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Saturday - April 29th, 2006 - 11:11 a.m.
Covenstead -- UPDATE 04/29/2006
Yeah
- so, I went for dental surgery this morning. I pretty much HATE IT when
that happens. The worse thing by far - which surprised the hell out of me
- were those initial needles; you know - the ones they use to numb you up.
He did an awesome job today though, because I didn't feel shit. He pulled
a tooth in the back, then sliced open my gum in order to remove the roots
from another tooth, which had broken off at least a year ago. Anyhow, even
though the numbness is wearing off and it's starting to hurt a little, I'm
glad to have that shit over with. I have another of those nerve roots on
the other side - same deal - but it doesn't bother me, so I'll probably just
put it off as long as possible.
To
be sure, I am STILL having some post-surgical problems, but I'm sick of
hanging around the house (even though I have been writing and finding some
other things to do, during this LONG-ASSED recovery period) and we will be
starting to practice again soon, so that we can continue recording the album,
then get some airplay and get out there to perform - live. All three of us
are psyched as all hell - and so are the other three NEW MEMBERS who may
just come on board, too.
In
any outcome, we will DEFINITELY be adding some additional members. It's
been somewhat of a drawback, which has made us run into some difficulties
here and there, for just Andy, Ronnie and I to try and do EVERYTHING. Even
if we WERE to complete the recordings ourselves (which we actually COULD
do) we will need additional members in order to be able to duplicate the
final sound we're after, live. So, that is something which is definitely
going to be happening, too.
I
have been fortunate enough that I have been able to find and download live
concerts from some of the best prog rock bands of the past, as well as current
stuff. I've been studying these, during my absence from the band - more
for the special effects than anything - although, of course, the music has
been awesome for most of them, too.
Although we may not have
anything "spectacular" to start, we're headed in that direction. You'll
come to see us because you want to hear us play, but it will be more than
an average show. Expect some type of presentation - maybe even an adventure...
We're having an excellent time, and at this point, everything is pretty much on schedule.
Enjoy...
Peace, Love, Harmony, Chaos, Dischord, and all of that happy horseshit -
Al -- lead vocals, keyboards, rhythm guitars
Covenstead
Monday - August 03rd, 2005 - 11:11 p.m.
Covenstead -- UPDATE
08/03/2005
We're working on
writing, rehearsal,
and recording of
a new album...
Will update the
websites with remaining
Member Profiles
soon -
Al -- lead vocals,
keyboards, rhythm guitars
Covenstead
Thursday - July 21st, 2005 - 11:11
p.m.
Covenstead -- UPDATE
07/21/2005
Hmmm... well, the day pretty much sucked. How much fun is fighting horrendous traffic, encountering the bridge being "up" while I was already running late, finally getting to the doctor's office (yes, on time), and THEN having to wait for fucking SALESMEN who were there during MY SCHEDULED APPOINTMENT TIME? There ought to be a LAW against this, don't you think? Yep - being out in the 100 degree heat, running necessary errands in the clammy humidity and blistering sun, a girl who looked like an ugly Gwen Stefani almost hitting me on Rt 24 as I was going 75 in the high speed lane because she didn't even fucking LOOK before trying to leap, ALL with the AC in the car suddenly not working right this summer?
Tonight went extremely well, though. Little
more than "jamming" can really be expected on the first night, and even
though it was noisy here and there, much of what we did sounded REALLY good.
I found myself thinking, "wow - this is going to be wonderful..." more than
once. This happened several times - the interplay between the bass, lead
guitar and drums - as I listened and thought of some possibilities for lyrics,
while Andy and Ronnie showed us several things they had been working on.
Again it happened when the 4 of us played a few of those song ideas. And
I have already noticed a "magic" that has to be there in ANY good band -
especially in the instrumental interplay between myself and "the kid." (haha
- those of you who know me, know that this is always meant affectionately
and/ or protectively) Yep. I think that Steffan is going to become unofficially
known as "the kid." He's REALLY fucking great on lead guitar.
