Welcome once again fellow progheads! Hopefully your mind and spirit kept up with the clock as we leaped ahead into daylight savings time. Don't worry if you're sixty minutes behind when arriving at The Closet Concert Arena this week--there is always room for one more! The search for all things prog is a bit special for me this time around as the journey takes me back once again to the UK to check in with a friend I met by way of this blog...
The Inner Road is but one project spearheaded by Steve Gresswell and "The Majestic Garden" is the band's fourth release; two years in the making and released just two weeks ago. The Inner Road tends to fill the halls of the Concert Closet with a rich full sound, so let's get right to it, shall we?
Leading the way this week is the album's title cut and it opens with quite a ruckus...as is the trail Steve usually traverses. Keyboards take center stage as the headphones erupt with a cacophony of boisterous sound. Extremely upbeat, the canvas is streaked with bright colors akin to a confetti cannon on New Year's Eve. The Inner Road travels around the prog garden yet tends to call the symphonic section home. There are aromatics of Emerson, Lake & Palmer wafting in the air along with a splash of Camel.
Moving a bit further down the play list I find another attention grabber, "Fire of Life." As the song opens you feel as though a tremendous church choir is about to erupt all around and then suddenly...Trans Siberian Orchestra is bouncing off the walls of your mind. This is an extremely exciting piece of music that explodes all over the canvas. Steve is once again wreaking havoc with the keyboards but it's all good...oh yes! The frenetic pace continues as the music rains down like a summer fireworks display...
Liner Notes...This latest incarnation of Inner Road is founder Steve Gresswell who serves as producer, songwriter, and keyboard player accompanied by Carl Anthony Wright on guitar. Steve has worked with many stellar musicians during his career and Carl raises the bar with his work here. As a frequent visitor to the prog garden with Coalition as well as The Inner Road, Steve has tilled a lot of acreage in many sections but the ornate, full-bodied sound emanating from the symphonic corner seems to be his wheelhouse. Spend some time under your headphones and you will agree I'm sure...
The third course this week is a song called "Water Well." This piece is a beautiful melange of keyboards and guitars as Steve and Carl feed off each other's energy. The canvas is streaked with explosions of bright primary colors as a kaleidoscope spins in my head; there are top notes of Transatlantic and Spock's Beard wandering the halls of my mind. Steve pushes the keys to a fever pitch and Carl is only too happy to accept the challenge as he lays the guitar bare. Hot fun in the winter time...
Learn more about The Inner Road and find all their music at their Bandcamp site The Inner Road. There is also Facebook and Twitter @innerroad for those looking for a peak behind the curtain.
My musical teaser for you this week is another earful, "Mother Earth." Steve and Carl shine as bright as the sun bouncing off a rear view mirror on this cut. The music cascades all around the inner lining of your skull, leaving a brightly colored trail of sparks. The Inner Road has put together a high energy album much like hot sauce for the mind...just don't use it sparingly...
Once again time has slipped away as easily as snow melting in the sun. Traveling The Inner Road with Steve and Carl made for a high octane week that coincides perfectly with Mother Nature's roll out of spring in a few days. As the soil in the prog garden begins to thaw, I anxiously await the new crop of prog music headed for the Concert Closet. The Inner Road has opened the door for the next leg of the journey; only time will tell where the search for all things prog will lead us restless listeners. Until next time...
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