It's Barry Time Again!

That's right, Barry Manilow is at it again. With the success of last year's Music and Passion DVD, Barry is releasing another DVD.

Five of Barry Manilow's classic early television specials spanning 1977-1988 - including two Emmy® winners - on DVD for the first time in a deluxe 5-disc boxed set.

This has some really classic footage to say the least. One of the cool scenes I saw in the E-Card is him playing side by side with Ray Charles.

Cipes and The People

Artist: Cipes and The People

CD: Conscious Revolution

Single: “Free Me” Free Mee

Press Release:

“And one love is our love/We can free the world.” “Free Me”



“Reggae is the weapon of the future,” explains Greg Cipes about The Conscious Revolution, the debut album from his group Cipes and the People. “It’s the music that unifies everyone and everything.”



An accomplished actor on hit TV shows House, Ghost Whisperer, Without a Trace and Deadwood, a voiceover artist on Disney Channel’s W.I.T.C.H. and Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! along with Cartoon Network’s Teen Titans and a professional junior surfer, the Florida-born Cipes comes from a show business family. His grandparents both acted professionally and his father was a TV director who became successful in real estate, then traveled extensively with his family, often taking them to the Bahamas, where Cipes heard reggae music for the first time.



“I was divinely placed in a position to see how the music made those living in poverty feel so good,” he says. “The culture and the warmth of the people always intrigued me.”



Citing reggae, hip-hop and rock as his main influences, the 27-year-old packed up his yellow Nissan Xterra and moved to Los Angeles to study directing at USC, but dropped out within weeks when he landed a pilot at Warner Bros.



“Music has always been part of my life,” he says, citing such disparate inspirations as Bob Marley, the Doors, Sublime and Miami bass rappers 2 Live Crew, whose battle for freedom of speech attracted a young Cipes as much as their music. “But it only started to take this form seven years ago.”



The album’s lead single, “Free Me,” is also the first song Cipes ever wrote seven years ago, inspired, he says, by his dog Timber and the spirit of Bob Marley.



“I called on Marley spirit to work its way through me,” he says. “I couldn’t even sing growing up. I just prayed to him to let me spread his message and be a conduit of his love, power and wisdom. And it happened.



“I’m talking to Mother Earth in the song as a female whom I’ve disrespected. And this is my plea to heal that relationship. The other element is my own earthly relationships with women. My heart has been broken at least four times. But I’ve never stopped loving. I don’t regard women as the opposite sex anymore. I wasn’t always strong enough to do that. But I’ve vowed not to have sex until I’ve found my one true partner out there.”



Cipes’ music is part of his Conscious Revolution, his attempt to unite people’s beliefs and bring them together. “I do everything in the service of God,” he says, explaining that he no longer drinks, smokes, watches TV, goes to the movie, listens to the radio or has sex. “I’m being lifted up so I can shed light on others who have the knowledge, experience, heart and drive to unite cultures, religions and races. Reggae is all about the positive message, the positive vibration. It’s a music that unifies everyone and everything.”



The video for “Fade Away” gives a plug for Save the Earth, while “Jah People” is inspired by Marley’s assertion that “God loves everyone.”



“God is part of every one of us,” he explains. “Whether it’s Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, Krishna, Jah or Allah. I’m a firm believer in experiencing all religions so you can understand where everybody is coming from, so you can communicate from a compassionate place. I may not know anything, but I understand everything.”



The album’s musical styles range from the hip-hop dancehall toasting of “Ones Up,” featuring Houston rapper Big Boss, and the Two-Tone speeded-up ska of “Pain,” which tells the story of visiting an ex-girlfriend in the middle of the night and getting picked up by the police, to the singer/songwriter balladry of “Fly,” detailing his decision to leave Florida and go to California. “That’s about letting to and putting myself in God’s hands,” he explains. “This album, produced by newcomer and friend. 23 year old Greg Whitman, is about unifying all races, religions and genres of music. All of those things are in me.”



Cipes and the People has coalesced into a core 11-person line-up, which includes two horn players, three back-up singers, lead guitar, bass, keyboards and a DJ. The band was featured in the MTV show Twentyfourseven, which spurred more than 200k people to check out their music on MySpace, where they were the site’s #1 unsigned reggae band earlier this year.



