Mile Marker Zero isn’t a band that the average progressive rock fan will be all that much aware of, but they have been around in one guise or another for 15 years by now – or 13 years if you refer to the band’s official biography. They released their self-titled debut album back in 2009, and along with their 2006 EP “The Haunted” they did get quite a bit of attention in those earlier days. Being the first unsigned band to have their music featured in the video game series RockBand among the proud moments from that phase of their career.

In later years the band have released a second EP, “Young Rust” (2014), and in March 2018 the band launched their second album “The Fifth Row”. The quality of the latter was so impressive that we just had to book this band, even if we didn’t really have any free slots left – we’ll get back to how that detail will be sorted when we release the official schedule for RoSfest 2019.

For those not already aware of Mile Marker Zero, progressive metal with clear references to the foundations of the genre established “back in the day” by good old Rush is a fitting and appropriate manner in which to describe what this band is all about. We love it, and we are certain that many others will as well – especially after having seen them perform their material live on stage of course.

RoSfest 2019 will take place on May 3rd through 5th, 2019 at the Sarasota Opera House, Florida. The final line-up and schedule for the festival are still TBA.

MMZ Website – http://www.milemarkerzero.com/band/
MMZ – Home | Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/milemarkerzero/
MMZ – YouTube Video – The Fifth Row – “The Architect”

Finnish progressive rock band, Von Hertzen Brothers, makes a welcome return to RoSfest in 2019, this time as the Friday night headliners.

It’s been almost ten years since this fine Finnish band was booked for RoSfest first time around. At that time, the announcement of them signed to the festival was met with a few puzzled faces and question marks. Those who were aware of the band at that time, mainly due to their fantastic third album “Love Remains the Same” from 2008, knew what they were in for obviously, but many had quite the pleasant experience when they heard what the band delivered at RoSfest back in 2010.

We are bringing them back for the headliner slot in 2019. It is a good pairing with Cryptic Vision for starters, as both of them are returning bands that haven’t played for us for a number of years. In addition, Von Hertzen Brothers have continued being an active live and recording band all along, with four additional studio albums to their name, all of them strong, quality productions, and the band’s reputation as a potent and high quality live act have continued to grow too. The reports coming in from the band’s recently concluded 10 year celebration tour for “Love Remains the Same” are glowing brighter than the sun itself.

Van Hertzen Brothers have been gaining attention. It is this sonic exploration that has seen them blaze a trail across Europe since 2006, leading them to play with artists from Foo Fighters, 30 Seconds to Mars, Neil Young, Biffy Clyro, The Wildhearts and ZZ Top to Anathema and Opeth. With seven stunning studio albums to their credit, VHB have developed into a fantastic live band. This band is the perfect fit for the RoSfest lineup and its audience.

RoSfest 2019 will take place on May 3rd through 5th, 2019 at the Sarasota Opera House, Florida. The final line-up and schedule for the festival are Cryptic Vision, Entransient, Karmamoi, Phideaux, Jethro Tull 50^th Anniversary tour with official members Martin Barre, Clive Bunker and Jonathan Noyce. Edge of Reality, Traverser, Flor De Loto and Riverside.

Video – War is over

Band Website – http://www.vonhertzenbrothers.com
Band Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/vonhertzenbrothersofficial/
https://twitter.com/vonhertzenbros
http://instagram.com/vonhertzenbrothers
Mascot Label group – http://mlgpress.com/von-hertzen-brothers/war-is-over

We are pleased to announce that Peruvian band Flor de Loto have been signed to ROSFest also for 2019.

Following a spectacular performance at last year’s RoSfest, we have decided to bring Peruvian band Flor de Loto back also for the 2019 edition of our festival. For a number of reasons: Their concert last year was brilliant, and many desired to see them again sooner rather than later. Some missed out on the show, and from what they heard from others they knew they had missed something good. Hence we see to it that this situation is resolved. And finally Flor de Loto have now signed with US label Melodic Revolution Records, a label that are longtime friends of RoSfest, and they are releasing Flor de Loto’s new album.

As we stated last year: Progressive rock is alive and well on the South American continent, and one of the most popular progressive rock bands in South America is Flor de Loto from Peru. They have built a steadily growing fan base all over the continent since they first appeared in 2005 with their self-titled debut album, with a solid presence as a live band for more than a decade and seven (soon eight) studio albums to their name cementing their reputation as a high-quality band.

