Transformation LIVE IN AUSTIN DVD RELEASED!!

A Time for Reflection
We are thrilled to announce the release of our first ever LIVE DVD! How cool is that?! I am SO PROUD of this product and the work that it represents! It really feels as if, with the release of this video, we are closing out the first chapter on this adventure in music. What’s coming next is always a mystery but one thing is for sure, the times they are a changing and a new era and a new way of doing things is imminent. It’s time to turn the page and to quote one of my songs from an album that’s still in the works, Soldier On.

This DVD truly represents many years of hard work, determination and perseverance. It hasn’t been an easy journey to get here and I have certainly learned allot about myself, about my music and a great deal about the business that is the ever-changing music industry along the way. One thing is for sure, I would not still be doing this if I did not love what I was doing. So calling it a labor of love, well yeah, that would be the perfect description.

Years, Months, Weeks, Days, Hours, Minutes & Seconds
When I sat down in my living room to screen this DVD outside of my studio for the first time, it truly began to dawn on me just how much work went into this thing. They say baby steps will get you to your larger goals, well I can certainly attest to the fact that there were indeed thousands of necessary “baby steps” along the way to make this DVD a reality. For the past two years, I had only seen this footage in terms of individual song clips on Youtube and seeing it in its entirety, as one concert production, had quite a different effect on me.

It’s truly amazing to think about how many hundreds of hours were spent, writing the songs, engineering the recordings, designing the album artwork, making the music videos, assembling the band, learning how to technically pull off a live show like this, rehearsing the songs, planning and promoting the live show, preparing the video projections for the show, staging the event, producing and editing all of the footage recorded at the concert, prepping all of the material for DVD, printing and shipping it to market….. I could go on but that is just scratching the surface on the amount of work that had to be done for this one event and this one product to materialize.

When you finish a studio album you get the same sense of accomplishment but there is something quite different about seeing a concert performance on the screen in front of you. It testifies to the amount of work that was involved in the project both visually and sonically. It’s almost as if a concert video removes a bit of the “Wizard of Oz” kind of mystique that can surround studio albums and replaces it with a greater sense of “reality”. Of course, maybe that’s just my point of view as the artist?

Like a fine wine, life unfolds and evolves in ways that you can never totally plan or prepare for. While you may have an educated guess of how to get there, you can steer things along the way but usually the end result is not always exactly what you had in mind. Sometimes it’s better, sometimes it’s not but all in all, it brings you to where you are today. Where am I today? Well, today I am truly thankful.

Thankful
I’m thankful for everyone that has helped and supported me over the years to nurture this dream of making music. I know that sounds like some rehearsed speech from an award ceremony but it is the truth. At first glance, looking at many of the physical products we now have in the catalog, you might think that I’m taking most of the credit myself. The reality of this is actually quite different. As with all of the works that I have taken on, without the people around me supporting and inspiring me; I could have never accomplished all of the things that I have done.

The unsung heroes are the people in my life that keep me motivated, keep me humble and help me by ensuring that the work has merit and is not all an ego trip. Let’s face it, the work is tedious, self absorbing and time-consuming. It hardly makes you the type of person most would want to hang out with on a day-to-day basis. Much of the time it hardly seems worth all of the fuss and sacrifices that are involved. Yet with a support system of family, friends and colleagues, as well as a sincere belief in what you are doing; things can happen, dreams do come true and the work is worth it in the end. It’s the love for the work and the love for those around you that keep the wheels of progress turning.

The Future
I really feel like the future has great things in store.  With the continued help and support of everyone around me; I know I’ll be able to enter into the next chapter with new determination and new resolve to keep working on the dream. At the same time, hopefully without sounding pretentious, I truly hope that along the way, I can help others’ with realizing their dreams as well.

Thanks for taking the time to read the blog and for supporting the music we are making. Without all of you that buy and support the music, none of this would be possible. – JOF

Press Release
Now available for PRE-ORDER the FIRST LIVE DVD from the John Orr Franklin Band! Recorded in October of 2009 at the Long Center for the Performing Arts in Austin, Texas, this DVD contains a 75 minute long concert performance as well as music videos and many more bonus features.

