SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2009 - This update every seven months crap has to stop! I have neglected this page badly in recent months and I apologize. Part of it is getting wrapped up on Facebook and MySpace. And part of it is being busy with several projects, musically and otherwsie.
One of those projects is my second album, The Test of Time, which is now about 30% done and is shaping up to be far superior to its predecessor! I'm extremely excited about this album, which I'm no pace to have finished sometime this Summer. It will be a 100% pure uncompromising melodic rock album, as is It Began in the Underground, but it also breaks a lot of new ground for me. If you like IBITU, I think you'll like TTOT even more!
And I'm also spending a lot of time preparing for the biggest gig of my life so far! I recently had the overwhelming honor of being selected to perform at Z Rock 2009 in Dudley, West Midlands, United Kingdom on May 30! I've applied to perform at several melodic rock festivals around the world over the last two years and finally got selected by one!
I'm mega-psyched about sharing the stage with all these great melodic rockers, some of whom I've been listening to since I was growing up in the '80s! It will also be great to visit the UK for the first time and to perform in that country, which has one of the best melodic rock traditions in the world. And I hope to see a lot of you there! I'm also working on scheduling a few other performances on both sides of the Atlantic.
In addition, I'm starting to get much more involved in the film industry. I'm currently working with writer/director Michelle Gussow on a movie titled Soldier's Song, a hard hitting drama about a paralyzed war veteran. And
Thanks as always for your support and also for hanging in there during all these silent months! And I'm glad to inform you that the next few months will be anything but silent!
Continued best wishes and I hope to see you this year, somewhere in the world!
Lec
SATURDAY, AUGUST 2, 2008 - Wow, I just saw that I hadn't posted a news update since January 2 - seven months ago today! Sorry about that! Things have been a little quiet lately with my musical career. Promotion of my first album has wound down because I'm currently working on my second album. However, the first album remains available. It has sold 863 copies so far and I'm very pleased with the reception it's gotten from around the world, receiving unanimously positive reviews and making several 2007 year end lists.
But I'm even much more excited about my second album, The Test of Time, which I hope to release in the early months of 2009. I know that my first album took me 12 years to make, but that was a trial and error process. I've learned so much about recording now, and have so much material ready to go, that I've set a goal of releasing a new studio album every two years for the rest of my life, or at least as long as I'm physically and mentally capable!
This next album is something that I'm immensely looking forward to. It's shaping up to be what I want to be remembered for; something I want mentioned in the first line of my obituary. I like my first album very much but I have some regrets about it, particularly feeling that the production and lyrics aren't as good as they could have been. But with this album, I want to have absolutely no regrets. I want this to be the ultimate Lec Zorn album.
The Test of Time will retain the uncompromising melodic rock foundation of It Began in the Underground but will branch out further in several different directions, being alternately harder, softer and more prog. Sound clips and information on the guest musicians are coming soon!
Other than that, I have continued to perform bass guitar in concert for other artists, which is always a positive experience. Working with other artists and learning their material is a great way to improve and diversify yourself as a musician. Since my last update, I've continued to perform with Chris Sullivan and also have performed with 2006 American Idol contestant Kendall Phillips. And I have talked to several other artists about working with them, on their projects and/or mine.
I promise it won't be another seven months before you hear from me again! And when I return with the next update, I expect to have some very big and positive news!
As always, keep melodic rocking!
Lec
TUESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2008 - Belated merry Christmas and happy new year to all of you! I hope you had a good holiday season. I generally did but I'm also glad it's over and I'm looking better toward a better 2008! And January 2 is a day that I have been particularly looking forward to the last few weeks and it marks my life returning to normal! Now it's easier for me to again focus on the things I need to!
I've now sold 703 copies of my album and am striving to keep the momentum going; to sell more copies of my first album and get the second one finished and released as soon as possible - but, of course, without sacrificing the quality!
One track has been completed for my album and I'm very pleased with it. I think it takes my sound to the next level and I plan to hold the future tracks from the album to the same standard. If I succeed, I think it will top my first album significantly. I think this next album will sound much like the first be more diverse and have better production. My first album was largely a process of trial and error. But now I'm a veteran and am applying the valuable lessons I learned from the first album to make the second one better and also to make it much more quickly!
