December News Bytes

• Atlanta Technical Progressive Metal Band Canvas Solaris have split up.
• British project Magenta has re-recorded the Emerson/Lake/Palmer track "Lucky Man" and can be found on their website at http://magenta-web.com/
• Swedish band Beardfish are getting ready to release their new album for 2011 titled "Mammoth" to be released on the InsideOut label.
• Opeth will start the recording of their 10th album on the 31st of January 2011. The band has picked the legendary Atlantis studios (ex Metronome studios) in Stockholm and will once again work with Jens Bogren engineering. Mixing duties will be handled by Steven Wilson (Porcupine tree). Possible release worldwide in the fall of 2011, through Roadrunner records.
• A new Jaco Pastorius two-CD boxed “audio biography” is being released and provides a seamless account of Jaco’s development from his very beginnings as a musician all the way through his tenures with Pat Metheny, Joni Mitchell, and the ‘70s super group Weather Report. It includes an 80-page full-color booklet and over two hours of never-before-heard music including Jaco’s very first home recordings, solos, sessions, record dates, and earliest original compositions. Includes, spoken words from family, friends and music luminaries.
• Stan Whitaker of "Happy the Man" - now "Oblivion Sun", and Ray Bennett of "Flash" are both finishing new CD's for their respective bands, and are considering a joint tour in 2011.

PAIN OF SALVATION, BEARDFISH Pull Out Of PROGRESSIVE NATION; BIGELF, SCALE THE SUMMIT Step In

DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy has released the following statement:
"It is with the utmost disappointment that I am forced to share the unfortunate news of both PAIN OF SALVATION and BEARDFISH having to pull out of this summer's [DREAM THEATER-headlined] Progressive Nation tour....Their label, Inside Out, just recently lost the financial funding for the tour as a result of their distributor SPV recently claiming bankruptcy...which effectively meant that both PAIN OF SALVATION and BEARDFISH lost the tour support that was essential to their ability to come to North America for Progressive Nation. All parties involved (myself, both bands, Inside Out, etc) are beyond devastated at this turn of events and are truly sorry to all of the fans that were looking forward to this lineup. We tried everything we could do to salvage the situation, but in the end it was not possible...Well, as the [new DREAM TEHATER] album title says, every black cloud does indeed have a silver lining....so with this unfortunate news, I bring to you the good news of two incredible bands that will jumping on board Progressive Nation to join DREAM THEATER and ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA this summer: BIGELF and SCALE THE SUMMIT. Los Angeles' BIGELF are my personal favorite new band to come along in many years...their latest CD, 'Cheat The Gallows', is my favorite album of the year and I already had positioned them onto the European run of Progressive Nation in the fall....with them now joining us on PN09 in North America as well, it looks like world domination is now not that far out of reach for them! Pretty soon, everyone will hopefully be falling for their retro, psychedelic, progressive, hard rock, doom metal as hard as I have! Houston instrumental band SCALE THE SUMMIT are a recent discovery for me and their top notch musicianship will be a perfect fit to this Progressive Nation lineup stylistically falling very nicely between the musicality of DREAM THEATER and ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA. They bring the instrumental elements of prog rock and fusion into today's contemporary hard rock/metal sounds and are one of the most talented group of young musicians I've seen assembled in many years. Once again, apologies to anybody disappointed in this unexpected and unavoidable lineup change...but the circumstances were beyond our control...In any event, PN09 will carry on and still deliver the most musical bang for its buck this summer throughout North America and we look forward to sharing the evening with you!"

DREAM THEATER, ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA, PAIN OF SALVATION: 'Progressive Nation' Dates Announced

New York progressive metal veterans DREAM THEATER will take their Progressive Nation tour back on the road for its second incarnation with a run through America and Canada in July/August 2009.
In addition to a headlining set by DREAM THEATER, this year's package will feature the outstanding musicianship of ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA as well as two incredibly talented imports from Sweden: PAIN OF SALVATION and BEARDFISH.
Progressive Nation tour dates:
Jul. 24 - Fillmore @ Jackie Gleason Theater - Miami, FL
Jul. 25 - Rock Hard Live - Orlando, FL
Jul. 28 - The Tabernacle - Atlanta, GA
Jul. 29 - Thomas Wolfe Auditorium - Ashville, NC
Aug. 01 - Merriweather Post - Washington DC
*Aug. 02 - Bank Of America Pavillion - Boston, MA
Aug. 04 - The Palace Theater - Albany, NY
Aug. 11 - The Agora - Quebec City, QUE
Aug. 12 - Bell Center - Montreal, QUE
Aug. 14 - Molson Amphitheater - Toronto, ONT
Aug. 16 - The Burton Cummings Theater - Winnipeg, MAN
Aug. 18 - MacEwan Hall - Calgary, AB
Aug. 19 - Shaw Conference Center - Edmonton, AB
Aug. 21 - The Orpheum Theater - Minneapolis, MN
Aug. 22 - Riverside Theater - Milwaukee, WI
Aug. 23 - Chicago Theater - Chicago, IL
Aug. 25 - Temple Hoyne Buell Theater - Denver, CO
Aug. 29 - The Greek Theater - Los Angeles, CA* With special guests QUEENSRŸCHE (a special one-off five-band Progressive Nation bill)

Progressive Nation was created by DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy and its successful inaugural run in 2008 also featured OPETH, BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME and THREE.