The LIVE DVD serves as a testament bookending a trilogy of albums released by John over the last four years. Containing live performances of material from all three of the releases (Pathways, Transformation & Lighthouse), the LIVE IN AUSTIN DVD reflects the overall body of work that John and the band have accomplished and is the ultimate souvenir for fans of John’s music.

The DVD was produced by Blue Room Digital Productions in association with Austin Media Productions.

The John Orr Franklin Band is:
John Orr Franklin – Vocals & Guitar
Ryan Redfern – Bass Guitar
Roberto Palladino – Drums
Chris Cribb – Keyboards

All DVD orders via bandcamp.com include the immediate download of the digital single “Out of the Zone”(LIVE).

For more information visit johnorrfranklinband.com or melodicrevolutionrecords.com

The direct link to pre-order the DVD is http://johnorrfranklin.bandcamp.com/album/transformation-live-in-austin-dvd

Lighthouse Album Release!

A Beacon of New Music!
What’s this? A brand new album release! Where is Soldier On, the new album with the latest single Alpha and Omega? Surprise! We present you with an entirely different album to dive into and enjoy while you wait for the colossal Soldier On release!

It’s been a bit of a race, both of the two projects have been in the works for nearly two years now. I’ve gone back and forth a few times as to which one I thought would actually be completed first and alas, it looks as though Lighthouse has come to the finish line first. For those of you that were expecting the Soldier On release, it’s still on target for release this November if all goes accordingly. The latest hitch to the Soldier On album getting completed is a failing hard drive in the recording studio. Yak! Hopefully this will not set things back too much. All will be resolved soon and production will continue! Now, on with the details of the new album that we find here in front of us, Lighthouse! The time is truly right for the release of this album and it seems to me to be an excellent follow-up to the last album Transformation.

A Theme of Light
Lighthouse is not so much a concept album as it is an album with a collection of songs that share a common theme. It’s an album about finding the light, searching for personal truth and the choices that we all face along the way on this journey of life. There is always a choice to be made that determines the direction we will take our life in and this album is about listening and searching out the signs and guides that can help us along the way.  If we stop long enough and quiet our minds, we will hear the answers, see the beacons and feel the directional pull within our hearts that will allow us to find our personal truth and way. The guides are all around us, in the people we know, within nature itself as well as deep within our own hearts. Each of us has a personal truth that is unique. Only you can know when you have found the way that is right for you. Love and life are a tidal flow. All we can do is dive in and see where it takes us.

Production Philosophy
Lighthouse features eleven new recordings, many of which are songs I have been developing for several years. The production style of Lighthouse expands on a direction that I’ve touched upon with songs from previous albums by combining elements of ambient, trance and dance to the predominant rock styles resulting in what I like to call a transcendental rock experience. How’s that for a new genre?

I wanted Lighthouse to have a unique sound compared to my other releases. The decision to incorporate and layer in electronic drum grooves over the rock and roll back beats has certainly given many of the songs a cool new vibe. I’ve been listening to a good deal of ambient releases such as The Orb’s Metallic Spheres featuring David Gilmour and this inspired me to try a more electronic production approach to the overall sound of the album. The end result is an album that I feel has a focused sound from start to finish. Whereas Transformation was an album that relished in experimenting with a wide range of musical styles, I really set out to produce the songs on Lighthouse to share this common sonic theme.

Cover Art
It’s not hard to notice the similarity in the cover artwork for Lighthouse and the cover artwork for Transformation. I saw this as a perfect transition graphically from the last album to this one because it appears as if things are moving into a more focused vision. Which is actually a perfect representation of what the past two years of my life have been like, as an artist and as an individual. Transformation was the beginning and that graphic reflected a coming into being from essentially nothing, whereas the Lighthouse artwork has a more defined symmetrical harmony and brilliancy of focus.

Indeed my life has changed greatly in the last two years, I’ve become a vegetarian and had quite a few personal revelations that have made me more aware of who I am and what I believe in. All of this personal work is reflected in this album as well as the next album Soldier On due later this year. So, more is to come!

The light in the center of the artwork, represents to me the individual soul or spirit energy that makes us each unique. It resides in a vast universe of blue that is filled with the energy of every living creature, all interconnected and all part of the whole. To better understand how this philosophy weaves into the songs on this album, I’d like to walk you through each song and what the music means to me. I still encourage you to take away from the songs your personal meaning as they may apply to your journey.