Aside from my career with The Lec Zorn Project, I'm currently pursuing several bass guitar vacancies and talking to various artists about writing, recording and performing with them. And I current have two more concerts scheduled with Chris Sullivan here in Indianapolis at The Bean Cup. The are scheduled for Friday, January 12 and Sunday, February 1; both at 7:00 and with free admission and all ages welcome! Chris' concerts are comprised mostly of his originals, with a few covers from the last 40 years thrown in.
Several people have asked about my touring prospects. I very much want to tour, but at the time, I've decided that the money that I make in sales from my first album is better spent on making my second album. However, I have applied to perform at some of the biggest melodic rock festivals in the world, mostly in Europe. Of course, I'll keep you updated on that and any other important details regarding my career.
Mega-thanks as always for checking in. I feel very lucky and blessed to have been able to write, record, release and perform melodic rock music, one of my greatest passions. And I believe that the best is still to come. I look forward to presenting you some new melodic rock music, and hopefully also some concerts, in 2008!
May God deeply bless you all,
Lec
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2007 - I'm continuing to try different ways of promoting my album while at the same time working on my new one. I've sold 199 copies in the 59 days since my last update, bringing the sales total to 574 - not at all bad for an independently released debut album that's been out for 142 days, but I'm far from satisfied! I'm trying to get even more aggressive in marketing my album. And I have particular motivation for doing so because I plan to pay for my second with sales from my first!
My second album is in the early stages of recording and I'm very excited about it. I think it will top my first album in both songs, thanks to my further development as a songwriter, and in production, thanks to all I learned from my first album. The next song I plan to record is my Ron Paul presidential campaign. I want to make sure I get it ready by the beginning of February, for the primary season! I also plan to record that song with an alternate set of lyrics so that the song won't become obsolete after Ron's campaign is over! I think that releasing my second album by the end of 2008 is a reasonable possibility.
I've performed three more concerts with Chris Sullivan since my last update and am in discussions with two other melodic rock solo artists about playing bass guitar for them. I hope to have some positive news on those situations by the next update!
Finally, I have been happy to discover recently that I've made a few music charts! Not Billboard, obviously, but you have to start somewhere! It's an honor to be on any chart but what makes it extra special for me to be on these particular charts is that they specialize in melodic rock and put me in the company of some of my favorite artists and others who aren't among my favorites but nevertheless have achieved great popularity! For a list of my chart appearances, click here!
I was happy to meet about 20 of you - most for the first time in person - at the MelodicRock.com 10th Anniversary Concert in South Bend, Indiana on October 6. It was a great experience to see so many great melodic rockers on stage together as well as to meet some friends, make a few new ones and promote my album. At the event, my Street Team president, Shannon Moore, and I handed out about 200 promotional flyers for my album.
On our way back to our hotels from the concert, eight of us stopped at Denny's, where my all time musical hero, Jim Peterik, who performed at the concert, was also dining! It was a very pleasasnt surprise to see Jim there! I talked with him for about a minute and he recognized me, telling me that he got the flyer I put under his windshield wiper! I was shocked, having assumed that Jim parked in a special access area! Shannon and I distributed the flyers in a public parking lot adjacent to the theater!
I was also approached at the concert by two people who recognized me as Lec Zorn but who I had never had any individual contact. And one was Joe Vana of the Jim Peterik produced studio project Mecca, whose debut album I have! I was very pleasantly surprised when he told me who he was! I never thought I'd be recognized by someone from whom I have an album but not recognize that person!
As I've said before, I know what a great honor it is to have fans. And I know that even if I become famous, that won't make me better than the next person. But to be recognized by anyone is a sign that the word on my music is getting out there, which is a very encouraging sign to me. I hope that my music will continue to reach more and more people and that I'll be able to make a living exclusively through music.
But even if I'm never able to make music more than a hobby - if I merely create a lot of melodic rock that I feel great about but it sells only enough for me to pay for my next album - that will still be very rewarding to me. Making melodic rock music is a dream come true for me and I thank God for giving me the ability to do that.
Thanks as always for your interest and support. I appreciate it tremendously and will never take it for granted. And extra thanks to those of you who have bought the CD. And for those of you who haven't, remember, it's available by sending only $13 (including shipping anywhere in the world) via PayPal to [email protected]! And also remember, your purchase of my first album will help me to make my second one!
I'll talk to you again soon! Until then, best wishes and keep melodic rocking!
