RoSfest has been known for its afterhours parties also known as the hootenannies. This year we bring you Chicago’s premier ELP tribute band Fanfare as they will be performing a two hour set starting at 11:30 on Friday night at the afterhours party in the banquet room of the RoSfest host hotel The Aspire.

On Saturday night May 3rd Chicago’s Might Could which is known for their tight instrumental music and interlocking guitar parts will be performing a one hour set on Saturday night followed by the hootenanny with RoSfest performing artists and patrons playing whatever they feel like playing. That’s what makes these parties fun!

Anybody who’s seen Might Could or Fanfare before will agree that RoSfesters are in for quite a treat!

US band Glass Hammer is a familiar name for many progressive rock fans. They started out in the early 1990’s, and combined their brand of progressive rock with lyrics inspired by literary works in the fantasy fiction tradition, most notably using the works of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien as sources of inspiration. From their 1993 debut album “Journey of the Dunadan” to their most recent album, 2014’s “Ode to Echo”, their stature and popularity have steadily increased. The core creative duo of Fred Schendel and Steve Babb has captained a ship with alternating crew members over the years, but from 2010 and onwards Glass Hammer solidified as a band unit. This development has seen the band expanding their fan base, and for a good few years now Glass Hammer is a band we have been asked to sign.

We’re very excited to sign Glass Hammer for RoSfest 2015, and are certain that this band’s blend of fantasy fiction inspired lyrics and progressive rock will be fondly received. There is also a really cool tie-in here with RoSfest history, as Glass Hammer’s vocalist Carl Groves performed with his band Salem Hill at the Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville way back in 2004 at the very first Rites of Spring festival. The current line-up of Glass Hammer is Carl Groves (vocals), Susie Bogdanowicz (vocals), Alan Shikoh (guitars, sitar), Fred Schendel (keyboards, guitars), Steve Babb (bass, keyboards) and Aaron Raulston (drums).

In recognition of their significant impact on the American progressive rock scene and the footprint they have made in their more than 20 year long history as recording artists, Enchant has been moved up to be the RoSfest “closer”, the Sunday night headliner, bringing their unique style of heavy progressive rock to Gettysburg.

The complete lineup for RoSfest 2015 is:

Friday: Heliopolis & Spock’s Beard

Saturday: Strattman, Sonus Umbra, Abel Ganz, & Haken

Sunday: Lo-Fi Resistance, Synaesthesia, Glass Hammer, & Enchant

US band Spock’s Beard will headline the opening night of ROSfest 2015. A natural headliner today, just as they were when we booked them in 2007, this is a band that doesn’t really need much of an introduction. One of the main bands that helped reignite the interest in progressive rock as a genre in the 90’s, and arguably the most important contemporary US progressive rock band. With hundreds of live performances under their belt, a long string of successful albums and plenty of them regarded as modern classic of the genre, Spock’s Beard is the archetypical headliner act for a progressive rock festival among the bands that started out after the 1970’s.

Since they played at ROSfest in 2007 drummer Jimmy Keegan and vocalist / guitarist Ted Leonard have joined as permanent members, while vocalist / drummer Nick D’Virgilio have left. They have released a further two highly acclaimed studio albums, “X” in 2010 and “Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep” in 2013, and have headlined a plethora of small and large events Including being one of the main attractions at the 2014 edition of the “Progressive Nation at Sea” cruise event. Spock’s Beard is in the top list of band’s our audience has asked us to book, for good reasons.

“It’s been eight years since Spock’s Beard played for us last, and it was well overdue to bring them back at this point. A natural headliner we know will deliver the goods. In style.″

US band Heliopolis has been given the honor of opening the 12th edition of the Rites of Spring Festival on Friday 1st of May 2015. While the band is a new one with just one album under their belt, the already critically acclaimed “City of the Sun”, those who have been following the progressive rock circuit for the last decade or so will most likely have encountered the band’s driving force Kerry “Kompost” Chicone at some point. Many will recall his former band Mars Hollow fondly, a project that more or less fell apart while on the verge of a breakthrough event.

Heliopolis is Kerry’s new band, and joined by Jerry Beller (drums), Matt Brown (keyboards), Michael Matier (guitars) and Scott Jones (vocals, guitars) they have truly made a strong impression from the get-go. That Heliopolis consists of seasoned musicians is easy to hear, and equally apparent is the band’s shared fascination for vintage progressive rock in general and perhaps the symphonic variety of it most of all. We’re eagerly looking forward to enjoy the talents of this skilled band, and are certain that Heliopolis will make a favorable and lasting impression on our audience.

“Heliopolis is one of those rare bands that comes across as the finished article right away. Their quality and style makes them the perfect opening band for the 12th edition of ROSfest.

Photo courtesy of Esa Ahola

While still a fairly young project, started by then 20 year old composer and musician Randy McStine back in 2009, Lo-Fi Resistance already have three full length albums to their name. Or perhaps his name, as this project first and foremost is the work of one man so far. But McStine has an impressive network around him, and notable musicians like Dug Pinnick, Gavin Harrison and Nick D’Virgilio are just some of the name musician friends that have lent McStine their talents for the three Lo-Fi Resistance albums so far. Following “A Deep Breath” in 2010 and “Chalk Lines” in 2012 Lo-Fi Resistance released their third album “The Age of Entitlement ” in September 2014. While we don’t know just yet which of his musician friends that will accompany McStine on stage we’re sure that the power pop flavored prog this promising young US band explores will go down well on Sunday morning, at the slot in the festival many of us fondly describe as The Church of Prog.

“RoSfest have a long tradition of signing something that is a little bit special for the opening slot on Sunday, and Lo-Fi Resistance is our chosen candidate for RoSfest 2015”

Synaesthesia was formed just two years ago, with a line-up consisting of Adam Warne (keyboards, vocals), Ollie Hannifan (guitars), Samuel Higgins (guitars), Peter Episcopo (bass) and Robin Johnson (drums). They have one full length album to their name, the self-titled “Synaesthesia” from 2014. But with just two years of history and one album to their name they are already a name rising fast in prominence. They have been picked up by IQ’s label GEP, and they were nominated as candidates for the Limelight category in the 2014 Progressive Music awards and won the “Tip for 2014” award by UK’s Prog magazine. Their debut album has also harvested a fair amount of really positive reviews so far. In terms of style the band have been described as a unit that combine elements from 80’s pop and rock with Neo Progressive rock and indie rock, and reviewers have name dropped bands like Comedy Of Errors and Frost* to describe their sound, possibly flavored with a touch of Muse here and there.

“Here we have a young UK band with a strong buzz around them. Not just a new band but a young band, the main musicians still in their early 20’s, yet with enough talent to swoon even seasoned music business veterans. We’re really thrilled to bring these young guys to our stage!″