Mike Portnoy

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MORSE, PORTNOY, GEORGE Release Video For Cover Of ‘Hymn 43’

Posted by tarjavirmakari on July 16, 2020
Posted in: Int. News, News. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment
MORSE-PORTNOY-GEORGE

(photo credit: Robert Smith)

Neal Morse, Mike Portnoy & Randy George are returning to their Cover To Cover series of albums with ‘Cov3r To Cov3r’, the brand new third instalment. Featuring their renditions of classic tracks by the likes of King Crimson, Jethro Tull, Gerry Rafferty, David Bowie & more (includ-ing their cover of ‘No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed’ featuring vocals from Yes singer Jon Davison), the album will be re-leased on the 24th July as CD, Gatefold 2LP + CD & as Digital Album.

It is just 2 weeks till the album is released, and today they have launched a video for their cover of Jethro Tull’s Hymn 43. Watch the video now here:

Neal Morse comments: “When I was young and they packed me off to school, someone played me the second side of the Aqualung album by Jethro Tull and I was immediately consumed by it. Hymn 43 being one of my favorite tracks I was thrilled when the guys wanted to record this one. We kicked it out in one or two takes and it was a gas!”

They recently launch a video for their cover of ‘It Don’t Come Easy’, originally by Ringo Starr, and you can watch it now here: https://youtu.be/bdWuYRmstRI

The band previously released a video of their cover of Gerry Rafferty’s classic ‘Baker Street’. Watch it now here: https://youtu.be/IszlXuQ99Fo

As well as ‘Cov3r to Cov3r’, the ‘Cover To Cover Anthology (Vol. 1 – 3)’ will be released on the same day, collecting all 3 instalments together over 3 discs. The first two albums have also been newly re-sequenced and remastered, and will also be available on digital services. The al-bums have also been given brand new artwork, created by Thomas Ewerhard (Sons of Apollo, The Neal Morse Band, Avantasia).

‘Cov3r to Cov3r’ on Jewelcase CD & Gatefold 2LP + CD, and ‘Cover to Cover Anthology (Vol.1-3) on Limited 3CD Digipak are now available to pre-order here:

Cov3r to Cov3r: https://MorsePortnoyGeorge.lnk.to/Cov3rtoCov3r
Cover to Cover Anthology: https://MorsePortnoyGeorge.lnk.to/CovertoCoverAnthologyVol1-3

Morse, Portnoy & George first worked together on Neal Morse’s Testimony Live project back in 2003, and since then they have devised and recorded countless Neal Morse albums, including three with The Neal Morse Band.

The three friends have also released music as Morse, Portnoy & George: so far, two Cover to Cover albums have been produced, each being a collection of covers of their favorite songs. As Portnoy explains: “One of the first things myself, Neal and Randy usually start talking about what we can cover when we gather for one of Neal’s solo albums, should we have some leftover time at the end of the session. Most of the songs are rooted in the 60s and 70s and are songs / bands we grew up with.” Explains George, “We all share an attachment for this era of music, so we each throw out song ideas, see what sticks, and record the ones we like the most!”

The trio has covered songs from such greats as, Paul McCartney, Cream, The Who, Jethro Tull, Steely Dan, and many more. They also have also covered some prog classics from the likes of King Crimson and Yes.

The full track-listing for all 3 Cover To Cover volumes is below.

Cover To Cover:

Where The Streets Have No Name (U2)
I’m The Man (Joe Jackson)
What Is Life? (George Harrison)
Badge (Cream)
Maybe I’m Amazed (Paul McCartney)
Day After Day (Badfinger)
Pleasant Valley Sunday (The Monkees)
Tuesday Afternoon (The Moody Blues)
Can’t Find My Way Home (Blind Faith)
I’m Free / Sparks (The Who)
Where Do The Children Play (Cat Stevens)
Feelin’ Stronger Everyday (Chicago)
Rock N Roll Suicide (David Bowie)

Cover 2 Cover:

