PROGJECT
ALESSANDRO DEL VECCHIO (Hardline) – Lead Vocals
RYO OKUMOTO (Spock’s Beard, Asia, Chris Squire) Keyboards
MIKE KENEALLY (Frank Zappa, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani) – Guitar & Vocals
PETE GRIFFIN(Zappa Plays Zappa, Edgar Winter) – Bass, Pedals, Guitar, Keys & Vocals
JONATHAN MOVER (GTR, Marillion, Satriani, The Tubes) – Drums, Percussion, Samples & Vocals
Look for ProgJect to perform a two-plus hour set of Prog classics & epics such as “The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway”, “The Cinema Show,” “Karn Evil 9”, “Roundabout,” “Long Distance Runaround,” “21st Century Schizoid Man,” “Lark’s Tongues In Aspic”, “Hell’s Bells”, “Xanadu,” “Red Barchetta,”“Have A Cigar,” “Wish You Were Here,” “Solsbury Hill” and “Living In The Past,” to name only a few.
ProgJect – The Ultimate Prog Rock Expereience is the brainchild of drummer Jonathan Mover and came to fruition out of his childhood love of Prog. “Prog Rock is the reason I play drums,” Mover explains, “but by the time I turned pro, Prog in the classic sense was over. And, although I got to work with some Prog-associated artists–GTR (Steve Hackett and Steve Howe) and Marillion–my career took a decidedly different, though incredibly fortunate path, with artists such as Alice Cooper, Joe Satriani, Aretha Franklin, The Tubes, Shakira, Julian Lennon and others. That being said, I never lost my desire to play the Prog I grew up listening to.”
He adds: “The idea and inspiration came in 2019 from my getting a last-minute rescue call to play with the Genesis tribute band, The Musical Box. That not only relit my childhood fire and desire, but made me realize: in the tribute world, if there’s an audience for Genesis, and an audience for Pink Floyd, and YES, and Rush, there must be an audience for King Crimson, Gentle Giant, U.K., Bruford, and Jethro Tull, too. So, why not play them all, since I love them all, and assemble a team of extraordinary musicians that feel the same as I? So I did. And they, like me, wanted to play a wide variety of Prog from all our favorite bands, and therefore thought more of the concept of a legacy ‘homage band’, instead of a tribute band.”
Mover says that “the chemistry and dynamics of ProgJect are amazing” and “we’re all very excited to hit the road again, especially now with Alessandro singing; with his four-and-a-half octave range, there are no limits to what we can cover. We love playing this music so much and know how much prog fans love it too, and now more than ever, since most of our prog heros are either gone, or simply not touring anymore.”
What is the enduring appeal of Prog? “It’s music that you really listen to, and in some ways, live in,” says Mover. “It’s not music to be played in the background. When you’re into Prog, you’re not only really into listening, but often times, attached to it as well. It’s the same for seeing it played live. It’s more than just a music performance–it’s an experience.”