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Archive for February 24, 2011

Drive A: Live at The Vic, the photos

Posted in Photos with tags Chicago, Drive A, Randy Hall, Taylor Augustson, The Rock Tribune, The Vic on February 24, 2011 by Randy

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PLASTIKMAN ARKIVES EXPANDED

Posted in Releases with tags Arkives, MSOPR, Plastikman, The Rock Tribune on February 24, 2011 by Randy

In a personal email this week to everyone who has pre-ordered their edition of PLASTIKMAN ARKIVES, Richie Hawtin has announced the final confirmed tracklisting, with the Reference, Komplete and Digital editions being expanded with further material being added to the collections during Richie and his brother Matthew’s past two months in Hawtin’s Windsor studio.

At no extra cost to those who have placed their order, the Reference/Komplete editions have been upgraded from 12 discs to 16 (including a new specially-mixed disc of additional unreleased recordings), while the accompanying book will now be boosted by even more rare photographs and accompanying text to 102 pages – with all extra material unearthed in the U.T.K. Studio since the new year. The Digital edition content has also been expanded – further information on the extra material is available in the full tracklist.

Unfortunately there is a downside to the expansion: with the ongoing extra work involved in compiling the extra content,ARKIVES will now ship end of April, rather than late-February as originally announced.

For Richie Hawtin’s full letter to ARKIVES pre-order customers, please see below .

To my fans, supporters and those who are eagerly waiting for their copy of ARKIVES to arrive!

Greetings to everyone from cold and snowy Canada! Matthew and I have been locked into The Building here in Windsor for the past weeks putting the finishing touches on the ARKIVES release. While finishing book layouts and CD mastering we were lucky enough to find even more material for the release. We unearthed more never seen before photos and even additional unreleased recordings from the original U.T.K. studio!

Realizing that you only get one chance at a project like this, we’ve decided to EXPAND ARKIVES, insuring that this is the definite, most comprehensive, PLASTIKMAN anthology possible!

The Arkives Reference Edition book has now been expanded to 94 pages, including even more rare photos with extra accompanying text, offering further insight into the PLASTIKMAN project. In addition, due to the newly found unreleased material, we are expanding the original 12 disc set to 16 discs (15 CD’s, 1 DVD) including a specially mixed disc of unreleased material!

For everyone who ordered Arkives Reference and/or Komplete there will be NO extra charge for all of this extra material! For those who ordered Arkives Digital, we’ve also expanded the content on this edition! (see final edition tracklistings below)

Unfortunately, all this good news does come with a downside. Due to the extra work in expanding the release, ARKIVES, we will not be shipping until April. (This includes all versions: Reference, Analog, Digital & Komplete)

I know that many of you will be disappointed, but I hope that you can wait a little longer for this once in a lifetime release! Believe me, it’s an incredibly beautiful package and the extra material is well worth the delay!

Thank you for everyone’s patience and support!

Warm regards,

Rich

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NASHVILLE MUSICIAN AND MEGA HIT SONGWRITER CHAS SANDFORD: NEW ALBUM ‘WAG MORE BARK LESS’ OUT NOW

Posted in Releases on February 24, 2011 by Randy

Acclaimed producer, engineer, singer, songwriter, guitarist and Secret Sound studio owner CHAS SANDFORD–garnering praise for his recently released second solo album WAG MORE, BARK LESS–is participating in the 7th Belfast Nashville Songwriters Festival & Song Writing Convention February 23-27.

Taking place in Belfast, Northern Ireland, the festival includes 5 days of 42 concerts and 15 workshops featuring 150 songwriters. Last night, Wednesday, February 23, SANDFORD performed at the Castlereagh Civic Centre in-the-round alongside Dominic O’Neill and Antoin Glacain. On Friday, February 25, he’ll also perform at the Rhythm & Rhyme Concertwhich also features Owen McCafferty, Paul Muldoon, Brian Kennedy, Thomm Jutz and Colum Sands. There will be a special presentation by The Lord Mayor Councillor Pat Convery and The Katherine Brick Award for Young Songwriter of the Year. For more information on the festival, please visit: http://www.belfastnashville.com.

SANDFORD will also take the stage Wednesday, March 2 at 8pm in London at the Live Lounge in Sopranos on Kingston High Street. He will be performing with London’s popular Emma-Jane Thommen at her weekly show. SANDFORD will then perform Thursday, March 3 at The Regal Room located in Hammersmith London. Back home in the States, SANDFORD will be performing at the 19th annual Tin Pan South taking place March 29-April 2 (the schedule will be announced March 9).

SANDFORD returned to the spotlight with WAG MORE, BARK LESS released 1/11/11. The Atlanta native, who’s lived in Nashville since 1993, produced, engineered and mixed the album, a melodic rock-and-pop mix of electric and acoustic stylings. It is a proudly modern classic-rock album that’s brimming with affecting songs about life, love and loss; SANDFORDvocally gets inside such songs as “Let Love Back In This House,” “Someday Susan,” “My Favorite Regret” and the epic closer “It’s Changing” with plenty of emotional heart and power.

