Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Ahoora

Ahoora


Biography:
Ahoora, was formed late 2001, in Tehran, Iran. The influences were shown in the early covers: Iced Earth, Iron Maiden, and Black Sabbath ...etc. The band recorded its first demo tape “The Call of Beneath” back in 2004, due to gain permission from the culture ministry of Islamic Iran: breaking the broken!


In May 2005 Ahoora played its first official gig, the first metal performance ever with vocals in Iran. The band played two sets, First: Iced Earth songs & the 2nd set: four Ahoora songs that later were heard on the debut album. Ahoora was forced to cancel the second night though.

February 13th 2006, saw the release of self titled debut album as a forbidden release in Iran. Although the release can be analyzed as a unique event in Iranian music scene, the foreign feedback have always been stronger.


Ultimate Metal called it "hard-hitting, true heavy metal “and The Metal Observer wrote “They are walking a very fine line, very fit on their instruments" while Chronicles of Chaos believed "Ahoora have clearly spent a lot of time honing their sound, both individually and as a unit, resulting in a coherent and tight album."


The band was invited to play at Evergreen Music Festival in Washington D.C; but missed the lifetime opportunity because of the strict exit laws. In September 2006 the late concert in support of the first release was canceled by the authorities, leaving no chance to perform the album for the fans and made “Ahoora” a banned act. Throughout the recording of the second album, the band missed the chance of performing at ’07 version of famous Metal Camp. The idea was shut down thanks again to the exit laws.


Ahoora’s 2nd album,”All in Blood with You”, came out on 30th of September 2007, which was a major step forwards in many ways. The album was received even warmer by metal & underground media. As Metal Mayhem named it as “…already one of the favorites of the year"”; Ultimate Metal called it “an incredible release that everyone should check out” while Progressive Rock&Metal described it as “A surprisingly quality metal masterpiece”. In early 2008 the British Real2Can released Ahoora’s self titled debut album digitally worldwide.


Ahoora’s third album “Awkward Diary” was written throughout 2008 and the band started recording in April 2009. The sessions were put on hold after 3 months due personal problems and the panic situation within the country. However the band picked it up and finished the recordings by October. In 26th of October, Ahoora released its first ever single, “Crimson Baby”. The song is dedicated to Neda & all who died innocently in Tehran streets during the conflicts of June 2009. It was followed by 2nd single “Closure”, which was a success within the internet radio stations and podcasts.


“Awkward Diary” is released on the 2nd of March 2010 by Zirzamin. This album again has been a major surprise in terms of genre and quality in compare to the previous effort. Few presses have had this chance to check the album before its release. Classic Rock Magazine describes the sound as "Muse and Tool getting all cozy around Iced Earth”, and Rock Pulse labeled it as: “highly impressive enigmatic, compelling progressive rock”.


Within 2010, and with the release of “Awkward Diary”, Ahoora needs and so intends to book some shows outside of Iran. This is the ultimate goal in order to survive and continue.

Michael Korb

Michael Korb


Biography:

MICHAEL KORB is a singer-songwriter from St. James, New York, a small, tightly-knit community close to Long Island’s North Shore. He grew up in a musical household, where he taught himself how to sing, record and play several different instruments.



The shy, awkward Korb began developing a following once he finally began playing in public on Long Island’s open mic folk circuit in 2006. Seeing Mike live almost gives one the impression that he’s channeling something otherworldly -- his lyrics are shards of dark poetry, often floating on a quivering falsetto, and the sounds coming from his guitar sometimes seem too impossibly layered to be played by only one person.



In 2008, during a life-crushing bout with insomnia, Mike worked through recurring themes in his past, writing and self-releasing his debut full-length, GHOSTS. Tracks like "Circles," "Slow Incline" and "Close Your Eyes" got some attention from college radio, and Mike played shows out of state for the first time.



