Monarch Trail (Canada): Neo/Symph

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Monarch Trail is a new band masterminded by Canadian multi-instrumentalist Ken Baird, who we already have in Crossover: http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=976. 
From http://newprogreleases.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/monarch-trail-skye.html:

Monarch Trail “Skye”

Country: Canada
Sub Genre: Progressive Rock
Label: Perpetual Tree Music
Release date: April 2014

Tracklist: 
1. Luminescence (11:15)
2. Silent World (8:21)
3. East of Fifty (6:11)
4. Sky Above the Sun (20:15)

Total Time 46:02

Line-up: 
- Ken Baird / keyboards, vocals
- Chris Lamont / drums
- Dino Verginella / bass
   With
- John Mamone / guitars on tracks 1,2 and 4
- Kelly Kereliuk / guitar on track 3
- Steve Cochrane / classical and 12-string guitar on track 4

Description/Reviews: Music from a "dark green world in places never seen", this debut album features four lengthy compositions that should appeal to anyone looking for something imaginative.

From https://www.facebook.com/monarchtrailmusic (and also the band's official website http://www.monarchtrail.com/):

"When keyboard player/vocalist Ken Baird had written some music which seemed to require more collaborative arrangements than usual, he asked drummer Chris Lamont and Bassist Dino Verginella if they’d be willing to be a part of “Monarch Trail”. Lamont had played on Baird’s previous three albums and Verginella on the previous two, so it was a natural thing that it could be called a group.

The first stage was to set up several rehearsals for the trio to work on arranging the new pieces. Important changes were made to the charts; an extra set of bars here, a new melody line there, a different tempo over there and so on. Even more importantly, these rehearsals also turned out to be a ton of fun with no lack of shenanigans!

They made the decision to start recording the music right away and add other musicians when needed. As it turned out, there was to be a fair bit of guitar on the record, so guitarist friends were brought in providing “the right part for the right track”. True to the spirit of the project, John Mamone, Kelly Kereliuk and Steve Cochrane all had major creative input on their solos and sections.

The recording was done by Ken Baird, but in the final months of the record, Cochrane also lent his studio and his recording and mastering abilities. Drawings by Annette Roche had initially helped inspire the lyrics, so these drawings ultimately became part of the album artwork.

And so here we have it, the first album from Monarch Trail: “Skye”!"
The band's official website has the first track 'Luminescence' streaming in full, plus a “Skye collage mix” featuring excerpts from all four songs: http://www.monarchtrail.com/.
These samples can also be listened to directly on soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/monarch-trail.

Excellent stuff!

Buy the album at cdbaby: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/monarchtrail.   

Edit: Removed the video I originally embedded for track three 'East Of Fifty', since it was taken down from YouTube as explained below (it had been uploaded without the band's permission).  

Edited by yam yam - May 09 2014 at 09:24