(What’s So Funny About) Peace, Love & Understanding (Elvis Costello)
Lido Shuffle (Boz Scaggs)
Crazy Horses (The Osmonds)
Driven To Tears (The Police)
Come Sail Away (Styx)
Rikki Don’t Lose That Number (Steely Dan)
Lemons Never Forget (The Bee Gees)
The Letter (Joe Cocker)
I Saw The Light (Todd Rundgren)
Teacher (Jethro Tull)
Southern Man/Needle And The Damage Done/Cinnamon Girl (Neil Young)
Starless (King Crimson)

Cov3r To Cov3r:

No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed (Yes)
Hymn 43 (Jethro Tull)
Life On Mars (David Bowie)
Baker Street (Gerry Rafferty)
It Don’t Come Easy (Ringo Starr)
Baby Blue (Badfinger)
One More Red Nightmare (King Crimson)
Black Coffee In Bed (Squeeze)
Tempted (Squeeze)
Runnin’ Down A Dream (Tom Petty)
Let Love Rule (Lenny Kravitz)

NEAL MORSE Announces New Solo Prog. Rock Concept Album ‘Sola Gratia’, Feat. MIKE PORTNOY, RANDY GEORGE

Posted by tarjavirmakari on July 4, 2020
Posted in: Int. News, News. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

neal-morse-cover

Neal Morse is pleased to announce the release of ‘Sola Gratia’, his new solo progressive rock concept album, on the 11th September 2020, via Inside Out Music. Originating from a seed planted in his mind about writing a record based on the apostle Paul, ‘Sola Gratia’ quickly came together at the beginning of 2020. The album sees Neal working with long-time collaborators Mike Portnoy, Randy George, Eric Gillette, Bill Hubauer and Gideon Klein.

The title ‘Sola Gratia’ of course has echoes of Morse’s 2007 epic ‘Sola Scriptura’, about the life of Martin Luther, but was in fact originally the result of a simple marital misunderstanding: “I was talking to my wife Cherie about debuting this new piece at Morsefest 2020 (Morse’s annual fan convention in Nashville) and she said she thought it would be good for me to do a solo album. However, I thought she said ‘Sola album’ and – because some of the new ideas involved Paul’s aggressive pursuit of the early Christians, I could see a link to some of the themes of persecution in ‘Sola Scriptura’.”

The music was recorded ‘virtually’ in April 2020 at the height of the Coronavirus lockdown with long term collaborators Mike Portnoy (drums) and Randy George (bass): “It’s the first album we have ever made remotely: I sent them the basic tracks and asked if they wanted to rearrange things, but they just said ‘No, it’s great!’, so they just played to it and sent their parts back over. It wasn’t an easy way to make an album, but creating always has its challenges, no matter how you do it.”

As Morse explains, it was this process that decided that ‘Sola Gratia’ was to be a Neal Morse album, rather than being credited to The Neal Morse Band: “With the Neal Morse Band, the whole band works together on the writing, and while Eric Gillette plays some guitar and Bill Hubauer has added some keyboards on this one, neither of them wrote – or is singing – on this album.”

‘Sola Gratia’ will be released as a limited CD/DVD Digipak (featuring a ‘Making-Of’ documentary), Gatefold 2LP + CD, Standard CD Jewel Case and as a Digital Album. The cover art was created by another longtime collaborator, Thomas Ewerhard.

The full track-listing is as follows:
1. Preface
2. Overture
3. In The Name Of The Lord
4. Ballyhoo (The Chosen Ones)
5. March Of The Pharisees
6. Building A Wall
7. Sola Intermezzo
8. Overflow
9. Warmer Than The Sunshine
10. Never Change
11. Seemingly Sincere
12. The Light On The Road To Damascus
13. The Glory Of The Lord
14. Now I Can See/The Great Commission

Neal Morse will debut ‘Sola Gratia’ live at his annual Morsefest convention on the 18th and 19th September 2020. A very limited number of people will be able to attend in person, with the event also being streamed online. More details and tickets are available here: https://nealmorse.com/tc-events/morsefest-2020/

Look out for the first track release and pre-order opportunities starting on the 17th July.

