Mar 9, 2016 | Circuline News and Band Updates
Circuline is excited to announce the last of the Guest Guitarists for the second album, “Counterpoint”.
Guest #7 of 7: Doug Ott (Enchant). Doug is the co-leader, chief songwriter, and rocking guitarist for the progressive rock band Enchant. Enchant have spent more than 25 years in the progressive rock scene, with an 11-year hiatus in studio album discography between 2003 and 2014. They returned to the studio and live performance with their recent release, “The Great Divide”.
Andrew Colyer met Enchant keyboardist Bill Jenkins on the Moody Blues Cruise and Cruise to the Edge in 2014. Bill was performing with Sound of Contact, and Andrew was performing with the Prog Rock Orchestra. Bill and Andrew met up again in 2015 at the 12th international Rites of Spring festival (RoSfest) where Enchant was performing, and got introduced to Doug. Andrew and Darin Brannon were impressed with Enchant’s live performance and new album, and when Circuline needed another guitarist for their second album, they called Doug.
Doug is contributing guitar tracks to the song “Who I Am”. We’re excited and grateful to be working with him!
Feb 23, 2016 | Circuline News and Band Updates
Thank you so much to Big Bang Magazine (France) for the great review of Circuline’s debut album in Issue 94!
“Remarkable [and] skillful musicians…..deserve(s) that we pay closer attention…..untimely musical vibes…..prolific ideas, like a breath of fresh air…..these exciting 40 minutes…..a duo of convincing vocal performers…..these artists refuse all labeling and don’t take the easy route…..their music, defined by their soul just like ‘melodic and cinematic rock for the 21st century’…..a delightful vocal performance (Silence Revealed)…..prog AOR accents, cinematic landscapes and instrumental fusions…..variety [that] thrives of rigor and intensity…..a devilishly successful album…..perfect in its genre…..”
Special thanks to Olivier Pelletant for such a great review!
Feb 20, 2016 | Circuline News and Band Updates
Circuline is excited to continue announcing the Guest Guitarists for the second album, “Counterpoint”.
Guest #5: Stanley Whitaker (Happy the Man, Pedal Giant Animals, Oblivion Sun). Stanley was a founding member of the amazing progressive rock band Happy the Man in 1973. HTM released three albums in the 1970’s, with followup albums in 1999 and 2004. Pedal Giant Animals is a project with HTM co-founder Frank Wyatt (Check out PGA’s latest project, out soon!). Oblivion Sun was formed in 2006, and the band released albums in 2007 and 2013.
Andrew Colyer met Oblivion Sun drummer Bill Brasso on the inaugural Cruise to the Edge in 2013. Oblivion Sun was looking for a new keyboard player, so when Frank Wyatt and Bill Brasso saw Andrew performing on keys/vocals with the Prog Rock Orchestra on the 2014 Cruise to the Edge, they spoke to him about becoming the newest member of Oblivion Sun. Scheduling and health issues have prevented that from happening, but it connected Andrew with all the members of the band. Oblivion Sun came out to see Circuline during their 2015 Spring Tour with Glass Hammer.
Stanley is contributing guitar tracks to the song “Stay (Peter Frankenstan)”. We’re excited and grateful to be working with him!
Feb 14, 2016 | Circuline News and Band Updates
Circuline is excited to continue announcing the Guest Guitarists for the second album, “Counterpoint”.
Guest #4: Ryche Chlanda (Fireballet, Renaissance, Flying Dreams). At the mere age of 15, Ryche was a founding member of the progressive rock band Fireballet in the 1970’s. Recently Ryche spent several years on tour with Renaissance, after founding guitarist Michael Dunford passed away.
Circuline met Ryche in April 2015, while on tour with Glass Hammer. Because Ryche was putting together a band for his new Flying Dreams project, he asked Andrew Colyer to play keyboards, and for Darin Brannon to be the backup drummer for Craig Buchman. Andrew was in Flying Dreams’ first video, “True Love”, released in July 2015.
Ryche is contributing guitar tracks to the song “Nautilus”. We’re excited and grateful to be working with him!
Feb 9, 2016 | Circuline News and Band Updates
Circuline is excited to continue announcing the Guest Guitarists for the second album, “Counterpoint”.
Guest #3: Alek Darson (Fright Pig, Meridian Voice Project). Circuline co-leaders Darin Brannon and Andrew Colyer saw Alek perform for the first time with Fright Pig at the 2014 Rites of Spring festival (RoSfest). RoSfest is a 10-band progressive rock weekend, which is a lot to take in at one time. Alek was so awesome that he stood out among the crowd. Darin and Andrew remembered him. Later that year, in October at the 2014 New Jersey Proghouse Homecoming, Darin and Andrew saw Alek onstage again, performing a rock-jazz fusion show with Meridian Voice Project. They connected that weekend, and when Circuline needed guest guitar players for this upcoming album, they called Alek.
What many people don’t know about Alek is that not only is he a virtuosos guitar player, but also a highly trained recording and mixing engineer who has produced over 12 albums. Originally from Serbia, Alek went to school for audio engineering and worked for many years running his own studio, before coming to the U.S. and attending Berklee School of Music for performance and composition.
Alek is contributing guitar tracks to the songs “Forbidden Planet”, “Hollow”, and is the mixing engineer for the album. We’re excited and grateful to be working with him!
