The Syn's 'Virtual Band Project' latest news

I will be traveling up to Philadelphia to Brett Kull's (Echolyn/The Syn's 2008 USA touring band) recording studio tomorrow to meet up with my good friends Steve Nardelli, Kelly Child, Steve Nicholas, and Cary Clouser to record the lead instrumentals and lead & harmony vocals to "Reasons & Rituals" (original music by Steve Nardelli) '14 Hour Technicholour Dream: The V-Band' project's first song to be released through Umbrello Music Entertainment, LLC. We are also anticipating receiving Pro Tools guitar tracks from both the talented Kurt Michaels and George Pisano who, unfortunately, cannot make it to Philadelphia for the fun, filming, interviews and music planned for this weekend. :)

Great times are now clearly ahead for The Syn (core band consisting of founding member Steve Nardelli, Francis Dunnery & Tom Brislin) who will begin again this coming Monday to work on the eagerly awaited multimedia release 'Big Sky'. :)

In addition, Steve Nardelli anticipates that the V-Band project will be an ongoing endeavor; songs to follow up on the release of "R&R" are already in the planning stage. :)

Steve Nardelli and I also wish to especially and warmly thank our friend/Pittsburgh PA's talented KEVIN STILL (ondafritz) whose hard work, dedication and contributions as musician, engineer, and producer (culminating engineering/production duties to be assumed by Brett Kull) to "Reasons & Rituals" made this next step largely possible. We will REALLY miss him in Philadelphia this weekend and wish him the very, very best.

So good wishes to all - and to our members/friends living in the Gulf region of the USA, please stay safe!!!,

:)Steve S-N

Steve Sikes-Nova
14 Hour Group Owner/Co-moderator
Executive Producer "14 Hr TD: V-Band Project"
Senior Media Consultant, Umbrello Music Entertainment,London/New York; Umbrello Records & Umbrello.tv
"Mod Prog for Prog Mods"

Official The Syn Website:
http://www.synmusic.net

Official The Syn Myspace & Blog:
http://www.myspace.com/thesyn
http://blog.myspace.com/thesyn

Official The Syn Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Syn/8804892878

Umbrello Music Entertainment:
http://www.umbrellorecords.com
http://www.myspace.com/umbrello_records

Frippertron wrote: I deny it can be the Syn without Squire and Banks Sorry

Understood, Frippertron. However 'a rose by any other - or even the same - name will still smell as sweet.' :)

Whether you think of this band as The Syn or not, you might want to listen/view 'Big Sky' when it comes out in October. I have heard the working versions of songs on the album and they are just wonderful. :)  Dunnery and Brislin may not be Squire and Banks - in your opinion - but they are musicians' musicians nonetheless.

And I do believe that the bonus V-Band song that I am the executive producer for (and will sing on!) "Reasons & Rituals" is going to be a pretty fine piece of music as well. This unique and unprecedented project, which brung official Syn Yahoo! forum members (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/14hour) together both virtually (to record the rhythm track) and now in person in Philadelphia to record the vocals and instrumental leads, has some really fine musical talent associated with it. And with the incredible Brett Kull of Echolyn doing the final engineering/production work, it promises to be well worth a listen as well - IMO. :)

Best,

:)Steve S-N
http://www.myspace.com/tuxedocatmusic

Thanks for the support and good wishes, Easy Livin. I will pass on your comments to Steve Nardelli when I see him tomorrow.

Best,

:)Steve S-N
http://www.myspace.com/virginiaprograsser

Music Street Journal calls "Reasons & Rituals" '...a great song by
Steve Nardelli... you''d never know that the other guys on this aren't
professional musicians because this is no amateur effort." !!! Note:
full MSJ review @ very bottom.

14 Hour Technicolour Dream: The Virtual Band Project' on Umbrello
Records releases its first single, the Steve Nardelli-penned (and
previously unreleased) "Reasons & Rituals."."

In a unique interaction between a band and its fanbase - completed
while The Syn have been making their new album 'Big Sky' (expected
Feb. 2009) - musicians from The Syn's official fan forum have been
virtually building a song written for them by Steve Nardelli, the
leader of The Syn.