Track by Track walk-through
“Love Light Alive” The lead off track and the lead off lyric pretty much sums up the entire theme of this album. “Each and every one you love today, becomes a beacon light that guides the way“. Each of us carries a spark until the day we pass on when this spark transcends back into the universe. A song of reconnecting with life and the love that is around you, becoming one with all. As my girlfriend deemed, this song makes you want to do tai chi, even if you don’t know how to do tai chi.

“Deep Inside” Sometimes the way through truly is within us all along. If we spend all our time looking outward for our answers but never look within; we may be missing out on finding the purest and simplest of solutions. Much of the time, we already have all the tools within us to succeed, we only need to look for them within. “Feel the right in time“.

“Energy” This song was originally on the Pathways album with a much different production style. I stripped away the electronic drum beats from the original version and presented it in the style that the song has evolved into for our live shows. I really think that this version fits better with the overall vibe and message of the song. “Everything combined is energy“

“Infinity” Infinity was written on a beach looking up at a full moon many years ago. This seems to be a recurring theme on the Lighthouse album so including this song on the album was a no brainer. Looking up towards infinite possibilities while firmly rooted in a sense of self, we realize that no matter how large our problems and worries seem; under the grandeur of nature, we gain a perspective that puts trivial matters in their place.

“Hypnotized” A song that ultimately deals with the confusion that can surround us when we are faced with confronting difficult life choices. The answers may be present but at times are veiled with emotions that blind and confuse our reality. Hypnotized was also featured on the charity release album “Strength” to benefit the relief efforts in Japan.

“Adrift” Imagine a night swim in the ocean with a full moon above, floating weightless and drifting aimlessly. Ahhhh.. Adrift is an outtake from the Pathways recording sessions. It was a bit too ambient and abstract for either Pathways or Transformation but it was without a doubt a perfect fit for the Lighthouse compilation. The only instrumental track on the Lighthouse album, it makes for a nice reprieve in context of the whole.Originally entitled “Drift”, I changed it to “Adrift” to fit in more with the Lighthouse theme.

“Lighthouse” The title track to the album and what I feel in the centerpiece to the entire project. At times, we all may feel as if life has us a bit “lost at sea” searching for a beacon to guide us back home.

“The Choice” Sometimes we chain ourselves down by refusing to make a choice at all. Indecision can be cancerous and we’re better off relishing in the times of pivotal change and just go for it. In the words of Neil Peart of Rush, “if you choose not to decide you still have made a choice.”

“A Different Path” Sometimes as we make our choices and make our way, we have to realize that we won’t always be right in our decisions and it’s never too late to make a course correction and adjust our heading. It’s never too late to change. A pretty straight forward tune with a straight forward message. As long as we continue to move forward and make progress, then we’re still walking the right path.

“Shine” ”Burn bright and learn to shine”. I can still hear my mother’s voice in my head every morning as she would wake me for school with the words “Rise and shine”. I suppose that could be the original inspiration for where this one came from. While I let the guitars remain in the rock vibe, the groove of this one is all about a bit of reggae.

“Mountains” The greatest force in this universe that enables us to summit large mountains and reach higher than we ever thought possible, is love. This song was originally recorded during the Transformation sessions. I brushed it up with a few new electric guitar parts and it really seemed to fit nicely as a final statement for this album. “Our love will take us higher“.

Now the Music is Yours
Well, that’s my track by track walk through the new album and what it means to me. No longer just my music, it is now our music and I hope it lives and travels far and wide. I’m extremely proud of this release and I hope it touches your soul, possibly makes you smile or even helps in some small way to inspire you to continue your search for love in the event you’re still searching. If you’re in full embrace with your love, then I hope it makes you want to relish in thankfulness for having grasped the boundless and embraced the divine. Get up and dance! Life was never meant to be taken so seriously as to chain yourself down to things that in the end, probably don’t matter much. Take care of yourself so you can take care of the ones you love.

Peace, love & light!
JOF

Alpha and Omega video uploaded!

ΔΩ Digital Single Released!

Newly signed, Melodic Revolution Records recording artist, John Orr Franklin from Austin, TX releases new digital single “Alpha and Omega”.

