TEE "The Earth Explorer"

TEE is a five piece flute front progressive rock band from Tokyo, Japan. Their so-called 'European' sound is unique considering their far-east origin. The imaginative tunes with complex ensembles and rhythms will definitely catch the attention of prog lovers all over the world. Their sound will remind you bands like Camel, King Crimson, Asia Minor or even Frank Zappa on some parts. The band was formed in 2004 when... more

Kevin BARTLETT

You may not know his name but you have definitely heard his music more than once or twice in your life. Maybe on HBO, or on MTV, or on VH1, Comedy Central, Discovery Channel. Doesn't ring the bell? How about American Idol Rewind, or Dr. 90210? We had interviewed Kevin Bartlett a couple of years ago when his second solo album GLOW IN THE DARK was released. Bartlett has been quiet since that time but but he has been secretly brewing new projects. A few months ago he had put a new song...more

Peter Hammill, founding member of Van Der Graaf Generator, released his 28th solo album " nearly 3 months ago. He recently got back home from a short tour covering North America, Canada and Italy. In the 70's when bands like...more

FRIGHT PIG Barque At The Lune *** REVERSAL OF GRAVITY Scuba Gear ***

After being introduced to 3rDegree in late 2008, the group's music has struck us here at TheProgFiles as innovative, thought provoking and extremely proficient. This is the way prog is supposed to be done. We are very pleased to present them in this month's artist spotlight.

In December of 1990, bassist/keyboardist/vocalist Robert James Pashman met with drummer Rob Durham in New Jersey. Pashman who started playing keyboards around age 12 and taught himself bass at 16, had just left his previous band, both him and Durham had a passion for the progressive rock music they grew up listening to. The next step was to look for a guitarist, but it didn't come easy. They started with a guitarist for 6 months but when they met Pat Kliesch in the Summer of 1991 things changed and he soon became the third member of the band. Their music was slowly beginning to form: All 3 members were technically good at what they were doing and loved challenging themselves musically with odd-meters but they were also sensitive to creating melodious pieces that were singable. The band's debut album came out shortly after, it was titled "THE WORLD IN WHICH WE LIVE": a 10 song collection which was played all over New Jersey & New York City in rock venues.

The trio did not think the "pieces of the puzzle" were complete yet, as they put it into words. The lacking element was powerful lead vocals that could possibly open up new windows for them and of course would grow their fan base too. Many prog rock bands lacked this element and settled with average vocals but 3rDegree did not want to be one of them. George Dobbs, who also plays bass and keyboards, was added in the summer of 1995 as the band's new front man. He was a tenor with a very eclectic voice. He could sound bluesy on some parts, even had a pop approach on other parts but with a very unique style without losing his technique.

Now that the puzzle was complete, the band was ready for a second solo album: HUMAN INTEREST STORY which was released in 1996. Unfortunately only a couple of years after this release, 3rDegree disbanded until 2005 when the 3 original members got back together and gathered some demos from old and new materials. When they found George in July of the same year they were writing again and thus came out with their latest release NARROW-CASTER (see Dale Juday's review of it HERE).

Since its release the album is receiving rave reviews all over the internet. It is classified as crossover prog by some or power prog pop by others, but the album with some of the materials dating all the way back to mid 90's is nowhere near a conventional mainstream sound. Odd-time signatures, loops, atypical song structures... this CD has it all. Plus it has powerful lyrics and vocals. The good thing about it is that the band, even with older songs, does not sound out dated. They do have tastes of 70's and 80's sound from time to time but all with a touch of their own. You've heard it said that a fine wine gets better with age - but in the case of 3rDegree, they came in to their prime early and have resided there since.

Visit their website at: www.3RDegreeONLINE.com

Visit their myspace page at: www.myspace.com/3rdegreenj