On his 2010 Winged Disk release SLEEPWALKER, Korb deals with the phantasms of the present. Michael performs all tracks on the album, which was recorded at his home Sixth Street Studio in St. James, New York -- often in the wee hours of the morning. Songs like "Missing Persons Report" and "Off the Deep End" explore human connections and emotional consciousness -- SLEEPWALKER is a map of Mike's inner world. Although influences like Radiohead, Jeff Buckley and Elliot Smith can be felt, the ethereal vocals and lush guitar experimentation are distinctly Korb’s. Even the way Mike writes his songs is unique.



"First, I try to come up with the ugliest, most horrible chord I can," he chuckles. "Then, I try to write a really beautiful song around that ugly chord."



Now with a new band and a drive that keeps him moving constantly, MICHAEL KORB is gaining momentum; when he is not walking around St. James in his pajamas, he can be found performing anywhere from small coffee houses to large theatres, dive bars to wineries, and beyond.

the Last Act

the Last Act


Biography:
The Last Act is breathing life into the genre “Metal Rock”. This sound is a hard rock/metal combination with a molded “old-skool” sound to it. TLA is re-inventing this style of music in a new and absolutely original result.



Sounds Like: Black Sabbath - Iron Maiden - 3 Days Grace - Rush - Old Metallica - Megadeth (old and new) - Kill Switch
Engage - Soundgarden




Imagine a combination of all of these with a totally new and original sound and you got the Last Act.



People have called the Last Act things like "Perfect" and "Genius". It is said that it is some of the only REAL rock remaining and being created today. The Last Act was re-formed in 2007 with the focus of creating music that the band members were craving but were unable to find in the market place today. Their primary focus is to create music that THEY love, cannot get enough of hearing, and cannot find anywhere else!



The North American Defiance Tour 2010-11 will be starting early this year following the release of their 3rd CD titled “Still Standing” as of March 6, 2010, with the first leg hitting mid size venues in major centers across Canada.



A stunning 9 out of 10 people who listen to the new material coming from TLA end up loving it and become die-hard fans! The good news is there is a lot more on its way!!

Lubriphonic

Lubriphonic


Press
Release:

Digging deep and giving it all in everything they do Chicago’s Lubriphonic
specialize in a unique offering of funky rock n’ roll. The septet’s tight and
raw sound is immediately familiar, fusing the roots of soul with
explosive in-your-face delivery and sensuous R&B dance music.


The Lubriphonic sound is full of precision orchestrations made up of blazing
guitars, unison three piece horn lines, soulful songwriting, bluesy
vocals and the habit to cut the funk loose. The best description of
the band’s sound comes from Relix Magazine: “Superb, adventurous,
diverse, simply mesmerizing instrumental work. Steeped in soul, rock, pop, and
blues Lubriphonic's members play with a tenacity and precision that
sets them apart from equally proficient bands.”


Lubriphonic is the brainchild of guitarist Giles Corey and drummer Rick King
which began as a residency at Chicago’s legendary Checkerboard Lounge,
where they recruited some of the best blues, funk, and rock
musicians in the city for improvisational live sessions in which the kinetic energy that make a band were initiated.


The evolution from performing as sidemen for the city’s most legendary blues
stars such as Buddy Guy, Otis Rush and Koko Taylor into an original
group came from the hunger of each musician to develop an intense
and simmering sound.


Guitarist Corey explains “Everyone in Lubriphonic comes from the Chicago blues
or gospel music pools. I met Rick King while playing in blues bands
in Chicago, and when we eventually wanted to start a band together
all of the cats we knew played the blues. There were and still
are all these cats that had a strong foundation in Chicago roots music who understood the feel and the nuances, but were dying to stretch out.
Lubriphonic turned out to be a good vehicle for that.”


It’s this expression of creativity and energy at each performance that is
paramount to Lubriphonic. “We are a live band first and foremost.  There's a
palpable energy emitted by any large gathering of people,” Giles
continues.  “When you perform for an audience and give them positive energy,
they take what you give them, amplify it and then throw it back to
you.  It's a fantastic feeling.”


