D'CuCKOO and Haunted By Waters, using his electronically processed Baroque flute to develop alternative sounds that are unique to his instrument. In 2006, the Pittsburgh composer Nancy Galbraith wrote Traverso Mistico for Mr. Schultz. It is scored for electric Baroque flute, solo cello, and chamber orchestra and was given its world premiere at Carnegie Mellon University in April 2006.

Elizabeth Blumenstock is one of the country's leading baroque violinists. A frequent soloist, concertmaster, and leader with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Los Angeles-based Musica Angelica, American Bach Soloists, Chicago Opera Theater, and the Italian ensemble, Il Complesso Barocco, she is also a member of several of California's finest period instrument chamber ensembles, including Musica Pacifica, the Arcadian Academy, American Baroque, Trio Galanterie, and Trio Galatea. Ms. Blumenstock is Resident Artistic Director of Musica Angelica's chamber music series. With over 90 recordings to her credit, she has recorded for Dorian, harmonia mundi, Virgin Classics, BMG, Reference Recordings, Koch International, Sony, and New Albion.

Ms. Blumenstock has appeared with period orchestras and chamber ensembles throughout the United States and abroad, and has performed at the Boston and Berkeley Early Music Festivals, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Los Angeles Opera, the Carmel Bach Festival, and the San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival, among others. She is instructor of baroque violin at the University of Southern California and teaches regularly at the International Baroque Institute at Longy in Cambridge, MA. Ms. Blumenstock is also organist/choir director at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Richmond, CA, and is an avid Scrabble and pinball player.


name: Ed Durbrow
description: Renaissance lute music.
homepage: ed_durbrow
photo: /artists/img/ed_durbrow.jpg
society: NONE
page: ed_durbrow
bio:
Ed Durbrow has studied the lute since the mid 1970s. Among his many teachers were Robert Strizich, Paul Odette and a year with Eugene Dombois at the Schola Cantorum in Basel, Switzerland in 1979-80.

His discography includes a band single recorded in EMI's Abbey Road Studios as a result of winning the first Melody Maker Rock Contest in London in 1972 and a writing credit on an Ueda Masaki number one album in Japan in 1983. He has composed music for TV commercials and other performers CDs in Japan as well as recording much music in his own studio for many diverse artists. He has played all over Japan performing in costume for general audiences many of whom have never seen a lute.


name: Eduardo Figueroa and Oscar Ohlsen
description: Chilean baroque guitar duo
homepage: figueroa_ohlsen
photo: /artists/img/figuero_ohlsen.jpg
society: NONE
page: figueroa_ohlsen
bio:
Eduardo Figueroa and Oscar Ohlsen have been working together as a duo since 1994 giving concerts in the most important halls and universities in Chile with classical and baroque guitars, lutes and other instruments of the same family. Since 2006 the duo have been working with only Latin-American baroque repertoire, mostly Chilean and Peruvian sources, the main contribution to which has been the reconstruction and interpretation of the Chilean manuscript "Cifras Selectas de Guitarra" (1722) by Santiago de Murcia.

The duo performed the world premiere of this musical source in Santiago de Chile during 2006, the European premiere in London in 2007 and made the first world recording of the manuscript the same year, winning the Chilean Art Press (APES) prize in 2008 for their contribution to the national culture.

Eduardo Figueroa
After formal studies of classical guitar with Oscar Ohlsen, Eduardo Figueroa has since 1998 dedicated himself to the study of early music, obtaining his lute diploma at the "Accademia Internazionale della Musica di Milano", under the guidance of Paul Beier. He has developed a wide concert epxerience as a soloist and continuo player, performing in famous concert-halls and festivals in Italy, Spain, France, England and South America. He is a member of the ensembles "Gruppo Seicento" of Milan and "Estudio MusicAntigua" of Santiago de Chile. Eduardo Figueroa teaches at the Instituto de Musica, Facultad de Artes of the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile.