Lec
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2007 - I'm very sorry to have taken 104 days to give you another news update! A lot has happened in that time and while I've updated my main page since then, I've been really wanting to give you a full update here. Unfortunately, I don't have time for that right now but I've decided to fill you in on the basics.
First of all, as you've probably noticed, my album is finally out after 12 years of hard work and delays! It's being sold by many of the world's biggest melodic rock retailers and by me, directly through this site! To order from me via PayPal, simply send $13 - including shipping anywhere in the world - to [email protected]! If you'd rather pay by another method, simply e-mail me at that address and we'll work something out! I'm very flexible!
And I'll gladly autograph it at your request!
So far, I've sold 375 copies, which I believe is a very good figure for an independent debut that's been released for only 83 days. And in the process, I've made far more money than I would have made selling a much higher number of albums under the terms of most recording deals. And to top it off, I have complete artistic control by being an indie. I've addressed those subjects several times in interviews and probably often will over the years!
I'm fairly pleased with my sales so far, but I'm still working hard to find new ways to make people aware of the album. And I'm considering several options for distribution in various countries. In other words, my promotional blitz for this album is just getting started!
To help with the promotion of my music, my friend Shannon Moore has started the Lec Zorn Street Team. To join, click here! Mega-thanks to Shannon for her help!
I'm excited to finally be performing concerts semi-regularly, starting with Rock-It Fest. Just seven days after that event, I performed one concert with Rok Hollywood in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, filling in for their usual bass guitarist, who had a scheduling conflict. And I'm now performing bass guitar for Chris Sullivan, a soft rock/adult contemporary artist who is currently working on his first album. Check out sound samples from Chris here! I will probably soon add a concert listing page to this site but in the meantime, check out the main page for that information! And while I look forward to continuing to play with Chris and possibly fill in some shows for RH, I'm also trying to get some more shows scheduled for The Lec Zorn Project! I feel very good about my Rock-It Fest show; like I redeemed myself from my disappointing first concert almost four years earlier, opening for Asia.
So far, my album has received mostly very positive media attention. For a list of every article that I've discovered so far about me, check my media coverage page!
Finally, I'm very excited to inform you that this week, the recording of my second album began! Lots more details are on the way! But for now I'll say that having learned a lot from the making of my first one and having compiled lots of new material and lots of great new contacts, I have set a goal, which I think is very attainable - to release a new studio album at least every two years for the rest of my life!
I'm still promoting this album but also looking ahead to the next one. I have so much music ready to record and hopefully lots more still to be written. And as I've said before, I expect that my next album will stay true to the sound of my first but go further in several different directions and give the listener a better idea of the full range of my musical taste.
Thanks so much to all of you who have bought the album. And even if you haven't bought it, thanks for checking in. I tremendously appreciate your interest. I know very well that no musician can ever make it without fans. And having worked so hard for so many years to make and release music that I'm proud of, I know what a great honor it is to have even a few fans. It's something that I will never take for granted.
I hope to see you all soon at a show. Until then, continued best wishes and keep melodic rocking!
Lec
SATURDAY, MAY 26, 2007 - Good morning and happy Memorial Day weekend to all of you! This is always an action packed weekend for me and tomorrow I plan to attend the Indianapolis 500 for the eighth consecutive year. But my biggest focus right now isn't the race but rather June 16 - three weeks from today!
I've been very busy with intense rehearsals for both of my sets at Rock-It Fest. My backing band for The Lec Zorn Project includes all three members of the Indianapolis based pop metal group Rok Hollywood - fraternal twin brothers Daren Short on drums and David Short on guitar plus Michael Rubadue on guitar. They've done a great job staying true to the essence and nature of my music while at the same time adding their own unique influence to it. I think you'll enjoy both my album and my concert performance but find the two sounds to be distinct. I like it that way.
I'm also working hard on Eddie Law's set with Lizard on guitar and Nick on drums. I'm not sure whether those guys have last names or not, but they rock very hard and very professionally! Eddie is expected to arrive here in Indianapolis very soon so we'll have several rehearals with him before the festival! All sets at Rock-It Fest are scheduled to last about an hour.
And in addition to being the only musician scheduled to perform two of the nine sets at Rock-It Fest, I'm proud to announce a new role that I have been given for the event - master of ceremonies! I'll be at the festival for all 14 hours, introducing all of the artists, throwing items out to the audience, talking about the festival's sponsors and more! By the end of the day, I'm going to feel like the Jerry Lewis of melodic rock!