Lubriphonic – made up of Giles Corey (vocals, guitar), Richard King (drums),
Pennal Johnson (bass), Garrick Patten (saxophone), Norman Palm
(trombone) and Andrew Toombs (keyboards) – tour extensively, crisscrossing the
country playing festivals, theaters and clubs spending over 220 days a
year on the road.

?Sold out shows, national tours and their evolving sound are proof enough of how
relevant Lubriphonic is going to become in the coming years. The
group’s recent studio debut, Soul Solution manages to contain the trademark
explosive live energy an accurate studio portrayal. Since first forming in
2002
Lubriphonic already boasts a nationwide fan base, playing to
crowds
opening for such acts as Buddy Guy, George Clinton & P-Funk, The
Derek Trucks Band, The New Mastersounds, Jon Popper Project, Karl Denson,
and
Buckwheat Zydeco. ??Entirely committed to continuing their mission,
Lubriphonic is happy to be playing the music they love and winning over new
fans each new night at each new city. “As a sideman one of the things you
learned is how to be professional. I learned how to give to an audience, no
matter what. That's what you’ll get at a Lubriphonic show.”

The Corey Booth Projec

The Corey Booth Project


Biography:
Corey Booth is an up and coming singer songwriter from the Chicago area, who has just finished recording his first E.P. @ Killingsworth Recording Company in Hollywood, CA.
The music is instantly well-received and will stick in your head for days!
Have one listen to any of the new songs and you will see what I mean..

Eryn Shewell


Biography:

ERYN SHEWELL


2009 ASBURY MUSIC AWARDS TOP FEMALE VOCALIST!



In venues such as the legendary Stone Pony, The Saint, The Cutting Room, Bluebird Café, Café Coco, Six Flags theme parks, as well as popular clubs throughout New Jersey, New York City, New Orleans and Nashville, many crowds and hearts have been won over by the power and sweet sound of the young talented singer and songsmith, Eryn Shewell.



A recent press article described Eryn as having "the power to woo audiences into an amused silence", with a "seductive range changing voice..." "...bending and moving to the music, especially in tunes where her voice trails off in jam band moments of pleasant belting-meets-screaming... when songs later her voice is soft as butter and seems to roll off and melt into the air around you."



Born in Washington, DC, Eryn moved to New Jersey at an early age and currently resides in East Windsor, NJ. She found inspiration in her musical family and chose music as her career at an early age. She has always known she would work in the music industry. She has been singing publically since she was ten, wrote her first song at fourteen and hasn't stopped writing since. She taught herself guitar to help facilitate her songwriting and performing and even trained as a sound engineer so she could better understand some of the science behind the perfect sound.



Eryn began performing her own music in 2007, and backed by outstanding musicians now tours and performs locally showcaseing her original compositions with a few of her favorite cover songs thrown in for fun. Within the first year Eryn and band was recognized with three Asbury Music Awards nominations and has been nominated each year since in more and more categories.



In 2007 Eryn also began a musical partnership with guitarist Pat Ruh when the two began writing songs together. Two of these songs, Window Pane and One More Melody, were featured on Eryn's Window Pane album. In 2009 they formed Rewbie Music, LLC and together produced Eryn's second album 4th and Broadway which also includes many songs co-written with Pat. You can also hear Pat featured on guitar on both albums.



Eryn's debut album, Window Pane, was released August 31, 2008 and was nominated for Top Local Release at the 2008 Asbury Music Awards and embraced nationally by college radio. Two-time GRAMMY Award winning engineer Jake R. Tanner engineered and mixed the album.



4th & Broadway, Eryn Shewell's sophomore album released December 19, 2009, continues to showcase her ability to create music that is an inviting fusion of genres blending blues, soul, country and pop into a unique yet somehow comfortable and familiar sound. Jake R. Tanner once again joined forces with Eryn and mixed and mastered 4th and Broadway.