Their take on progressive rock is one that resides somewhere in between Jethro Tull and Iron Maiden, incorporating elements from metal, Andean folk music and chamber music into their compositions alongside nods towards hard rock and psychedelic rock. This results in a sound and style with a broad appeal: This is a band with fans also from outside of the progressive rock universe.

Alonso Herrera, Alejandro Jarrin, Pablo Alayza, Alvaro Escobar, Pierre Farfán and Gabriel Iwasaki are members of a band that has a reputation as a quality act on all levels. We are eagerly looking forward to being able to once again experiencing one of the top progressive rock bands from the South American continent performing live at ROSfest 2019.

ROSfest 2019 will take place on May 3rd through 5th 2019 at the Sarasota Opera House, Florida. The final line-up and schedule for the festival are still TBA. Confirmed bands to appear so far are:

Web page: http://flordelotorocks.com 

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/flordelotoprogre 

Videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/iggyflorezz 

US progressive rock band Cryptic Vision is confirmed to appear at RoSFest 2019.

Those who have good memories will recall that Cryptic Vision was one of the bands that appeared at the start of the millennium that caused quite a stir, releasing their first albums in 2003 and 2006 respectively, and with a third album to their name that followed in 2012. During their initial phase, the band was also signed to RoSfest, which resulted in the album “Live at RoSfest 2005”.

While news about the band have been a bit slow in recent years, they remain active. As a matter of fact, they are working on material for a new EP these days, a production that is planned to be released prior to RoSfest 2019. The current members of the band are Rick Duncan, Todd Plant, Sam Conable, Tim Keese and Howard Helm: The very same line-up that have been in place for the greater majority of the band’s career. Cryptic Vision continues exploring progressive rock in the same vein they have done since they started out, with a typical US touch to their overall sound in a manner that was pioneered by bands such as Kansas back in the day.

When we moved Rosfest to Sarasota, Florida for the 2019 edition of the festival, Cryptic Vision was one of the first bands we reached out to. Besides being a known entity and quality band that haven’t played at the festival for more than a decade, Cryptic Vision is also a local band: They are actually based in Sarasota, so you cannot be more local than that.

Cryptic Vision have been chosen to be the band that opens Rosfest 2019, the very first band to hit the stage on Friday. We know we are not the only ones that are looking forward to seeing and hearing this fine US band play for us again.

RoSfest 2019 will take place on May 3rd through 5^th, 2019 at the Sarasota Opera House, Florida. The final line-up and schedule for the festival are still TBA. Confirmed bands to appear so far are: Riverside (headliner), Karmamoi, Cryptic Vision,

Cryptic Vision: 
https://www.facebook.com/crypticvisionband/

As announced at this year’s RoSfest: The first band signed to RoSfest 2019 are Polish veterans Riverside, who will be our Sunday night headliner for the 16th edition of the Rites of Spring Festival.

RIVERSIDE are back in the game. The band who have been around since 2001, who have so far released six albums, a compilation, two mini-albums and two live albums, and who have played numerous tours across the world. That band is coming back this year with their seventh studio album called “Wasteland”, recorded as a trio: Mariusz Duda – vocals, guitars and basses, Piotr Kozieradzki – drums, Michał Łapaj – keyboards and Hammond organ.

“I remember the moment when we officially announced that we would continue as a trio,” says Mariusz Duda, the vocalist and main composer in the band. “We were doing a photoshoot at the Polish seaside. I said to the guys, ‘Let’s remember that this is just the beginning. Many of our fans can’t imagine an album without Grudzień and for some of them the band ceased to exist when he died. We have to prove that we are able to survive not only by playing concerts but, most of all, by recording a new album.'”

Riverside were set to be the headliners for RoSfest in 2016, but the tragic passing of their guitarist Piotr Grudziński in February that year halted the band’s career for obvious reasons.  The band have opted to continue however, and they have a new studio album, “Wasteland”, set to be released in the early fall of 2018.

