echolyn 2005 　　 　　Christopher Buzby - keyboards, backing vocals 　　Thomas Hyatt - bass, backing vocals 　　Brett Kull - guitars, lead and backing vocals 　　Paul Ramsey - drums and percussion, backing vocals 　　Raymond Weston - bass, lead and backing vocals 　　 　　 With a history dating back sixteen years, echolyn continues to develop and redefine a compositional style best described as melodic, harmonic, rhythmic and dynamic - music that is progressive in the truest sense of the word. Defying categorization, while achieving critical acclaim from all around the globe echolyn continues to bend the ears of the world's listeners. 　　 　　The seeds of echolyn were sown in the late 1980's when Brett Kull, Raymond Weston, and Paul Ramsey played in a cover band named 'Narcissus.' In 1988 Narcissus disbanded as the members tired of cover tunes. A year later Christopher Buzby joined Kull and Ramsey to form echolyn, a band that made a conscious decision to focus entirely on original music. Weston soon returned to the fold, and they began recording their eponymous CD "echolyn" in 1990. Kull, Weston, and Jesse Reyes manned the bass post until Thomas Hyatt joined permanently during the recording process of this first album. "echolyn" was released independently on Bridge Records, and the first pressing quickly sold out. The CD was for a while one of the most sought-after collector's items in progressive rock, fetching over $100 at the Ebay internet auction site. echolyn was a welcome breath of fresh air in that generally lean time for progressive music. 　　 　　In 1992, the band released "suffocating the bloom," now generally regarded as an early '90s progressive rock classic. The album honed echolyn's trademark two-and three-part vocal harmonies with tight, contrapuntal instrumental musicianship, and features the 25- minute "A Suite for the Everyman." Lyrically it deals with the loss of childhood innocence and idealism. In the spring of 1993 the band privately released the 4-song unplugged mini-CD "...and every blossom." However, it was "suffocating the bloom" that attracted the attention of executives at major label Sony Music/Epic Records, and the band contracted a multi-album deal in the summer of 1993, which included the release of their next full-length album on Sony/Epic/550 Music. During this period echolyn performed extensively and played sold-out shows throughout the Philadelphia area, most notably at South Street's "Theater of the Living Arts." They also opened three shows on the East Coast for progressive metal band Dream Theater. echolyn also performed a feature set at Progfest '94 in Los Angeles prior to the release of their own Sony/Epic/550 Music debut. 　　 　　In the spring of 1994, the band recorded their first CD for Sony in Nashville, TN. A major label deal would not corrupt echolyn's musical ambitions. "as the world" was, and is, an uncompromising piece of echolyn's musical output. The album was released in March of 1995 to tremendous acclaim in progressive rock circles. People spoke of echolyn as the best chance at the time for wider mainstream acceptance of progressive music, however Sony maddeningly refused to support touring, echolyn's best way to reach new ears and their musical lifeblood, and thus marked the beginning of the end to echolyn's short-lived major label career. The band headlined the inaugural ProgDay in North Carolina in September 1995, without label support, and shortly thereafter were dropped by Sony. Hyatt and Buzby left the band, and after over 250 live shows and 4 studio album releases, echolyn had seemingly met its end. A 'posthumous' recording entitled "when the sweet turns sour," was released on SynPhonic and Cyclops, GFT in 1996. This CD consisted of working demos of unreleased new songs, an acoustic version of "Meaning and the Moment," a cover of "Where the Sour Turns to Sweet" originally arranged and recorded for a Genesis tribute album, and live tracks from the ProgDay '95 show. 　　 The members of echolyn, however, remained very active in music. Kull, Ramsey, and Weston formed Still, which released "Always Almost" in 1996, focusing on song-writing in a hard-rock format. Re-named Always Almost, this trio released "God Pounds His Nails" in 1997, which featured a Gentle Giant cover of "Aspirations" among other well-written progressive-influenced hard rock songs. Both of these recordings were on Georgia-based Pleasant Green Records. Kull and Ramsey also started recording and touring with the major-label folk-rock group Grey Eye Glances. Meanwhile Buzby formed a new band named finneus gauge with several other musicians, including his brother Jonn on drums, and released two albums of intricate jazz-fusion influenced progressive rock, "more once more" (1997) and "one inch of the fall" (1999) to worldwide critical acclaim. Keyboard magazine picked "more once more" as "One of the Top 5 Records of 1997" in an editor's poll, while Guitar World recognized finneus gauge as "One of the 10 Best in the Current Progressive Rock Underground" in 1998. 　　 　　