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| News Archive - 2007 |
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November 8, 2007 |
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Nick has teamed up with Nashville Engineer/Producer Mark Hornsby to record a truly unique version of a early Genesis song: "The Colony of Slippermen". Recorded at Java Jive Studio in Nashville, TN, the song features some of Nashville's best musicians, taking the song in a whole new direction. "We wanted to see what would happen if we exposed the song to a different climate of musicians," says D'Virgilio, "The early Genesis recordings are so musical and very bluesy when you get right down to it.. They really lend themselves to some different interpretations." Although all of the original elements of the song are still there (drums, bass, guitar, and piano), it now takes on a more "acoustic" vibe. This, coupled with accordion, electric sitar, and a fantastic horn arrangement, takes the song to an entirely different place. "We had talked about doing something like this for awhile," says Hornsby, "With the recent success of the Genesis reunion tour and the re-release of the Genesis catalogue in 5.1, the time seemed right to see what we could come up with." "The Colony of Slippermen" is part of a larger project that has yet to be announced. The song is currently available as a free download at Nick D'Virgilio's Myspace page: myspace.com/ndvmusic.
Credits:
Lead Vocals, Drums: Nick D'Virgilio
BGVs: Nick D'Virgilio, Kat Bowser
Bass: Dave Martin
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, and Electric Sitar: Don Carr
Piano, Accordian: Jeff Taylor
Trombone: John Hinchey
Trumpet: Steve Patrick
Saxophone, Flute, Clarinet: Sam Levine
Produced by Mark Hornsby and Nick D'Virgilio
Recorded at Java Jive Studio and The Garage by Mark Hornsby, Jon
Craig, and Nick D'Virgilio
Mixed at Java Jive Studio by Mark Hornsby
Mastered at Digital Domain by Bob Katz
14. Nov.: Al Ginter Percussion, L-7374 Bofferdange, www.alginter.lu
15. Nov.: The Groove Factory, NL-9201 Drachten, www.groove-factory.nl
16. Nov.: Rockland Music Shop, 58453 Witten, www.rockland-music.de
17. Nov.: Finale “Drummer of Tomorrow”, Musik-Lokal Südbahnhof Frankfurt/M., www.drummer-of-Tomorrow.de
19. Nov.: Six & Four, 66280 Sulzbach, www.sixandfour.de
20. Nov.: Drumhouse, 79183 Waldkirch-Kollnau, www.drumhouse.com
21. Nov.: Double’s Rock’n Roll, 86609 Donauwörth, www.rocknrollmusikladen.de
22. Nov.: Musik Hieber Lindberg, 80331 München, www.hieber-lindberg.de
23. Nov.: Drumhouse, A-4810 Gmunden, www.drumhouse.at
24. Nov.: Ludescher Music, A-6800 Feldkirch-Altenstadt, www.ludeschermusic.at
Nick will be doing some drum clinics in Europe. Here are the dates: |
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November 3, 2007 |
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Hey Kids,
Ed Roman, the guy who turned a block of wood into my cool new custom bass, has just opened a new store in Las Vegas, so I thought I'd just let everybody know about it! His website has an incredible amount of information, articles and rants, so if you're interested, go to www.edroman.com. My new bass is also pictured there, on the Abstract Guitars page, just navigate to that page and scroll down a bit and you'll see it. Cheers - Dave
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October 8, 2007 |
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Hi Bearded ones, it's Alan, you know, that guy with the purple shades.
I have an unusual request, but I thought I'd put it out there & see if anyone can help me. As some of you know, in addition to playing in SB I also own an electronics company called DynaMetric, Inc. that makes & sells telephone recording adapters and other telephone related stuff. We're looking for an engineer to help us with a new product we're developing. It would be on a consulting basis. This person needs to be able to design, program and test microprocessor/microcontroller based devices. PC and HTML programming helpful. Experience with PBX systems and/or ISDN also a big plus. If you are such a person or know someone who might be able to help, please email me at alan@spocksbeard.com. Thanks!
Other than that, not much to say. We're working on a live DVD we shot during our last tour, looks pretty good so far. It'll probably be a while before it's ready to release, but stay tuned, it oughta be pretty cool. Also doing some writing lately, really getting into writing lyrics, which I usually don't really like. Hope you're all doing good, keep on proggin'!
Alan
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September 14, 2007 |
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Hi Everybody,
Sorry for taking so long since the last update. A lot has been happening, but not too much of it very interesting so we've just been quietly inching forward, waiting for something exciting to announce. But, it looks silly having the last band update being from June, so here's a new one!
We are still working on our DVD... it's been very stop-and-start mainly due to bureaucratic issues that seem to go unnecessarily slow. (First we have to wait for this, then we have to wait for that, then we have to wait for the next thing, etc, etc., and each one takes weeks).
The good news is that a lot of the video has been cut together, rough edited, and looks fantastic. I've only seen a few minutes of it, but what I've seen looks really nice. That's actually been done for quite some time and has just been sitting on the production table waiting for final tweaks and waiting for the mixed audio to be laid in.