To be so heavily involved with the biggest new melodic rock festival in North American festival is an overwhelming honor for which I'll be forever be extrememy thankful!
And to top it off, my debut album, It Began in the Underground, is scheduled for release that day! The new cover, designed by my brother, Robert McAtee, is up on the main page! It will be available at the show and more purchase information will be announced soon!
It seems that when things finally started to fall into place for my musical career, they really fell into place! To quote myself, it's been a long time coming but it was worth the wait and I kept my heart set upon going the distance!
Along the way, I became the subject of a few jokes and the last two years I co-won MelodicRock.com's Just Release the Bloody Thing Already Award! I shared the award with Guns N' Roses, Black N Blue and Hardline both years! In 2005, we shared it with Paul Stanley, Nelson, Teer and Zion!
I actually took the award as more of a compliment than an insult. My winning tells me that MelodicRock.com coordinator Andrew J. McNiece is interested in my music. And sharing the award with such MelodicRock icons tells me that he his interest in my music is similar to his interest in theirs, which is a great honor. But at the same time, I am very glad I won't be three-peating!
I'll be busy at Rock-It Fest but I promise not to be too busy for my fans and friends who make the trip there, wherever they come from. When I'm not onstage, I'll often be back at the merchandise table, from which the stage will be visible. If you're there, feel free to introduce yourself. I look forward to meeting lots of you there, as well as at many shows in the future!
So far Rock-It Fest is the only date on my concert performance schedule but there's a significant chance that will change in the near future. I'm looking into several other festivals and have strong hope that Rock-It Fest will open some concert doors for me. Of course, I'll keep you updated every step of the way!
As always, thanks for checking in. The older I get, the more I realize that one of the greatest gifts you can give someone is your time. When you spend five minutes looking at my page, that's five minutes you'll never get back again and it's five minutes that you could have dedicated to countless other things. Thinking about it that way makes me feel even more appreciative to you for your interest in me and my music.
My invitation to play at Rock-It Fest was given to me on October 14. I was so excited that I counted the days until the festival. It was then 245. Now it's 21 and my gameface is very much on! I hope to see you all three weeks from today or at least sometime soon, somewhere in the world!
Continued best wishes to all of you,
Lec
FRIDAY, APRIL 6, 2007 - Hello again and happy Good Friday to all of you! I've been very busy preparing for June 16 but I'm taking a break for a few minutes to give you an update! I'm pleased to have two big announcements to make at this time!
I've waited many years to perform my first full band concert, which now is just 71 days away at Rock-It Fest. And it turns out that I am now scheduled to perform not one but two concerts that day! Of course, I'll be performing a set with The Lec Zorn Project, as I've told you about several times already! And in addition, I'm now scheduled to perform bass guitar and keyboards with
Eddie Law!
Eddie is a Florida based singer who has a classic '80s metal voice and the musical sound to go with it! I'm very excited about being part of Eddie's show and performing twice in one day at an event of this magnitude! And I expect that this collaboration with Eddie will lead to him and me working more together in the future!
In addition, I'm pleased to announce that I'm part of a new project called Melodic Blue! This project, started by Rock-It Fest organizer DT Hawkins, is scheduled to begin recording an album shortly after the festival! DT says that "my new meterial ranges from Bad English and Hardline style melodic rock, to hair bandish."
I'm always interested in collaborating with like minded musicians and MB looks like it's a great opportunity for me to do that!
I'll have some more big news very soon! As always, a million thanks for checking in. My music is a big part of who I am and I look forward to sharing it with you on June 16 and beyond!
Have a great Easter!
Lec
THURSDAY, MARCH 22, 2007 - I always enjoy giving you these news updates but never before have I been so eager to share with you the news I have! I'm very happy to announce that my album now has an official release date - June 16, 2007! If you're a regular visitor to this site, that date might very well look familiar to you! It's the date of Rock-It Fest, at which I'm scheduled to perform! And in addition, I'm planning on having an album release party at the festival!
Mastering of the album was finished on March 14 by my longtime friend Ernst van de Kerkhof and his longtime collaborator Eddy Bopp at Cloud 9 Studios in Sittard, The Netherlands! Ernst e-mailed me that day and told me that he would send me the master the next day, so I'm expecting to receive it any day now and take it to the CD presser almost immediately!