All of the guys have great personalities,
too. I'd finally had the chance to meet Ronnie in person last week, and meeting
the other two guys last night convinced me that we'd all made the right choices
for band members. Yesterday was kind of hectic for me - somehow WAY MORE
than my life usually is these days - but I'm pretty sure that I'd briefly
mentioned this to Ronnie, while on the phone with him - that everyone was
pretty much hand-picked because of (at that time, "apparent") personality,
too - that this is also a key element in making it all work out. Life/ "God"/"Fate"
works in mysterious ways - so, maybe that was the reason for the beginning
of my day being so miserable - I DID have an underlying pissy streak in
my mood because of that fact - and I think that, if anything, I would have
been way more likely to pick up on anything that I forsaw as a "problem."
Just the opposite was the case - which
is AWESOME. Yeah - even at this first meeting and practice, energy was high
and there was a chemistry ALREADY - definite "electricity" in the air. We
also had a great time talking and laughing about almost everything under
the sun, as well as discussing some future goals and direction for the band.
All things considered, it was actually a much more productive first rehearsal
than I have experienced much of the time in the past.
We did some things where the interplay between the guitar leads and the keyboards were awesome. Ironically, one jam that we did, I played rhythm guitar in - and it's one of the ones that sounded the best - it was like all of us had been playing together for months. Really tight and heavy sound. Should we continue to develop that one into a song, adding lyrics, dynamics and all, I can only begin to imagine how tight-sounding and just how kewl it's going to sound.
Yeah - this band is going to be "something"
alright. I knew it would be. It took me a couple of months to talk all of
the EXACT players that I wanted for this band into doing it, but now we've
started, and it's a great feeling to be doing this again.
I haven't talked with any of the other
guys yet today - all I have been doing is sleeping since last night - which
also spells out "finally satisfied with something" - because no matter HOW
physically overtired I have been, I HADN'T been sleeping - so, I can't tell
you how they feel. I haven't even woken up fully yet, and I can tell
you that I am still riding high on excitement. THIS is going to be the best
musical endeavor that I have been involved in IN YEARS NOW, and it sure as
hell looks like we're going to ride that thrill all the way...
Peace and Love -
Al -- lead vocals, keyboards, rhythm guitars
Covenstead
Monday - July 11th, 2005 - 11:11
p.m.
Covenstead -- UPDATE
07/11/2005
All 5 members confirmed
earlier today --
full scale writing,
rehearsal, and recording
to start next week...
WOOT !!!
Will update the
websites with remaining
Member Profiles
soon -
Covenstead
Monday - May 13th, 2005 - 11:11
p.m.
Covenstead -- UPDATE
05/13/2005
I've been
writing for the past month or so,
and have
started a bit of the recording.
Steffan is joining me sometime within
the next
week or two.
... Al ...
Covenstead
MAY 01st 2005 -- ANNOUNCEMENT
Covenstead Announces New Lineup
.
Good news for those
of you
who have been asking
right along...
As you knew, Devin
and I have been working
on new material
for some time now.
As some also knew,
we'd talked about
not necessarily
"splitting up," but about
how there was something
he wanted to try -
out on the Cape.
For now, that is going to happen.
This DOESN'T mean
that he won't be coming back,
either - we're
just not sure right now.
What HAS happened
in just the past couple
of weeks is that
there are now 2 other members,
and possibly a
3rd - who has also
shown a lot of
interest.
We'll be moving
forward, continuing with writing and recording - with more of a full schedule
of recording to
begin this summer -
tentatively in
July.
The goal is an
album, and live performances -
possibly as soon
as year's end.
We know that many
of you have been
patiently waiting,
and will do our best
to deliver something
that you are REALLY
going to appreciate.
Thanks for your
continuing interest
and supportive
comments.
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Sunday - March 17th, 2002 - 11:11 p.m.
Went to the
Pink Floyd laser show in Providence
last night.
It was AWESOME
- totally AWESOME ...
... Al ...
Covenstead
Friday - March 15th, 2002 - 11:11 p.m.
When I finally decided to start playing some rhythm guitar at last night's practice, I began playing some of the "Fireside Suite" and it sounded great with the other guys joining in. I believe that only Dave and I had played this together once or maybe twice before. I really liked the sound of it with the lead riffs which Ryan began playing over it last night.
... Al ...
Covenstead
Friday - March 01st, 2002 - 11:11 p.m.
