Instrumental Riff-Rock Masters APE SHIFTER To Release Third Album 'Monkey Business'

Since their inception in November 2015, APE SHIFTER has released two full-length albums and completed four European club tours encompassing Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and The Netherlands.  They have shared the bill with Villagers of Ioannina City, Loudness, The Skull, White Cowbell Oklahoma, Baron Crane, AC/DC´s Chris Slade, and Mörglbl, among others. Festival performances have included Zytanien (main stage), Burg Herzberg Festival, OBOA, Free n Easy, ArtRock Festival, Fehmarn Open Air, Festival Kult!, and others.

On Friday, March 31, 2023, APE SHIFTER releases their third album Monkey Business.

From rockin’ 70's riffs played with punk rock ferocity to creeping metal grooves and all out bashers, APE SHIFTER gives new meaning to intense simian instrumental rock from the nasty pits of the Hellabrunn Zoo.

Born on Friday the 13th in Washington, D.C. and raised in Laurel, Maryland, Jeff Aug is a cool underground guitarist who lives at the foothills of the Alps in Southern Germany for the last 20+ years. He has toured with Allan Holdsworth, Soft Machine, Greg Howe, Stu Hamm, Albert Lee, and has performed shows with Jawbox, Shudder To Think, and Ice-T & Bodycount with his old band. He’s worked with John Stabb from Government Issue, has been touring and recording with Anne Clark for the last 20+ years, and has been touring as a solo guitarist for the last 25+ years. Jeff can also be heard on the Atari Teenage Riot album “Is This Hyperreal?” (Dim Mak Records / Digital Hardcore Records). Jeff is also a Guinness™ world record holder, setting the world record for the “most concerts performed in different countries in 24 hours” twice (2009, 2012). Filling out the line-up is bass virtuoso Florian Walter from the band Less and drummer Kurty Münch known for his stint in the German punk band Rotting Carcass.  

Watch the “Mind of You” video: https://youtu.be/4BjeSzLDVAI

Tracks
MPU 2:05
Stampede 2:14
Misery 3:08
Promises of a Progressive Future 4:21
Ahab 4:31
Dregs of Doom 4:07
Purple 2:21
Cure 1:57
Gucci, Baby! :15
Mind Of You 3:23
Shitkicker 4:27
Lying In Wait 6:57

Credits
Recorded in January 2022 at Sounzz in Seifen, Germany.
Mixed & Mastered by Tim Hecking.
Produced by APE SHIFTER.
Artwork, layout graphics, and cover photo by Chris Lakriz.
Back cover photo by Bernd Kuhn.
all compositions by Jeff Aug, arranged by Ape Shifter and published by Protozoa Music

Ape Shifter use Hipshot accessories, EVH/Charvel, Floyd Rose, D´Addario strings, Planet Waves cables, F&P, and Dunlop picks & guitar accessories.  Ape Shifter wear Earebel.

(c) & (p) 2023 Brainstorm Records / Heavy Progressive Records

LIVE
presented by ECLIPSED & Guitar Magazine

31.03.2023 DE-Ulm, Jugendtreff Hexenhaus
01.04.2023 DE-Immenstadt, TimeOut Jugendhaus
02.04.2023 AT-Salzburg, Rockhouse
03.04.2023 DE-Reutlingen, FranzK
08.04.2023 DE-Annaberg-Buchholz, Alte Brauerei
13.04.2023 AT-Graz, WAK
14.04.2023 HR-Zagreb, TBA
15.04.2023 SI-Ljbujlana, Channel Zero
21.04.2023 DE-Heilbronn, Emma23
22.04.2023 DE-Karlsruhe, KoHi
…to be continued…

What the press have said…

“Hard rockin’ guitar instrumentals that deliver a real PUNCH. Good solid stuff that'll make the walls and floors SHAKE.” - BABYSUE.COM

“With no deficit of trios that drive metal wedge into fusion context, guitarist Jeff Aug has a special edge to stand out on: his experience in punk zip and acoustic flip alongside regular rock moves. All of this informs the American expat's new venture whose debut, recorded in only two days to seize the moment's immediacy, is a charming, if complex, endeavor.” - DMME.NET