We had an unexplained delay getting the audio tracks to Rob's studio. I think it actually got lost in the mail for nearly a month (!!!). .. the hard drive probably sat there in the same room with all of our missing merchandise orders having tea and biscuits for a while, but now it has finally arrived. Pretty soon he can start to mix. .. . as soon as we get his budget approved!! (another bureaucratic delay no doubt.... )
We were really trying to get this thing out by Oct / Nov, but it would be a miracle to do that at this point. . .we're still shooting for end of the year, though...it's all so unpredictable, though.
In the meantime, we've all been doing our own things. . .Here's a really quick version of what we've been up to as it relates to music -
Nick has had a few gigs with Tears For Fears, some trips out of the country as a clinician for Meinl (his cymbal company) and has done a few drum sessions for various very cool artists.
I had the pleasure of playing with Nick as guest artists on the new Big Big Train CD, which was just finished and put on pre-sale last week. (Nick played on two tracks, one with me and one with Pete Trewevas). You should definitely check it out....in my humble opinion it is one of the best prog releases of the decade. You can hear audio clips on their website: www.bigbigtrain.com.
NIck and I also played on a few tracks for Martin Orford for his newest solo CD project which is still in it's beginning stages. That's also some VERY good stuff!!
Ryo has been busy with his Las Vegas band and also going back and forth like a maniac to Japan for various musical projects he's involved with.
Al has been compiling ideas for the next CD and has taken an interest in lyric writing lately, so that will be a nice addition to our songwriting arsenal I'm sure.
Jimmy has been doing drum sessions, playing lots of gigs and working furiously on getting his wife over here to the U.S.A. on a permanent basis.
But NOW it's time to get this DVD finished and start getting our heads back into the writing mode so we can start working on SB10!!
Cheers.................Dave
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June 22, 2007 |
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Hi Everybody,
We've been pretty quiet lately, so I thought I'd let you know what's going on in Beardland.
The band is really looking forward to playing in Québec City on July 06 (see more details and a link further down on this page). It is a really nice festival and our first time in Canada, so we're pretty excited about it.
We're also excited about the DVD that we shot in Holland in May. I'm not sure when it will be released, but I'm guessing it will be near the end of the year. We saw a few minutes of work-in-progress footage, and it looks great! Hats off to the film crew and Andi Platte, our lighting tech who did a spectacular job.
That's it for now. . but we'll keep you posted on anything new and exciting.
Cheers! Dave
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May 24, 2007 |
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Members of the German Spock's Beard community www.thebearded.de have produced a progressive rock double-CD titled: The Bearded's Project: HOPE | OMID. (Omid is the Afghan word for hope.) Spock's Beard has contributed a track as has Neal Morse. All the incoming money will be given to a very successful aid organization, the German Aid For Afghan Children. This private organization founded, in cooperation with the population, several so called Peace-Schools in this crisis region. Please check the homepage of the project for ordering information: www.thebeardedsproject.de . The CD will also be available through the InsideOut webshop.
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May 24, 2007 |
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Nick is part of the new group "Amaran's Plight", also featuring DC Cooper (Ex-Royal Hunt, Silent Force), Gary Wehrkamp (Shadow Gallery) and Kurt Barabas (Under the Sun). For more information about the debut release on Prog Rock Records, please visit click here,
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May 9, 2007 |
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Spock's Beard has signed on to play in Canada at the International Festival in Quebec City, Quebec on July 6. More info: Festival d'été International de Quebec |
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April 3, 2007 |
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Hey Everyone in Beardland,
This is Alan Morse, letting you all know that this June 3rd through 9th I will be bicycling in the AIDS/LifeCycle. It's a 7-day, 545-mile bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles. It's a fundraiser to help people living with HIV and AIDS.
It's a challenge, but I'm really looking forward to it. It's right after I get back from Spock's Beard's Spring 2007 European tour (dates listed below), so I'm going to be training for it while we're on the road.
Please click this link to visit my LifeCycle homepage - www.aidslifecycle.org/2057. There you can sponsor me, send messages of support & check out my progress. You can also email alan@spocksbeard.com for more info. I really appreciate your support, I need all the help I can get!
Thanks, Alan
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Four O'Clock
And Hysteria |
| The new CD from Alan Morse is scheduled to be released on April 24 on IsideOut Music. |
| Go to alanmorse.com for more info, soundclips and to pre-order. |
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February 3, 2007 |
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Spock's Beard Japanese release
The band's latest CD was released January 31 in Japan by Dingwall Music. It's a two CD set with a 40+ minute bonus disc including:
1. A Hypernova Explosion (unreleased instrumental from Ryo)
2. Skeletons At The Feast (demo)
3. They Know We Know (single edit)
4. A Perfect Afternoon (demo of the bridge from 'On A Perfect Day')
5. Rearranged (demo)
6. Is This Love (demo)
7. With Your Kiss (demo)
8. Red Sea (unreleased instrumental from Ryo)
Information on how to order outside of Japan can be found here
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| ©2007 Spock's Beard - website by gonewest |
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