Andrew Latimer of Camel returns w/ David Minasian - Progressive Rock Music Forum

Great sounds.........thanks David, when will the CD/download be available for purchase?

<font color=Brown>Music - The Sound Librarian

...As I venture through the slipstream, between the viaducts in your dreams...[/COLOR]

Hey David,

I've just checked out the excerpts for the first time, and I've got to say.....very impressive! The melodies and instrumentation are all right up my street. I'm looking forward to hearing the final result.

Can you give us any kind of heads up on how the finished product will be distributed? Will it be available to download? Will CDs be widely available (Amazon, etc.) or through specialist online dealers?

Glenn
Glasgow, Scotland

"We did it....you and me! Put him right under the table!"

Norm Cash wrote:

Hey David,

I've just checked out the excerpts for the first time, and I've got to say.....very impressive! The melodies and instrumentation are all right up my street. I'm looking forward to hearing the final result.

Can you give us any kind of heads up on how the finished product will be distributed? Will it be available to download? Will CDs be widely available (Amazon, etc.) or through specialist online dealers?

Glenn
Glasgow, Scotland

Hi Glenn: Thank you for your interest. The album will be a regular release and be available worldwide in all the usual places - Amazon, itunes, etc. and will be available on CD as well as download. Signed copies will be available from the website. We're looking at an early to mid summer release.

I'm glad you like the melodies you've heard so far. There is an emphasis on strong melodies on this album. I have my own style of writing, but fans of the melodic writing styles of Andy Latimer, Anthony Phillips, and Justin Hayward should be pleased.

Instrumentation wise, you're going to hear lots of Grand piano, harpsichord, mellotron, cello, oboe, flute, moog, 12string acoustic guitars, trebly bass, soaring guitar leads, etc. Mellotron (both strings and choir) appears on every track and there are lots of dynamics - some quiet passages interupted by lots of bombastic ones. And the harpsichord gives everything a bit of medieval feel. Fans of classic 7 Moody Blues, Barclay James Harvest as a 4 piece, early Crimson, early to mid Genesis with things like Hairless Heart or Mad Man Moon, and of course Camel should hopefully like it.

I'll post the exact release date here when I know. Thanks again for the support and encouragement of all of you. And I agree, Andy's multiple solos on Masquesrade are stunningly beautiful.

Best;

Dave

http://www.davidminasian.com/

Just a quick contribution to bump this thread back on to Page 1.

If you haven't already checked out the excerpts from David's album, I suggest you do so right away. If you're a fan of Camel, or indeed of great melodic prog, this should be for you!

"We did it....you and me! Put him right under the table!"

Rancho Santa Margarita, CA – 20 July 2010 – David Minasian has formally signed to the ProgRock Records label for the release of his new album titled Random Acts of Beauty which features legendary Camel guitarist Andrew Latimer on the 12 and a half minute epic opening track titled Masquerade.

Shawn Gordon, President & CEO of Prog Rock Records, says: "I love those rare occasions when I get to discover an artist in my own backyard and we can get together and just talk about the music we love. Meeting David was a real treat for me, wonderful music and the guy is close friends with some of my own musical heroes, so I get to hear some cool stories as an extra bonus. We're really pleased to be adding David to our family."

David Minasian comments: "I'm really looking forward to my collaboration with Shawn Gordon and ProgRock Records. We both hope to get this album out in front of as many people as possible. Fans of classic seven Moody Blues, early to mid Genesis, Barclay James Harvest as a four piece, melodic Pink Floyd, early King Crimson and of course Camel should find a lot to like with this album. There's a definite emphasis on melody and dynamics not to mention lots of mellotron. In addition, the liberal use of harpsichord gives everything a bit of a medieval feel. And between the wonderful contributions of Andy Latimer and my 20 year old son Justin, lovers of soaring guitar leads are going to have a field day with this album.”

Joining David Minasian on keyboards (grand piano, mellotron, harpsichord, moog and orchestrations), acoustic 12 string guitar, bass and vocals, is Justin Minasian on electric lead and rhythm guitars and Guy Pettet on drums.

"Random Acts of Beauty" is the new worldwide ProgRock Records release from David Minasian and can be found at http://www.progrockrecords.com/artists/view.php?id=143. The album will be released early August 2010 and available in stores on October 5, 2010 but is available for immediate pre-sale at a $2 discount.

Best Regards,
Shawn Gordon
President
ProgRock Records
www.progrockrecords.com
www.mindawn.com

will have it on mindawn in a couple weeks probably.