“In some ways they remind me of Trapeze, at others Taste, with an overblown rich guitar sound, and the rhythm section just trying to hold it together while Jeff goes nuts. Sure, there are progressive influences here and there as well, but mostly this is about good solid Seventies instrumental rock, with the emphasis on ROCK.” -
Kev Rowland/Progarchives

“The eponymous debut album is filled with powerful electric compositions, riff-based over clear playing and drenched in a very pleasant, dirty sounding well of electric effects. Nasty post rock influenced songs with hunches of fusion, brought in the most beautiful way. Ape Shifter is a very strong instrumental rock album that shows elements from post to shred added with a QOTSA desert touch.” - Pedro Bekkers/BACKGROUND MAGAZINE Netherlands

“Hard hitting instrumental progressive rock that wears all the influences of the last 40 years of rock hell raising proudly on its sleeve. Merrily taking you from hell to heaven, this power trio just plain isn't here to screw around. A crew of proven chopmeisters, this is where the real underground begins. Simply killer stuff.” -
MIDWESTRECORD.COM

“The album is an 11-track celebration of how prog rock sounds today. Chock full of all instrumental tracks, it brings together those rockin’ 70’s riffs, but here plays them off against a punk rock ferocity, adds in swirls of arching metal grooves, and presents an eclectic prog rock album quite like none I’ve encountered in the past decade.” - Exclusive Magazine

“Musically, (Jeff) Aug’s style of playing is very reminiscent of Joe Satriani, Gary Hoey, Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, with minor hints of Tony MacAlpine thrown in for good measure…there is not a single dull moment to be found here. The style of songwriting found here, is heavy at times, packed with plenty of catchy grooves, hooks, and an overall sound, which just gets you into the mood to rock out to Jeff’s talented and skillful playing.” - Sarjoo Devani, EXPLICITLYINTENSE.COM

“... shares a lot of DNA with fret wizards like Joe Satriani, Tony MacAlpine and Steve Vai. So it’s definitely one for the widdlers out there. It’s also on the heavy side with some chunky seventies styled riffs in there. Animalistic and aggressive are two ways to describe Ape Shifter a new intense, progressive and loud instrumental species of rock that is set to be uncaged upon the world...” - SIGHTSANDSOUNDSOFNOTE.COM

Pre-Order the album on CD and/or vinyl via e-mail at: info@MAXIMUMBooking.com
https://apeshifter.bandcamp.com/

Artist Management & Booking by MAXIMUM Booking: info@MAXIMUMBooking.com  

For more information: www.ape-shifter-com, www.facebook.com/apeshifter/

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: +1 828-350-8158, glassonyonpr@gmail.com
Album copies for promotion and review available upon request. Artist is available for interviews. All press inquiries to Billy James at Glass Onyon PR

Keyboard Legend Keith Emerson New Book Feat. Exclusive and Previously Unseen Photographs Now Available!

The Prog legend remembered by friends, family, and colleagues, with exclusive and previously unseen photographs

The lavish, fully illustrated book in which family, friends, colleagues, and fans talk about the life, work, and legacy of Keith Emerson is now available!

There are two deluxe editions – the Classic, and the Signature which is signed by author Chris Welch and Aaron Emerson and comes with an exclusive art print portrait of Keith, a CD of an unheard interview, and sheet music of the very first piece of music composed by the then twelve-year-old Keith, titled “Quatermass Boogie Woogie.”

The book includes many previously unseen photos of Keith at home, at work and play from the private Emerson family archives, as well as professional portraits and live performance photographs. Close family and friends share memories and stories from throughout his life, while fellow musicians from the worlds of prog, rock and classical attest to Keith’s talent and dedication, his spirit, generosity, and sense of humor.

Includes new interviews with Keith’s children, his ex-wife, close personal friends, former partner Mari Kawaguchi, ex-ELP member Carl Palmer, Rick Wakeman, Lee Jackson, Jeff ‘Skunk’ Baxter, Alan White, Dave Kilminster, Marc Bonilla, Rachel Flowers, Darius Brubeck, Geoff Downes, and more.

