Site last updated on Saturday, 05.07.2008 14:29

New Releases

Storming Heaven by the San Francisco area's premiere progressive Celtic and Medieval rock band Avalon Rising is finally here! Clocking in at 74 minutes with 15 tracks, this beautifully mixed and packaged CD features the current powerhouse lineup of this unique band, combining original songs, rockin' Celtic fiddle tunes and beautiful ballads with a funky, rock-solid bass-and-drums rhythm section and soaring electric guitar. Buy it now online at AvalonRising.com. Also available from:
Not As Messy As It Sounds
Finally, in an explosion of geeky critical mass, the long-awaited album To Touch The Stars has been released. A cooperative production by Prometheus Music, the Mars Society, and the National Space Society, this album of songs by various artists celebrates the history and future of space travel. Musical director Kristoph Klover had a hand in
recording and mixing a majority of the tracks (even penning the soaring rock ballad Others Standing By),while I, your humble scribe, played electric guitar and other gadgets on 10 of the 17 cuts. Timed to coincide with the recent convergence of 3 spacecraft on Mars (yeah, that's right...we PLANNED it that way!), the album is receiving a gratifying amount of airplay and press coverage around the country. It's also been enthusiastically endorsed by The Second Man on the Moon, astronaut Buzz Aldrin, who said:

"As someone who has actually set foot on the threshold of space and experienced firsthand its majesty and the incredible potential it holds for the human race, I am thrilled by this new collection of original songs celebrating the beginnings of our great endeavor to reach for the stars."

Here's a great review of the album from Clark Lindsey, editor of HobbySpace, as posted on Amazon. By the way, MP3 downloads of 5 full songs are also available from Prometheus Music.

4/26/03
I'm pleased to announce the release of a new album and the reissue of an old classic, both featuring your roving guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Mark Ungar!

Last night while at the Plough and Stars on Clement St. listening to a great set by Irish fiddler Maeve Donnelly accompanied by brilliant local guitarist Steve Baughman, I ran into old pal and musical partner Kyle Thayer. He and I recorded an album called Rainshadow back in 1993, and he's now re-mixed it and re-released it on cd.
It features Kyle on octave mandolin, playing several original and traditional Celtic instrumental tunes, accompanied by myself on guitar as well as Scott Thunes on double bass, John Rothfield and Heather Alexander on fiddles, John Pederson on uillean pipes, and Leo Desrochers on bones. The remix is a marked improvement over the original cassette release, and I'm happy to say the album has stood up well over time - it should appeal to anyone who digs lush instrumental sounds in the Celtic folk vein. It's available from Watershed Productions, 200 Gate Five Road, Suite 212, Sausalito, CA 94965. Contact Kyle by email at kthayer@saber.net.

 



 
Performance Schedule

August 1st, 2nd, 8th, and 9th: Kelly McCubbin’s Golden Hour of Radio - 8pm at The Exit Theater, San Francisco

That’s right – I’m starring (ok, matter of opinion) in a brilliant new play called Kelly McCubbin’s Golden Hour of Radio! (or: the Ukeapocalypse Radio Hour). I’ll be playing “beleaguered announcer” Murray, as well as Risk Management Specialist Endrin Smyzel. The cast is a tremendously talented group, some of whom you know already, the rest of which you should.

This original play, penned by local writers including Rey Zegri and Chad McComber (of Single Entendre fame),  features the hilarious misadventures of a dysfunctional contemporary radio theater company. The second half features an “On Air” performance of an original sci-fi radio script! You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll kiss 15 bucks goodbye!

Save the Dates Now! There will be 4 performances only!

August 1st, 2nd, 8th, and 9th! (For you laymen, that’s the first couple of Friday and Saturday nights in August.)

Where?

The Exit Theater
156 Eddy Street, San Francisco, CA
Tickets $15 and $10

For tickets and more information, go to: Penny Dreadful Theatricals presents... The Ukeapocalypse Radio Hour

Avalon Rising Celt-ebrates 15 Years on the Boards!

Hey! Happy 15th Anniversary to us!

Join us at THE BISTRO

SATURDAY, JULY 19TH

1001 B Street, Hayward

(510) 886-8525

http://www.the-bistro.com/

9:00 * Free

There might be cake! OK, there will be cake. We're bringing it.

Back in the Stone Age -- 15 years ago -- just after the monkeys stopped throwing things at obelisks, there arose out of the ground a great Celtic rock band, and barely to be heard over the chanting of the Druids, was the band name, "Avalon Rising." (As good a creation myth as any.) At one point, there were other people in the band. Now there are these people in the band. Go figure. Step with us --- into the future! Will there be flying cars? No, only us, just like we are today, only it'll be the 19th. Amazing! Astounding! Good thing there's going to be cake.

Come on down and join us in a toast to 15 years of Celtic rock!

***

Avalon Rising
 http://www.avalonrising.com   
(510) 569-0437

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Saturday, August 23rd: The Petaluma Fall BBQ and Benefit Concert, featuring Axis of Blues!

The BBQ and Concert presentation is an outreach program by the Petaluma Salvation Army to let the people of Petaluma know what resources they have in their hometown. Participating organizations will be made up of a collection of Petaluma grass roots social service groups. Highlights include:

  • ·    Tours of the soon to be built Community Resource Center
  • ·    A Chicken BBQ with all the trimmings
  • ·    Activities for the kids
  • ·    booths for information for disaster preparedness
  • ·    a dunk tank with the local fireman and police alternating shifts, with the money going to the charity of their choice
  • ·    Art exhibit
  • ·    Free snow cones, cotton candy and popcorn for the kids and much more

…all topped off of course with great music!

Money raised will go to building a Salvation Army Disaster Relief Center on the site.

The event will run from 12:00 to 4:00 at the Petaluma Salvation Army campus on McDowell Blvd., on Saturday, August 23rd, 12:00 to 4:00. It’s a day for the whole family!

Axis of Blues, featuring Scott Irwin on drums, Robert Hill on guitar, and Mark Ungar on bass

will play from 2 – 2:45pm.