Oscar Ohlsen
In addition to being one of the most outstanding guitarists in Chile, Oscar Ohlsen has pioneered the lute in South America. He has played in important concert-halls of North and South America, England, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, France, Germany, Japan and the People's Republic of China. His recordings have been issued by EMI and SVR. His books "Aspectos tecnicos esenciales en la ejecucion del laud" and "La musica barroca: un nuevo enfoque" were published by Opera Tres in Madrid and Ediciones Universidad Catolica de Chile, respectively. Oscar Ohlsen is Professor at the Instituto de Musica, Facultad de Artes of the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile.


name: Edward Martin
description: vihuela, renaissance and baroque lute
homepage: edward_martin
photo: /artists/img/edward_martin2.jpg
society: NONE
page: edward_martin
bio:
Edward Martin (lutes, archlute, vihuela, and baroque lute) has studied with lutenists Paul O'Dette, Toyohiko Satoh, and Hopkinson Smith. He holds the position of Adjunct Professor of Lute at the College of Saint Scholastica. In 1984, he performed in the First International Lute Competition in Toronto. Having extensively performed throughout the United States, Martin has made recordings for Minnesota Public Radio, and these performances have also been broadcast on the American Public Radio network.

He is a member of various ensembles, including Minnesota Lute Quartet [MiLQ], a duo with tenor William Bastian, a baroque lute duo with lutenist Paul Berget, and Duo Chambure, with lutenist Phil Rukavina. In the summer of 1997 and 2001 he was invited to be the Renaissance lute instructor at the SFEMS Renaissance week at the Dominican College, San Rafael, California. He has frequently been guest lecturer, teacher, and performer at the American Lute Society's annual summer seminar in Cleveland, where he is on the Board of Directors.


name: Edward Martin and Paul Berget
description: vihuela, renaissance and baroque lute
homepage: martin_berget
photo: /artists/img/martin_berget.jpg
society: NONE
page: martin_berget
bio:
Edward Martin (lutes, archlute, vihuela, and baroque lute) has studied with lutenists Paul O'Dette, Toyohiko Satoh, and Hopkinson Smith. He holds the position of Adjunct Professor of Lute at the College of Saint Scholastica. In 1984, he performed in the First International Lute Competition in Toronto. Having extensively performed throughout the United States, Martin has made recordings for Minnesota Public Radio, and these performances have also been broadcast on the American Public Radio network.

He is a member of various ensembles, including Minnesota Lute Quartet [MiLQ], a duo with tenor William Bastian, a baroque lute duo with lutenist Paul Berget, and Duo Chambure, with lutenist Phil Rukavina. In the summer of 1997 and 2001 he was invited to be the Renaissance lute instructor at the SFEMS Renaissance week at the Dominican College, San Rafael, California. He has frequently been guest lecturer, teacher, and performer at the American Lute Society's annual summer seminar in Cleveland, where he is on the Board of Directors.

You can also follow Edward's solo work and duets with Thomas Walker and William Bastian on Magnatune.

Paul Berget received his B.F.A. degree from the University of Minnesota in 1972. After graduation, he continued his studies with the legendary Diana Poulton at the Royal College of Music in London, where he also studied with acclaimed lutenist Nigel North.

In 1973, he appeared on Broadway in a musical production of Cyrano starring Christopher Plummer.

In addition to playing early music, he has also performed in a variety of other musical styles: modern classical and steel string guitar, and world music.

Recently he has been performing as the lutenist in the internationally acclaimed ensemble Minstrelsy!, a group that records on the Lyra Chord label.

Other early music collaborations include the Rose Ensemble, Ensemble Polaris, the Minnesota Lute Quartet (MiLQ), and performances with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.

You can also follow his solo work on Magnatune here.


name: Edward Martin and Thomas Walker
description: French lute duets that represent the pinnacle of the High Baroque
homepage: martin_walker
photo: /artists/img/martin_walker.jpg
society: NONE
page: martin_walker
bio:
Edward Martin (lute, vihuela da mano) has studied with lutenists Paul O'Dette, Toyohiko Satoh, and Hopkinson Smith. He holds the position of Adjunct Professor of Lute at the College of Saint Scholastica.