Order now at www.keithemersonbook.com

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 1-828-350-8158(US) glassonyonpr@gmail.com

Multi-instrumentalist Matt Dorsey To Release New Progressive-Pop-Rock Album “Let Go” Feat. Marco Minnemann and Dave Kerzner

“Let Go” is a new collection of songs written and recorded by multi-instrumentalist Matt Dorsey. Stylistically it stands as a blend of all the artists and bands that influenced him including, Rush, Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd, XTC, The Police, Peter Gabriel, Steely Dan and more. It can be described as progressive-pop-rock. On it Matt sings and plays guitars, bass, keyboards, percussion and, on two of the songs, the drums. Marco Minnemann provides drums on three tracks and Jonathan Mover on another three. Dave Kerzner performs a keyboard solo that he wrote for one of the songs.

Says Matt, “‘Let Go’ is a collection of songs that cover many aspects of life. I studied philosophy in college and the first song I wrote following my studies was MAN, which is something of a summary of the human condition and a celebration of the mystery and miracle of human existence. Following my college days, I shifted my focus from western to eastern philosophy and you can hear a sense of that influence in the song Echo which expresses a deep connection with all living things. ‘Let Go,’ too, is a reflection of the eastern philosophical tradition expressing a sort of taoist disposition toward the flow of things and a zen-like non-attachment. Waiting for the Fall and Castles Made of Sand are a bit darker, expressing a more existential despair, the one about perpetual failure and the other about the fleeting nature of time. But, to round the album out, Compromise, Dangerous and Impossible Friends are more straight-forward love songs. Life is many things. Art should reflect that. ‘Let Go’ is an album about the philosophy of life.”

The album contains 8 tracks recorded almost entirely at Matt’s home studio in Orange County, except for the drum tracks provided by Minnemann and Mover, and the keyboard solo by Kerzner. The album was mixed by Matt and mastered by Andy VanDette. The album artwork was created by Ed Unitsky.

Matt Dorsey is a singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist from Orange County, CA. Best known as a founding member of Sound of Contact he has also played with Beth Hart, Dave Kerzner, In Continuum, and most recently with the all-star progressive rock cover band ProgJect.

Says Matt, “I hope those who listen to my music actually get something meaningful or useful out of it, even if it’s just the enjoyment of the rhythms and melodies or the tapping of the foot. If one gleans anything more deeply significant, all the better. If I’m honest, I write and play music entirely for the sheer joy of it. I guess that’s a bit selfish to say. That said, I know there is power in music, to be sure, and it can move people in very potent ways. I feel privileged to be a part of that. I guess to sum it up my message is simply, life is extraordinary and we would do well to look longer and more carefully at it.”

photo by Andy Wright

Track List:
1. Castles Made of Sand
2. Compromise
3. Waiting for the Fall
4. Man
5. Impossible Friends
6. Echo
7. Let Go
8. Dangerous

Release date: April 7, 2023
Pre-Order Campaign date: January 13, 2023

To purchase:
Physical Product https://thebandwagonusa.com/collections/matt-dorsey
Digital Product https://mattdorsey1.bandcamp.com/music

Find Matt Dorsey Online:
http://www.mattdorseyofficial.com
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/matt.dorsey.1291
Matthew Dorsey (@mattdorseyofficial) • Instagram photos and videos
Matt Dorsey (@MattDorsey18) / Twitter

Inquiries about Matt Dorsey:
Management Assistance: Rita Kay Drew
The Band Wagon USA
115 Pearl Street
Cortland, OH  44410 USA
PH: 1-440-227-9216
Rita@TheBandWagonUSA.com

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 1-828-350-8158 (US), glassonyonpr@gmail.com

French Songwriter Alan Simon To Release Second Film “Monsieur Constant” With Soundtrack Featuring Supertramp’s Jesse Siebenberg & French Singer Cali on February 8, 2023

Lauded French songwriter Alan Simon (several gold and platinum discs, “Excalibur,” Roger Hodgson, Midnight Oil, The Moody Blues, Alan Parsons...) is releasing his second film on February 8, 2023. (after “O Genghis” with Jean Reno & Omar Sharif in 2005)

“Monsieur Constant” is a film particularly sensitive since it speaks of a man who cannot forget the love of his life who tragically disappeared 50 years earlier! The film highlights four characters who meet for the fiftieth anniversary of the disappearance of Natalia, incarnation of grace and beauty: She who was once nicknamed “the star of Siberia.”

