This Thursday in the 3pm hour we meet up with Days Between Stations (https://www.daysbetweenstations.com/) to talk about their upcoming virtual ProgStock (https://www.progstock.com/) concert on December 5th on https://www.stageit.com/ as the Moogvember celebration continues into December! Then New Jersey/New York band Sister Monk (https://www.sistermonk.com/) Zooms in with brand new music in the 4pm hour! All the and the best Prog Rock on any Planet!
Days Between Stations
https://www.daysbetweenstations.com/
Days Between Stations are Oscar Fuentes Bills and Sepand Samzadeh.
In fall 2003, Sepand Samzadeh placed an ad in a local magazine and Oscar Fuentes responded. The two began composing music and Fuentes suggested a very fitting name for the band, Days Between Stations –the name of a novel Fuentes had read by Steve Erikson.
In 2004, Fuentes and Samzadeh sent Bruce Soord, leader of the British band The Pineapple Thief, a CD with nearly an hour’s worth of mostly improvised material. Soord used some of this material as the basis for the song “Saturday” on The Pineapple Thief’s 12 Stories Down (Cyclops 2004).
To help flesh out their sound in the studio, the band contacted former Young Dubliners drummer Jon Mattox in 2005. Mattox joined in as drummer and co-producer. The band further enlisted guitarist Jeremy Castillo, Argentinean-born bassist Vivi Rama, sax player Jason Hemmens, singer Hollie Shepard, trumpeter Sean Erick and trombonist Kevin Williams. Samzadeh’s uncle Jeffrey Samzadeh, who sings traditional Iranian classical music, also sang on the track “Requiem for the Living”.
Their eponymous debut CD was released in August 2007 on Bright Orange Records to worldwide acclaim, and was considered as one of the best albums of the year.
In 2008, Fuentes and Samzadeh began working on their sophomore album. In 2012, Fuentes and Samzadeh, looking for a vocalist for the project, got introduced to Billy Sherwood. Although the music was written by Days Between Stations, Sherwood co-produced the album with Fuentes and Samzadeh and co-wrote the lyrics to the songs. Sherwood also helped arrange the song “The Man who Died Two Times”. Peter Banks was the second to be brought into the project. Banks had praised the band on their debut album and became and instrumental force on two songs, Eggshell Man and In Extremis. Next came Tony Levin, originally to play on Visionary, playing bass on the entire CD. Rick Wakeman and Colin Moulding delivered their contributions simultaneously, to Eggshell Man and the Man Who Died Two Times, respectively. Paul Whitehead was also sought out to paint the artwork for the album.
With the album in full swing, and the concept falling into place, Fuentes and Samzadeh now had to write their overture, No Cause For Alarm. This track was left for last as it needed to contain all the major themes and epic melodies of the album. Having written the overture in just five sessions, Days Between Stations hired Chris Tedesco and the Angel City Orchestra to record the score. The orchestra also recorded the Waltz in E minor (this later became a dedication to Peter Banks after he passed away on March 7th 2013), and appears on In Utero, Visionary and In Extremis.
Days Between Stations sophomore album In Extremis was released on May 15th 2013. Their third album GIANTS, was released September 21, 2020.
Sister Monk (https://www.sistermonk.com/)
SisterMonk is an established NY/NJ original band hailing from the Pacific Northwest. Their music: female-powered, djembe-driven, with poetic lyrics and soulful vocals – reviewed by New York Music Daily as “slinky, undulating, wickedly danceable punk-infused funk and Middle Eastern-inspired jams. There’s no band in New York like them.”
SisterMonk’s music invites audiences to join a moving musical experience, to dance freely and feel the joy of living that is both introspective and celebratory. The band performs regularly underground (as members of the NYC MTA’s Music Under New York program) and at various venues around New York City, such as The Bowery Electric, Mercury Lounge, and Rockwood Music Hall. They also tour nationally during the festival season and have long been a favorite at The Seattle ‘Folk Life’ Festival. Notable recent venues include Union Arts Center, The Lincoln Center Summer Music in The Park and Yasgur’s Farm Woodstock reunion, Damn Sam NY Harvestfest, Maplewoodtock, FroggyDaze Fest. SisterMonk has been featured on Seattle NPR and RCB.radio (FM Irish Radio), Tonal Rythms 90.5 WICN as well as WUSB 90.1 FM!!
KATHY DEANE
Co-founder Kathy Deane is both the lead singer and lead percussionist for SisterMonk. Channeling her passion for the music and the rhythm, each song bears her unmistakable touch since the band's origin. Anyone who has ever seen SisterMonk live will attest to her musical fire.
JODY RUBEL
Along with Kathy, Jody Rubel co-founded SisterMonk and plays rhythm and lead guitar. For Jody, music is a portal; prior to language and even experience. The song exists as question and answer. Maybe a fool, maybe a mystic, rather than tackling themes head on in his songwriting, Jody prefers to peak out the corner of his eye.
TANI TILSNER
Tani Tilsner provides supporting vocals and keyboard melodies, while also assisting on compositions. A creative spirit in all aspects of her life, Tani also paints, writes, sculpts, and models.
INA CABRERA
Ina Cabrera is the latest addition to the band.
Ina grew up playing piano but wasn’t really digging it. She wanted to play bass all her life but felt she was too tiny to handle one. As a little girl she was attuned to bass frequencies and cranked up the low end to max. When she heard SisterMonk was in need of a bass player she went for it.