Nearing completion of his third full length album, John has begun releasing a series of digital singles to determine the best possible format and packaging for the new release. Ultimately, feedback from the fans will determine the final format for the album. The band would very much like to see the project fully realized on a double vinyl LP with professional cover artwork and digital downloads. The band plans to use the proceeds from sales of the albums first digital singles and they are also planning a fan-based fundraiser on Kickstarter.com in order to see this dream into reality.

The new album entitled “Soldier On” is a science fiction based story that follows one soldier through his personal trials as he discovers his true identity within the grandeur of a universe that has suddenly gotten much smaller.

In an effort to take the first single “Alpha and Omega” to the next level, John brought on Gavin Harrison, drummer from the band Porcupine Tree, as a special guest on the song. Gavin is the drummer I had in mind when I was writing the demos for this album, so naturally the end result is a perfect fit that stays true to my original vision and then some.

Johns live group, the John Orr Franklin Band, is currently booking live shows in the US and aspires to play for audiences in Europe

and South America. Keep an eye out for this awesome live show when it comes to your town! – ΔΩ

http://www.myspace.com/music/song-embed?songid=81063621&getSwf=trueFind more artists like John Orr Franklin Band at Myspace Music

Evolution of the John Orr Franklin Band

Pathways
The John Orr Franklin Band materialized after many years of John’s musical experimentations at his home studio in Austin, Texas. John spent more than 20 years writing, recording and perfecting his production skills before ever releasing and marketing any actual music. It wasn’t until 2007 that John formed his own record label, Blue Room Digital, and released his first album entitled “Pathways”. The 14 songs featured on the “Pathways” album were written, recorded and performed entirely by John. He performed all of the instruments himself and even programmed the drum loops in order to create the sound he was looking for.

Transformation
The next step in the evolution of the band was the album “Transformation”. John decided to bring in other musicians to play on this next album because he felt this new music would benefit from the use of live performers. Using “Pathways” as a good representation of his personal musical style, he was able to attract several musicians interested in playing on “Transformation” that fit the bill. Once the recording sessions were complete, John found himself in a position of having two albums under his belt and no real way to perform the music live. So, he began the task of finding live musicians in the Austin area.

Playing Live
John decided to retain Rob Palladino on drums after the “Transformation” recording sessions and then discovered local Austin bassist, Ryan Redfern, on Facebook. John moved his new trio into a series of rehearsals where they jammed together on some of the songs to see whether or not their “vibe” worked. They quickly discovered that the arrangement of a three piece group was not going to be sufficient to reproduce the lush extravagant mixes John created in the studio. Luckily, Ryan suggested friend and keyboardist, Chris Cribb, who added the missing keyboard parts and ultimately filled out the group’s sound. At the same time, John began developing complex visual elements to enhance the experience of the live performance. He produced video shorts to run in rhythmic and visual synch with the live music. These videos are projected behind the band and provide the audience a complete musical and visual experience at their live shows.

Not just a Live Band – A Full Show Production
John elaborates on the pros and cons of adding this visual element to the live show, “Essentially it’s really an awesome thing visually, but as a musician and especially a drummer, it can be a bit constricting as well. In order for the visual elements to stay in sync with the music, the drummer must play to a click track, which means the show is prepared in a pre-production environment. This gives the show an interactive visual element that doesn’t require anyone on staff to run it, but it does mean that we really have to stick to the script and there’s no real room for improvisation or altering tempos to the songs. Personally, I think the visual spectacle is worth the trade off, but that’s just my opinion. Who knows, we may find another way to do it that’s a bit more liberating at some point”.

Once all the pieces came together, the group staged their debut performance at the Long Center for the Performing Arts in Austin, Texas in 2009. The concert was videotaped and many clips of this performance can be found on Youtube and various promotional websites online.

After the “Transformation” release and during the process of forming a live band and the live show, John continued writing and recording in his studio. Much of this new material, the band has been performing live, even though there’s been no official release. In April 2010, John decided to go ahead and release the demo version of “Soldier On parts 1-5” to show where the group was heading. Although still a just demo, the piece received critical acclaim and generated some buzz around the band.

Soldier On
John continued writing throughout 2010 and what materialized is a conceptual album that is certain to take the music and the band to a new level of focus and determination. “Soldier On”, the new album, has evolved into a science fiction based story that follows one soldier through his personal trials as he discovers his true identity within the grandeur of a universe that has suddenly gotten much smaller.

In an effort to take “Soldier On” to the next level, John brought on Gavin Harrison, drummer from the band Porcupine Tree, as a special guest on this new album. “Gavin is the drummer I had in mind when I was writing the demos for this album. So naturally the end result is a perfect fit that stays true to my original vision.”

The Future
The current production of “Soldier On” has been a labor of love and John would very much like to see it fully realized on a double vinyl LP with professional cover artwork and digital downloads. The band plans to use the proceeds from sales of the album’s first digital singles and they are also planning a fan-based fundraiser on Kickstarter.com in order to see this dream into reality.

The John Orr Franklin Band is currently booking live shows in the US and aspires to play for audiences in Europe and South America.

John has just signed with Melodic Revolution Records and is working in conjunction with them on the release and distribution of “Soldier On”. The evolution continues!

New single “Hypnotized” released! All proceeds going to the Japan relief effort!!

The nonprofit organization There is Hope Records is coordinating a compilation digital album release entitled “Strength” to fund the relief efforts in Japan. The contributions will go directly to Habitat for Humanity and other organizations via the Music For Relief campaign. Headed up by my friend Nick Katona of Melodic Revolution Records, There is Hope Records has also created releases to benefit the earthquake victims of Haiti and the oil ravaged regions of the gulf coast. (I’ve got a song on the Haiti compilation as well!)

The release will feature artists from all over the world, that have donated their music to try and help in some small way, to rebuild a country that has in many areas, been totally washed away.

I’ve decided to put forth a full promotional effort for the song that I’m contributing by adding it for sale in all of my outlets as a single. Every dollar that I collect from the sale of this single will be sent to the There is Hope organization. Hopefully, this will bring about even more exposure to the project and in turn raise more funds for the relief effort. Please feel free to pass this link along to any friends or colleagues that you think might like to contribute to the effort by purchasing music. Even if you’re not sure whether they may like my music or not, this is an important cause and a truly low risk way to get involved and help to make a difference.

The images we see on the news of this latest tragedy are in my opinion some the most surreal to date and I really wanted to contribute a very special song. This song  for me takes on a fairly profound meaning in the context of this release and I felt it was the right choice to donate it to the cause.

The meaning of the song “Hypnotized” for me refers to the desensitization of our society by various forms of media oversaturation. Anytime the media amplifies a story to such a large degree, they do so to capture our attention and keep us glued to the story so we don’t change the channel. After hours and even days of viewing the same repetitious images over and over, we are stripped of the emotional context into a state of  pure disconnection from what we see. It’s almost as if the images we are witnessing aren’t real. It might as well be fiction out of Hollywood.

The soul of our humanity becomes so entranced by the spectacle, that no matter how devastating the story that’s being engrained into our psyche, it feels only natural to break away for a commercial so we’ll remember that we need to go out and purchase some inane product that in all realities, we probably don’t need at all.

I know mass communications is our only way of disseminating information around the planet and the news organizations are only trying to pay the bills with all of the commercials but it all seems so packaged and commercialized at times that it’s easy to lose the humanity behind these tragedies.

Desensitized or not, all we have to do is pause from our busy lives to remember what has been lost. 

The link to my site containing the single for purchase is http://johnorrfranklin.bandcamp.com/track/hypnotized

The link to purchase the full release from There is Hope Records is
http://thereishoperecords.com/album/strength

Please take the time to add this album or at least the Hypnotized single to your MP3 collection and help out with a good cause. Strength is indeed what we hope to pass along to the survivors of the earthquake and tsunami ravaged Japan. We’ll keep you posted on the progress of our fund raising and let you know how things are going  as we pass the contributions along.

Feel free to comment your thoughts about the song, your take on the situation in Japan or anything else that this post brings to mind here on the blog, on Facebook, or wherever, I’d love to start a dialog about any or all. Peace! – John

February 2011 News!

It’s been some time since we posted an update and there’s been a great deal going on so let’s dive right in!

This month John, Chris and Ryan performed in Austin, Texas at the club Elysium for a night dedicated to the music of the 1980’s band the Cars. Since drummer Reagan couldn’t make it into town for the show, the guys took full advantage of the 1980’s drum machine sounds and managed to pull things off rather seamlessly as a trio. The guys performed three songs and had a great time blowing off some steam. Many said it reminded them of a mix of Ministry, The Cars and of course the JOFB. It sounds like the guys will probably be doing this again in a few months for a tribute night that will be dedicated to Tom Petty. All in good fun!