Alan Simon wrote the screenplay, the direction and the music. The symphonic themes are arranged and conducted by Lee Holdridge (to whom we owe the masterpiece Jonathan Livingston Seagull alongside Neil Diamond)

The soundtrack, featuring Supertramp’s Jesse Siebenberg and including 20 original titles, is available now on the Babaika productions label. The film will first be released in Europe by the 8th of February 2023, Alan hopes to find a distributor in the UK and US market by 2023.

Watch the promotional film “Frappe le sol avec ton cœur” (Alan Simon) Feat. Cali: https://youtu.be/VL-acVopPaY

The soundtrack is on sale in cinemas. To purchase the soundtrack or for any information you can reach Alan Simon at: asimon7805@aol.com

“Monsieur Constant”
Un film written & directed par Alan Simon

Cast: Jean Claude Drouot (Constant), Gabrielle Pelissier (Adéla), Cali (Sergio), Daniele Evenou (Odile), Michal Zhigalov (Micha), Jean-Yves Lafesse (P’tit Louis), Sacha Bourdo (Sacha), Capucine Goust (Natalia), Jean-Jacques Chardeau (Charlemagne), Juliette Pelissier (Julie)

Synopsis:

Their names are Sergio, Constant, Micha, Adela. They have never forgotten the one they loved so much: the famous prima ballerina Natalia Ivanovna tragically passed away almost 50 years ago. The gaze of a child will resuscitate the past. The big meeting is approaching and they will find themselves where the one nicknamed “The Star of Siberia” was born, in Novosibirsk, capital of distant Siberia. Will love be stronger than death?

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 1-828-350-8158 (US), glassonyonpr@gmail.com

Zappa Alumni Mike Keneally To Release New Album “The Thing That Knowledge Can’t Eat” feat. Steve Vai, Eric Slick, Nick D'Virgilio and others!

Frank Zappa alumni Mike Keneally will be releasing his new solo album “The Thing That Knowledge Can’t Eat” on Feb. 24, 2023. Pre-orders are available NOW at store.keneally.com. The eagerly awaited release features guest appearances by Steve Vai, Eric Slick, Nick D'Virgilio and others.

Says Mike, “This is my first new solo album in seven years - the last one was ‘Scambot 2’ in 2016, so this one has really been a long time coming. About half of the material on the new album was in the works prior to the pandemic, but the other half was created at home in lockdown in 2020 and 2021, and all the finishing touches were placed on the songs during 2022, so it's been in the works for a while. I've never done so much work on an album on my own, so the learning curve was steep, but I did have help from friends all along the way, including farming out tracks to drummers who were also locked down at home. I wrote all the songs, and the lyrics of the later songs definitely reflect the strange times during which the album was finalized. A lot of my past albums have been lengthy, extended works, but this one is a tight 42 minutes, nine songs - I think it goes down pretty smooth but it travels to a lot of different places along the way. I'm extremely happy with it, and very grateful to finally be able to share it with everyone.”

Watch the first video from the album for the song “Celery” (featuring Steve Vai): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ndhNYBWtxA

“Keneally is the leading progressive rock genius of the post-Zappa era.” – All Music Guide

Long acclaimed as one of the world’s most creative and intense guitar and keyboard players, Mike Keneally’s talents as a vocalist, songwriter, arranger, producer and multi-instrumentalist are nearly unequalled in rock music. Keneally has released over 30 albums of his original music since 1992 (including special editions and limited releases), and has built a body of work of remarkable inventiveness and originality. The stylistic variety present in his work indicates Keneally’s abiding love of good music above all, regardless of genre distinctions.