For Cipes, it’s not about either fame or success, but bringing people together. “Music is a celebration, a time for people to rejoice in their connections,” he says. “At our shows, we hve hippies, hip-hop heads, rockers and Goths. We’re uniting people that ordinarily wouldn’t come together because our message is so universal.

Foo Fighters New Album

Mine is yours and yours is mine/There is no divide/In Your Honor I would die tonight"

Foo Fighters fifth and definitive album opens with a statement of purpose universal in its passion. Dave Grohl could be singing to his wife, bandmates Nate Mendel, Taylor Hawkins and Chris Shiflett, or to any and every fan listening to the song. In truth, the song and the double album -- one heavy as fuck, the other subtly laid back -- are dedicated to all of the above: the friends, family and fans that have made the decade-long Foo Fighters odyssey possible.

"We've been a band for 10 years now," says Grohl, channeling the band's quandary at the outset of the In Your Honor sessions. "So what do we do? Do we make another album? Rush into making another record? So I came up with this idea. I thought since I'd just been all around the world for a year and a half screaming my ass off, I'd make a solo acoustic record...but disguise it as movie score. We've always had acoustic songs. Most of our rock songs were written on acoustic guitar, songs like 'Times Like These,' 'Everlong'… I had this little studio up at my house and started recording all this music, some of it songs, some of it like a score, it was really beautiful, really coming out well then I listened to it and I was like 'Wait a second: It sounds like the Foo Fighters. It sounds like the band.'

"Everyone in the band has so much to offer," Grohl says. "But we'd sort of remained in this one ‘thing’ for so long that I felt it was time to break out, to branch out, that maybe we should make the acoustic record - but then I started thinking about how I didn't want to show up to the Reading Festival with a harpsichord, or whatever. This band just has to make some rock music…so I thought, OK, why don't we do this? Why don't we make a DOUBLE album?"

And so it was that the In Your Honor double disc opus was conceived. The band and producer Nick Raskulinecz would take the Foo Fighters' unique and precarious balance of balls-out aggression and lady-killing melodic tenderness and split the difference. The chemistry that had made it possible for “All My Life,” "Everlong" and "Times Like These" to impact listeners equally in their acoustic and electric incarnations would be divided and pushed to separate extremes of hard and soft, distilled into their purest forms.

John Lennon covered on new Barry Manilow CD

Apparently Barry Manilow loves John Lennon's Work too. On his latest album, Greatest Songs of the Seventies, Barry covers The Long and Winding Road written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Also covered are artists such as Carole King and Paul Simon. Here is a sample from the new Dual CD Set:

It Never Rains In Southern California (WM, Streaming, 96k, Audio)
Sound Clip

Also...

You Can get Tickets to see Barry perform in Vegas: Manilow Vegas Tickets

And win a trip here: Barry Manilow Contest

Back From Our Long Break

We took a break for a while due to lack of time etc. But we are back and ready to continue blogging.. Our first tidbit is on Led Zeppelin... Yes Led Zeppelin!!!

Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones are reportedly in talks to play the 02 Arena with Jason Bonham filling in for his late father. Of course, this rumor rings of another recent rumor which may give it more credence or make it smell that much more fishy since it's reportedly being set up to honor the late record mogul that gave them their deal, Ahmet Ertegun. This was a big part of the last rumor that Plant dismissed. "If there was one, then there wouldn't be enough doctors to support it," Plant said back in June when the rumor first surfaced.

The Telegraph quotes a "source" saying that the deal is being worked on, "The talks are ongoing but it looks like a definite possibility. Nothing has been finalized but fingers crossed the most anticipated comeback concerts ever could become a reality."

Sirius Merges with XM Radio

According to sources, Sirius and XM have announced their merger. In an all-stock merger, the two will provide more programming choices for the consumer and more importantly a stronger financial strength for the stock holder.Planned is the announcement that Gary Parsons will become the Chairman of the combined company and MelKarmazin, the current Sirius CEO, will be the CEO. TogetherThe company will be located in Washington, DC and New York City. Interestingly, representative from each of General Motors and Honda will be directors as well.