Simon Spire













Simon Spire


Biography:

Recent Highlights:



  • Radio play for Alive (second radio single from ALL or NOTHING) begins in NZ on the More FM and Classic Hits networks (November 2009). Alive features in the NZ 40 radio chart.

  • ALL or NOTHING officially released in NZ by Isaac Promotions and Rajon, May, 2009; Simon makes a number of press appearances for NZ Music Month; Hiding So Long features on a number of airplay charts, including months on the NZ 40 radio chart where it reaches the Top 20 (May 2009).

  • Hiding So Long receives airplay throughout New Zealand on the Classic Hits radio network, The Edge radio network, the More FM radio network, C4 Select Live and Juice TV networks (began February 2009). Debuts on NZ Airplay Chart at #25.

  • Hiding So Long and Inside Out air on TV throughout the United States on Channel One Networks' Hear It Now Simon Spire feature (January 2009). Simon is selected as one of Channel One's Top 20 Artists of the Year.

  • Simon features in Lenedra Carroll's Artist Advance project as the first recipient of a Main Stage Award. Lenedra Carroll successfully managed singer/songwriter Jewel's music career for ten years (2008).

  • Simon performs at the Dinner With Bob Geldof event in New Zealand; makes TV appearances on the Good Morning Show and Studio 2; makes radio appearances on Classic Hits and More FM; appears and performs on nationwide/international US radio on Voice of America's nationally syndicated Border Crossing show (2008).

  • Simon wins an Honorable Mention Award and is a Double-Finalist in the USA Songwriting Competition for Hiding So Long and Dying Daily (end of 2007).



Biography


From his native New Zealand to his newly adopted home in New York, Simon Spire has long been on a path towards fully capturing his artistic vision. Now, with ALL or NOTHING, the Auckland-born singer/songwriter has crafted a powerful and evocative debut album, firmly establishing him among today’s best new artists. Songs such as Dying Daily and the buoyant Inside Out are made indelible via Spire’s engaging vocals, masterful guitar styling, and his impressively crafted arrangements, highlighting a lyrical gift that is simultaneously deeply personal and wholly universal. Moving through straight-up rock ‘n’ roll to energetic powerpop to lush balladry, the album leads the listener through this new artist’s striking impressions of life and uncompromising relationship to it, one that could aptly be described as ALL or NOTHING.



“A friend asked me what the record was about,” he says. “After reflecting on it, I realized that what really sums it up for me is transformation. The songs are about moving through experiences and expanding into something new. A song such as Hiding So Long deals with that sometimes elusive connection to a place of personal authenticity, while Alive feels like a celebration of having sailed beyond the horizon of one’s known world.”



Spire played piano while growing up in Auckland, but didn’t discover his true passion until hearing Nirvana at the age of 13. He immediately made the musical shift from the eighty-eight keys to the six-string. Now “completely guitar-obsessed,” Simon fell in thrall to axe masters like Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, and Metallica’s Kirk Hammett, their “intensity” touching something deep in the young musician’s core. Spire spent his high school years exploring the guitar, serving in a variety of outfits ranging from cover bands, original rock groups, and of course, the school jazz band.



In time, Spire began to write his own material. Inspired by such confessional tunesmiths as Alanis Morissette, John Mayer, and Neil Diamond, Simon put pen to paper, embarking on a new chapter in his musical journey. Spire soon teamed up with a drummer/sound engineer friend and made his first demo, learning the intricacies of vocal performance, musical arrangement, and recording techniques in the process. Still, he hadn’t yet realized that music was going to be his life’s work. He attended the University of Auckland, receiving senior prizes in both finance and economics. “It was a direction I was seriously considering,” he says, “but eventually I realized it wasn’t what I was looking for.”