The tragedy that befell in February 2016 called into question the very existence of RIVERSIDE. The co-founder and guitarist of the band, Piotr Grudziński, died suddenly just before his 41st birthday. RIVERSIDE cancelled all the concerts planned for that year and dedicated the album “Eye of the Soundscape”, released in September 2016, to their late friend.

“‘Eye of the Soundscape’ is a compilation of old and new things,” says Duda, “but it’s not a successor to ‘Love, Fear and the Time Machine’. It is not yet a new music chapter. The new chapter begins now, this year.”

We are glad to be able to announce that Riverside will return as headliners for ROSfest in 2019.

ROSfest 2019 will take place on May 3rd through 5th 2019 at the Sarasota Opera House, Florida. The final line-up and schedule for the festival are still TBA. Confirmed bands to appear so far: Riverside, Jethro Tull – Martin Barre 50^th Anniversary tour, Phideaux, Entransient, Traverser, Karmamoi and Edge of Reality.

Websites:
http://www.riversideband.pl
http://www.facebook.com/Riversidepl
http://www.instagram.com/riversideband.pl

Video:

We are happy to announce that US band Phideaux, have been signed to RoSFest for 2019.

Phideaux, the band as well as the main man in the band, are dedicated friends of RoSfest.  Phideaux Xavier has actually attended most of our festivals as a guest. We sometimes forget that he is also an excellent progressive rock musician with a top-notch band backing him on stage. Those who remember back to 2011, will recall just how impressive this band is to see live.

Phideaux has been working for around a decade to follow up on his massive success album, “Doomsday Afternoon”, and in 2018 that album is finally here. It is called “Infernal”, and is at the CD pressing plant at the time this press release is written. This is an album that has been eagerly awaited by progressive rock fans worldwide, and we do presume that songs from this album will be at the core of the concert to be given at RoSfest 2019. All existing fans of Phideaux will see that as natural and expected. Obviously, he has a massive back catalogue of excellent material to choose from as well, which will ensure a memorable concert experience.

For those who may not be familiar with Phideaux, he has been recording and releasing music since the early 1990’s, and with this year’s album, he has a total of ten studio albums to his name. He is something of an expert in creating atmospheric laden, symphonic progressive rock, often with darker, shimmering Floydian details amidst lighter toned, elegant overlays. His material tends to be developed over many years, and with an immaculate eye for perfection covering even minor, minute details. His last three studio albums in particular have been impressive, and expectations are high for the album he is about to launch. In addition, the live performances from him and his band are as impressive as the material found on the albums.

It has been too long since Phideaux last played at RoSfest and we thought it was high time that he returned for the 2019 edition. Especially as the long awaited “Infernal” now is about to be released.

RoSfest 2019, will take place on May 3rd through 5^th, 2019 at the Sarasota Opera House, Florida. The final line-up and schedule for the festival are still TBA. Confirmed bands to appear so far are Jethro Tull 50^th Anniversary Tour with Martin Barre, Clive Bunker and Jonathan Noyce, Riverside, Karmamoi, Edge of Reality, Entransient, & Traverser.

Phideaux Website: http://bloodfish.com
Phideaux Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/phideaux.xavier

UK composer and musician Martin Barre is best known for being a vital member of legendary progressive rock band Jethro Tull being their guitarist for more than four decades and performing on all their classic albums. His sound and contributions to the band have been a major factor in their success. Album sales have exceeded 60 million units and they continue to be played worldwide, representing an important part of progressive rock history.

Martin’s guitar playing has earned him a high level of respect and recognition; he was voted 25th best solo ever in the USA and 20th best solo ever in the UK for his playing on ‘Aqualung’. His playing on the album ‘Crest of a Knave’ earned him a Grammy award in 1988. As well as numerous Jethro Tull albums, Martin has worked with many other artists including Paul McCartney, Phil Collins, Gary Moore, Jo Bonamassa and Chris Thompson and has shared a stage with such legends as Hendrix, Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin. While he is now firmly established as a solo artist, he is not a stranger to his past, and that past will be a vital part of the headliner show that will be presented at ROSfest, 2019.

