We're excited to announce that the Neal Morse Band will headline on Saturday night at ROSfest in 2017!

Neal Morse is a household name in the world of progressive rock. His tenure as a founding member of legendary US progressive rock band Spock's Beard initially brought him to fame, but his name and stature as a band musician and solo artist have continued to soar after leaving the band in 2002. Neal has produced numerous solo albums, some exploring progressive rock and others focusing on Christian worship music. He is also a key member in progressive rock supergroups Transatlantic and Flying Colors, and was an instrumental member in The Beatles cover band Yellow Matter Custard, where he worked with Mike Portnoy and Paul Gilbert.

In 2015 he formally founded The Neal Morse Band, teaming up with Eric Gillette (guitars) and longtime collaborators Mike Portnoy (drums) and Randy George (bass). This now-formalized band constellation’s first studio album, "The Grand Experiment," was released in 2015. A live CD/DVD is currently in the works, and has been scheduled for release in the summer of 2016.

The Neal Morse Band is amongst the select few progressive rock bands universally regarded as natural headliners for a progressive rock festival. We're excited to announce them as the Saturday Night headliners for ROSfest 2017, and know that many are already eagerly anticipating seeing them perform for us in Gettysburg next year.

US band UNIFIED PAST signed for ROSfest 2017

We’re excited to announce that veteran US band Unified Past will be the second band to play on Saturday at ROSfest 2017.

This New York-based band formed in 1998, with roots going back to early 1990’s band Labyrinth. Although the band was originally aligned towards a progressive metal-oriented sound with inspiration from bands like Rush, in the last few years their style has morphed due to a changing line-up. These days, veteran members Stephen Speelman (guitars, keyboards) and Victor Tassone (drums) have been joined by Dave Mickelson (bass) and Phil Naro (vocals).

Cue the band’s seventh album “Shifting the Equilibrium,” released on US label Melodic Revolution Records in 2015. The bite of progressive metal is still present, with traces of bands such as Rush and possibly even Dream Theater, but it’s now paired with sounds of a more vintage nature that could be compared to bands like Yes. With the excellent lead vocals of Phil Naro as the proverbial icing on the cake, “Shifting the Equilibrium” has been a true-to-life game changer for this band.

Unified Past is a veteran act that has transformed in the last couple years from relative obscurity into a group that could really be going places, and we’re sure that they are one of the bands that will make a really strong impression at ROSfest in 2017. We were surprised and amazed by their latest album, and we’re certain that this fantastic group will surprise and amaze us all on stage as well!

Swedish band ÄNGLAGÅRD signed for ROSfest 2017

We’re excited to announce that legendary Swedish band Anglagard will be the Sunday night headliner at ROSfest 2017, concluding the festival as the final band.

Anglagard was initially formed in 1991, and in just a few hectic years they released their debut album “Hybris,” played at Progfest in Los Angeles, and released their second album “Epilog.” They then disbanded, although a live album “Buried Alive” surfaced a couple of years later. In 2002 the band reformed, played at festivals in Germany (Freakfest) and the US (Nearfest), and then went into hiatus.

Since 2008, Anglagard has once again been an active venture. The new line-ups changed on a fairly consistent basis for some time, but a core set of musicians kept the band going. In 2012 they released their long-awaited third studio album “Viljans Oga,” regarded by many as their finest moment. From 2014 and onward the line-up stabilized, consisting of Anna Holmgren (flute, sax), Johan Brand (bass), Tord Lindman (guitars, vocals), Erik Hammarström (drums), Linus Kaase (keyboards) and Jonas Engdeaard (guitars). In recent years they have been booked for the prestigious Cruise to the Edge event twice, in 2015 as well as the upcoming trip in 2017, and they have recently reported that new material is in the works.

Anglagard was one of the driving forces behind the revival of progressive rock in the early 1990’s, and it’s a pleasure for us to welcome them back to the USA for ROSfest 2017. We’re as eagerly looking forward to seeing them live as everyone else, and expect to see a packed house when we have the honor of watching them conclude the 2017 edition of ROSfest.

We’re pleased to announce that US band, Edensong, will be the third band to play on Sunday at ROSfest, 2017.

This New York-based band can trace its origins back to 2002, and the core members of the band actually worked together in a band back in the 1990's. They released their debut album, "The Fruit Fallen," in 2008. The qualities of which secured them a slot at the prestigious ProgDay festival in 2009, as well as appearances at the Three Rivers Progressive Rock festival the same year and Canadian festival Terra Incognita the year after. In 2010 they also released the EP "Echoes of Edensong".

