{"id":16571,"date":"2022-01-22T10:38:53","date_gmt":"2022-01-22T10:38:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/skylight.gr\/?p=16571"},"modified":"2022-01-22T10:38:56","modified_gmt":"2022-01-22T10:38:56","slug":"prog-ensemble-vast-conduit-to-release-debut-album-always-be-there-february-16-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/2022\/01\/22\/prog-ensemble-vast-conduit-to-release-debut-album-always-be-there-february-16-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"Prog Ensemble Vast Conduit To Release Debut Album \u201cAlways Be There\u201d February 16, 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Prog ensemble Vast Conduit featuring keyboardist\/vocalist Bill Jenkins, best known for his work with Enchant and Thought Chamber, will be releasing their debut album \u201cAlways Be There\u201d on February 16, 2022.

This album is dedicated to the notion of doing whatever we can to build and cherish all parent\/child relationships, regardless of circumstance. There are so many different ways these can suffer \u2013 death, divorce, illness, self-centeredness, etc. \u2013 yet they are so vital to our happiness and well-being. Every moment we have to support each other and make each other’s lives better is precious.

Says Bill, \u201cThe songs \u2018Always Be There\u2019 and also \u2018Early Eclipse\u2019 convey the main message of the album. The release date is the 40th anniversary of my father\u2019s passing, which set in motion a path through life and philosophy described by the songs on the album. I had the basic song ideas in place for almost all of these songs sitting around for years and it was simply time to finally make it all happen.\u201d

The Fates conspired and a fortuitous set of circumstances created a vast conduit, galvanizing what might have otherwise been a run-of-the-mill progressive rock project with an abundance of musical talent and prowess. Keyboardist Bill Jenkins (Enchant, Thought Chamber), musing over some material near to heart, enlisted the talents of these amazing musicians to bring that material to light: Adding everything from scorching leads to subtle emoting is virtuosic guitarist Michael Harris (Arch Rival, Thought Chamber, Darkology, Michael Harris Tranz-Fusion). Laying the foundation with solid grooves and making odd time signatures seem effortless and feel natural is drummer Will Jenkins (Ghost and the City, Great Wall). The venerable Jeff Plant solidifies that foundation with electric and fretless bass (also from Thought Chamber and whose pedigree otherwise is too long to list here and whose amazing bass playing simply speaks for itself). Adding just the right amount of smoke and fire off his rosined bow is violinist Jim Hurley (who has performed with the likes of Ritchie Blackmore, Trans Siberian Orchestra, Ancient Future, and Queen Ida\u2019s Grammy-winning Bon Temps Zydeco Band, among many others). Rounding out the list are the satiny vocals of Friel (a truly rare gem of vocal talent to have somehow, somewhere, out of the blue, been found for this project).

With the players in place, a cross-country recording project began, finishing with Vast Conduit\u2019s initial studio album release \u201cAlways Be There\u201d – a centrally themed album that explores several musical genres. Although progressive rock in nature, when pressed for a singular genre, Michael jokingly suggested \u201csmooth prog.\u201d After the requisite laughter, the recognition of how apropos of a description it was settled in, and laughter shifted to nods of approval as it was fully embraced by the band.

The album started as just an EP project, and recording of 3 of the songs with demo vocals started several years ago. Then covid happened and opened up the opportunity and availability to expand it to a full album.\u00a0

Along with the core ensemble, the album features some guest artists. Having known the California Guitar Trio guys for some time, and loving their sound, Bill had always hoped to get them involved in a song. Bert Lams agreed to add his acoustic guitar to \u201cEarly Eclipse,\u201d and helped in adjusting the arrangement to work even better with the addition of his parts.

Bill\u2019s brother Tom Abraira plays the lead on trumpet on the track \u201cPhilly Etymology.\u201d There were two spots for a female voice on this album. Says Bill, \u201cI heard Manon\u2019s singing in High Hopes Acapella, and invited her to sing the female part in \u2018Barrier.\u2019 Having worked with Betsy Walter previously, I already had an earlier demo of \u2018Early Eclipse\u2019 with her voice in it and used her part from under the solo in that song and it fit perfectly.\u201d

Finally, there was an old recording of the instrumental idea that became \u201cWesley Save Us\u201d that had Jessica Jenkins\u2019 voice when they were a toddler. \u201cWith Jess\u2019s voice being my association with that song for so many years, and given the theme of the album, working a few of those samples in just had to happen.\u201d

Work has already begun on writing for the next album. After the release, the band will look into opportunities for live performances. In closing Bill has this to say, \u201cIf our listeners enjoy the music even half as much as we enjoyed creating it, that would be amazing!\u201d

Watch the trailer for Vast Conduit\u2019s\u00a0\u201cAlways Be There\u201d:<\/strong>https:\/\/youtu.be\/r86v_rNCW7E<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tracklist
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Barrier 6:22 B. Jenkins, S. Spring (with lyrics)<\/li>
  2. Soul Tuck 5:10 B. Jenkins (instrumental)<\/li>
  3. Always Be There 5:49 B. Jenkins (with lyrics)<\/li>
  4. Endless Days 6:40 B. Jenkins, D. Ott (with lyrics)<\/li>
  5. Too Busy 5:45 B. Jenkins (instrumental)<\/li>
  6. Odessa 5:56 B. Jenkins (with lyrics)<\/li>
  7. 500 Miles 4:44 B. Jenkins, B. Walter (with lyrics)<\/li>
  8. Philly Etymology 5:39 B. Jenkins (instrumental)<\/li>
  9. Early Eclipse 6:59 B. Jenkins (with lyrics)<\/li>
  10. Of A Feather 5:01 B. Jenkins (instrumental)<\/li>
  11. Wesley Save Us 4:31 B. Jenkins (with lyrics)<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Band Members:
    Friel: Vocals
    Bill Jenkins: Keys, backing vocals
    Will Jenkins: Drums
    Michael Harris: Guitars
    Jeff Plant: Bass
    Jim Hurley: Violin<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Guest Artists:
    Tom Abraira – Trumpet on \u201cPhilly Etymology\u201d
    Bert Lams – Acoustic Guitar on \u201cEarly Eclipse\u201d
    Manon Roem -Vocals on \u201cBarrier\u201d
    Betsy Walter – Vocals on \u201cEarly Eclipse\u201d
    Recorded at: The Zircon Cube, The Beige Area, and Psycho Sound East Mixed by: Bill Jenkins and Will Jenkins
    Produced by: Bill Jenkins and Will Jenkins
    Mastered by: Michael Romanowski at Coast Mastering, Berkeley CA
    Artwork by: Jessica Jenkins<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    To purchase:<\/strong>
    https:\/\/vastconduit.bandcamp.com\/releases<\/a>
    https:\/\/www.vastconduit.com<\/a>
    <\/strong>
    For more information:<\/strong>
    www.vastconduit.com<\/a>
    www.facebook.com\/VastConduit\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Prog ensemble Vast Conduit featuring keyboardist\/vocalist Bill Jenkins, best known for his work with Enchant…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16572,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23,2],"tags":[125,2050],"class_list":["post-16571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music-news","category-news","tag-prog","tag-vast-conduit"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16571"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16571\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16573,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16571\/revisions\/16573"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}