Clive Bunker
Clive was born on the 12th of December, 1946. He took up the drums as a serious occupation with his friend and compatriot, Mick Abrahams in the group “McGregor’s Engine” in 1967. Based in Luton, England, the band played in the general locality with Clive mustering an extraordinary non-matching drum kit, comprised of bits and pieces of various manufacturers’ equipment. It was as a drummer of “mix and match” description that he joined the fledgling Jethro Tull at the end of ’67 to accompany Ian Anderson, Mick and Glenn Cornick in the early, heady days of the post blues-boom years of Brit-rock.

Never the self-professed technical drummer, Clive made his impact, based on his throbbing, gritty engagement with the essence of blues and rock and roll, moved by the work of Ginger Baker, Mitch Mitchell et al.

Later, Clive was to become firm friends of Corky Laing of “Mountain” and the many other drummers from the bands with which the early Tull found themselves appearing on the first US tours in 1969 and 1970. After the album “Aqualung”, Clive felt that Tull was entering a more complex musical phase, not so much in keeping with his own earthier roots, and volunteered to take early retirement to the different world of marriage, dog kennel management, and a venture in light engineering which had been his previous profession. Tull continued with the employment of Barrie Barlow, an old chum of Ian’s and John’s from schooldays in Blackpool.

In 1974, Clive joined the band “Blodwyn Pig” which Mick Abrahams had formed on his departure from Tull in 1969.

Today, Clive still remains a sought-after session musician, with many, many credits to his name amongst the world of old and not-so-old music groups.

Jonathan Noyce
A native of England, Jonathan Noyce was born in 1971. After trying his hand at many different instruments, Noyce eventually settled on the bass. He did his time at the Royal Academy of Music, beginning in 1990. It was during this time that he first hooked up with David Palmer. In 1995, Noyce met Jethro Tull guitarist Martin Barre, who eventually recommended him as a possible bassist for Ian Anderson’s solo tour. He got the gig and did that tour. Shortly after, he went on to become the bass player for Jethro Tull following the departure of Dave Pegg in 1995. He has been with that group ever since, although he still finds time to do other projects.

This show will celebrate 50 years of Jethro Tull in the United States. The show will revolve around a music history of Jethro Tull with Barre and two other former members of Jethro Tull.  Clive Bunker, who was their drummer from 1967 to 1971, and Jonathan Noyce, Tull’s bassist from 1995 to 2007.  In addition to the three aforementioned members, Martin Barre will be joined by members of his solo band on tour. They are vocalist Dan Crisp, bassist Alan Thompson and drummer Darby Todd.

This performance will be 2, 60 minute sets with a 15-minute intermission. This is a world class performance delivered by one of the world’s best, most renowned guitarists.

Apart from Ian Anderson’s own solo concerts, this will be the closest thing you can get to experiencing a Jethro Tull concert in 2019, consisting of former members of Jethro Tull performed by seasoned musicians of which several were a part of the band itself and hence know this material intimately. It doesn’t get much better than that. If you like “Sitting on a Park Bench” there are several across the street from the Sarasota Opera House or you can come inside in the air-conditioned theater and enjoy the bliss with Martin Barre performing Jethro Tull 50^th Anniversary Tour!

RoFest 2019 will take place on May 3rd through 5^th, 2019 at the Sarasota Opera House, Florida. The final line-up and schedule for the festival are still TBA. Confirmed bands to appear so far are: Headliner – Riverside, Karmamoi, Traverser, Entransient and Edge of Reality.

Links:

Martin Barre official website: http://martinbarre.com

Martin Barre FaceBook Page:  https://www.facebook.com/pg/officialmartinbarre/about/?ref=page_internal

Clive Bunker – Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clive_Bunker

Jonathan Noyce FaceBook:  https://www.facebook.com/Jonathan-Noyces-Conscientious-and-Fully-Formed-Musical-Information-Page-129222920462334/

US progressive rock band, Edge of Reality, is confirmed for RoSFest 2019.

US band, Edge of Reality, has been an ongoing venture for many years, initially instigated by Joey Frevola (Kyros) back when he was still in high school. He revived the band in 2014 and the same year they released their debut album, “Elephant in My Pajamas” by some critics described as a meeting of minds between Snarky Puppy and Haken. Some line-up alterations later and a second album, “Vicious Circle” was released. Following this the band have released a couple of singles, self released just like their albums, and a third studio album is planned for a 2018 release. Current band members are Branndon Center (drums), Jesse Brock (vocals), Jesse Peck (guitars), Joey Frevola (guitars) and Nick Mills (bass).

