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Artist News: Rocket Scientists And Lana Lane Set To Kick-off European Tour In April

Posted on Tuesday, March 13 @ 06:01:07 UTC by nightowl

After receiving numerous accolades including the Best Album of 2006 at Sea of Tranquility along with extensive media coverage worldwide, acclaimed American progressive rock legends Rocket Scientists are poised to return to Europe for their first live concerts in several years. The tour kicks off on Saturday, April 7th in Rotherham, England sponsored by the Classic Rock Society commemorating Rocket Scientists' first ever live concert there 10 years ago in 1997. Additional shows are scheduled for Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany.



The lineup for the Rocket Scientists Spring tour includes:

Erik Norlander - keyboards
Mark McCrite - vocals, guitar
Don Schiff - NS/Stick (April 7th - April 12th shows)
Kristoffer Gildenl?w - bass (April 13th & 14th shows)
Peer Verschuren - guitar
Ernst Van Ee - drums

Symphonic rock diva Lana Lane will also perform a very special set on this tour delivering her entire Lady Macbeth album on stage along with some other favorites backed by the Rocket Scientists' musicians and her familiar Dutch collaborators, Peer Verschuren and Ernst Van Ee.

Tourdates and venue information are as follows:

Saturday, 7 April 2007 7:30 PM - Classic Rock Society/The Herringthorpe Leisure Center, Rotherham, England - www.classicrocksociety.net
Monday, 9 April 2007 8:00 PM - Biebob, Vosselaar, Belgium - www.biebob.be
Tuesday, 10 April 2007 8:00 PM - De Kade, Zaandam, The Netherlands - www.kade.nl
Thursday, 12 April 2007 8:00 PM - Quasimodo, Pirmasens, Germany - www.quasimodo-ps.de
Friday, 13 April 2007 8:00 PM - Bergkeller, Reichenbach, Germany - www.bergkeller-reichenbach.de
Saturday, 14 April 2007 8:30 PM - Irrlicht, B?nde-Spenge, Germany - www.pRockfest.com and www.timelessrock.de

To conclude the Spring, 2007 tour, Rocket Scientists will perform in the USA at The Rites of Spring Festival on Saturday, April 28th at 11AM. The event is held at the Colonial Theater, 227 Bridge Street, Phoenixville, PA. The musician lineup will be the same as the European dates with core member Don Schiff joining the band for this show on NS/Stick. Lana Lane will make a special appearance in the Rocket Scientists set at the festival. More info at www.rosfest.com.

Don Schiff appears live with Rocket Scientists with the gracious support of Stick Enterprises.

ABOUT STICK ENTERPRISES: This California Stick manufacturing and marketing corporation was founded by musician/inventor Emmett Chapman, creator of the legendary Chapman Stick as well as the more recent NS/Stick, a design collaboration between Emmett and Ned Steinberger. Emmett discovered and created the unique "Stick" two-handed tapping method on his 9-string guitar in 1969. It was a totally new way of playing on strings - fingers of both hands aligned parallel to the frets and to each other, each hand approaching the fretboard from opposite sides. This technique has now been in use for nearly 40 years by Stick players and also by those tapping guitarists and bassists who align both hands at right angles to the neck and strings. Don became one of Emmett's first students in 1975 and quickly rose to band performance level on Stick from a professional bass player's perspective. The student then began to inspire the teacher to new heights as Don applied his funky left-hand bass rhythm concepts to Emmett's powerful tapping technique. More information at www.stick.com.

ROCKET SCIENTISTS was formed in the late 1980s by keyboardist Erik Norlander and vocalist / guitarist Mark McCrite. The two released their first CD Earthbound in 1993 joined by then - session bassist Don Schiff. Schiff quickly became a part of the band for their second release in 1995 Brutal Architecture, and the three toured in the US and Europe in 1997 along with drummer Tommy Amato culminating in the live CD Earth Below And Sky Above: Live in Europe and America. In 1999, Rocket Scientists released Oblivion Days, raising the bar on already high expectations. At the turn of the century, Norlander, Schiff and McCrite all worked on solo projects in addition to backing symphonic rock vocal icon Lana Lane on several tours around the world. The latest release is the band's fourth studio album Revolution Road, a double CD released in the fall of 2006, their strongest and most successful title to date.

LANA LANE is an accomplished rock vocalist with a long history of albums and tours. Lana began touring in Japan in 1998 to support Garden Of The Moon and the subsequent Ballad Collection and Queen Of The Ocean releases. She then expanded her touring efforts to Europe in 2001 to support Secrets Of Astrology with additional tours in 2003 and 2004. Lana has been dubbed as "The Queen of Symphonic Rock" by her fans and the press, and yet she remains a very versatile artist able to move from intimate jazz pieces to bone crushing progressive metal. But in the end it is Lana's love of melody and artistry that reigns over all. Lana is a dedicated artist who approaches her craft with grace and integrity. She celebrated the 10 year anniversary of her first album in 2005 with the stunning concept album, Lady Macbeth, and has recently released a live DVD of her 10th Anniversary Concert Tour. Lana's newest release is Gemini, an album of classic rock covers recorded with an all-star band.

For more information about Rocket Scientists, please visit www.thetank.com/rocketscientists.htm or www.myspace.com/rocketscientistsband.

For more information about Lana Lane, please visit www.lanalane.com or http://www.myspace.com/eriknorlanderandlanalane.

Posted in Band News (tours, comings/goings, etc)