|
05/01/08
|
Ad Astra is pleased to announce that their song "Angle of Repose" from the Beyond Our Bounds CD has been selected to appear on CPR Vol. 3. The CD is set for a late May release.
|
| |
|
04/12/08
|
Beyond Our Bounds has been getting some radio airplay on Progressive Positivity. For all you progheads, Prog Positivity is an outstanding internet radio station playing a variety of classic and new prog. Please check them out at http://honorinformation.com/progpos/
|
| |
|
03/05/08
|
Mitch Rall and Doug Bowers joined veteran acoustic guitarist / singer John Zirpola for an evening performance at St. Simons' On-The-Sound Episcopal Church. The set included the song "Fallen World" from Ad Astra's debut CD "Beyond Our Bounds".
|
| |
|
05/24/07
|
I have finished the final mix of Chris and Mitch's song "Angle of Repose", the first official release from Ad Astra's upcoming CD. The song will be submitted to Gene Crout and Randy George for possible inclusion on CPR Vol. 3. CPR stands for Christian Progressive Rock and the the first two volumes were well recieved by the progressive rock community.
|
| |
|
05/15/07
|
Chris, Mitch and I have finally agreed on a name for our band. Ad Astra is Latin for "to the stars". We chose the name because 1) It sounds cool and 2) it puts us way ahead of most in an alphabetical list. We have no ambition of becoming "stars" as the name might suggest to some.
|
| |
|
05/8/07
|
Trout Studios and the IRS have moved into their new home. The new digs should provide a creative environment for many years to come. Many thanks to Chris and Hannah Flynn for making the IRS feel at home in their home for so long.
|
| |
|
02/12/07
|
We have decided to pair down the band that writes and records original music and become an entity separate from the IRS. The nucleus of the new band will be Doug Bowers, Chris Flynn and Mitch Rall. As yet, we have no name, but we are busy working on some excellent tunage that will become a commercial release by the end of the summer. The rest of the IRS are more than willing to provide their talents as time allows. Stay tuned.
|
| |
|
01/05/07
|
"Beyond Our Bounds" is the first "unofficial" release from the IRS. A rough mix can be found on the Guiltless Download Page.
I wrote this song with a slightly different lyric over 10 years ago. At the time, I felt it a "thow away song" because I didn't care for the lyric and the music was so-so...a learning exercise none the less.
When the IRS (Immanuel Rhythm Section) decided to record original tunes for a CD project, I thought I'd resurrect this tune and let Chris Flynn rework the lyric. I told him what I wanted the song to say and I supplied him with the original lyric (which was about extraterrestrials and the Biblical implications of looking into space when we have so much to concern ourselves with on Earth). I also specified the last line of the lyric. I sent the original lyrics and instructions to Chris via Email (he's a computer science guru working for the Air Force) and recieved a revised lyric within the hour (your tax dollars at work that day). He changed about half of the lines and made the song say exactly what I wanted it to say. Pretty easy for him I guess.
OK, so here's where it gets really cool: The music for the original song was recorded over 10 years ago on a sequencer. A couple weeks ago, I used the original sequences to record a stereo click track and started building the song around that. The original song had three solo breaks for guitar and keyboard. Boring!!!!!!!!!!! I told Chris that maybe we should consider narration during those breaks. He thought I was talking about somebody reading poetry or something and gave me a "yeah, right, we're a rock band" kind of look. I really thought more of a news broadcaster kinda thing. Like what Dream Theater does in some of their tunes. Chris went online to the NASA website and perused the communications archives. He downloaded the transmission from Apollo 8 that broke radio silence when they first came around the other side of the moon in 1968. He noticed that the file could be broken down into three parts, separated them, and inserted them into the spaces for the instrumental breaks in the song. Whoa!!!!!!!!!!!! They fit perfectly (the theme song from the Twilight Zone is playing in my head right now)! What are the chances that a transmission from a 1968 space flight would fit with such perfection (not only lyrically, but time-wise) into a song written 25 years later? Can you say - "It's a God thing"?
|
| |
|
01/01/07
|
Happy New Year! I am going to try to keep a "news and events" page updated based on the assumption that stuff is going to happen. Keep in touch and we'll see what happens. God's peace.
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