Foo Fighters Release 11/7

FOO FIGHTERS
SKIN AND BONES

FIRST EVER LIVE CD DOCUMENTS EIGHT-PIECE ACOUSTIC LINEUP'S SOLD-OUT
DEBUT TOUR

CD OUT NOVEMBER 7th

DVD RELEASE WITH EXPANDED TRACK LISTING TO FOLLOW

SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE, BRIDGE SCHOOL BENEFIT, BOB DYLAN SHOWS & JAPANESE DATES ANNOUNCED

"Unplugged but hardly quiet, refreshingly simple and gorgeous" -THE WASHINGTON POST"

Any reservations about a Foo Fighters acoustic concert were quickly dispelled with a wall of guitars sound that rocked the house"-THE SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER

Foo Fighters have confirmed a November 7th release date for Skin And Bones, a live document of the band's first ever tour with its expanded eight-piece lineup culled from three sold out performances at Los Angeles' Pantages Theater. A live DVD has also been confirmed for release later that month.

Skin And Bones features the Foo Fighters core of Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel, and Chris Shiflett augmented by guest players Petra Haden (violin), Rami Jaffee (keyboards), Drew Hester (percussion) and former Foo Fighter Pat Smear (guitar) debuting live arrangements of several songs from disc two of the platinum-plus In Your Honor, as well as unique interpretations of favorites from the band's entire catalogue.

The tracklisting for the CD release of Skin And Bones is:1. Razor2. Over & Out3. Walking After You4. Marigold5. My Hero6. Next Year7. Another Round8. Big Me9. Cold Day In The Sun10. Skin And Bones11. February Stars12. Times Like These13. Friend Of A Friend14. Best Of You15. Everlong

Chris Daughtry of American Idol to Release Album 11/21

Here is a quick preview folks. The new album from american Idol's Chris Daughtry hits the street on November 21,2006. Here is the link:http://www.sonybmg.com/musicbox/mb2/community/daughtry/daughtry_jukebox_preview.html

The Rock Ridge Music GHIDRAH

It's been two years since we last heard from zebrahead, but the Orange County, California-based band is making its presence felt once again with the group's highly-anticipated new album "Broadcast to the World". Revitalized, road-tightened and eager to redefine its focus, the quintet comes out swinging, delivering a flurry of pummeling rhythms, clench-fisted chords and meaty hooks that connect with each listen. "Broadcast to the World" is in stores Tuesday, 10/24.
Un-wavered in their musical quest, Indorphine tirelessly continues to deliver new, organic creations by the natural destruction of the old standards to any man, woman, child, martian, dog, chicken or fetus who will dare themselves enough to listen.
Since the birth of The Accident Experiment (dubbed by its fans as "AeX") in late 2002, the band has evolved from what began as jam sessions between San Diego musical peers Curiel and Longoria into a solid, buzzworthy Southern California rock act with tours and opening slots along side the likes of Foo Fighters, Korn, Damage Plan, Drowning Pool, Sevendust, Cypress Hill, Staind, Blur and Body Count in its relatively short history. In its 20th anniversary issue, Metal Edge Magazine named AeX one of its Twenty Bands To Watch, and MTV News has featured the group on two separate occasions, describing them as "eclectic and musically adventurous." The boys have already earned a reputation as a stellar and explosive live band, borrowing a page from some of their 70's rock heroes to produce a live show that is as experimental as it is ferocious.
Here are this week’s GHIDRAH songs:
SONG 1: zebrahead "Anthem"
SONG 2: Indorphine "Spaghetti"
SONG 3: The Accident Experiment "AEX-1"
And, for your convenience, here are the GHIDRAH links:
SONG 1: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/rockridge_1.wma
SONG 2: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/rockridge_2.wma
SONG 3: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/rockridge_3.wma

