April 2011 E-News

Quote of the Month

“April comes like an idiot, babbling and stewing flowers.” Edna St. Vincent Millay

Rex’s Blog

Happy April All, no foolin’!

Speaking of Edna St. Vincent Millay, if you’re a nut for her and her poetry like Risa & Laird Scranton and I are, you must check out The Edna Project. Our friends Seth Farber and Liz Queler have brilliantly set some of her poetry to music.

Sad news: I just learned my Imagined CD that honors the musical legacy of John Lennon lost the Independent Music Awards ‘Best Tribute Album’ competition. Yes we are disappointed but there’s still the equally important People’s Choice Award that will be announced later this summer - so if you haven’t yet, please VOTE FOR US ASAP. Music fans from around the world have until July 11 to cast their votes. I’ve never had an album elicit such passion from so many people since our Elektra album so please, if you haven’t yet, PICK ONE UP SOON!

March was a great month for us Two-Steppers. Our four ATS/S&G combo shows at The Phil in Naples, Florida were a delight, not to mention the 80-degree weather! Plus, our two 40^th Anniversary shows at The Sanctuary in Chatham, NJ with Pete Fornatale and Buskin & Batteau and at The Narrows were a total joy. We’ll be doing another 40^th Anniversary show with B&B at Infinity Hall on June 25. This is a must-see to believe venue and show if I do say so meself!

Neal, our bassist Freddy, and I will begin recording songs for our Cause and Effect (the working title) CD later this week at Paul Guzzone’s Triple Z studio in Pomona, NY. Paul produced our last studio album Days of Horses back in 2004, which many have compared to our 1972 debut album on Elektra. We’re revisiting many of our “give a damn” songs like War, Rabbit In The Moon, Shanty Town and Living In America, as well as some new songs that fit thematically with this concept. It will be a stripped down, all-acoustic, live in studio project that captures the energy of our live performances. We hope to have it ready to folk and roll by summer’s end.

April is rather lamb-like with just two shows scheduled. They include our 40^th Anniversary show at the marvelous TCAN in Natick, MA this Saturday the 2nd, and a Nu-Utopians show celebrating the songs of John Lennon at the equally marvelous Palace Theatre in Manchester, NH on Saturday the 23rd. As I stated earlier, Neal, Freddy and I will put this “down time” to good use by rehearsing and recording for a new CD as part of our 2011 anniversary celebration. With all the political and social upheaval going on here in the U.S. and abroad these days, this seems like a relevant and worthwhile endeavor.

March 2011 E-Newsletter

Quote of the Month

“ '...then you should say what you mean', the March Hare went on. `I do,' Alice hastily replied; 'at least - at least I mean what I say - that's the same thing, you know.' ”
Lewis Carroll

Rex’s Blog

We made it! March 15th marks Aztec Two-Step’s 40th anniversary. March will also live up to its reputation for being “In like a Lion” as I begin the month touring Maine and celebrating the songs of John Lennon with my “Fab”- u- lous 7-piece ensemble, The Nu-Utopians. Great Nu-U News! Our Imagined CD was just nominated for the ‘Best Tribute Album’ of 2010 by the Independent Music Awards, a prestigious international competition. Please see all the details at the bottom of this blog. Hmmm, this could be a possible song title! OK, maybe “From The bottom of My Blog” would be better.

ATS kicks things off the following week with two shows in New Jersey including the Strand Center for the Arts in Lakewood and then back with our good friends at Sanctuary Concerts in Chatham for a gala celebration of our 40^th anniversary (including a slide show and cake!) and featuring very special guests Buskin & Batteau and Pete Fornatale. This is our first time back since the début of our Simon & Garfunkel Songbook show in 2005. Next, we head down to Florida, this time to perform at “The Phil” in Naples where we’ll be playing four shows combining ATS originals with Simon & Garfunkel songs. We’ll also throw in a few Everly Brothers for good measure!

March starts winding down a bit with our 40^th anniversary show at The Narrows in Fall River, MA, again with Buskin & Batteau as special guests; another benefit concert sponsored by Bruce John of Shaboo fame at the Bread Box in Willimantic, CT; then we reunite at a free event with the amazing Pete Fornatale narrating our Simon & Garfunkel Songbook show at the Budarz Theater @ The Ossining Public Library in Ossining, NY - a lovely new music venue and concert series started by dear hearts Alan & Ellen Marzelli.

April is rather lamb-like with just two shows scheduled so far. They include a 40^th anniversary show at the marvelous TCAN in Natick, MA and a Nu-Utopians show celebrating the songs of John Lennon at the equally marvelous Palace Theatre in Manchester, NH. However, Neal, Freddy and I will put this “down time” to good use by focusing on rehearsals for a live album of “give a damn” songs as part of our 2011 anniversary celebration. With all the social upheaval going on here in the U.S. and around the world these days, this seems like a relevant and worthwhile endeavor.
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So here we are at the The Bottom of My Blog, a brand new hit single recently composed by yours truly about my amazing Nu-Utopians.