In 1984, he performed in the First International Lute Competition in Toronto. Having extensively performed throughout the United States, Martin has made recordings for Minnesota Public Radio, and these performances have also been broadcast on the American Public Radio network. He is a member of various ensembles, a duo with tenor William Bastian, and a baroque lute duo with lutenist Paul Berget, this newly formed baroque duo with Thomas Walker, and Duo Chambure with vihuelist Phil Rukavina.

In the summer of 1997 and 2001 he was invited to be the Renaissance lute instructor at the SFEMS Renaissance week at the Dominican College, San Rafael, California. He has frequently been guest lecturer, teacher, and performer at annual summer seminar of the Lute Society of America, and serves on its Board of Directors. He has also performed in Spain and the Netherlands.

Ed Martin is widely known for his recordings here on the Magnatune label.

Thomas Walker began classical guitar lessons at ten years old. He was captivated by the music of Leo Kottke a couple of years later and continued studies at MacPhail School of Music in Minneapolis with Jack McNally. This led to an interest in jazz as well as a renewed interest in classical music; in college, he studied music theory and classical guitar. He studied jazz independently by extensively transcribing the solo work of Joe Pass.

In college Thomas became interested in Renaissance and baroque music as well; this led by degrees to an interest in the lute some years later. He bought his first lute in 1992 and started studies with Phillip Rukavina shortly thereafter. With Phillip as mentor, he graduated from student to colleague and has since performed with Minnesota lutenists Rockford Mjos, Paul Berget, and Edward Martin as well as Phillip, in various lute ensembles.

Additionally, Thomas has performed solo and with the Venere Lute Quartet, the Rose Ensemble, Ensemble Polaris, Consortium Carissimi, members of the Lyra Baroque Orchestra, and other baroque and Renaissance specialists in the Twin Cities. Thomas appeared on the performer's roster at the biannual Lute Society of America Festival in 2008 and 2010.

He has two solo CDs exploring the Seicento, Toccata released in 2006 and Stile Moderno, Stile Antico in 2010. Additionally, he has a CD of lute duets recorded with Phillip Rukavina, Due, which is a survey of Continental and English lute duets from the 16th to the early 17th century.


name: Edward Martin and William Bastian
description: vihuela, renaissance and baroque lute
homepage: martin_bastian
photo: /artists/img/martin_bastian.jpg
society: NONE
page: martin_bastian
bio:
Edward Martin (lutes, archlute, vihuela, and baroque lute) has studied with lutenists Paul O'Dette, Toyohiko Satoh, and Hopkinson Smith. He holds the position of Adjunct Professor of Lute at the College of Saint Scholastica. In 1984, he performed in the First International Lute Competition in Toronto. Having extensively performed throughout the United States, Martin has made recordings for Minnesota Public Radio, and these performances have also been broadcast on the American Public Radio network.

He is a member of various ensembles, including Minnesota Lute Quartet [MiLQ], a duo with tenor William Bastian, a baroque lute duo with lutenist Paul Berget, and Duo Chambure, with lutenist Phil Rukavina. In the summer of 1997 and 2001 he was invited to be the Renaissance lute instructor at the SFEMS Renaissance week at the Dominican College, San Rafael, California. He has frequently been guest lecturer, teacher, and performer at the American Lute Society's annual summer seminar in Cleveland, where he is on the Board of Directors.

You can also follow Edward's solo work and duets with Thomas Walker and Paul Berget on Magnatune.

William Bastian has sung over 40 opera roles and 75 different oratorio roles as a tenor and a countertenor over a career that has ranged from Milwaukee to Nashville to London.