Tom Kidd of Music Connection praised the album. “The CD leads with a surefire hit, the anthemic ‘Let Love Back in This House,’and then keeps getting better. This is one of the most major independent releases I’ve ever heard.” (9/10 rating; February 2011)

Additionally, ArtistDirect.com’s Rick Florino wrote, “Chas Sandford was always meant to be in the spotlight. The Tennessee-based artist pens tunes that draw from rock, country, and pop, while existing in a sphere that’s decidedly his own. The hooks are there, but there’s a lot of heart hidden within each chord, verse, and lyric on Sandford’s sophomore offering, Wag More Bark Less…there’s nothing like hearing Chas sing and play his own material…” (1/18/11)

SANDFORD’s background is as impressive as they come. Songs off his Elektra/Asylum debut album Parallax View were covered by John Waite, Sammy Hagar, Rick Springfield and Sheila B. Devotion. When three of the songs he was writing for a planned second album turned into hits–a #1 hit for Waite (“Missing You”) and Top 5 singles for both Stevie Nicks (“Talk to Me”) and Chicago (“What Kind of Man Would I Be”)—SANDFORD found himself one of the most in-demand producer/songwriters in the business, garnering 12 ASCAP “Most Performed Song” awards and a total of over more than 7,000,000 airplays alone for “Missing You”, making it one of the most played songs of all time.

His songs have been recorded by Tina Turner, Rod Stewart, Melanie, Roger Daltrey, Millie Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, Alison Krauss and David Wilcox. He has also produced a wide range of artists, including Chicago, Stevie Nicks, Roger Daltrey, Rod Stewart, Berlin, Gene Loves Jezebel, House of Schock and Don Johnson, whose cast of guest musicians included Willie Nelson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Bonnie Raitt, Ron Wood and Dickey Betts.

www.chassandford.com

CHAS SANDFORD MUSIC ON FACEBOOK:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chas-Sandford-Music/150546558307764

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DRIVE A ANNOUNCE “THE WORLD IN SHAMBLES”, REVOLT TOUR 2011

Posted in Releases with tags Drive A, The Rock Tribune on February 24, 2011 by Randy

Inaugural Bill Includes Drive A, Hollywood Undead, 10 Years, New Medicine

New York, NY – February 24, 2011- Sometimes a chance meeting is more than it seems – in the case of DRIVE A, a random moment ignited a fuse resulting in an incendiary new band. Songs about rebellion, lethal guitars and killer hooks have their foundation in old school punk and rock n’ roll that the band reveres but their stage presence and delivery puts them firmly in the now. With a fan following that is expanding exponentially, it’s clear that the band is onto something. DRIVE A come roaring into 2011 with their brand new album, The World in Shambles, out on Dead Conflict Records and a support slot on the House of Blues Revolt Tour 2011 with Hollywood Undead, 10 Years and New Medicine. The tour kicks off April 6^th in Boston and runs through May 27^th, covering the United States.

“We are excited to be a part of the inaugural run of the REVOLT! Tour,” says frontman Bruno Mascolo. “We look forward to sharing the stage with Hollywood Undead, 10 Years, and New Medicine. It’s going to be a great tour.” DRIVE A are celebrating the tour and new album by offering a free download of “Revolt!” from The World In Shambles. Fans can purchase tickets, get the free download and view the video for “Revolt!” here:www.therevolttour.com

The World in Shambles is the follow up to their debut album Loss of Desire (2009). The critically acclaimed album which featured singles “Are You Blind” and “Can’t Sleep It Off” set the precedent for DRIVE A’s form of high energy rock n’ roll and provided the soundtrack for their energetic live show. Mascolo explains “although we’re still proud ofLoss of Desire, we feel we’ve come a long way as musicians and songwriters, you can hear that we’ve played about 200 shows since our last record.” The band freely admits that their singular mission upon entering the studio was to craft an album that bottled their firecracker live energy and onstage prowess. They collectively rejected polished, computerized techniques and technologies in favor of beautiful, genuine imperfections, all of which serve to make The World in Shambles that much more authentic.

The California quartet formed after singer/guitarist Bruno Mascolo and guitarist Jason Nott ran into each other one night outside of Hollywood’s Troubadour in 2006. After realizing they both possessed the drive and passion to start their own band, they recruited drummer Cody Root via a mutual friend. Bassist Taylor Knowles joined the band after seeing them open for Set Your Goals in Orlando. He became a fan based on their live performance and when the bass player position opened, he got in touch through the wonders of social networking and secured his slot in the rhythm section.

DRIVE A has steadily built a following of fans by touring with the likes of Alkaline Trio, The Used, Atreyu, Bullet For My Valentine and Escape the Fate over the past two years. It’s the band’s onstage power that has attracted an alliance of kids that continue to multiply with every tour. Nott summed up the band’s relationship with their fans and the crowds, saying, “We’re a breath of fresh air for them. We’re only a couple years older than the kids listening and they can relate.”

A switchblade to the soft, white underbelly of today’s watered-down state of music, DRIVE A are pure, raw energy–on stage and in the studio–which is, after all, what Rock ‘N’ Roll has always been about. The release of their sophomore album and the House of Blues Revolt Tour 2011 are a match made in heaven. “Touring is the life’s blood of this band,” says Bruno. “Recording and everything else is cool, but we are a live band and that is the best way to experience DRIVE A.”

HOUSE OF BLUES REVOLT TOUR 2011

Wednesday, April 06 Boston,MA House of Blues

Friday, April 08 Hartford, CT The Dome

Saturday, April 09 New York, NY Irving Plaza

Tuesday, April 12 Philadelphia, PA TLA

Friday, April 15 Charlotte, NC Fillmore

Sunday, April 17 Ft. Lauderdale, FL Revolution

Tuesday, April 19 New Orleans, LA House of Blues

Wednesday, April 20 Dallas, TX House of Blues

Friday, April 22 Albuquerque, NM TBA

Monday, April 25 Salt Lake City, UT The Complex

Tuesday, April 26 Reno,NV Knitting Factory