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
STEVE SMYTH This month's proGuest is a site favorite around here: Guitarist extraordinaire Steve Smyth. This axe legend has graced the lineups of bands like Nevermore, Dragonlord, Testament, Vicious Rumors, etc. He received his break in 1993 when Shrapnel Records president Mike Varney featured him in the “Hometown Heroes” column of Guitar World magazine. His latest and most ambitious project to date is The Esseness Project and one we had the distinct pleasure of reviewing here at The Prog Files. Check out that five-star review HERE. The Esseness Project were on the Artist Spotlight here as well, a few months ago. We had the chance to interview Steve back then. He talked about some future plans with the band. You can read it HERE. The article also contains some useful links for those who want to know more about him and the band. Steve was very generous with his time and took a short break from his writing to review three promising indie bands. |
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AETHERIUS The New Way of Thinking LISTEN |
Cool, moody intro, that goes into familiar territory from there for me. Maybe a little Symphony X and early DNB era Nevermore influence there, with that moody clean guitar… I like it. I hear Dream Theater influence for sure throughout the first few minutes of the track, great guitar tones as well! Myself, I am not fond of the rap style vocal in progressive music; I hated it when Dream Theater did it, it just doesn’t fit to me. Singer has a good delivery, I think I hear some The Nice symphonic style arrangements throughout though, each instrument has its space in the arrangements. Good musicians overall. Visit their myspace page at: www.myspace.com/aetherius |
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COSMIC NOMADS The Engulfed Forest LISTEN |
Nice thematic intro, kind of Yes meets Styx inspired?! I think, and it’s cool to hear use of a Pentatonic melody over several key centers like that. Dig the B3 tones, and overall the room sound of the recording. Very 70’s style sound overall. Visit their website at: www.cosmicnomads.com.au |
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SPECIAL OPS Anger Is Creeping LISTEN |
Kind of has that 70’s/80’s retro rock sound to it. Good vocal hook on the chorus, and dare I say I hear a little bit of John Oliva influence in the vocals there? More straight ahead rock, than really progressive, I think….. Visit their website at: www.opsmission.com You can find our previous proGuests in our ARCHIVES page. |