MORSE, PORTNOY, GEORGE Launch Video For Cover Of ‘It Don’t Come Easy’

Posted by metalshockfinland on June 23, 2020
Posted in: Int. News, News. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

MORSE-PORTNOY-GEORGE

Neal Morse, Mike Portnoy & Randy George recently announced their return to the Cover To Cover series of albums with ‘Cov3r To Cov3r’, the brand new third instalment. Featuring their renditions of classic tracks by the likes of King Crimson, Jethro Tull, Gerry Rafferty, David Bowie & more (including their cover of ‘No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed’ featuring vocals from Yes singer Jon Davison), the album will be released on the 24th July as CD, Gatefold 2LP + CD & as Digital Album.

Today they are pleased to reveal a video for their cover of ‘It Don’t Come Easy’, originally by Ringo Starr, and you can watch it now here:

Mike Portnoy comments: “Having done solo Beatles covers from both Paul (Maybe I’m Amazed) and George (What Is Life) on the 1st Cover To Cover, it was time to represent Ringo this time around…

I had the honor of singing the lead vocals on this one and am so proud to have none other than my daughter Melody doing the backing vocals mark-ing our first daddy & daughter duet!! And totally appropriate for it to be a Beatles-related song as she’s just as much of a Beatles fanatic as I am!”

The band previously released a video of their cover of Gerry Rafferty’s classic ‘Baker Street’. Watch it now here: https://youtu.be/IszlXuQ99Fo

As well as ‘Cov3r to Cov3r’, the ‘Cover To Cover Anthology (Vol. 1 – 3)’ will be released on the same day, collecting all 3 instalments together over 3 discs. The first two albums have also been newly re-sequenced and remastered, and will also be available on digital services. The albums have also been given brand new artwork, created by Thomas Ewerhard (Sons of Apollo, The Neal Morse Band, Avantasia).

‘Cov3r to Cov3r’ on Jewelcase CD & Gatefold 2LP + CD, and ‘Cover to Cover Anthology (Vol.1-3) on Limited 3CD Digipak are now available to pre-order here:

Cov3r to Cov3r: https://MorsePortnoyGeorge.lnk.to/Cov3rtoCov3r
Cover to Cover Anthology: https://MorsePortnoyGeorge.lnk.to/CovertoCoverAnthologyVol1-3

Morse, Portnoy & George first worked together on Neal Morse’s Testimony Live project back in 2003, and since then they have devised and recorded countless Neal Morse albums, including three with The Neal Morse Band.

The three friends have also released music as Morse, Portnoy & George: so far, two Cover to Cover albums have been produced, each being a collection of covers of their favorite songs. As Portnoy explains: “One of the first things myself, Neal and Randy usually start talking about what we can cover when we gather for one of Neal’s solo albums, should we have some leftover time at the end of the session. Most of the songs are rooted in the 60s and 70s and are songs / bands we grew up with.” Explains George, “We all share an attachment for this era of music, so we each throw out song ideas, see what sticks, and record the ones we like the most!”

The trio has covered songs from such greats as, Paul McCartney, Cream, The Who, Jethro Tull, Steely Dan, and many more. They also have also covered some prog classics from the likes of King Crimson and Yes.

The full track-listing for all 3 Cover To Cover volumes is below.

Cover To Cover:

Where The Streets Have No Name (U2)
I’m The Man (Joe Jackson)
What Is Life? (George Harrison)
Badge (Cream)
Maybe I’m Amazed (Paul McCartney)
Day After Day (Badfinger)
Pleasant Valley Sunday (The Monkees)
Tuesday Afternoon (The Moody Blues)
Can’t Find My Way Home (Blind Faith)
I’m Free / Sparks (The Who)
Where Do The Children Play (Cat Stevens)
Feelin’ Stronger Everyday (Chicago)
Rock N Roll Suicide (David Bowie)

Cover 2 Cover:

(What’s So Funny About) Peace, Love & Understanding (Elvis Costello)
Lido Shuffle (Boz Scaggs)
Crazy Horses (The Osmonds)
Driven To Tears (The Police)
Come Sail Away (Styx)
Rikki Don’t Lose That Number (Steely Dan)
Lemons Never Forget (The Bee Gees)
The Letter (Joe Cocker)
I Saw The Light (Todd Rundgren)
Teacher (Jethro Tull)
Southern Man/Needle And The Damage Done/Cinnamon Girl (Neil Young)
Starless (King Crimson)

Cov3r To Cov3r:

No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed (Yes)
Hymn 43 (Jethro Tull)
Life On Mars (David Bowie)
Baker Street (Gerry Rafferty)
It Don’t Come Easy (Ringo Starr)
Baby Blue (Badfinger)
One More Red Nightmare (King Crimson)
Black Coffee In Bed (Squeeze)
Tempted (Squeeze)
Runnin’ Down A Dream (Tom Petty)
Let Love Rule (Lenny Kravitz)

SEPULTURA Welcome MIKE PORTNOY To ‘SepulQuarta’

Posted by tarjavirmakari on June 3, 2020
Posted in: Int. News, News. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

SEPULTURA-MIKE-PORTNOY-SEPULQUARTA

Another guest will join Brazilian metal heavyweight SEPULTURA  to be part of their weekly “SepulQuarta” session: Mike Portnoy (DREAM THEATER, AVENGED SEVENFOLD) will join SEPULTURA‘s Eloy Casagrande for a live Q&A with their fans!

Eloy comments “Portnoy is one of the most influential drummers in the history of progressive rock and music in general. He is a revolutionary for the drummer community. I was very influenced by him through his work with DREAM THEATER”

Join the band this Wednesday at 4PM Brazilian official time (Noon PST and 9PM CET) here:  https://www.sepultura.com.br/sepulquarta

Next to this digital get-together starting at 4.15 PM Brazilian official time (12.15 PST and 9.15PM CET), SEPULTURA come up with chats on their history, anecdotes and interesting surprises around the band.

Andreas Kisser about the idea of the SepulQuarta sessions, earlier:
“SepulQuarta was born out of the necessity to express ourselves in a different way since we’re all facing a new situation. We came with this idea still influenced by the concept of our last album ‘Quadra’, using geometry, numerology and numbers. Wednesday, which is the fourth day of the week, was chosen for an event.”

The band released their latest album “Quadra” through Nuclear Blast on February, 7th, 2020. The band was scheduled to tour North America past March with SACRED REICH, CROWBAR and ART OF SHOCK. This tour is being rescheduled for Spring 2021.

Order »Quadra« now in various formats here:
https://nblast.de/Sepultura-Quadra

More on “Quadra”:
“Isolation”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2nZ3n8_e3k
“Last Time”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJPuijhnXrA
“Means To An End”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMLed7lL5CU
Sepultura-2020

Photo: @MarcosHermes

MORSE, PORTNOY, GEORGE Reveal Video For Cover Of ‘Baker Street’

Posted by metalshockfinland on May 25, 2020
Posted in: Int. News, News. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

MORSE-PORTNOY-GEORGE

Neal Morse, Mike Portnoy & Randy George recently announced their return to the Cover To Cover series of albums with ‘Cov3r To Cov3r’, the brand new third instalment. Featuring their renditions of classic tracks by the likes of King Crimson, Jethro Tull, Gerry Rafferty, David Bowie & more (including their cover of ‘No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed’ featuring vocals from Yes singer Jon Davison), the album will be released on the 24th July as CD, Gatefold 2LP + CD & as Digital Album.

Today they are pleased to reveal a video for their cover of ‘Baker Street’, originally by Gerry Rafferty, and you can watch it now here:

Randy George comments: “Baker Street is one of the songs that is instantly recognizable. When I first mentioned the idea of doing Baker Street, Neal said that it was funny because he and Mike had just been discussing that one as well.“

Neal Morse adds: “To be honest I was never that big of a fan of this song. It’s one that Mike really wanted to do as I recall. But as we dove into it and I began singing it, I really felt it. Lyrics about thinking that it’s going to be really easy to succeed and then hitting walls and becoming disillusioned are very relatable to me. I found myself really digging into it and taking a kind of “The Who” approach to the song really works well!”