If you like what you've heard of the sound samples of my album that I've shared with you, I think you'll be even more pleased with the mastered versions! Ernst has already e-mailed me some of the mastered tracks. He and Eddy did a great job improving the sound of the album and I feel comfortable recommending them for any mastering job that you need!
Preparing for my album release and Rock-It Fest are the top priorities of my career right now but I have more on my musical agenda. I have lots of new material ready to record and hope to start doing that within a few months of releasing my album. And I hope that my Rock-It Fest performance will lead to more concerts.
But I also am planning to be in the studio this Spring. I want to hurry - without compromising quality, of course - and record the Ron Paul presidential campaign song that I told you about in my last update so it will be ready in time for the primaries!
And in addition, I recently got involved with a Rick Springfieldtribute albumfor which I plan to cover Rick's classic Souls, which is one of my favorite songs of all time. Though the song was a hit for Rick, I've long thought it's sad that it seems to be almost completely forgotten by most. My vision for my cover of Souls is to stay true to the original but add to its intense emotional impact with prog metal flavoring.
That's all the news I have for now but I plan to be back very soon - quite possibly in the next few days - with much more. I'm very close to announcing my full Rock-It Fest line-up and information about an exciting new melodic rock project to which I will likely contribute!
When I was first invited to perform at Rock-It Fest, the festival was 245 days away. Now that number is down to 86! My adrenaline level is getting a little higher every day! And in addition to being excited about my performance there, I'm also very much looking forward to seeing the other artists' performances. I've listened to sound samples of several of the other artists and have been very impressed. Festival coordinator DT Hawkins has done a great job assembling the artists. And hearing them motivates me even more to do my best!
As always, thanks a million for checking in! I very much appreciate your interest in my music. As an artist, it's always a great feeling and an honor when someone is interested in your music but to have attracted your interest even before releasing my album is an even bigger honor.
I'm extremely thankful that I've had the opportunity to make music and record with some of my favorite musicians. It's been a great experience and I hope there are many more great experiences ahead, on June 16 and beyond. That's what I'm aiming at.
I send my very best wishes to all of you and hope to see you in the mountains in less than three months!
Peace and love,
Lec
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2007 - The life of a melodic rock recording artist is often an extremely unpredictable one! I was busy preparing for Rock-It Fest and waiting for the mastering of my album to get finished so I can send it to the CD presser. I looked forward to getting back in the studio and recording some new music, but figured I wouldn't be there until after the release of my debut album. But, typical of my career, it didn't go as planned! And in this case, that was a good thing!
As those who know me very well know, I have long had a lot of interest in politics. I've made allusions to that on this page a few times over the years and have a political/social resources section here but generally don't make a big deal out of my political views. I don't try to hide them, it's just that this page, first and foremost, is about my musical career and I assume that most people who visit this page do so primarily because of interest in my music.
But on Tuesday, January 29, I received an e-mail message that took my by shock in a very pleasant way. I was asked to write a song for the presidential campaign of U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX)! The e-mail message was from an activist for the Paul campaign.
Ron is far and away my favorite member of Congress and, as far as I can tell, the only one of that body's 535 members who adheres to our Constitution, which I consider to be the greatest document of all time, next to the Bible. I had already informed Ron's staff that I was in on his campaign and offered to help in any way possible but didn't say a word about writing a song for the campaign.
Though I had a long interest in both music and politics, I've long felt that the two don't mix well. But I decided that writing a song for Ron's campaign would be a tremendous honor and I would give it a try. I started writing the song within a few minutes and by the end of the day, it was fairly complete. I've polished it a little since then and will probably continue to do so.
I like the way it's developing and consider it to be a powerful hard rock anthem that expresses Ron's philsophy very simply and clearly but without being corny. I hope I'm not fooling myself!
I hope to start recording the song this month and it finished this Spring. I'm currently recruiting musicians for the song. My plan is to make the song available for free download for anyone. And I will give Ron's campaign and all of its supporters freedom to do what they want with it. I will not profit from this song.
Ron is 71 years old and probably doesn't like the same kind of music that I do, but I hope he'll appreciate my effort and its end result! And I realize that Ron's supporters are a diverse constituency who combine to have a full range of musical tastes. Those of us who support Ron all have a role to play in his campaign and I believe that my role is to reach the melodic rock community with his message!