Update on Jupiter Rising

"GO" Has Been A Licensing Sensation With Plays On NBC, Fox Sports, Fox
Primetime, Disney Channel and Chevrolet Amongst Others
Los Angeles, CA: Chime Entertainment, today announced the release of three
new dance mixes of the hit single "Go" from Jupiter Rising's self titled
debut CD. Jupiter Rising are the collective talents of 80 Bug and Spencer
Nezey, who have created a pop hip-hop collection of songs that are already
experiencing unprecedented success on all musical formats.
The duo's single "Go,"has been a licensing sensation since its' release and
has appeared on a number of national television spots including Fox Sports,
Fox Primetime and Chevrolet amongst others. Jupiter Rising's "Go" was also
featured in the Disney program Wendy Wu and will now be part of both the
movie and soundtrack for the upcoming project Jump It (on Walt Disney
Records) this January.
Chime Entertainment and Pitch Control Marketing have hired three renown
producers to remix "Go" for the Dance community. Eddie Arroya (whose recent
mix of Shakira's "Don't Lie" helped propel the single to #1) is working on a
reggaeton mix, the team of Friscia and Lamboy (who are currently enjoying
success with remixes of Hans Zimmer's "He's A Pirate" from The Pirates Of
The Carribean film) are working on mainstream and electro-house remixes.
And, Dave Aude (whose recent re-mix projects include Paris Hilton,
Coldplay,The Gorillaz and The Pussycat Dolls) will also contribute with a
new mainstream dance mix of Jupiter Rising's "Go."
Below please find streaming audio links to 2 of the "Go!" remixes:

"Go" Eddie Arroyo Reggaeton Mix:
http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/jr_go_arroyo.wma
"Go" Dave Aude Radio Mix:
http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/jr_go_aude.wma
And for your reference, the album version:
"Go" audio: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/jupiterrising_go.wma
"Go" video: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/jr_go_video.wmv

Zebrahead

It's been two years since we last heard from zebrahead, but the Orange County, California-based band is making its presence felt once again with the group's highly-anticipated new album Broadcast to the World. Revitalized, road-tightened and eager to redefine its focus, the quintet comes out swinging, delivering a flurry of pummeling rhythms, clench-fisted chords and meaty hooks that connect with each listen. Produced by Cameron Webb (Motorhead, Social Distortion, Silverstein ,Tenacious D) and the band, Broadcast to the World proves it was worth waiting for with smart, razor-sharp rockers like "Rated U for Ugly," "Karma Flavored Whisky" and "Broadcast to the World." The album has all the electrifying energy of a live zebrahead show, blending raging tempos and ringing guitar lines into surging, insistent choruses that stick after a single listen.Against a big, buoyant backdrop painted by guitarist Greg Bergdorf, drummer Ed Udhus and bassist Ben Osmundson, Lewis and rapper Ali Tabatabaee detail scenarios of betrayal ("Here’s to You"), domestic troubles ("Your New Girlsfriend Wears Girlpants") and soured relationships ("Back to Normal"). With new addition to zebrahead Matty Lewis on this album you can tell the band means business. “This is the first time in 6 years everyone has participated and worked as a team”, says bassist Ben Osmundson. What we've seen and been through over the last year and half--both individually and as a group. A lot of that wound up working itself into the music, resulting in our most personal and rocking album to date. We now have a reason we have been looking for to conquer the world……the band is a unit of one!”As for the album title, Tabatabaee says it's our promise to travel the World on tour. "We're so grateful for the support and patience people have had while waiting for us to deliver a new record and a new family member with Matty. We've kept in touch with through our web site, posting road journals and studio updates and corresponding through e-mail, and we really appreciate the fact that everyone has stuck by us. This one's for the people who everyone who has made the last year our best year. To see the attendance of our shows going up with no new album over the last year and a new family member has been overwhelming!"Broadcast to the world is the successor to zebrahead's critically acclaimed third release, MFZB. MFZB had the highest testing alternative song for months running with “Rescue Me”. MFZB also went gold in Japan! Playmate of the Year, released in 2000 to rave reviews, the album's infectious title track received over 4000 spins on Modern Rock and Rock radio, garnering airplay on some of the nation's biggest alternative stations, including KROQ in Los Angeles, KNDD in Seattle, KDGE in Dallas and WRAX in Birmingham. The editors of OC Weekly included the band in their "129 Greatest OC Bands Ever" list"…Playmate of the Year was just as catchy and hummable as anything the Offspring or Lit ever came up with." Meanwhile, its provocative companion video, which co-starred a harem of curvy Playboy playmates and was shot at the Playboy mansion, was steaming up television screens across the country. The band gigged relentlessly in support of the album, and toured with a diverse cast of characters, including Less Than Jake, Kottonmouth Kings, 311, Reel Big Fish and Goldfinger. Reviewing a local show, the Los Angeles Times praised the band for "its blend of punk-pop and rap," writing, "The quintet understands how to keep a crowd engaged, fueled by nonstop energy....The band was smooth and confident... like a new generation of Rat Pack Showmen…” Daily Variety lauded the group for offering "75 minutes of easy to digest, high energy music that recalled such bands as Descendants, 311, Blink 182 and the Beastie Boys."After conquering the States, zebrahead tore through Europe with Green Day and played a plethora of festival shows, sharing stages with everyone from The Strokes and Radiohead to Good Charlotte and Stone Temple Pilots. From there, it was off to Japan.
zebrahead's year was capped off by a Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance for their blistering cover of Metallica's "Enter Sandman." The track appeared on the Extreme Championship Wrestling companion album, ECW Extreme Music, and featured legendary Motorhead frontman Lemmy on lead vocals. “Who doesn’t want to say they recorded a song with Lemmy?”, says guitarist Greg Bergdorf. The answer----EVERYONE!Inspired by the likes of Fugazi, the Descendants, Rage Against the Machine and Green Day, Lewis, Bergdorf, Osmundson, Tabatabaee and Udhus formed zebrahead in 1996. After building a rabid fanbase on the strength of their raucous live shows and releasing the Yellow EP on indie label Doctor Dream in 1998, the band signed with Columbia Records who released zebrahead's major label debut, Waste of Mind, later that year. That was followed by Vans Warped Tour dates. zebrahead has turned up the juice with the mesmerizing tuneful Broadcast to the World, a brilliantly balanced album of atom-smashing guitars and pop-savvy melodies. "Every band says this is their best album," says Osmundson. "From front to back, this is no holds barred rock and roll and by far our best album as a band!"