After some
of the awesome blendings of sound at last night's practice,
I think that
we all have pretty much decided that Ryan Taylor
will be our
new guitarist ...
Everyone
is psyched ...
Covenstead
Friday - February 01st, 2002 - 11:11 p.m.
Sadly, Kevin had to leave us back in December. He's going to be continuing working on his Masters degree in Music at a university in Connecticut. This is an hour further west of here - and he had already been driving an hour each way to come to practice before.
Dave, Donn and I have continued with the project and have come up with lots of other new original ideas and songs. We are just starting to record again, and have really been talking about playing out soon a LOT lately.
We've also begun investing in some of the equipment and materials necessary to bring across our sound and stage imagery the way that we've talked about for a long time now. For instance, just the other night at rehearsal, Al said to Dave, "you know - they sell lasers, too ..."
Kewl, eh?
Just one of the MANY ideas we're toying around with. Yeah - we can and even may go out there before we have ANYTHING like that to use on stage. Our music is strong enough for that. But we definitely plan on having "visual enhancements."
NO question about it ...
... Al ...
Covenstead
Sunday - October 28th, 2001 - 11:11 p.m.
Donn Patten joined Covenstead back in August,
when Dave did,
as our bass
player. He's multi-talented, also playing flute, sax,
and guitar
- as well as contributing to the writing process
(we ALL do
now). We started recording a few weeks ago - basically, some demo-quality
stuff from our practices. Already, we're starting to build our songs for
studio quality recording; things are working out GREAT. Something which is
VERY important here is that all of us have personalities which coincide nicely
and this undoubtedly has led invaluably to the creative process. Sort of
reminds me of the original intent and foundatation of this project - now
some SIX YEARS ago.
We are ALL
very pleased at the way things are going ...
Thursday - August 23rd, 2001 - 11:11 a.m.
David Pavao has "officially" re-joined Covenstead
...
Dave also knows a bass player - apparently someone who he has been playing with since leaving here at the end of last year - who is going to come down with him for next week's rehearsal. Perhaps we'll finally have ALL MEMBERS in place again after next week ...
Kevin and I practiced last night. Again it was a productive session. We have a really kewl new progressive rock ballad that we have been working on. We also spent some time just "hanging out" together, watching the Doors movie and again discussing a bit more about the musical directions we want to go in with Covenstead, etc.
One thing
that is really kewl is that times spent together NEVER seem like they were
a "waste of time" - no matter WHAT we did - something productive ALWAYS gets
accomplished ...
Covenstead
Friday - July, 06th, 2001
Well, well,
well ... What do you know - I finally seemed to have found another lead
guitarist - not only with excellent PLAYING abilities, but also with
excellent CREATIVE abilities - and one who's actually interested
in WORKING ... Kevin Williams
joined the project in June. We've played together a few times so far - scheduling
conflicts and the like - and I have been having some medical problems - and
those associated additional appointments added into my already hectic schedule
... But, anyhow - I am so "psyched," that it's incredible.
I just can't believe some of the progressive riffs which we have been coming up with - even in this stage of the reformed band's infancy. You'll all REALLY LOVE the stage show we're planning. And we should be OUT THERE - LIVE - by year's end (at the latest - possibly a LOT earlier). Maybe we'll come out for the debut HALLOWEEN performance this year - the one we've missed the last several years ...
We're to
begin recording again really soon ...
(I've been
doing some studio stuff on my own - but it hasn't been the same - mostly
writing and ideas - just to keep the creative juices flowing, at least to
some extent ...
Stay tuned ...
Well - for
me - it's off to the JOURNEY
concert tonight at the
"Tweeter
Center" (formerly Great Woods Center for the
Performing
Arts, in nearby Mansfield, Massachusetts).
I never did
get to see them back in the 70's or the 80's -
so, this
should be an experience.
... Al ...
Covenstead
Monday evening, sometime in May 2001 ...
UPDATE - RECORDING IS GOING FORWARD IN THE STYLE
OF MIKE OLDFIELD ("Tubular Bells" - soundtrack for the movie "The Exorcist"
- circa 1975)
i.e. - I've been recording by myself, for now ...