In the spring of 2000 the members of echolyn returned with a brand new collection of 10 songs and their first studio album in over four years, titled "cowboy poems free." The band line-up featured original members Buzby, Kull, Ramsey, and Weston, along with new drummer/percussionist Jordan Perlson, a student of Buzby's from Abington Friends School, who recently graduated from Berklee College of Music in Boston. echolyn played a couple of live shows in support of "cowboy poems free," most notably the stifling hot jam packed NEARfest pre-show in 2000 and a Theater of the Living Arts show in support of Transatlantic. echolyn retired to the studio after the summer of 2000 to begin meticulous work on their newest album titled "mei," which was just released in June of 2002. Always striving for the next challenge and musical adventure this album pulls out all the musical stops and is the most diverse echolyn recording to date. Featuring several guest musicians on timpani, marimba, vibraphone, clarinet, flute, violin and cello, and clocking in at just under 50 minutes in length, "mei" is as close as echolyn has ever come to writing a modern symphonic tone poem. 　　 　　Following the success of "mei," echolyn decided to take the current live show on the road for a few shows in Philly, Baltimore, Canada and Boston. Following a great reception at every show echolyn headed back to their studio in West Point, PA to decide what their next project would be. Inspired by the many e-mails from fans across the world looking for echolyn's debut self-titled release and their acoustic 4-song set "...and every blossom," the band decided it was time to truly empty the vaults and give the newer fans everything they had been looking for, and the old fans and completists all of the non-released tracks and out-takes from years past. Thus "a little nonsense: now and then" was born. Released in December of 2002, the box set included the entire re-masters of echolyn's debut album, "...and every blossom" and "when the sweet turns sour" this box set finally, and officially, closed the door on the first 13 years echolyn. It also included the return of Tom Hyatt as guest bassist for a few live shows, followed by Tom's official return to the group in the fall of 2003. 　　 　　Following the release of "a little nonsense: now and then" it became evident that echolyn still did not have one thing on their resume: a live album! It was finally time for an official live bootleg album...The Jersey Tomato. Released as a 2-CD limited-edition pressing, it sold out before the actual CDs and jewel cases were even ready for shipping. Featuring 13 live echolyn tunes, and a powerful, complete version of "mei" without the chamber orchestra, this release was recorded at a show echolyn performed at The Jersey Prog House in September of 2002. 　　 　　Not wanting to stand still, echolyn also began planning to do work in a new medium. During 2003 the band played some brilliant live shows in Baltimore, Quebec, Lowell, MA and Pennsylvania, the latter being filmed for a DVD release. In 2004 production took place on "Stars and Gardens," containing film footage of live echolyn from the previous year plus a video documentary spanning the band's entire career. Released on September 7, 2004 the DVD finally lets fans outside the USA see the band on stage and in the studio. With rave reviews still coming in from around the world, the DVD promises to further promote the success of a one-of-a-kind American band that continues to defy and push the boundaries of original rock-n-roll music. Brett Kull's solo album release "Orange-ish Blue" in 2002 and Ray Weston's "This is My Halo" in 2003 give further proof that the originality and musical output from the guys in echolyn is just getting started! 　　 　　With the re-release of "as the world" in July 2005, along with a companion DVD of the band performing many selections from "as the world," filmed in Michigan just 2 days before "as the world's" original March of 1995 release, the band is also hard at work completing it's newest studio release, "The End Is Beautiful." This urban, angular rock masterpiece is set for worldwide release on August 23, 2005 - to be followed immediately followed by the band's first-ever European tour in early September 2005. 　　 　　 　　echolyn's full discography: 　　echolyn (1991) suffocating the bloom (1992) ...and every blossom (EP, 1993) as the world (1995) when the sweet turns sour (1996) still - always almost (1996) always almost - god pounds his nails (1997) finneus gauge - more once more (1997) finneus gauge - one inch of the fall (1999) cowboy poems free (2000) suffocating the bloom {re-mastered} (2000) orange-ish blue (Brett Kull's solo album) (2002) mei (2002) a little nonsense: now and then (2002) official live bootleg: jersey tomato (2003) this is my halo (Ray Weston's solo album) (2003) 　　stars and gardens {dvd} (2004) as the world {re-release with companion dvd} (July 2005) 　　the end is beautiful (August 2005)