As for  the new release, we had originally planned on a dual album release for this year; now the plan is to release a double concept album for the Soldier On project.  Yep that’s right; our goal is to release it on vinyl as well as a digital download format. We still haven’t decided if the release will make it onto CD yet or not. That will probably depend on the fans and whether or not the demand for a CD version of the album is there or not. Since this is going to be an expensive undertaking, John has decided not to release the Lighthouse album at this time. Instead it’s likely that a few songs from this compilation may get released as digital singles in the coming months, possibly as a digital EP.

The Soldier On concept album is really coming along! The latest development that has just blown us all away and we are now able to confirm without any doubts, we have a truly incredible special guest making a contribution to the album.

Drum roll please…… it gives us great pleasure to announce that John has brought on board Gavin Harrison for one track of the album and more may be in the works! Gavin is without a doubt, one of the foremost drummers in the world and to have him featured on the new release will be a real dream come true. Many of you will probably know Gavin from his work with the band Porcupine Tree (one of John’s favorites) yet he has also been working as a session drummer for quite some time with a list of credits ranging from King Crimson to Dave Stewart.

Gavin is recording the tracks at his personal recording facility in London and sending the tracks to Texas where John will assemble the final mixes in his studio in Austin.

Wow! Are you getting excited yet?! We are!!
More major updates coming soon regarding new indie label affiliation and distribution!!

Stay Tuned!

What’s in a Name?

So I’ve finally made the decision that it’s time to get off my ass and name my band. We’ve been working under the John Orr Franklin Band moniker for about a year and a half now, while this works as a name, it really is just a safe, non name, name.

So after meditating on this for well over two weeks now, I’ve yet to come up with THE name. I’m now drawn back to the ultimate question; what’s in a name?
On a universal level, this is almost like asking, who am I?, or why am I here? yes, bands really do take this stuff that seriously. It’s almost like you have to look inside yourself for the answer but when you focus so much energy on doing so, you quickly realize that the mere act of looking for the name, diverts you from actually “Being the name”. Almost a, I can’t see the forest for the trees scenario.

On a business level a band name is nothing more than a brand and should at the least encompass the following criteria.
1. Define the brand
2. Avoid any confusion with existing brands
3. Be easy to remember
4. Have a .com available
5. Have multiple marketable concepts behind it that can be used hopefully for decades to come
6. Have personal meaning to the band
7. Take a stand by adding definition to the brand

If you are a universally spiritual person as I am, all of this business perspective, while totally necessary in our world of marketing, really has nothing to do with naming the music. Is there a magical name that when you come up with it, sends a shiver down your spine and makes you feel all special inside? I have to admit, I’m beginning to wonder if there is. While I want the name to have deep meaning and resemblance to my music, I have to wonder, if in the end, does it really matter what I call it as long as it meets the business criteria. I mean the name is not going to dictate the direction of the music at this point. Is it?

While this is starting to stink of doubt, I truly do believe that there is a name for this band carved into the cosmos somewhere, just waiting for us to realize it, pick it up and start running with it. So the meditations will continue. Maybe you can help? Feel free to add your comments about this topic or even suggest some names for the band if you have any ideas! After all, it may be totally obvious to someone else what this band should be called! Please be nice lol

Peace! – John

FREE MP3 “Soldier On” EP download!

To celebrate our upcoming show at the Hard Rock Cafe in Nashville 11/04 and our debut performance of the epic “Soldier On”, for the next 7 days, we’re giving away a free MP3 download of the new Digital EP!!http://www.johnorrfranklinband.com/promo/SOLDIER_ON.mp3
(ctrl click or right click the link, save target as)
22.3 megabytes & 12:07 of music!

Want to hear it LIVE and see the complete multi-media package? Start your weekend early! Thursday November 4th! at the Hard Rock Cafe Nashville! Come out to the show to share the celebration with us in person; tickets are just $10 for this triple bill multi-media experience. Don’t miss out, the link to buy your tickets is here. Help us to rock Nashville and keep “Soldiering On”!

Nashville Concert at the Hard Rock Cafe