+++++ Al +++++
Covenstead
(Tell ya what - if you're interested in MIKE OLDFIELD, make sure to get the Remastered CD of his album "OMMADAWN." It's available online from CDNOW.com for a very reasonable price. REALLY - TAKE A GOOD LISTEN TO THAT CD. )
Monday evening, April 2nd, 2001
Dave Pavao
left the fold back in the beginning of December sometime. Dave Dube left
shortly afterward, which I sort of more than anticipated - seeing how I had
specifically hand-picked them for the same reason - i.e. that they
were friends and have played together a lot over the years. Between then
and now, Shaun and I didn't even see each other or talk on the phone often.
Let's just say that he has left, too - as of about a week or so ago.
Ever hear of musician Mike Oldfield? For you younger folks who don't remember and might not know otherwise, he's the guy who composed/ recorded and performed "Tubular Bells" - the soundtrack album from the 1972 movie, "The Exorcist." Almost everything you hear on there was played by him - in other words - yes - by HIMSELF. And there wasn't any MIDI technology, any DIGITAL RECORDING - not even a fraction of the capabilities that we have today.
I've been thinking about Mike Oldfield a lot - especially over the last week or so - and remembering how much of an inspiration he was to me way back then ...
That's all for now ...
... Al ...
Covenstead
Saturday evening - October 07th, 2000 ...
Last night, Dave Dube, Shaun and I practiced together for the first time. Really, it was a "jam" more than a "practice" - but already it sounded and felt great and I know that things are going to work out fine.
This is going to be an excellent band - nothing short of EXCELLENT. It was great to be "jamming" with such good musicians again - and it's the most positive thing which has happened in my life for a while. No words could ever describe the enthusiasm I'm feeling - really, this has been happening since Shaun and I started playing together about a month ago.
I just KNEW that this would be the right combination of musicians for what I wanted to do. It's also really kewl that although we each have unique individual ideas, we also have a lot of common goals - pertaining to what we want to do with the band, direction to go in, etc.
I'm very excited at this point in time ...
... Al ...
Covenstead
October 04th, 2000 ...
We had a band meeting on Monday,
in which we discussed many of the ideas which we each have - pertaining to
directions we want to go in ...
Feedback from all of the guys since then indicates that ALL OF US are VERY psyched (enthused, that is) about what we're embarking upon ...
RE: Pentacle Records/ related acts -
On Tuesday night, I went up to
Cambridge to
TT The Bears Place and finally
had the chance to see STICK
FIGURES, another band I have been considering promoting, play live.
Although the mix itself could have stood some overall adjustment, they were
quite good. Nothing is definite yet, but I let them know that we want to
work with them. The lead singer and lead guitarist (Sean and Jeff Welch)
from WELDON HILL - another band
whom we have begun working with this year - met me there, and their feedback
about this new act was positive, as well.
Return here and to the PENTACLE web site to keep posted about upcoming events (concerts) which we will be putting on - including COVENSTEAD, these other 2 bands mentioned, and other area acts - beginning sometime between November and January ...
... Al ...
Covenstead
September 30th, 2000 ...
Shaun
and I have been practicing and we've been coming up with some
interesting ideas - both in the
way of some "cover tunes" to do - as well as some NEW original ideas. Already,
there is much progress being made; we're both pleased by that.
We have a meeting scheduled for
Monday, which will finally include all 4 of us.
This is planned as being to primarily discuss ideas and goals, but we just
may end up rehearsing - or at least "jamming" - for a while then too.
... Al ...
Covenstead
mid September, 2000 ...
Those of
you who have been in touch with us know that some folks left, we had taken
the summer off, and had been looking for new members.
The BAND
is finally now a BAND - with
permanent members.
We're planning
regular performances, to begin sometime in early 2001. Pentacle Records is planning on running a
regular concert series featuring not only Covenstead, but also many other
of the areas finest original music up and coming bands and performers. Keep
visiting here and at the Pentacle website for further info and updates
... Al ...
Covenstead
August 2000 ...
Area guitarist
Shaun Hague and I have been jamming, and
have decided to put an all-new band together soon...
... Al ...
Covenstead
see also:
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Covenstead DOES plan on playing out regularly
- not frequently, but regularly -
Yes - we know we've been elusive ...
Very elusive ...
And, we apologize.
We hope that those of you that do make it finally
enjoy the results of the wait ...
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