ETTORE SALATI
This month's Artist in Spotlight is Ettore Salati from Italy. Ettore is a sought after session guitarist by many prog musicians not just in Italy but all around the world. He started playing piano at a very young age (mostly classical music) but when he became a teenager and discovered the world of Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Genesis and 70's rock in general, he was immediately fascinated by guitar... more
KAT EPPLE (Emerald Web)
KAT EPPLE, flautist and composer, is our interview guest this month. She has won 8 Emmy awards, was nominated for a Grammy and she has released 18 albums internationally. Most of you know her as the other half of the legendary ambient/new age duo EMERALD WEB. She has a very large collection (over 200) of flutes that she gathered from all around the world during her travels. Kat composes original New Age/Jazz/World/orchestral music and has produced film scores and television soundtracks for National Geographic, Nova, CNN, Carl Sagan, Another World, The Travel Channel, Turner Broadcasting System, History Channel, HGN, The Guiding Light, PBS, and NASA among others, and was Music Director for the feature-length film, Captiva Island. She also owns a record company and works on both sides of the music industry as a musician and as a business woman... more
New Grass Revival / On The Boulevard
New Grass Revival are one of the pioneers of progressive bluegrass. Formed in 1971 by Sam Bush (mandolin/vocals), Curtis Burch (guitar), Ebo Walker (bass) and Courtney Johnson (banjo), they immediately got the attention from the industry both in a good and bad way. First of all, they were often told that their music was not bluegrass, and they knew it wasn’t “bluegrass” in its traditional sense, and it wasn’t what they were trying to achieve anyways. They were blending rock, soul and blues rhythms with the traditional bluegrass music. They were not wearing suites, but instead they had a more casual style along with long hair... more
We are much honored to have Andy Powell, one of the founding members of the legendary rock band WISHBONE ASH, as our proGuest this month. He got back from the first leg of a big European tour with his band, and just resumed a short East Coast North American tour. Andy Powell was born in Stepney, England. He started playing guitar at the age of 11. For some time he was not able to buy a guitar of his own so he kept borrowing instruments, until one day he finally made his own. Yes you read it right. In fact, that guitar was used during the early Wishbone Ash recordings and was the first of many hand made guitars. The band mates actually named it “Les Powell”. Andy grew up listening to bands like The Shadows, Fairport Convention, Fleetwood Mac, but he also liked R&B a lot. He started playing in different bands around London at a very young age. In 1969, he responded to an ad from Martin Turner and Steve Upton and that is how Wishbone Ash was formed. Ted Turner (second lead guitarist) joined them at the same time, and this was the beginning of the band’s signature twin lead guitar sound that actually influenced many bands, Iron Maiden being one of them. In 1970, the band released their self titled debut album, and the rest was history. Besides being a musician, Powell added the title “author” to his resume when he published “The Collector’s Guide To Wishbone Ash” in 1996. This is a great guide for those who want to learn more about Wishbone Ash, first hand. Today, a lot is happening on the Ash’s side. They have a brand new album called “The Power Of Eternity”, and they recently released a live DVD titled “Live In Hamburg”. This is not all. Like we mentioned earlier, they just got back from a very successful European tour, hit the road here in the USA and are now getting ready to go back to Europe for the second leg of their tour. They will come back to the States, this time to tour the West Coast. You can find all the information about the dates on their website at: www.wishboneash.com. They will also be playing at The Rites Of Spring Festival in Philadelphia in May. The Prog Files had the chance to meet them in Maryland Heights (St. Louis) MO in November. You can find a live review for that show HERE. Andy Powell kindly accepted to be our guest reviewer this month. We are very glad to feature him. He literally did this while he was touring in the States and for that we are extremely grateful. He is a genuine music lover and a real down to earth guy. We also asked him what 3 CD’s are in his stereo right now. He said he is listening to a Swedish twin lead band (of course) called Plankton, The Cardigans and the most recent Wishbone Ash release “The Power of Eternity”. Please note that our proGuests have no information about the bands other than the songs we select for them. |
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AROARA Toil Under Sail LISTEN |
The first offering by AROARA is right up my street. I love this kind of Celtic influenced rock. Wishbone, as you know, has elements of this in its music. The players are on it and perhaps the missing ingredient might be a vocal. I hear shades of Tull and not just because of the flute. It's in the groove. Are they Irish? We were just there and there is so much great music over there -some incredible players. AROARA Website |
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BUTCH The Darkness LISTEN |
BUTCH was also interesting - nice British sounding vocals. A little Yes influence perhaps. Thoughtful. Again, I hear elements of what we do in this band. Were these songs selected with that in mind? More info on Butch's music... |
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CANVAS Move The Earth LISTEN |
CANVAS: This has to be American - There are those twin leads. Perhaps this might be a little dated sounding. They rock though, and move through different passages effortlessly. CANVAS Website I like the way that all three acts (especially the first one) are recording in an honest way without too much overproduction. That's the way everyone is going these days. I'd be happy to play on shows with players like this. So many of the bands that are on the same bills as we are, show so little imagination. These three bands are thinking! I love that. You can find our previous proGuests in our ARCHIVES page. |