Best Regards,
Shawn Gordon
President
ProgRock Records
www.progrockrecords.com
www.mindawn.com

Great news David

<font color=Brown>Music - The Sound Librarian

...As I venture through the slipstream, between the viaducts in your dreams...[/COLOR]

Good to see Mr Latimer back in the saddle again - with the tragedies we've had in the last year or so, good to see one of the masters of the genre beating illness & coming back to the fold.

Jon Lord 1941 - 2012

David, now that your new album is ready, we are all wondering when "The Opening Farewell" is going to be released Wink

News from Camel Productions:

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CAMEL

The Nature of the eBeast

NEWS BITES

INFO

Music Downloads:

After All These Years

Never Let Go (for Pete)

Left Luggage

Camel's Shop

Greetings!

Andrew's Health

This is officially the last time we will talk about Andrew's health. The bone marrow transplant has been a complete success, and I think the dark days are well and truly behind us. As I've said in past newsletters, he continues to have some challenges to face, but he is a strong-willed individual, and he will find way to overcome them. So, it's no longer about health problems. It's about the music...

The Opening Farewell
Andrew and Denis have now finished work on the DVD, and Denis has completed mixing the audio. Once all editing and mastering is complete, we'll send the masters off to the plant and it will be a matter of weeks before it's on sale in our shop.

Track listing:

Lady Fantasy                   Lunar Sea
Unevensong                     Another Night
Hymn to Her              Ice
Echoes                        Spirit of the Water
Stationary Traveller         Slow yourself Down
Drafted                           Mother Road
Rhayader                         For Today
Rhayader goes to town

Time: 2 hrs 7 mins
Format: NTSC*
Region: 0 (no restrictions)
(*This format will play on all equipment enabled for NTSC)

It would be hard to believe this was from 2003 had we not been through such an intense passage of time since then. In my darkest hour, I had not wanted to even consider releasing it posthumously. And so, it is with tremendous pleasure, that I announce the pending release of this DVD.

The lads have worked hard to restore the problems of audio that occurred on the night, and I think they've done a fabulous job. To my ears, it sounds exactly as it did on the night and, while it has all the rough qualities of a first-night performance, it was a tremendously fun gig.

Something special...

We have decided to offer something a little special for this release. For a donation of £30 towards the production of The Opening Farewell, we'll list your name in the Special Thank You section of our liner notes. For £40 donation, we'll print your name and send you an autographed copy from our first run. There is a choice for these selections when you visit our shop. If you just want to pre-order a copy, it will be autographed by Andrew as well.

****OFFER EXPIRES: 26 SEPTEMBER 2010****

In The Meantime...

In between work on the DVD, Andrew and Denis have been writing material for the next Camel album Andrew and Denis on Skype . It is still in an embryonic state, but the two seem to be expanding their musical relationship and lots of good sounds have been emitting from the studio of late. No definitive dates are going to be announced until a cohesive body of work has been created. However, I think it safe to say that a Camel album is in the future and I, for one, am just about breathless with anticipation.

iCamel... iTunes

iTunes have formally invited Camel to join their online music store. We are truly pleased to join the downloading community, and have readily accepted. The contracts are being executed at this time, and material prepared for upload to the iTunes store. We hope to launch our iTunes availability within the next few weeks. We'll send out an eBeast with our launch date on the iTunes website.

High Voltage Festival

Although we were disappointed by Camel missing the High Voltage Festival, it looked a great success with excellent attendance. We subsequently realised live performances will require more effort than we were all able to give just yet, most especially Andrew. The pain in his hands continue to pose a challenge, and we couldn't risk committing to such a huge undertaking just yet. We are looking into ways of dealing with this problem and are feeling optimistic about the possible options for the future.

New Camel tee design

.....Coming soon!

T-shirts, etc.

We are about to revamp Highly Collectable's shop with a new range of items. We've been talking about introducing some fun things, along with some nostalgic ones. Our t-shirt section will be expanded to offer short and long-sleeved shirts, and we'll include size 3XL by popular request. The new shirts are much lighter in weight, and have a somewhat more tailored look.

We are expecting stock very soon of Moonmadness and Rain Dances so you are welcome to place a pre-order now.

PayPal at Highly Collectable's Merchant Shop

By popular request, we have added the Paypal faciity to our website, so you can now use this account to pay for merchandise at our shop if you don't have a credit card.

As always, thank you for your kind messages of support. We all promise to not be so quiet from now on.

Very best wishes,
Susan Hoover

www.camelproductions.com