The Nu-Utopians Imagined CD was just nominated in the “Best Tribute Album” category of 2010 by the prestigious Independent Music Awards. Please VOTE FOR US @ People’s Choice Award. Music fans from around the world have until July 11 to cast their votes.

ABOUT IMA:

The Independent Music Awards is the only international program that connects artists to new revenue opportunities & a potential audience of more than 1 billion music fans.The “Judged Winners” will be determined by a panel of 62 influential artist and industry types including Tom Waits, Suzanne Vega, Adam Duritz, Seal, Aimee Mann, Shelby Lynne, Bill Bragin (Lincoln Center), Anthony DeCurtis (Rolling Stone), Evan Schlansky (American Songwriter) and others, and will be announced in late March, 2011.

There are many artists previously on major labels like Jackson Browne this year, as well as notable indie label and self-released talent from around the globe who submitted their best work in 70 Song, Album, Video & Design categories. The competition receives submissions from more than 70 countries on 6 continents. Artists, managers and labels credit The IMAs for impacting their presence among talent buyers, programmers, media and fans.

Earning an IMA is more than just a badge of distinction. Produced by Music Resource Group, publisher of the popular industry contact database The Musician’s Atlas/AtlasOnline, and co-sponsored by eMusic, Jango, Musicati, AMI Entertainment, IMAtv, Dropcards, CMJ Music Marathon, NACA, The Planetary Group and others. The IMAs leverage its unrivaled access to performance, promotion & distribution opportunities to place winners & nominees in front of Talent Buyers, Film, TV & Gaming Music Supervisors, Media outlets, Licensing opportunities and 1 Billion music fans.

Back to Aztec Two-Step again, our new “first 40 years” T-shirts have been a big hit so far. For a look-see and complete details on these other merchandise items, tour dates, etc., please visit our ATS website.

September 2010 E-Newsletter

Quote of the Month

“A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality.” John Lennon

Blog

September is here, my birth month, oh dear! It’s also the month when a year ago, I started the journey of mapping out, then recording, 22 superb John Lennon compositions with my collaborator Tom Dean of Devonsquare. Imagined seems like a dream to me now but because I dreamed it out loud with a friend, it is a reality as well. We launch our fall tour to promote our album as The John Lennon Song Project with a six-member band at Gracie Theatre in Bangor, Maine, just 45 miles north of Pittsfield where I grew up dreaming.

I want to reassure all of you that this project will in no way interfere with Aztec Two-Step. I’ll continue this year weaving in ATS dates with Neal who incidentally has been supportive and enthusiastic throughout this process. We’ll be celebrating our 40^th anniversary in 2011 with concerts all over the U.S. continuing through 2012, which will mark the 40^th year since our self-title debut album was released on Elektra Records in 1972. We’re also considering a new studio album to celebrate this significant anniversary. Believe me, no one’s more amazed by these 40 years than we are.

Meanwhile, I sincerely hope each one of you supports this labor of love in what would have been John’s 70^th birthday year. It still haunts and hurts that Lennon’s life ended so tragically but his songs live on as does his legacy as an activist and artist - perhaps the greatest of all time. Let’s put our sorrow aside and celebrate this amazing man’s artistry together. Lennon archivist Tony Traguardo has kindly put together a ten minute video tribute that will be shown where possible prior to each concert.

Ron Olesko of WFDU wrote:"Absolutely Brilliant! I've been listening non-stop. What an amazing job of paying homage to Lennon and the Beatles and creating music that has so much of your own style and class. I can't wait to go on the radio and start spinning tunes from it. Album of the year!!"

The official release date of Imagined is October 9^th - John’s 70^th birthday - but is available now on our ATS website. We’ll be performing live with Tom’s bandmate Alana MacDonald and three to four other talented musicians. Like the CD, the live show’s instrumentation features bass, acoustic and electric guitars, cello, violin, mandolin, accordion, chromatic harmonica and some very cool vocals. For complete details, song samples and Imagined fan quotes, you can visit the JLSP website.

October E-Newsletter

Quote of the Month

“If someone thinks that love and peace is a cliché that must have been left behind in the Sixties, that's his problem. Love and peace are eternal..” John Lennon

Blog

We are honored to participate once again with the Daniel Pearl Foundation by dedicating all of our October shows to the memory of Daniel Pearl, the Jewish-American journalist who was kidnapped and murdered by Pakistani terrorists in 2002. This is a worldwide initiative with thousands of musicians participating to honor Danny’s life as a musician and humanitarian. Shortly after his death, Danny’s parents founded the Daniel Pearl Foundation whose mission is to promote cross-cultural understanding through journalism, music, and dialogue.

On a lighter note, there was magic at Mitchell (Horse) Farm in Salem, CT last Saturday as Neal, Fred, Marshal and I played our 4^th consecutive festival fundraiser to over 800 jubilant attendees. We started out with 200 attendees four years ago. It was another great year of merriment and music thanks to Jonathan Edwards and band, The Jon Pousette-Dart Band, founders Dee and Hank Doolittle and all of the wonderful volunteers.

We’ve got some cool and unusual shows coming up this month as well including a benefit concert with Ralph Nader, then another trip to Kent, Ohio to play with Brewer & Shipley before moving on to Chicago! Here is a complete list of our gigs for this month.

Sun, Oct 10 @ Infinity Hall, Norfolk, CT a benefit with Ralph Nader
Fri, Oct 15 @ Firehouse Center for the Arts, Newburyport, MA ATS/S&G Combo Show
Sat, Oct 16 @ Ashburnham Conservation Trust in Ashburnham, MA
Fri, Oct 22 @ Kent Stage, Kent, OH performing with our musical brothers Brewer & Shipley
Sat, Oct 23 @ WMFT, Chicago, IL on air studio concert
Thur, Oct 28 Private Halloween Party
Fri, Oct 29 @ Turning Point Café in Piermont, NY
Sat, Oct 30 @ Palace Theatre, Manchester, NH S&G Songbook Show

If you’ve been opening our recent mailers you know that I launched my John Lennon Song ProjectTour two weeks ago with a three city swing in Maine. All of the shows were tremendously successful as my band mates Tom Dean (guitars and mandola), Alana MacDonald (violin), Jordan Jancz (cello), Robby Coffin (guitars), and Teg Glendon (bass) hunkered down to honor the greatest artist of all time. Had he lived, John Lennon would have turned seventy on October 9^th. FYI, we’re performing at The Regent Theater in Arlington, MA on his birthday. Virtuoso musician Gary Schreiner (chromatic harmonica and accordion) will join us on stage there as well as Flying Monkey, Infinity Hall and Joe’s Pub. We promise to inspire.

Fri, Oct 1 @ Park Theater, Cranston, RI
Sat, Oct 2 Live broadcaston WFUV-fm 90.7 or WFUV.org between 4-5pm with Pete Fornatale
Sat, Oct 2 @ Turning Point Café, Piermont, NY
Sun, Oct 3 @ Infinity Music Hall, Norfolk, CT
Tue, Oct 5 @ Joe’s Pub, NYC
Fri, Oct 8 @ Flying Monkey, Plymouth, NH
Sat, Oct 9 @ Regent Theatre, Arlington, MA

Many thanks to Ron Olesko of WFDU who had me on his show this past Sunday to promote my JLSP CD and our area shows. Ron wrote this about Imagined: "Absolutely Brilliant ! I've been listening non-stop. What an amazing job of paying homage to Lennon and the Beatles and creating music that has so much of your own style and class. I can't wait to go on the radio and start spinning tunes from it. Album of the year !!"

The official release date for Imagined is October 9^th - John’s 70^th birthday - but is available now on our ATS website. For complete details, tour dates,song samples and Imagined fan quotes, please visit the JLSP website

August 2010 E-News

Quote of the Month

We’re just a band… John Lennon

Blog

August - the dog days of summer and the beginning of the end of not making the playoffs for many of our favorite major league baseball teams - especially my Neu Rotic Mets. Words cannot express my disappointment in their lack of clutch hitting and the ineptness of their front office so I’ll leave it at that, wordless.

After performing our S&G Songbook Show at The Kate in Old Saybrook, CT, Neal and I are looking forward to coming back to play our original songs this Saturday. And besides some other wonderful shows and festivals in August and September, we’ll be performing in Kent, Ohio and Chicago this October 22^nd & 23^rd. Before I forget, our booking agent Bobbi wanted me to mention that If anyone is interested in having us play a private party or hosting a house concert on our way to and fro, we’re available. Also, because of the way the weekends line up for Christmas and New Years this year, we’re available to perform on or around those dates.

And now, a drum roll please........ After ten months of recording and tens of thousands of miles traveling back and forth to Eaton, NH (OK, a slight exaggeration on the millage but not by much) my friend Tommy Dean of Devonsquare and I have finally finished Imagined, our John Lennon Song Project CD. After years of wishful thinking, this is adream come true album for me that features 22 of Lennon’s better known Beatles songs, many of them artfully woven together. The two exceptions are Imagine and Johnny’s An Angel,which was originally on Aztec’s 1986 Living In America album. We’ve gotten nothing but rave previews from everyone who’s heard it so far including my friend John who wasserving in Kabul, Afghanistan at the time, and my band mates Neal and Freddy. And how about this from WFUVs’ Pete Fornatale: One listen to these intelligent, heartfelt covers will convince you that Rex and Tom have been infused with the spirit of John Lennon and that they rank right up there with the very best Lennon interpreters ever.

The official release date is October 9^th - John’s 70^th birthday - but is available to you all now on our ATS website. Tom and I are very excited about the CD and our upcoming 2010 live shows, which kick off on September 17^th at the Gracie Theater in Bangor, Maine. We’ll be performing live with Tom’s band mate Alana MacDonald who sings a heart-wrenching version of In My Life, plus four other terrific musicians. And like the CD, the live show’s instrumentation features bass, acoustic and electric guitars, cello, violin, mandolin, accordion, chromatic harmonica and some crazy cool vocals. For complete details, song samples and such, you can visit our JLSP website.