As well as ‘Cov3r to Cov3r’, the ‘Cover To Cover Anthology (Vol. 1 – 3)’ will be released on the same day, collecting all 3 instalments together over 3 discs. The first two albums have also been newly re-sequenced and remastered, and will also be available on digital services. The albums have also been given brand new artwork, created by Thomas Ewerhard (Sons of Apollo, The Neal Morse Band, Avantasia).

Morse, Portnoy & George first worked together on Neal Morse’s Testimony Live project back in 2003, and since then they have devised and recorded countless Neal Morse albums, including three with The Neal Morse Band.

The three friends have also released music as Morse, Portnoy & George: so far, two Cover to Cover albums have been produced, each being a collection of covers of their favorite songs. As Portnoy explains: “One of the first things myself, Neal and Randy usually start talking about what we can cover when we gather for one of Neal’s solo albums, should we have some leftover time at the end of the session. Most of the songs are rooted in the 60s and 70s and are songs / bands we grew up with.” Explains George, “We all share an attachment for this era of music, so we each throw out song ideas, see what sticks, and record the ones we like the most!”

The trio has covered songs from such greats as, Paul McCartney, Cream, The Who, Jethro Tull, Steely Dan, and many more. They also have also covered some prog classics from the likes of King Crimson and Yes.

The full track-listing for all 3 Cover To Cover volumes is below.

Cover To Cover:

Where The Streets Have No Name (U2)
I’m The Man (Joe Jackson)
What Is Life? (George Harrison)
Badge (Cream)
Maybe I’m Amazed (Paul McCartney)
Day After Day (Badfinger)
Pleasant Valley Sunday (The Monkees)
Tuesday Afternoon (The Moody Blues)
Can’t Find My Way Home (Blind Faith)
I’m Free / Sparks (The Who)
Where Do The Children Play (Cat Stevens)
Feelin’ Stronger Everyday (Chicago)
Rock N Roll Suicide (David Bowie)

Cover 2 Cover:

(What’s So Funny About) Peace, Love & Understanding (Elvis Costello)
Lido Shuffle (Boz Scaggs)
Crazy Horses (The Osmonds)
Driven To Tears (The Police)
Come Sail Away (Styx)
Rikki Don’t Lose That Number (Steely Dan)
Lemons Never Forget (The Bee Gees)
The Letter (Joe Cocker)
I Saw The Light (Todd Rundgren)
Teacher (Jethro Tull)
Southern Man/Needle And The Damage Done/Cinnamon Girl (Neil Young)
Starless (King Crimson)

Cov3r To Cov3r:

No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed (Yes)
Hymn 43 (Jethro Tull)
Life On Mars (David Bowie)
Baker Street (Gerry Rafferty)
It Don’t Come Easy (Ringo Starr)
Baby Blue (Badfinger)
One More Red Nightmare (King Crimson)
Black Coffee In Bed (Squeeze)
Tempted (Squeeze)
Runnin’ Down A Dream (Tom Petty)
Let Love Rule (Lenny Kravitz)

 

MORSE, PORTNOY, GEORGE Return With ‘Cov3r To Cov3r’ & ‘Cover To Cover Anthology ‘

Posted by tarjavirmakari on May 7, 2020
Posted in: Int. News, News. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

MORSE-PORTNOY-GEORGE

Neal Morse, Mike Portnoy & Randy George are pleased to announce their return to the Cover To Cover series of albums with ‘Cov3r To Cov3r’, the brand new third instalment. Featuring their renditions of classic tracks by the likes of King Crimson, Jethro Tull, Gerry Rafferty, David Bowie & more (including their cover of ‘No Opportunity Neces-sary, No Experience Needed’ featuring vocals from Yes singer Jon Davison), the album will be released on the 24th July as CD, Gatefold 2LP + CD & as Digital Album.