ZEBRAHEAD – “Anthem” – Windows Audio: http://www.iconmes.com/zebrahead_anthem/zebrahead_anthem.wma

ZEBRAHEAD – BROADCAST TO THE WORLD (5 song player): http://www.iconmes.com/zebraheadplayer/

Esteban Release

With his latest release, Best of Esteban, one of the world’s most prolific composers and guitarists of our time has not merely created a retrospective. Instead of a simple cut-and-paste collection, the man once known as Stephen Paul took a handful of concert favorites and returned to the studio to reinvent them. The result is a fiery, blues/rock/flamenco melding of the songs that have made him a beloved icon in classical and modern guitar playing.

Trademark songs like “Fuego Malagueña” - a reworking of “Malagueña” from 2001’s All My Love – have, as the title denotes, been given extra fire, fusing more rock influence into his atmospheric flamenco-based performance. “Runaway,” Del Shannon’s classic, is also seeing life in a completely new way. “That song brings back a lot of memories for people who were around back then,” Esteban says, seeing it as a bridge to younger audiences as well. Another song bringing back more recent memories is “Mediterana,” an Eastern-based song in which he plays sitar, backed by the Indian percussive tablas and dumbuk.

Global music has always played big into this Pittsburgh native’s life. Beginning at the age of four Esteban would visit his Uncle George’s house every Sunday to hear an eclectic mix of Western and Indian classical sounds, as well as flamenco and Russian folk music. His love of the floating scales inspired him early on, causing him to want to play guitar immediately. Hearing men like the great sarod player Ali Akbar Khan would “get into my cells, and it continued through my life. It’s a little dissonant for our western ears, but I’ve loved it since I was a little kid.”

Esteban’s love of “man’s original music” was sealed at age six when hearing the man that would become his lifelong hero. “I was a weird kid. I was listening to Segovia when I was six years old.” The man he’s referring to is, of course, Spanish guitar legend Andrés Segovia. Solely responsible for bringing classical guitar studies to universities and orchestras worldwide, Segovia’s influence, as both performer and educator, made him one of the 20th century’s most renowned musicians of any instrument. These two aspects, as player and teacher, would decide Esteban’s future.