The '14 Hour Technicolour Dream: V-band' was conceived by Steve
Nardelli and rural Virginia public school teacher & vocalist Steve
Sikes-Nova (the creator of The Syn's fan forum in Yahoo Groups in
2005) as an ongoing musical 'happening' that will encourage
participation by musicians worldwide regardless of nationality, colour
or religion.'

The common bond between participants in current and future V-band
projects will be the SYNergy of creating music together as an artistic
community no matter what the physical distances between participants.
Through the utilization of both virtual co-creation and recording
tools and hi-tech, physical recording facilities, musicians have and
will come together to create something beautiful!

Final production of "Reasons & Rituals" took place at MM3 Studios
under master engineer and producer Brett Kull (Echolyn; The Syn 2009
Touring Band). This was done to create a visual, physical record of
the event which will be shared with music fans in the coming weeks.
Future V-band projects are expected to have this wonderful opportunity
for amateur and semi-professional musicians to record in a
state-of-the-art studio as well, thanks to the sponsorship of Steve
Nardelli and The Syn.

The V-Band is part of Umbrello Music Entertainments 'Mod Prog' series
and stands for the union of 'Virtual' and, of course, 'Peace' -
a commodity one can find in music above all else.

There is, and will be, no charge for V-band music; it is offered for
FREE download at your convenience. If you'd like to make a donation to
the ongoing V-band project, your support will be acknowledged and is
greatly appreciated.

"Reasons and Rituals" is available for FREE .mp3 DOWNLOAD at the
following Umbrello Records link:

http://www.umbrellorecords.com/artists/14hourtechnicolourdream/vband/vbandreason\
sandrituals.html

14 Hour Technicolour Dream - Syn Forum:

http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/14Hour/

The Track
"Reasons & Rituals"

The Band:
Steve Nardelli (London, New York) - song writer; lead vocals; vision
Steve Sikes-Nova (Virginia) - lead vocals; Executive Producer
Kevin Still & Jim Hutchin (Pennsylvania) - bass, guitar, keyboards,
additional percussion; pre-production
Cary Clouser (Canada) - flute, harmony vocals
Steve Nicholas (Connecticut) - keyboards
Kelly Child (California) - drums
Special Guest Musician, Engineer & Producer: Brett Kull (Echolyn & The
Syn 2009 touring band)'

A full, filmed performance made at the time of final production at MM3
Studios, Philadelphia PA will be released shortly as will interviews
filmed at that same time.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------\
--
Media - Please contact Steve Sikes-Nova at ssikesno@... for
interview and other requests.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Full 'Music Street Journal' Review:

'Reasons and Rituals" is a song that has classic progressive rock
elements and a modern edge. There is a healthy dosage of The Syn in
the main song structure, but at times you might also hear Jethro Tull.
In many ways this is tied to 1960's psychedelia, but yet no one would
think of it as outdated. Steve Nardelli''s songwriting style shows
through with an optimistic world view and message of hope. His voice
seems to bring a Ray Davies feel to a progressive rock motif. This
isn't the progressive rock of the 1970's, but it's also not the heavy
metal influenced prog that's so common today. It's a true
representation of what Nardelli calls "Mod Prog." It's a great song
that's sure to please fans of the Syn, but will also have plenty of
draw for anyone who enjoys progressive rock in general. Still there is
plenty here for those with more mainstream tastes. Nardelli is a class
act and you''d never know that the other guys on this aren't
professional musicians because this is no amateur effort.
'
http://www.musicstreetjournal. com

Amazing News Update! No really, this is just amazing!!! I was just informed that our little V-band video, instead of having its day in the sun as the #1 Amazon.com Video-On-Demand concert download for a few days in late January and then disappearing into the sunset, is rising through the ranks again and is back at #7!!!

Unbelievable....this project truly has legs as it appears to have struck a chord with indie fans all across America. And our friends in Canada, the UK, and elsewhere cannot even download it yet - Umbrello is working hard on this situation - which would greatly add to these numbers. Could we see #1 again. I think that it is a distinct possibility over the next few weeks/months.

Steve Nardelli and I are, in this context, planning a greatly expanded 'Return of the V-band Project' to begin soon after the release of 'Big Sky' and the announcement of The Syn's USA Tour 2009 dates in both the USA and Canada. And yes, UK/EU dates are being planned as well for later in the year.

2009 is a GREAT time to be a Syn fan folks!!!

Steve S-N

"Stay Mod...and Stay Tuned!"