Edensong's current line-up consists of founding member James Byron Schoen (vocals, guitars), Tony Waldman (drums, percussion), Stefan Paolini (keyboards), TD Towers (bass) and Barry Seroff (flute). When they reached out to record labels for a possible release of their new album, they quickly landed an agreement with noteworthy US label The Laser's Edge. "Years in the Garden of Years" is the name of their latest CD, which was released in the fall of 2016 to high praise for it's eclectic, enthralling qualities, with comparisons made towards bands as different as Jethro Tull and Dream Theater.

Edensong is still a fairly young band, but with two strong albums to their name and now signed to a noted label, we believe that they will be going places quickly. Their qualities as a live band are well proven, and we're looking forward to seeing them perform for us as the second to last band at ROSfest 2017.

Kati wrote:   This is a year I really wish I could go!

...and there are still four more bands to be announced, and one of the next ones to be announced, albeit perhaps a bit unexpected, will also be one that many will want to see and hear. Both for the music they play and the musicians that play it ;-)

US tribute band ProgNation signed to perform at ROSfest 2017

We’re happy to announce that US tribute band ProgNation have been signed as the Friday night After Hours band, where they will entertain us at the traditional party at the Aspire Hotel from 11:30 pm to 1:30 am on Friday, May 5th.

Created in 2015, the band provided the best explanation for their formation via a press release: “The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced that they have once again disrespected prog rock pioneers, YES, by failing to garner the required votes to enshrine the iconic band even though they finished second to Chicago in the fan balloting. In response, we are announcing the creation of a new tribute band, ProgNation, to celebrate the accomplishments of some of the greatest prog rock bands/musicians currently being ignored by the Rock Hall.”

The members of ProgNation are Chris Cuda (guitars), Tony Cuda (bass), Steve Kolesar (vocals), Bruce Kowalski (Keyboards/Vocals), and Marty Zlocki (drums). To quote further from their initial press release: “Everyone in ProgNation has been a fan of prog rock since Yes came out in 1968. ProgNation will be an outlet for us and all the fans who know how great these musicians are and want to enjoy their music in a live setting. We also want to send a message to the Rock Hall that until they recognize Yes and all the other prog rock bands they have ignored, we will be there to remind them of their neglect.”

So we can expect a dedicated band to entertain us at the Friday Night After Hours party at Rosfest 2017. As for the music one can expect to hear from them, their repertoire includes Yes, King Crimson, ELP, the Moody Blues, Genesis, and a handful of other prog acts from the late ’60s/early ’70s

US band Evership announced for ROSfest 2017

Based out of Nashville, Tennessee, this is a band formed around the talents of composer and musician Shane Atkinson. Although an active presence in the music scene in the 1990's, Shane took an extended break away from music but found himself steadily writing new material. Eventually, he concluded that he really had a solid need to record and release these compositions in a proper manner. He managed to solidify this project into a genuine band venture in 2016, after developing it slowly over a number of years. In July, he self-released the Evership CD, a production that has received high praise from both regular fans in the know and progressive rock insiders.

The live band to perform at ROSfest 2017 consists of Shane Atkinson (keyboards, background vocals), Beau West (vocals), James Atkinson (guitars), Jaymi Millard (bass, pedals, background vocals), Jesse Hardin (guitars, background vocals), and Joel Grumblatt (drums, background vocals). We expect quite the experience from this band, set to play second on Sunday, especially for those who enjoy epic length songs, plenty of keyboard leads, and a band that follow in the footsteps of the accessible symphonic progressive rock bands of the 1970's.

Made in the USA is still a quality trademark, and as far as progressive rock is concerned Evership is one of the many recent bands to appear that documents this quality firmly and with distinction.

As has been the case for the last 4 years, I'll be at this year's ROSfest. If anyone wants to say hi, look for a fairly burly 6f3 guy with beard and glasses, wearing a suit. I tend to be the only one in the audience in that specific category.

have fun guys... nice to see Moon Safari still around and knocking em' dead...

I can not say really. But I go mainly for the people. Visiting good friends the week before, and then seeing more friends at the festival. Just back from a pre-festival get together right now. Looking forward to seeing good friends tomorrow and for the rest of the weekend.