It's been a hell of a year. The pandemic has raged and wrought suffering and death to millions of victims, families and friends. We've all been tested in myriad ways. Unfortunately, the pandemic put a very hard stop to all of the plans that we had for new shows in 2020 and beyond as rehearsals became impossible. As I write this, the pandemic is slowly lifting as vaccinations are working to slow the spread of the virus. Venues are opening up again, shows are underway and plans are being made for more. We will continue to do the same.

Tonight, I'll play my first show since the pandemic. It's a small local club gig, but I'm as grateful for it as any stadium show. There was a time where I wasn't sure that shows were ever going to be possible again. The act of playing music with fellow musicians and creating shows with fellow creative souls is a joy that nothing else can replace. I'm genuinely grateful for the return of gigs and I'm looking forward to many more! 

Wherever you are, get out and support your local musicians and artists. We've all suffered this past year. There's no better way to put it behind us than to get out for some live music and shake it off! The musicians and artists will appreciate your involvement more that ever before. We never really realize what we have until it's taken away.

Here's to the light of new beginnings and a fresh and open appreciation for life and enjoying it with each other. Let's slow down and enjoy every minute.

Love to you all!

From birth do death, the story of life is told in one, masterful album. With concepts as relevant today as they were in 1973 when Dark Side of the Moon was unleashed onto an unsuspecting world, the album gives the listener a roller-coaster ride through titles of songs like Breathe, Time, Money and  Us and Them. It's perhaps the most beautiful rock album ever produced and we'll be bringing it to you in our own way - completely faithful to the original with a few little twists. Stay tuned, we're almost ready to announce dates!

Building upon the success of the shows this last March, we're currently planning a new round of shows touring the state of Wisconsin!  We had such a positive outpouring of support for our mission, it was truly inspiring!  It's great to see so many people who are committed to making a difference in kids' lives by giving them opportunities in music and the arts.  We will be actively recruiting kids from local communities where we perform in our shows.  We'll be looking for stagehands, dancers and actors to perform with us.  Please stay tuned, there will be much more info to come as we work through the next stage of Tear Down The Wall!  Please contact us for volunteer opportunities!

When we started this project last September, I knew that we were climbing a huge mountain.  I just didn't realize how huge!  All along the way, we've found challenge after challenge - whether it's how to recreate the "other world" screams and groans of the original soundtrack, arranging the massive amount of keyboard work and dividing it for two players, or learning the "feel" of these songs, it's been challenging for all of us.

One of the most challenging parts of this project is something that most people will never realize - the technical backbone of the show.  Issues like generating massive amounts of video with edge-blending, warping and stretching, beating video projectors' aspect ratios into submission while throwing 1080p HD video at them.  Recreating the legendary lighting of the iconic Pink Floyd tours and of course the audio production with full surround capabilities and low-frequency output to 10Hz has been daunting.  We've automated the show with MIDI control and program change to provide patch switching and control of every musician's rig as well as synchronization between control, video and staging.  The picture that you see here is the musicians' monitor rig as it stands currently.  32 inputs available to each musician to mix on their iPhone or Android.  Nine full stereo in-ear mixes with dedicated dynamics, effects and EQ per mix without a monitor engineer.  : )  Issues like physically constructing a wall synchronized with the music and then knocking it down without hurting someone are tasks that our cast of engineers are still working out.

All in all, figuring out how to produce this show while maintaining the integrity of the original has been really challenging - and fun!  We're proud to have kids involved both behind the scenes and on-stage.  They will have opportunities to see and learn concepts about technical production and performance that otherwise would not be available to them.  That's what this is all about - passing it on.

If you're curious about more specifics regarding the gear and how and why, please let me know in the comments.  If there's more interest, I'll go into more detail.  I hope you have your tickets for the show!  If not, get them here!

Wishing you the best,
Chris

It's possible that many of us don't understand the value of Arts Education in our children's lives.  There has been much research done regarding the impact of the arts on the cognitive abilities of developing children.  

http://www.edutopia.org/arts-music-curriculum-child-development

http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/11-facts-about-arts-education

http://www.americansforthearts.org/public_awareness/artsed_facts/

There's more than enough evidence to support the fact that we need to emphasize the Arts in our schools rather than make it the "sacrificial lamb" by allowing budget dollars to be taken away and student's time to be monopolized by standardized testing and all of the preparation that this testing requires.

Innovation drives the economy, creativity drives innovation, creativity is born through participation in the Arts.

Please weigh in with your comments!