Attending Carnegie Mellon with a double major in guitar performance and English literature, Esteban was discouraged by his four years of education. The man running the program was a cellist not a guitarist, and Esteban “played better than him on my first day of class.” Leaving college with little more than a piece of paper, he knew his path lie with his Muse, but didn’t know how to proceed. Then it dawned on him: “I really never had lessons from anyone really good my entire life. I was playing old standards my own way because I had never studied with a master. So I figured I would study with the world class cat.”

That cat, of course, was Segovia. Inquiring into the possibility, Esteban learned that to even see Segovia you first had to intern with one of his four main students for a number of years. Then Esteban learned each of those teachers had a waiting list of 500 students! So he approached it a different way, one in which legends are made of – indeed, Esteban’s own status resides in this very story.

For the next two-and-a-half years, working various jobs in publishing and proofreading, he contacted Segovia’s booking agency to find out his tour schedule. He then contacted every hotel in every city Segovia was playing in, stating he had a package that he had to drop off for the maestro. He compiled a list and during that time would mail him unsigned yellow cards with one simple statement: “My life is meaningless unless I can study with you.” This went on internationally for well over two years.

Segovia was performing in Los Angeles, where Esteban was living, and he made the move. Borrowing his friend’s messenger uniform he bravely knocked on the guitarist’s hotel door and eventually got to the master. Esteban revealed himself and “Segovia got red in the face, pointed and said ‘It’s you! It’s you!’. His bodyguard came to the door nearly killed me, and I told them I had to play guitar. Segovia told him to let me in. I was shaking, I was so nervous, but I played and after a couple minutes he stopped me and gave me things to practice, and told me to come back in one year. I studied my butt off and came back, and at that time he invited me to study with him in Spain.”

His apprenticeship lasted on and off for four years. Finally receiving the master’s seal of approval to perform in concert, fate took another turn. Esteban – the name given to him by Segovia – was hit by a drunk driver and suffered blindness in one eye and severe spinal damage, causing him to lose feeling for over eight years. “It was a dark time. I could move my arm but couldn’t feel it.” Taking various jobs in sales and publishing, Esteban’s musical career seemed to have ended until that destined day when feeling returned.

“I quit my day job and returned to playing guitar for $40 a show.” Eking out a living, Esteban self-released a few albums until stardom came to him. Living out such a mythology has not been easy, but today Esteban is an iconic figure for endless people worldwide, and not only as performer. Staying in alignment with his master’s teachers, Esteban’s American Legacy Guitars are played by thousands of children worldwide. “It’s the biggest thing for me. It’s everybody’s job to help out in their own way. The way I do is by getting guitars in the hands of kids.”

Educator, performer and American legend, Esteban is a name certain to be revered by many for some time. Working on a new album in which he plays a range of instruments – guitar, sitar, banjo, oud and Greek bazouki – there is no slowing this man down. Alongside this collection and upcoming work, Esteban will be staying busy with a full-fledged tour later this year. Joining him, as always, will be his daughter, Teresa, on violin. A prodigy since the age of four, she carries on the Paul name with heartfelt recordings and stunning live performances on her own instrument.
With Best of Esteban his lifelong passion of global and instrumental music comes full circle, in an entirely new manner. With such a history already behind him, it’s inspiring to see his fire only growing brighter.


ESTEBAN – "Enter The Heart" – Windows Audio:
http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/esteban_entertheheart.wma

Hyms - Double the Pleasure

The seeds that would grow into Hymns were originally sown more than a decade ago at an elementary school in North Carolina, where Brian Harding and Jason Roberts met. The two bonded over a shared love of music and guitars, forming a friendship that would eventually transcend geographic boundaries and life-changing decisions. They eventually chose to attend college together where the duo worked under a number of band monikers. Individually, they’ve helped fill out other band rosters, including touring stints as part of Ben Kweller’s band.

After the gang moved to New York City in 2003, they reinvented themselves as Hymns. Completed by the addition of bassist Jeremy Kay and drummer Tony Kent, the unit references and recalls early Stones, Neil Young, and Gram Parsons, mashed together with Pavement, Spoon, Wilco, and The Kings of Leon. Their sound is a beautiful marriage of their current big-city life and the back porch breeze of their Southern roots, garnering them opening slots for Evan Dando, Los Lobos, and others.