After graduation, Simon understood that his creative drive left him little option but to pursue music as a full-time vocation. His father, then living in Los Angeles, proved his support for his son’s occupational decision when, by chance, he made the acquaintance of Lenedra Carroll, an accomplished artist and businesswoman known for her work developing and managing the career of the multi-platinum artist, Jewel.



Carroll agreed to give Spire’s demo a listen, and Simon was soon on a flight out of New Zealand to meet with her. Upon landing in Los Angeles, he was stunned to find Carroll and his dad waiting for him at the arrivals area. “It was all so sudden,” he says. “We made our way to the LAX parking garage, sat in the car and listened to my demo. I was incredibly tense, sitting in the back seat and not knowing how the music was coming across, but in the end, Lenedra agreed to give me some guidance and advice. It was such a breakthrough; I couldn’t believe that someone in the industry who really knew what she was doing would actually be interested in me.”



In time, Carroll would become a mentor to Simon after selecting him as the first recipient of her Artist Advance project’s ‘Main Stage Award,’ an artist apprenticeship program that provides new artists with the many kinds of resources needed for the further development of their talent and careers. Her wise counsel included connecting the young songwriter with producer/arranger Joe Mardin, known for his work with such diverse artists as Jewel, Raul Midon, and Queen Latifah. When Spire returned home to Auckland, he and Mardin continued their musical exchange via e-mail. “It was cool to get an objective opinion on where my songs were,” Spire says. “Joe saw something in my music that he liked and pushed me to develop as a writer.”



Spire returned to Los Angeles in order to further his musical career. The next year he headed north to Orcas Island, the largest of Washington’s San Juan Islands, to record a demo with the help of producer Jim Bredouw. Simon indulged himself in the many options a modern studio has to offer, providing further fuel for his expanding musical vision. It wasn’t long before Spire’s enhanced musical understanding called out for the next step: a full-scale album. Carroll suggested her protégé team with producer Ralf Illenberger at his studio in Sedona, Arizona. Illenberger, a Grammy-nominated guitarist/composer hailed for his rich soundscapes, proved an ideal foil for Spire, the perfect producer to help the young artist achieve his ambition.



“Initially, Ralf seemed like an unusual choice, given the range of music he’s covered,” Spire says. “But it was this diversity that I think made for a great pairing – he understood both the instrumental emphasis that was important to me, as well as the delivery of the songs themselves. He reminds me of producers like Brian Eno and Patrick Leonard—producers with a wide range of musical interest, and musicians in their own right, whose personal musical arenas are deep and varied soundscapes. More importantly, Ralf encouraged me to try things I may not have otherwise tried. I think we complemented each other well. As a team, we came up with something pretty cool.”



Accompanied by a cadre of AZ-based backing musicians, Spire was able to bring brightness and texture to songs like No More Words and You, You, You. Melding styles and sonic approaches, ALL or NOTHING is alive with inventive musicality, irresistible melodies and intimate lyricism, all ten tracks having been written by Spire himself. From the punchy More Or Less, to the closing title track, the album is animated and upbeat, not unlike its creator. “It’s everything I wanted it to be,” Simon says. “It has the guts and the drive I was aiming for, it has the color and variety.”



With recording completed on ALL or NOTHING, it wasn’t long before Spire’s traveling jones took hold of him once more. As 2007 came to a close, the young tunesmith packed his things and left LA for the bright lights of New York City. “The more I visited here, the more I fell in love with it,” the brand-new Big Apple resident enthuses. “The music scene, the vibrancy of the whole city, it’s so alive. It feels so strongly at the center of it all. Plus, I’ve never lived in a place where it snows.”



Spire is now poised to set out on the next leg of his artistic expedition. ALL or NOTHING captures a gifted new artist exploring his craft and his soul in an effort to reach a place that’s both true and transcendent. Where Simon Spire’s path will lead him is as yet undetermined, but as his songs make evident, the journey is the destination.



“Making music has always opened new doors and challenged me to explore unanticipated directions,” Spire says. “Who knows what doors will open next?”

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