Portnoy once again hand-picked all of the bands for the 2009 bill based on their diversity and musicality. He comments: "This year's lineup is so exciting for me. Every band is bringing something very unique to the package to create an incredibly well rounded musical experience. I am just as excited to be watching all the bands from the side of the stage as I am to be performing with mine in the center of it!"

Fresh on the heels of his Grammy win, Dweezil Zappa is pleased to announce his plans to join forces with DREAM THEATER as part of the Progressive Nation 2009 tour: "It's no secret that I started ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA with the intention to diversify and expand the audience for my father's music. I figured I'd probably have to do it one concert at a time. Playing with DREAM THEATER on the Progressive Nation tour is a great way to accomplish that goal. Music fans who are seeking something to challenge their senses should definitely consider attending this great bill."
Portnoy adds: "It is an absolute honor for me to have ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA on board. Frank Zappa is one of my all-time biggest heroes and his music practically invented the term 'progressive.' Dweezil is doing an amazing job carrying on the tradition of his father's daring spirit and like his dad, has surrounded himself with a band of jaw-dropping, incredible musicians."

Sweden's PAIN OF SALVATION will bring their unique brand of cutting-edge progressive metal to Progressive Nation. Vocalist/guitarist Daniel Gildenlöw comments: "We are truly very happy to be part of the Progressive Nation tour, and to be back in the States again and bring all the sweat and flesh to our music and our well deserving American fans. We feel honored to have been asked."

Gildenlöw also joked: "Actually, Mike has been on our backs now for two years in what we believe to be a personal campaign, bordering on harassment, to make us come over. So when he asked us about Progressive Nation, it was a joy to finally be able to say yes. And if Mike didn't give up on us, then hopefully America hasn't either."

Vocalist/keyboardist Rikard Sjöblom of BEARDFISH is equally excited: "When we read on a website that Mike Portnoy had our album 'Sleeping in Traffic Part 1' among his favorite releases of 2007, we just couldn't believe it and we were really happy about it! And now we once again gasp for air since we've been asked to join Progressive Nation 2009 together with DREAM THEATER (one of the biggest bands in this genre today!), PAIN OF SALVATION (hey, fellow Swedes!!!) and ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA (being a HUGE Zappa fan myself, I think this is really cool!). Since we've only played the U.S. once before we simply can't wait to come over and rock out!"
Progressive Nation will be the first North American tour for DREAM THEATER in support of the band's newest Roadrunner Records CD, which is slated for a June release.
rnrcola

Beardfish To Play At Nearfest 2009

NEARfest '09 is very excited to bring to the NEARfest stage, Beardfish. Hailing from Sweden, Beardfish are a prime example of an archetype of an exceptionally expressive prog rock act. Building on the strength and power of previous releases such as The Sane Day and Sleeping in Traffic: Part One, their current album, Sleeping In Traffic: Part Two, features quotes from almost all eras of music history, blending them into an unmistakable sound. Beardfish's music has depth and substance without overtaxing its listeners with overly intricate structures. A distinct sense of Zappa-esque humor pervades Beardfish's music and lyrics. Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater said about Beardfish: "Sweden's Beardfish are my favorite "new" band with an "old" sound. Utilizing all of the classic styles and sounds of the original progessive rock bands of the 70's (mellotron, hammond organ, leslies, clean guitars, dry organic drums, etc.), these guys are making music for the folks who truly miss the classic bands that started this whole genre." Prepare yourselves to welcome Beardfish to the NEARfest '09 stage.

The Tangent To Join Forces with Beardfish

The Tangent is undergoing a large change. After four studio albums plus 2 live CDs and a DVD, the group is about to take a new step forward.Andy Tillison will remain at the band's helm, along with founder member Guy Manning, Theo Travis and the more recently recruited Jakko M Jakszyk. However, the association with the Malmo based trio of Jonas Reingold, Jaime Salazar and Krister Jonsson is now over and The Tangent will return in effect to its more project based rooting. The replacement musicians are well known to many of you and are the whole of the young and enthusiastic quartet "Beardfish" from Sweden.
The new project band will make its live debut at The Summer's End Festival in the UK on the 28th September. Plans are afoot for the commencement of recording of the next Tangent album, which it is hoped will use the lineup to maximum effect.
And here's a link to a more in depth explenation from Andy Tillison: http://thetangent.org/