Brother/Sister, Hymns' debut offering, was recorded during the summer of 2005, at Blackland Records’ in-house studio. Situated in Celeste, Texas, with a booming population of 737, the Blackland studio, with its old-school character, was the perfect ground for the creation of the band’s first record, which was produced by John Kent. Due on October 10th, Brother/Sister, an album which owes as much to New York know-how as it does to Celeste community dinners, is the ultimate document to announce the coming of Hymns.

Press has already started discovering Hymns. Toxic Flyer said their sound “gives off a Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., Supergrass, and even Tom Petty feel, only with more buzz of moody and melodic chops going on.” Says ’Sup Magazine: “Their dreamy West Coast folk was drifting me off to a place where VW vans cruise the horizon, the weather isn’t perpetually set on ‘March,’ and Gram Parsons is Jesus. I dare you to listen.” The Village Voice dubbed their music “California sunset twang,” while Pulse Weekly called Hymns “master of the art of simple delivery.”

www.hymnsband.com
www.myspace.com/hymnsband
www.rockridgemusic.com www.blacklandrecords.com

Barry Manilow Release Part 2

DVD: Barry Manilow - First and Farewell
Date: Tuesday October 31
Label: Rhino












Hot on the heels of his Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance in a Music/Comedy/Variety Series or Special for “Barry Manilow: Music and Passion” comes FIRST & FAREWELL, Barry Manilow’s new double-DVD set from Rhino and STILETTO New Media. One DVD features never-before-seen, footage from Manilow’s inaugural tour rehearsal at Carroll’s Studio in New York City in 1974. The second DVD captures the final concert of the historic “One Night Live! One Last Time! farewell tour in 2004 – recorded at The Pond in Anaheim – with Manilow performing many of the songs that helped him sell 75 million albums, collect 29 platinum records and become the #1 Adult Contemporary artist of all time.

Bonus features include excerpts from concerts in Las Vegas and Chicago, as well as two personal and reflective interviews with Barry. FIRST & FAREWELL will be available October 31 at all retail outlets and at www.rhino.com for a suggested retail price of $19.99. The DVD will be released on the same day as his latest CD, Greatest Songs Of The Sixties – the follow-up to his million-seller, Greatest Song Of The Fifties.

FIRST & FAREWELL is the second title released under the new multi-year agreement with Rhino Entertainment, an industry leader in marketing and distribution of music and television on DVD, and STILETTO New Media, which oversees distribution of Manilow’s video catalog.

“Barry is an icon and his incredible success today, including the stunning Emmy win for his PBS special, “Barry Manilow: Music and Passion,” reinforces his versatility and his popularity with multiple generations of music fans,” commented Mark C. Grove, executive producer of the PBS special and Principal in STILETTO New Media.

Disc One of FIRST & FAREWELL contains more than 60 minutes of rare video recorded during Manilow’s rehearsal at Carroll’s Studio before embarking on his first tour. The black-and-white footage includes Manilow’s early hits “It’s A Miracle,” “Could It Be Magic?” and “Sweet Life.” The DVD also features the debut performance of his well-known Commercial Medley, a mix of jingles Manilow wrote for companies such as Dr. Pepper, State Farm, Pepsi, McDonald’s, and more.

Disc Two contains more than 115 minutes of Manilow’s “One Night Live! One Last Time! concert at The Pond recorded in Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 and includes a guest performance by saxophonist Dave Koz on “Brooklyn Blues.” For the emotional setlist, Manilow selected songs from his storied career, including the hits “Mandy,” “I Write The Songs,” “Even Now,” “Copacabana (At The Copa),” and “I Made It Through The Rain.” The bonus features include his interpretation of “Chicago (My Kind Of Town)” from his concert in the Windy City.

Barry Manilow Release Part 1

Album: Barry Manilow - The Greatest Songs Of The Sixties
Release Date: Tuesday October 31
Label: Arista

BARRY MANILOW - CAN'T TAKE MY EYES OFF OF YOU (Audio)
QUICKTIME
http://media.bmgonline.com/jrecords.com/barry_manilow/audio/BarryManilow_CantTakeMyEyes_HI.mov
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