As well as this, the ‘Cover To Cover Anthology (Vol. 1 – 3)’ will be re-leased on the same day, collecting all 3 instalments together over 3 discs. The first two albums have also been newly re-sequenced and remastered, and will also be available on all digital services. All the al-bums have also been given brand new artwork, created by Thomas Ewerhard (Sons of Apollo, The Neal Morse Band, Avantasia).

MORSE-PORTNOY-GEORGE-cover

Mike Portnoy comments:

“Well, here we are…Cover To Cover Volume 3! Been looking forward to finally doing another one of these as I absolutely love the first two we did!

In fact, these Cover To Cover albums are some of my favorite albums in my catalog and are always the CDs I give to family and friends to enjoy.

Mainly because they help show the music that helped shape myself, Neal and Randy. Everybody expects the obvious Prog classics (or in my case some of the more metal stuff), but the range of artists on these Cover To Cover albums as just as important ingredients!

I hope you enjoy listening to them as much as we did recording them!

MP 2020”

Morse, Portnoy & George first worked together on Neal Morse’s Testimony Live project back in 2003, and since then they have devised and recorded countless Neal Morse albums, including three with The Neal Morse Band.

The three friends have also released music as Morse, Portnoy & George: so far, two Cover to Cover albums have been produced, each being a collection of covers of their favorite songs. As Portnoy explains: “One of the first things myself, Neal and Randy usually start talking about what we can cover when we gather for one of Neal’s solo albums, should we have some leftover time at the end of the session. Most of the songs are rooted in the 60s and 70s and are songs / bands we grew up with.” Explains George, “We all share an attachment for this era of music, so we each throw out song ideas, see what sticks, and record the ones we like the most!”

The trio has covered songs from such greats as, Paul McCartney, Cream, The Who, Jethro Tull, Steely Dan, and many more. They also have also covered some prog classics from the likes of King Crimson and Yes.

The full track-listing for all 3 Cover To Cover volumes is below.

Cover To Cover:
1. Where The Streets Have No Name (U2)
2. I’m The Man (Joe Jackson)
3. What Is Life? (George Harrison)
4. Badge (Cream)
5. Maybe I’m Amazed (Paul McCartney)
6. Day After Day (Badfinger)
7. Pleasant Valley Sunday (The Monkees)
8. Tuesday Afternoon (The Moody Blues)
9. Can’t Find My Way Home (Blind Faith)
10. I’m Free / Sparks (The Who)
11. Where Do The Children Play (Cat Stevens)
12. Feelin’ Stronger Everyday (Chicago)
13. Rock N Roll Suicide (David Bowie)

Cover 2 Cover:
1. (What’s So Funny About) Peace, Love & Understanding (Elvis Cos-tello)
2. Lido Shuffle (Boz Scaggs)
3. Crazy Horses (The Osmonds)
4. Driven To Tears (The Police)
5. Come Sail Away (Styx)
6. Rikki Don’t Lose That Number (Steely Dan)
7. Lemons Never Forget (The Bee Gees)
8. The Letter (Joe Cocker)
9. I Saw The Light (Todd Rundgren)
10. Teacher (Jethro Tull)
11. Southern Man/Needle And The Damage Done/Cinnamon Girl (Neil Young)
12. Starless (King Crimson)

Cov3r To Cov3r:
1. No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed (Yes)
2. Hymn 43 (Jethro Tull)
3. Life On Mars (David Bowie)
4. Baker Street (Gerry Rafferty)
5. It Don’t Come Easy (Ringo Starr)
6. Baby Blue (Badfinger)
7. One More Red Nightmare (King Crimson)
8. Black Coffee In Bed (Squeeze)
9. Tempted (Squeeze)
10. Runnin’ Down A Dream (Tom Petty)
11. Let Love Rule (Lenny Kravitz)

MORSE, PORTNOY, GEORGE ONLINE:
https://www.facebook.com/nealmorse/
https://www.facebook.com/mikeportnoyofficial/
https://www.facebook.com/RandyGeorgeBass/