To learn more about Ron, check out his aforementioned homepage, his MySpace
page and, for an extremely thorough directory of his views, here.
I disagree with the political philosophy of many of my favorite artists and still remain fans of their music. Equally, I hope that even if you disagree with me politically that it won't change your feelings about my music! My biggest problem is not with people who disagree with me but people who are closed minded and won't give people with opposing views a fair chance.
I'll be back soon with more on my song for Ron as well as my album, my Rock-It Fest performance and much more!
129 days and counting until Rock-It Fest! I hope to see you there!
Lec
TUESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2007 - Hello and belated merry Christmas and happy new year to all of you! 2007 has been very busy for me so far but today I'm off from work and am talking advantage of the opportunity to get you all caught up!
Just a few days after the last update, I received my copy of All the Wrong Moves and enjoy the movie very much! It's an 18-minute comedy about an aspiring actor who believes that he is cursed by Tom Cruise!! In one scene, he is auditioning for Risky Business and lip syncs to my song
The Rush of Passion's Fire in a fabulous parody of the legendary scene in which Cruise lip syncs to Bob Seger's Old Time Rock and Roll! I especially appreciate the aforementioned scene in All the Wrong Moves because I grew up in the '80s and saw Risky Business several times! All the Wrong Moves also includes two other tracks from my album, Fighting Chance, Long Time Coming and Mega-thanks to the movie's producers/directors Eric J. Seidman (also the movie's writer) and Shant Ergenian for their interest in my music!
My album is set to be sent in for mastering tomorrow which means that its release is very near, as it better be so that I'll have it ready in time for my full band concert debut, which I told you about last time!
I'm very heavily involved in prepration for that mega-event called Rock-It Fest in Clarksburg, West Virginia on Saturday, June 16! I have been talking with lots of great musicians and am pretty close to finalizing the line-up! By the time I return with my next update - probably in February - I'll probably have it for you!
It was brought to my attention that some Shooting Star fans were confused over my repoting in the last update that I pursued the bass guitar vanacy in that band. I guess I condensed that paragraph a little too much and, unfortunately, led some people to believe, incorrectly that Ron Verlin has left that band. That is not the case.
To my knowledge, Ron has been a member of that band continuously since re-joining in 1989. But since then, he has skipped a significant number of SS' concerts, including six of the eight that I've attended. I was only attempting to fill in for Ron at the shows in which he does not participate. The same is true with Kasim Sulton and The New Cars. The positions in the other bands were all full time. Furthermore, notice that I said I'd pursued these vacancies "in the last couple of years," so I wasn't saying that all of the vacancies currently exist.
And since then, I've pursued the bass guitarist position with Anthony Cosmo of Rock-It Fest! Of course, I realize that my chances of getting hired by any given artist are long, when you're trying to rise in the music industry, you have to be aggressive and keep looking for any opportunity. You never know where it will lead. So far that aggressiveness has gotten me on four samplers, in two movies and a spot in one of the few major melodic rock festivals in America.
That doesn't even come close to classifying me as a superstar and I know it's very possible that I will never achieve such status, but that's a lot more than many artists ever achieve. And they give me much welcome stimulants of confidence heading into the release of my album. And they reinforce to me all the years of dreaming and hard work that I've put into my attempt to have a career in melodic rock. Maybe I'll never go the distance but being able to make melodic rock music at all, doing it with some of my favorite musicians and sharing CD space with some of my biggest musical heroes, especially Jim Peterik, has been a fantastic honor and a dream come true, for which I'm extremely thankful. Anything more that I achieve in melodic rock I'll consider a great bonus.
I turned 36 on December 14 and my daugher Aria turned three the same day. All of my birthday up until 26, I thought it was cool to be a year older. That changed starting with 27. And even though I look and feel much younger than my age and think I take pretty good care of myself, being closer to 30 than 40 and every year speeding by even more quickly than the one before, I realize now more than ever that there's no time to waste. And hopefully that will bring out the best in me!
Physically, I've never felt better in my life and my passion for melodic rock music is as extreme as its ever been. My peers who have long quit listening to new music and attending concerts are impoverishing themselves, as are the 99% of music listeners who limit their musical intake to what major format radio gives them. There's so much more out there than that.