Keneally played in Frank Zappa’s final touring band in 1988, performing as a vocalist, guitarist and keyboardist. He’s appeared on many of Zappa’s albums, and has been a touring and recording member in the bands of Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Devin Townsend, as well as a member of the Adult Swim metal band Dethklok. He has also recorded or performed with Robert Fripp, Wayne Kramer, Kevin Gilbert, Solomon Burke, Steve Vai, Chickenfoot, Bear McCreary, Henry Kaiser, Michael Manring, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Andy Prieboy, Mullmuzzler, The Persuasions and many others.

Known for his innovative, unpredictable live shows with his own band Mike Keneally & Beer For Dolphins, Keneally has played extensively in the United States and Europe, in contexts ranging from solo and duo concerts, to performances with large-scale orchestras. His 52-minute orchestra-with-guitar suite “The Universe Will Provide” received its world premiere in 2003, featuring Keneally as guitar soloist fronting Holland’s Metropole Orkest. The US premiere of “Universe” occurred at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles in 2011. 2012’s album release was “Wing Beat Fantastic: Songs Written by Mike Keneally & Andy Partridge,” a collection of material written with ex-XTC leader Andy Partridge; the album was widely acclaimed, and ranked highly on numerous critics’ “Best of 2012” lists. 2016 saw the release of his grand conceptual work “Scambot 2,” and was the last new Keneally solo album until now, with the upcoming February 2023 release of the brand new “The Thing That Knowledge Can’t Eat.”

As of late, Keneally has been performing live with other ex-Zappa alumni as part of The Zappa Band, the only official Zappa Trust-sanctioned band playing the music of Frank Zappa live. He has also been playing with the group ProgJect, performing many of the classic ‘70s progressive-rock songs that Keneally grew up loving. He is also a member of a new band called The Bird Brain, who released an acclaimed 3-song EP late in 2022, with more new music coming this year. With the release of his new solo album in 2023, Mike will be doing a series of Mike Keneally & Beer For Dolphins shows this year featuring a retrospective selection of material chosen from all the primary solo albums across his over-30 year career.

Mike Keneally & Beer For Dolphins upcoming shows:
Jan 13 – The Grand Ritz, Escondido (advance record release party/concert for The Thing That Knowledge Can’t Eat) – 7pm https://www.showpass.com/the-thing-that-knowledge-cant-eat/
Jan 14 – Alvas Showroom, San Pedro – 7pm https://alvasshowroom.com/event/mike-keneally-beer-for-dolphins-with-travis-larson-band/?fbclid=IwAR2v9pvrNbxU6OLAKDP-n0qLJZCpHVcY__PHMJOmrlL9IS95hD6_otZETiQ
Jan 15 – Alvas Showroom, San Pedro – 4pm https://alvasshowroom.com/event/mike-keneally-beer-for-dolphins-with-travis-larson-band-2/?fbclid=IwAR0YgXZ7HS7-Q6YFW3AkeyHxsj64zmHOdvX9Cv-3YvA3rnI-V2NXYmjGiAU
Jan 16 – The Siren, Morro Bay – 6:30pm https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mike-keneally-beer-for-dolphins-with-travis-larson-band-tickets-487326515727?fbclid=IwAR3TW0lPglUSf_vpGRpmr22Jo8mQ4Y6U5SEX4LZ52JtEqYDPabeqayydRo8
Jan 17 – The Baked Potato, LA – two sets, 8 and 10pm https://www.thebakedpotato.com/events/keneally-larson-tuesday-january-17-2023/?fbclid=IwAR2Q25wjyhiDYN_OlKt7g0t5WK-q3raS1y_gkN7Ud0g07c2di1HhC0ZHSNw

To purchase: https://store.keneally.com/products/mike-keneally-the-thing-that-knowledge-cant-eat-cd-plus-download

For more information:
patreon.com/MikeKeneally
facebook.com/MikeKeneally
twitter.com/mikekeneally
instagram.com/mikekeneally
mikekeneallymusic.bandcamp.com/music
keneally.com
store.keneally.com
youtube.com/c/mikekeneallychannelofficial

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 1-828-350-8158, glassonyonpr@gmail.com