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

WISHBONE ASH / LIVE IN ST. LOUIS, MO

The Prog Files had the opportunity to see Wishbone Ash perform live on the 29th of November, 2007 in Maryland Heights (a suburb of Saint Louis) at the Voo-Doo Lounge. It was a small but an interesting venue both for the audience and for the performers. First of all, if you are not a sober rocker it might be a little scary and here is why: when we first walked in, we looked around to see where the stage actually was. All the seats were facing the bar so it did not make any sense. Suddenly we noticed that the stage was above the bar, about 15 feet high, no safety bars or anything… yikes!

The show started a little after 8pm with “Real Guitars Have Wings”. Ironically, Andy Powell came to the stage with a can of RedBull (real guitarists have wings too!). He and Muddy were dressed up formal, maybe it was the atmosphere of the Casino. We noticed that the fans were actually pretty hardcore. There were many people who had every single Wishbone Ash album since day one. (Like Rhonda Cope and Stephen Cope…. Hi guys!)

One classic followed another: "The King Will Come", "Throw Down The Sword", "Sometime World", "Warrior", "Living Proof", "Phoenix" and more. The band’s performance was “alive”. Andy Powell’s vocals were outstanding as well as his guitar playing. If there were electric guitars in King Arthur’s time, the musicians of the time would most probably play like him. Muddy Manninen, second lead guitarist, definitely brought out his blues-y side even more during the show (especially during an extended version of "Way of the World"). He, for the most part played his solos with eyes closed, you could see he was feeling every single note. Bob Skeat was very energetic and the audience loved his funk/rock style solos. He is unpredictable and can suddenly change the song’s atmosphere and, there you are, at a different concert for a little while. Joe Crabtree, the new drummer of the band literally kicked butt. He performed seamlessly throughout the show making the whole thing look like piece of cake. (On a more personal note I recommend you check his blog entries on the band’s website, as he has eye for detail, most probably because he is a physicist. I think he would be a great writer for a travel guide type of book, like where to eat and where to stay etc…)

They played 3 songs from the current album: “The Power”, “In Crisis” and “Happiness”. We really hoped to hear “Growing Up”, but they did not include that one. It seemed like the audience responded well to the new songs.

After the show, the band came to the merchandise table to meet their fans and give autographs. Everyone was very pleased to get the chance to meet the musicians. I have to admit, Wishbone Ash holds a special place in the history of rock because there are not very many bands that were able to keep their hardcore audience after going through so many incarnations. Muddy, Bob and Joe, all got great deal of attention from the fans, not just Andy. All the band members are paying close attention to keep this interaction going online as well. You can find them in the band's forums, you can ask them questions, and you WILL be heard. It is like one big family over there.

This was fairly a short North American tour, and mostly included venues from East Coast and Midwest. However, Wishbone Ash will be back to the States for the RoSFest, and they are planning a west coast tour that will kick off afterwards most probably in Phoenix, AZ. But in the meantime, the band is back to Europe and will also have a second UK tour before the RoSFest.

You can check the upcoming tour dates at: www.wishboneash.com. You can also check the official Rites Of Spring website to see when they will be playing: www.rosfest.com. We will most definitely be there.

HANDE BURDG