The band describes their music as being eclectic art metal, and that is in fact a useful indication about what to expect from this band. Like so many younger prog bands these days, they do like to have a go with both harder riffs and majestic riff and keyboard arrangements, but they are just as fond of shifting towards a more atmospheric laden, neo-progressive sound as well as quirkier details closer to the likes of Bent Knee. Complete with the occasional detours into jazzier landscapes.

We do like to sign and support our homegrown bands at RoSfest, documenting to our fellow Americans as well as to our faithful visitors that Made in America is still a mark of quality.  Edge of Reality is a fine addition to the roster of homegrown progressive rock bands and we expect them to stimulate your musical palate once they hit the stage.

RoSfest 2019 Will take place on May 3 through May 5, 2019 at the Sarasota opera house, Florida. The final lineup and schedule for the festival or still TBA. Confirmed bands to appear so far are: Riverside, Karmamoi and Traverser.

New Fuel

http://edgeofreality.bandcamp.com/   

http://www.facebook.com/edgeofrealitymusic 

http://www.twitter.com/EOR_official

Instagram handle – edgeofrealitymusic

US progressive rock band, Entransient is confirmed for RoSFest 2019.

US band Entransient was formed back in 2014 and operate out of their home base in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The band consists of musicians with a past from the local metal scene in West Michigan and while this band is a recent formation, all the musicians are seasoned performers. They have released two albums to date: “Entransient” in 2015 and “The Weight of Things” in 2018.

While Entransient describe themselves as being more of a post and neo progressive rock band, their music, at least on their latest album, is a bit removed from this context as regarded through the eyes of a progressive rock fan. It is easy to hear that they have caught some inspiration from bands such as Opeth, and even more so from the likes of Porcupine Tree. In terms of direct comparisons, the end result actually isn’t too far removed from the harder edged material of a band like Riverside. As Riverside are headliners, those who are looking forward to seeing them should set aside the time to enjoy the music of this fine, homegrown band as well.

Entransient is a fine addition to the roster of homegrown bands we do enjoy signing and supporting at RoSfest. Our own bands need all the support they can get, especially when they create music as appealing as this band does. We expect this band to be going places sooner rather than later, and this should be a fine concert experience for the parts of our audience that appreciates progressive rock explored in a harder edged, metal-oriented context.

RoSfest 2019 Will take place on May 3 through May 5, 2019 at the Sarasota opera house, Florida. The final lineup and schedule for the festival or still TBA. Confirmed bands to appear so far are: Riverside, Karmamoi and Traverser.

https://entransient.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Entransient/

US progressive rock band, Traverser, is confirmed to appear at ROSFest 2019.

Traverser was formed back in 2005 and has two albums to their name at the time of writing with “Redshift” from 2014 as their most recent production.  At this point, the band is active in the studio preparing material for their third studio album. Traverser has built themselves a name and a reputation for being active in the live circuit and have a reasonably high degree of success as an independent band. Their second album has sold 1000 physical copies which is quite a lot for a non-label band in this era of streaming and digital sales. Musically, they belong on the harder side of the modern progressive rock landscape citing bands such as Porcupine Tree, Tool and Protest the Hero among the cited sources of inspiration. Or, as the band describes themselves; “A unique mix of progressive, alternative rock and metal”.

We were lucky to find Traverser among a long list of Florida bands as their music appealed to us on such a high level, we knew we had to sign this band for the 2019 edition of RoSfest. This is a band that hadn’t been on our radar previously and we look forward to sharing their music with our RoSfest audience. They are a seasoned live band with strong, quality music, which will prove to be a very pleasant surprise for many of our regular festival attendees.

RoSfest 2019 will take place on May 3rd through 5^th, 2019 at the Sarasota Opera House, Florida. The final line-up and schedule for the festival is still TBA. Confirmed bands to appear so far are: Riverside (headliner), Karmamoi, and Traverser.

Main website: http://traverser.band

Facebook: http://facebook.com/traverserband
Bandcamp Red Shift album:  https://traverser.bandcamp.com

Instagram: http://instagram.com/traverserband

Youtube: http://youtube.com/traverserportal

Live video:

  

Album update: