Our First Magazine Cover
There's an old adage that goes, "Everything happens for a reason." Whether or not that's true all the time, it's certainly would seem to apply in the instance of Symphony North winding up on the cover of ION Indie Magazine. The short story is that ION's editor, Kiki Plesha, responded to our press release on the release of our debut album, The Bell Ringer, offering to include us with a full page ad, particularly as our record is helping to raise money for the Toys for Tots Lit
New Song Featuring Jordan Rudess of Dream Theater
Hey Friends! Wanted to share a new song from our debut album, The Bell Ringer. This one is entitled, "Christmas Wishes," and features none other than Jordan Rudess of the platinum-selling, Grammy-nominated progressive rock/metal band Dream Theater. Jordan went to the Julliard School of Music, and was voted by Music Radar Magazine as the "Best Keyboardist of All Time." Jordan is an extraordinary player, and he and I have been friends for a long time. I had a couple of songs on
Why 24 Songs on The Bell Ringer? And Product Packaging!
Our debut release, The Bell Ringer, is twenty-four songs. I've been asked by folks why so many, when we might have released two albums in successive years, and potentially made more money by doing so. The answer comes in a few parts. First, when we were anticipating our first live shows, we wondered if ten or twelve songs would be enough. Obviously, most albums are only ten or twelve tunes. And honestly, that's a good number. But the show isn't merely playing Christmas rock t
The Bell Ringer CDs Have Arrived
Friends, after a long journey, The Bell Ringer CDs are finally here. The genesis of this album began the year I graduated high school. Of course, the dream went dormant for a long while. But it reawakened a few years back, and the road from then until now has been an interesting one. So many people to thank that I don't even know where to begin. For now, suffice to say that I'm feeling grateful, humble, and excited for people to hear the music the music. Also, I have a bunch
Tim Hockenberry (former Trans-Siberian Orchestra member) Talks Symphony North
Hey Friends! Last December, at our one-night special-engagement show, we captured some video. Here we have Tim Hockenberry, an amazing man with an amazing voice--America's Got Talent semi-finalist, former member of Trans-Siberian Orchestra, as well as the writer of the hit Christmas song "Christmas by the Bay"--talking about how he came to be involved with Symphony North. Tim nailed two amazing songs on our debut album, The Bell Ringer. Once he and I got talking, and couldn't
Jody Ashworth (former Trans-Siberian Orchestra member) Talks Symphony North
Friends, We're happy to share this video, in which Jody Ashworth, a veteran of stage, television, and bestselling Christmas rock recordings by Trans-Siberian Orchestra, talks about his involvement with the recording of our debut album, The Bell Ringer, as well as our one-night special engagement last December. Jody is a really good guy, and we're happy to have him aboard! Hope you enjoy! Until next time, Peter
Val Vigoda (former Trans-Siberian Orchestra member) Talks Symphony North
Friends, the short story is we're so happy to have Valerie Vigoda as part of Symphony North. Val has done so much: scored for Disney, travels and teaches, does one-woman shows, writes musicals, and of course she has been a part of several chart-topping Trans-Siberian Orchestra tours. Here, she talks about her involvement with Symphony North! Cheers, Peter
"Yes, Fairytales," Sung by Michael Lanning (formerly of Trans-Siberian Orchestra)
Friends, we're proud to release this lyric video for one of the songs on our debut release, The Bell Ringer. This song is entitled, "Yes, Fairytales." It follows a song entitled, "No Fairytales." Together, they make a sort of cynic vs. believer call-and-response relating to Christmas and all the magic that time of year holds. For this song, I wanted a soulful voice, so I called on none other than Michael Lanning, known in some quarters as "the most soulful white man on the pl
O Come, O Come Emmanuel Video for The Bell Ringer Release Day
In celebration of today's release of The Bell Ringer, our debut album, we're proud to release this video of "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel." This track really shows the violin chops of our lead violinist, Valerie Vigoda, who has toured with platinum-selling Christmas rock acts as a lead violinist and concert mistress. The Bell Ringer--a Holiday Rock Opera--is available today most anywhere music streamed or sold. And if you like CDs, we sell them right here on the site. We hope you
Michael Lanning Talks Symphony North
Folks, wanted to share a video the very gracious Michael Lanning recorded for us about his involvement with Symphony North and The Bell Ringer. We couldn't be happier to have Michael on the record. In our minds, he absolutely proved again that he is, in fact, "the most soulful white man in the world!" Hope you dig his story. And if you want to pre-order, or still like CDs, or want a CD signed, etc., there's more info here on the album, the full band, etc. More to come! Cheers
