getting emo at ASCAP

Coming up on May 8th is Ryan's appearance at the ASCAP "I Create Music" Expo, a yearly gathering of industry professionals offering seminars, panel discussions, performances and a chance for interaction and networking with fellow songwriters, performers and producers.  As we know, Trevor previously took part in the "We Create Music" panel at the 2011 expo.

‘Emo’s Impact on Pop’ panel features #RyanRabin (@captaincuts/ @grouplove), @johnfeldy (@goldfingermusic & major producer), @carrotlettuce (#Emmy award-winning producer) and moderated by @emonitela co-founder @partywizard. Don’t miss this live podcast taping at #ASCAPEXPO presented by @rideorcryco on Tuesday 5/8 at 9:30AM. Link in bio for tix.

A post shared by ASCAP (@ascap) on Apr 26, 2018 at 1:21pm PDT

pain is pleasure

With thanks to my dear Cee. :)

Captain Cuts had the opportunity to collaborate with County superstar Keith Urban on his new album Graffiti U...but there's nothing particularly Country about their track "Love The Way It Hurts (So Good)" - it bears the hallmarks of the hook-laden pop sparkle which the guys have bestowed upon all their various collaborations.  The album was released today so you too can hurt so good to hear it.

Got the chance to write this song with one of the most talented and generous guys we’ve ever met. Thanks for letting us be a part of your new album @keithurban !!!

A post shared by Captain Cuts (@captaincuts) on Apr 26, 2018 at 10:24pm PDT

Spot the Poms, part five

Lee's enthusiasm for performing makes me wish it could be bottled because wouldn't everyone want to be this happy every day?

🔥❤️ @officialgarybarlow #garybarlow #gbsolo2018

A post shared by @ tt_sisters on Apr 24, 2018 at 2:52pm PDT

update: I stand corrected

(With thanks to Yesfans member Bad Wolf for the heads-up.)

As I reported earlier in the week, Lee is currently touring with Gary Barlow and now I know he'll be on that tour till its' completion, as Iain Hornal has Tweeted today that he'll be joining ARW once more for the UK and European performances in June.  As we know, Iain previously filled in on the Japanese tour while Lee was performing with Take That.

I will have the honour of depping for my pal Lee Pomeroy, playing Chris Squire’s glorious bass parts for @YESfeaturingARW on their 50th Anniversary Tour this June. 17-year-old me wouldn’t believe it... https://t.co/NzPlGNpE76

— Iain Hornal (@HornalMusic) April 20, 2018

Media Watch: Talk(back)

Again with many thanks to the Yes Source YouTube channel, various pieces of music from the Talk era are available to enjoy and provide a fascinating view into the process - including this writing session for "Endless Dream" in which you're basically hearing the song come together in real time.

Many will recognize this "untitled instrumental" as the piece which Trevor played as the introduction for his video in the Master Sessions series and which ended up being used for "Market Street" on Jacaranda.

The work track for "State of Play" is very interesting to me, it sounds even more urban than what it turned out to be on the album.

This run-through of "Walls" is fun to listen to for the nuances of the arrangement.

This instrumental version of "Where Will You Be" makes me wonder if this was the original demo rather than the one which appears on 90124 or if it was possibly reworked for Talk rather than my original supposition of Jon singing over the existing demo.

road warrior, part four

How many tours can one man undertake in a year?  If you're Lee Pomeroy the answer is: a lot.

Tonight marked the beginning of a new solo tour for Take That's Gary Barlow (in support of the reissue of his first solo album Open Road) and his backing band is the same as Take That which is the same as Jeff Lynne's ELO, so this ensemble will be performing for most of the year through the UK, the US, and Western Europe.  Lee is with Gary's tour at least until June when he'll join ARW for their UK and European performances, and then he'll be back with those guys for Jeff Lynne's ELO American tour in August and then...well, he's a busy guy!

It's lit 🔥🔥🔥 @GaryBarlow #gbsolo2018 pic.twitter.com/uX7Llrf3JY

— Scott Robertson (@ScottR93) April 16, 2018

Website update and (some) tour dates released!

As so intensely long-awaited by fans, the update for the Yes featuring ARW website has gone live today, with tour dates through September 9th officially posted.
http://yesfeaturingarw.com/tour-dates/

The website is now rebranded as "Quintessential Yes" with a completely new design.  The tour is being billed with this descriptor:

YES FEATURING JON ANDERSON, TREVOR RABIN, RICK WAKEMAN: 100 SHOW WORLD TOUR
The 100 show World Tour will commence on June 3rd 2018 in Warsaw, Poland, and feature shows in Scandinavia, Germany, UK (including headlining the Stone Free Festival at the O2 Arena in London) and North America in 2018, going on to South America, Central and Southern Europe, ending in Japan and the Far East in 2019.

There are also lots of other updates regarding the Manchester DVD, new music and the Yes archival release slated for later in the year.

US dates leaked (maybe)

Today a post (see the link below) was made on the Progressive Ears music forums, with a roster of US dates for this year's Summer/Fall tour.  One might take them with a grain of salt except that we do know at least two of them have already been confirmed, so I'm likely to believe it's a promoter's leak of some kind and they are correct.  As well, the geographic spread and number of dates seems entirely in keeping with previous tours.  Hopefully this means an official announcement is forthcoming either this week or the next.

http://www.progressiveears.org/forum/showthread.php/22060-Yes-(ARW)-2018-50TH-ANNIVERSARY-USA-TOUR

update: coming soon

With my gratitude to Yesfans member Johnroxx for the heads-up, another date of the upcoming Summer/Fall tour has been released - the guys will be playing in my neck of the woods on August 27th at Humphrey's By The Bay in San Diego; the sale date for tickets is Saturday, April 7th.

And as previewed by PROG magazine recently, their upcoming issue features Yes-ish content in the form of a cover story on Chris Squire's classic lone solo release, 1975's Fish Out of Water, as well as an article on this year's 50th Anniversary observances including content from both sides of the name, as it were.

Here's the cover of @ProgMagazineUK 86, on sale on Thursday. @yesofficial, Chris Squire, @YESfeaturingARW, Peter Banks, @aldimeolamusic, @kinomusicuk, @robreedmagenta, Auri, @the_seagullmen, The Osiris Club, @spacerockslive, @TrinityLiveUK2, @btbamofficial, @GalahadUK + more... pic.twitter.com/dwrQanSyj8

— Prog (@ProgMagazineUK) March 31, 2018