A frequent soloist with the LSCO and the DSSO, Bill also teaches (currently at the College of St. Scholastica). Bill and his wife Laurie founded Northern Opera Theatre Experience: a local opera company which brought professional opera to Twin Ports audiences through the 1990s. Bill's recent projects have included his expanding guitar repertoire.


name: Ehren Starks
description: piano and cello/jazzy new age
homepage: ehren
photo: /artists/img/ehren2.jpg
society: BMI NONE
page: ehren
bio:
Born in Tulsa Oklahoma but raised in Kansas City, Missouri. Currently attending the University of Kansas studying Art History Drawing and Painting. I now live in Lawrence Kansas USA.

I began playing at the age of five under the suzuki theory and continued with lessons until the age of 18 or so. I became bored with playing other peoples songs and the piano in general. I really started making a lot of progress when I got into improvising and composing my own pieces. This was around the age of 13 or 14.

I recorded and released my first solo album at the age of 17. The Depths of a Year was written from the age of 18 to 19 while I first attended the University of Kansas. Much of the album came from a need to cope with a failed relationship. I wrote the album and called Kate who I barely knew. I did know she could play and she gladly joined on. I dropped out of school to play piano and organ with a rock and roll band called the gadjits ( now the architects) and a band called the belles. I toured for two and a half years, playing over 300 shows in all of north america and the UK.

Being burnt out by the road and rough lifestyle, I have happily returned to school to study visual arts and focus on my composing, drawing from the likes of Radiohead, Interpol, and many others. I am now 22 and hope to keep pushing the boundaries of my creativity and composing in general.


name: Eight Gates
description: charming folk pop/rock with a hint of electronica opening the gates to the land of the fairies
homepage: eight_gates
photo: /artists/img/eight_gates.jpg
society: NONE
page: eight_gates
bio:
Eight Gates was founded by Shaposhnikov Nikita and Sudakov Timofey in a small Russian industrial city on the Volga River. As a response to the boredom of their city that wasn't exactly abound with creativity, and driven by a thirst for magical stories and a vague sense of the intangible greatness of the world, the two began composing music together when they were high schoolers. Back then, they tried to express themselves through electronic dance music, such as trance. By the time they started the long journey of creating their own first album, the two had already released several singles in collaboration with Russian and American singers-songwriters and as well as many remixes.

Their own album then led them into a completely different direction; as Nikita and Timofey were working on their own project, a much wider narrative began to take shape that required different musical languages. The most prominent one thereof is the language of imagination and mystery. Thus, Russian singers-songwriters from various musical genres such as indietronica, Russian folk music, indie rock and jazz were invited to help make them bring the album to life. In the process, Timofey left the project, meaning that "Eight Gates" currently consists of only one person: Shaposhnikov Nikita.

The First Gate is open now, and the journey is just beginning!


name: Eleanor Hodgkinson
description: beautifully crafted individual playing
homepage: eleanor_hodgkinson
photo: /artists/img/eleanor_hodgkinson.jpg
society: NONE
page: eleanor_hodgkinson
bio:
Eleanor Hodgkinson is a sought after pianist playing solo and chamber music recitals in the UK, Guernsey, France and other countries in Europe and also North America. Eleanor has performed at venues such as the Purcell Room, Symphony Hall, the Barbican, the Royal Festival Hall and St. John's, Smith Square and has broadcast on BBC Radio 3, ITV and Meridian TV.

Her versatility has led to many collaborations. These include a project with dancers of the Royal Ballet, premieres and recordings of British music in the Vigani Cabinet project at Queens' College, Cambridge and performances with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of the Swan, and period instrument group The Artaria Piano Trio. As a writer she has devised a multi-arts project for 8-12 year olds, "The Moon Ants Law", which has been the recipient of a number of grants. She is a founder member of the Nimbus Ensemble and Duo Volante, who regularly perform throughout the UK.

Eleanor studied piano at the Royal Northern College of Music and then specialised in piano accompaniment supported by a scholarship from the Countess of Munster Musical Trust.

