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Eagle Bytes: April, 2008

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EAGLE BYTES

The Electronic Newsletter of Prometheus Music
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Volume 11 - Issue 2
April 2008
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This issue is distinguished by being largely written at the Florence
airport with 4 hours of sleep. Woot!

In this issue:

1. Random Stuff
- "Divine Intervention" - download the album booklet!
- "Big Blue Sky" video
- Plug for vixy & Tony's new CD

2. Production Update: Leslie Fish & Julia Ecklar CDs

1. RANDOM STUFF
---------------

* "Divine Intervention" - download the album booklet!

If you're like me, most of your CDs are sitting in boxes in your
closet. Perhaps (also like me!) your closet may also be several
thousand miles away...in another continent. Or, perhaps you bought
your music through iTunes, and never received the liner notes in the
first place.

You may now download the Divine Intervention album liner notes (as a
PDF file) at:

http://prometheus-music.com/print/Divine%20Intervention%20Booklet.pdf

We'll have the "To Touch the Stars" liner notes available for
download in a future issue.

* "Big Blue Sky" video by Tim {name removed for web publication}

Tim has made a home movie of "Big Blue Sky" (by Stan
Clardy) from the _To Touch the Stars_ CD, and which I've wanted to
share with you for several months. Tim assembled a collage of family
photos and home videos from his life, narrating his own progression
from boyhood into fatherhood and family.

Although it was not intended for viewing beyond his family, Tim and
his family have allowed us to share it with you semi-publicly here
(thank you!). I hope you enjoy it; Stan Clardy was deeply moved, and
personally, I cried when I saw it.

You can find a high-resolution download at:

http://prometheus-music.com/eb/Big_Blue_Sky-Tim.mp4

(And yes - the girl in the astronaut suit at the end is Tim's
daughter.)

* Plug for vixy & Tony's first CD: Thirteen

You can hear six tracks from vixy & Tony's just-released first CD,
"Thirteen" on their MySpace page,
at: http://www.myspace.com/vixyandtony . I've enjoyed listening to
these (especially their Firefly-inspired "Apprentice", which in a
nutshell, I found riveting). So I naturally wanted to pass them along
to you, too.

And if you haven't already heard it, you can also download a
"basement" MP3 recording of their Firefly-inspired "Mal's Song", at:
http://www.cyphertext.net/escapekey/Mal_studio.mp3 . To me, this song
and performance is evocative of the intensity and depth that many of
us associate with the best of Julia Ecklar's music. It is one of a
(tiny!) number of filksongs I've put on autorepeat in recent years.

2. PRODUCTION UPDATES: LESLIE FISH & JULIA ECKLAR CDS
-----------------------------------------------------

There are two major projects that we're expecting to release next
year: one with Leslie Fish, and the second with Julia Ecklar.

Here's what's up with them.

* The Leslie Fish Project

Leslie Fish came out for nearly two weeks to record an album with
Kristoph Klover and Margaret Davis in late February/early March; the
songs focused on the core of her out-of-print "Chickasaw Mountain"
tape, as well as other previously unrecorded works. Leslie hasn't
released a newly recorded CD in many years, so I was particularly
appreciative that we had this rare opportunity to work with her in
depth.

Before Leslie came out, she was recovering from a dual-bout of
pneumonia and a back injury, and spent most of those two weeks
working with Kristoph to return her singing to top form. Kristoph
says that everything came out super in the end - he particularly
thinks these may be the best recordings ever of Leslie's guitar
wizardry.

Kristoph is aiming for an album master within six months, so we're
aiming for a CD release early next year. If there's enough interest,
we'll do pre-ordering this fall (with immediate digital download of
the completed CD.)

Song list is:

Anima Urbis (Mount Tam) / Jack the Slob / Hymn to the Night-Mare /
The Challenger / White Man's Rain Chant / Ship of Stone / The Gods
Aren't Crazy / Rise Up Bright Sun / Berserker / The Sun is Also A
Warrior / Lucifer / The Earth's Fire-Breathing Daughter / Hallow's
Dirge / Chickasaw Mountain / Ballad of the Three Kings / Avalon is
Risen / Arizona Sword / Wanderer / A Tree Song

* Indistinguishable from Magic / Julia Ecklar

You've been asking about the promised Divine Intervention sequel
album for six years, and it's been exasperating to have nothing to
offer but excuses: Michael going off to Houston for a year, Julia
going off to college and then graduate school, Michael now working at
Julliard, blah blah blah.

So I am particularly pleased to announce that -- barring unexpected
crises! -- both Julia and Michael are *finally* committed to
recording the Divine Intervention sequel summer! They'll be starting
in June, and resuming in August until they're all done.

I can't begin to describe how excited I am that Julia is finally
recording a new solo album after 23 years, and that Michael Moricz is
producing it. In case anyone else is as eager as I am to know some
details, here's the major goals for this project on Michael's mind:

1. A more "loose" and "human" feel than Divine Intervention offered
(which, in fairness, was the first album Michael ever produced.) A
few songs on Divine Intervention weren't as organic as Michael would
have liked - particularly Lullaby for a Weary World, which was
recorded to a click track. So there'll be more instrumental tracks
recorded live in the studio together with Julia, rather than added
afterwards.

2. While Divine Intervention strictly featured Julia's solo work,
Michael is thinking about the possibility of a second singer on a few
songs, and in particular, a Celtic-type soprano. Michael says this
would help "open up the foreground texture" -- but hey, I just pay
the bills around here, so I'm not really sure what what means -
sorry! ;-)

As with Divine Intervention, Michael expects to work with a mix of
both talented students and accomplished musicians, such as from the
Pittsburgh Symphony. And as with Leslie's album, we aim to have the
final tracks available for digital download & pre-ordering by year's
end, with the CD release sometime next year.

And that's it for this issue!

Yours,

Eli