Concerts: Echolyn's Brett Kull, Paul Ramsey Join Francis Dunnery On New Progressives Tour
On October 7, Brett Kull posted the following to the Echolyn news group:
"Hey all!
"Paul [Ramsey] and I will be touring The UK in October and November with Francis Dunnery in his band, the New Progressives. Evil Knievil ain't got nothin' on us! Come on out and see the greatest show since The Grateful Dead played the Winterland!
"Show and ticket info at www.francisdunnery.com/tour.html
"We just finished the new DOUBLE album which features Tom Brislin on keys, Dorie Jackson on backing vocals, Jamie Bishop on bass and Paul Ramsey on drums. I somehow even managed to get some guitar on a couple songs which is pretty tough to do considering the talents of Francis.
The album is available at www.francisdunnery.com/shop.html.
"The Album, There's A Whole New World Out There is one of the best I've been involved with. The SOUND is deep and wide and high and low. It washes over you and pulls you in like a Saturday night bath. Tracks like 'Staring At The Whitewash' could go on forever as far as I'm concerned. I'd like to fall asleep to it then wake up to the same progression in the morning (or in the middle of the night when I take a leak).
"What this album has, is a rare 'betterment' of an artist's songs. Rare because most of the time, when an artists attempts to re record their songs, they usually come up with a flat, half assed version of the original. I promise this is not the case with this record. When Francis started sending me the original versions of the songs we were going to record by his old band It Bites I thought 'damn, these suck!' They did not travel well through time. 'Dated' is an understatement. I was not familiar with the band It Bites and now know why. They were pretty much everything I hated about the eighties rolled in one. Bad hair, processed drum kits, too much reverb, shitty sounds and big light shows .... and yet after listening more I found that there was melody and a good lyric.... it was just bludgeoned to death by the horrid sounds of bad technology and overplaying. I KNOW what that's about because I've done the exact same thing!
"Trying to re-create anything is always BAD. Timelessness means the Present because it is only in the present that time does NOT exist. Francis is not trying to reclaim It Bites and the past, nor is he trying to bring his songs into the future and onward. To make something Present is to make it timeless and real. It's what every great artist strives for. To give a song a soul and breath in the NOW is magic. Listen to Joni Mitchell's Travelogue.
"God knows I've seen a thousand soulless bands playing their hits, doing the circuit and pandering to the sentiment of the collective past of the audience. Being progressive in music/art has nothing to do with that in my opinion. This album is part of something that is daring, and not chained to the past or concerned with the future. Francis has accomplished the rare feat of stripping away the fat, bringing to light the heart of the song AND at the same time, shattering singer/songwriter pretension and platitudes. These songs are in focus now and truly timeless in their delivery.
The recording we did is simple and pure. Real musicians singing and playing instruments mostly live in a room together. Mistakes, magic and the moment are on this recording. It's 'high class,' as Francis would say and not 'RAAACK' music. I've learned many things during this process. Things about feel, time, sound and soul. I've learned about 'The Land,' 'Riding The Bus,' 'Blaggin' It,' and what my porn name would be, (Lady Flourtown).
"I hope you enjoy it as much as we do...but we don't really care ;-)
"Hope to see you at one of the shows this Fall!!!
Sincerely
bwk"
[Source: Echolyn Yahoo Group]