Subsequently, Eleanor was awarded a scholarship to study accompaniment at the Royal Academy of Music, completing her studies in 1998. During this time she was awarded scholarships to attend the International Musicians Seminar, Prussia Cove and the Banff Centre for the Arts, Canada, where she undertook a residency with her piano trio in 2001.

Eleanor is a Visiting Tutor in piano at Royal Holloway, University of London, teaches piano and chamber music at the Junior Department of the Royal Academy of Music and is an examiner and mentor for the Associated Board both in the UK and abroad. Her personal passsions include writing, tango, motorbikes and long-distance running.


name: Electric Frankenstein
description: high energy punk rock & roll
homepage: electric_frankenstein
photo: /artists/img/electric_frankenstein2.jpg
society: ASCAP
page: electric_frankenstein
bio:
Electric Frankenstein - 13 years, over 100 record releases, and more! EF has almost single-handedly returned rock to its most basic and savage roots, the way it was meant to be. They have been receiving international acclaim for their exciting brand of Punk Rock and Roll, done with the great intensity of such bands as the Stooges, MC5, Dead Boys, NY Dolls, Damned, Black Flag, Misfits, AC/DC, Kiss, Cheap Trick, Aerosmith, etc. In addition to playing the most dynamic, ravenous, and menacing rock you've ever heard, EF recognizes the importance of integrity. From giving proper nods to the architects of street-level rock (Iggy and the Stooges, Dead Boys, AC/DC), to fiercely supporting DIY labels to their constant efforts to put fans first ahead of profit, EF is championing the cause to bring Rock back to the people and out of the hands of corporations. EF aren't young or pretty, and in case you haven't noticed neither is Real Rock & Roll. EF aren't here to be your girlfriend, they're here to ROCK! While stupid critics might say 'but, it's only rock n roll, its nothing new', EF fans are saying "Damn, right!" as they embrace the best of what's loud, fast, and rules from the last 30 years distilled down to one single organism. EF are one a mission to revitalize Rock & Roll and save people from the boredom of "alternative music". EF shows are intense, exciting, and inspiring.

EF have been well reviewed in such magazines as Kerrang, Metal Hammer, Rock Sound, Alternative Press, Hit Parader, Seconds, Thrasher, Lollipop, Tail Spins, Rue Morgue, Maximum Rock N Roll, Flipside, Big Takeover, Paper, Aquarian Weekly, and countless European & Japanese magazines as well. NY Press picked EF as the "Best Punk Band in NYC". EF have received top 40 commercial radio airplay in the USA, Top 5-10 on many American college radio stations, and were Number One on Belgian, Finnish, and Swedish, etc., national radio. EF has even been picked by the Frankenstein Society as the bands representing the release of the Frankenstein commemorative stamp for the US Post Office. Not only are they one of the top most featured bands in the music press (currently #2 out of the Top 500!), but they have a loyal fan following in over 10 countries, with many bands citing EF as an influence and covering EF songs, and drawing thousands at music festivals internationally. EF's raw, powerful, and melodic Dead Boys meets AC/DC sound that has made them the Kings of High Energy Punk Rock N Roll!

EF has been on over 40 of the world's best indie record labels (Sub Pop, Man's Ruin, Estrus, Get Hip, Victory, Au-go-go, TKO, Junk, etc.), selling hundreds of thousands of records. They have appeared on many European music televison shows and have had their songs or artwork featured in many videogames, movies and tv shows, including X-Files, Dawson's Creek, Signs, American Psycho 2, Flophouse, Tony Hawks Proskater, and the occasional porno flick as well. EF have since their inception been touring the US, UK, and Europe; often as headliner, even doing a sold out show at the Fillmore in SF and played to thousands at European festivals. EF played the 1997 Warp tour. They plan to tour Japan and Australia soon. EF have played with Danzig, Monster Magnet, Marilyn Manson, Hole, Social Distortion, The Misfits, Dead Kennedys, Dictators, Poison Idea, SOD, Joe Strummer, The Dwarves, Nebula, Orange Goblin, Electric Wizard, Turbonegro, Hellacopters, and many more. One of Joey Ramone's favorites, EF can count many other bands as fans of their music as well (Jon Spencer, Metallica, Monster Magnet, etc.), and they have returned the favor via the popular "A Fistful of Rock & Roll" compilation series, produced by EF guitarist, Sal Canzonieri.

The EF invasion has begun with Dark Horse publishing a 160 page book on EF. In 2004, EF will have a world wide art gallery and book signing tour for the upcoming book, "Electric Frankenstein!", as well as two fantastic EF clothing lines being done by Sourpuss Clothing and Lucky 13 clothing, and EF skateboards, toys, and videogames in the works too!

EF play vintage equipment exclusively by Gibson, Ibanez, Fender, Ludwig, Ampeg, and Marshall and are sponsored by D'Addario guitar strings and GHS bass strings.


name: Eliyahu Sills
description: cross-cultural grooves
homepage: eliyahu
photo: /artists/img/qadim.jpg
society: BMI
page: eliyahu
bio:
Eliyahu Sills has been studying and performing music for over 20 years on many instruments including upright bass, bansuri (the bamboo flute of India) and the ney (the reed flute of the middle east).

In the early 1990s, he studied upright bass at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City. Deeply influenced by teachers Makanda Ken McIntyre, Arnie Lawrence and Reggie Workman (John Coltrane, Art Blakey), Eliyahu began performing as a sideman and bandleader in renowned jazz clubs such as The Village Gate and Small's.

In the years that followed, Eliyahu fell in love with the flute and applied the musical theory that he learned through his jazz studies to teach himself this most ancient of instruments. After falling under the spell of the Sufi music of Turkey, he became a devoted student of both the ney and the bansuri. He has since continued to study and perform these ancient instruments under the guidance of his teacher, bansuri master G.S. Sachdev, to whom he is a devoted student.

Eliyahu has spent time in Istanbul, studying the traditions and nuances of the nay. During his journeys there, he has had the opportunity to study under masters Neyzen Omer Erdogdular and Neyzen Ahmet Kaya. In 2008 he returned to Turkey, continuing his musical development under his Turkish teachers guidance.

Eliyahu's mastery of musical styles spans the globe. He has performed and recorded traditional spiritual music of the Middle East with Za'atar, West African folk music with the Palm Wine Boys, soul roots reggae with the Original Intentions, and acoustic soul with Sparlha Swa. Recently, he has been making music with Ethiopian born jazz/soul vocalist Meklit Hadero, North African trance with Hamsa Lila, recorded devotional music with Shimshai, and toured with Rupa & the April Fishes, and with oudist/composer Yuval Ron.

About The Qadim Ensemble:

Led by neyzen and peacemaker Eliyahu Sills, the innovative cross-cultural group of Middle Eastern musicians from Arabic, Armenian, Indian, Iranian, Jewish and Moroccan traditions promotes peace by celebrating the common musical heritage of the embattled region's ancient spiritual cultures.

Qadim features Rachel Valfer on vocals, Middle Eastern lute (oud) and persian stick fiddle (kemanche), Faisal Zedan on Arabic percussion (darbukkah, riqq, & frame drum) and vocals, John Villa on Indian tablas and frame drums, and Eliyahu Sills on the Middle Eastern reed flute (ney), Indian bamboo flute (bansuri), Turkish lute (saz), and vocals.

Acclaimed for their passionate performances, Qadim (pronounced ka-deem) is comprised of an ensemble of accomplished and acclaimed musicians. The San Francisco Bay Area-based group has attracted a growing global audience who are responding to their authentic musicianship and timely message. Durme Durme, a track from the group's debut CD, Songs of Qadim, was recently featured on Mediterraneo by Difference Music, an internationally distributed 4-CD set of 73 traditional and modern Mediterranean songs and 200-page hard-bound book showcasing the region's history, geography and culture. The track Ya Adili Bilah can be heard on Petrol Records new collector's edition compilation Arabia: The Greatest Songs Ever.