On a semi-unrelated note, I recommend that all of you go to a theater to see Rocky Balboa. It's an extraordinarily powerful and emotional movie that portrays human feelings and relationships in a very compelling and realistic way. I've loved every movie in that series but this one might be my favorite! Don't be turned away if you're not a boxing fan. I think any fan of LIFE will love this movie! It's an awesome story about the universal themes of handling adversity and trying to make things right with ourselves and those who mean the most to us.
I say that the movie is only semi-unrelated to my career because the movie got me even more fired up about Rock-It Fest and I think that when I'm backstage getting ready to start my performance, I'll be playing in my head the speech that the title Rocky's trainer, Duke (played by Tony Burton), gives about administering "BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA!" I've always loved Duke's passion and intensity and consider him to be the most underrated character in the series!
Thanks as always for checking in! I hope to seeing you all five months from today in the mountains! 151 days and counting!
Your friend,
Lec
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2006 - I'm sorry to have been away for nearly four months but on the bright side I have a lot of positive news for you that hopefully will make the wait for this update more than worth it to you!
On Saturday, July 16, 2007, I'm scheduled to make my full band concert debut at Rock-It Fest in Clarksburg, West Virginia, USA! The festival is scheduled to feature seven acts, all performing on Saturday. Not all of the line-up has been announced yet but the headliner is scheduled to be the pop metal group Hydrogyn, who is quickly becoming the most popular acts on the new melodic rock scene!
I'm extremely excited to be part of this festival! I'm currently in the processing of assembling a great line-up, which I expect to announce in the near future!
I cordially invite all of you to this festival! With a projected attendance of 5,000-7,500 - a figure that I think might end up being even higher because of Hydrogyn's continuing surge in popularity - this is one of the few major melodic rock festivals in America. And the location is fantastic. Based on the pictures I've seen of it, Clarksburg is a gorgeous city in the mountains. And West Virginia has long been one of my favorite states to visit, because of its scenic beauty. I've taken a couple of weekend vacations there over the years. If my full band debut had to be somewhere other than Indiana or Kentucky, there's no place I'd rather it be than West Virginia! This opportunity is a dream come true for me!
And the timing of my invitation to perform at the concert was great! From a personal standpoint, this year has been very difficult for me. But since I got this invitation, much of my focus has been on the concert, which has been a big help to me in staying positive and not focusing as much on the negative. And it's also a reminder that even through bad times, sometimes good news is unexpectedly right around the corner!
I learned through a bulletin that the festival's organizer posted on MySpace that the festival was seeking musicians for its next concert. I sent the organizer a CD-R on Wednesday, October 11. I didn't expect anything to come out of it but I figured that there was no harm in trying. But much to my pleasant surprise, he e-mailed me three days later and offered me the slot on their schedule! I don't know yet what time I'm scheduled to perform at the festival but I'll let you know promptly when I find out.
My set will probably be about an hour long. I'm already working on the set list and plan for it to feature much of the It Began in the Underground album plus a few surprises.
Onto other news, the movie Downhill, which I've told you about before, is out on DVD! It can be ordered through the movie's web page! I have seen the movie and much to my pleasant surprise, a whopping six of my songs are featured in it! I'm very honored that the movie's director, Shane Bissett took such a strong interest in my music! My album could now almost be accurately described as the Downhill Soundtrack!
And All the Wrong Moves, also featuring my music, was released on DVD last Thursday and is available on that movie's web page! I'm awaiting my copy and I'll let you know how it is!
No further word yet on The Twin Trilogy,, the other movie scheduled to feature my music but I'll of course pass along any updates to you! In the last couple of years, I've also pursued other movies in addition to the bass guitarist vacancies in Stryper, TNT, Shooting Star, The New Cars and Steelheart. And I continue to look for other opportunities though no matter what other projects I'm involved in, I plan to always pursue my career in The Lec Zorn Project.
And in the midst of all this activity, I haven't forgotten about my album! I will get the thing out soon and I have to because there's no way I would let myself not have it ready to sell at Rock-It Fest! Stay tuned for details!
Belated happy Thanksgiving to all of you! And as always, thanks so much for checking in! I greatly appreciate your continued interest and I promise you it's not in vain!
I hope to have the honor of rocking you in the mountains in just 201 days! And if you're there and you see me before or after my performance, please introduce yourself to me! I'm very easy to talk to! I've always enjoyed meeting some of my favorite artists and having received a wide range of treatment from them over the years, I have long promised myself that I'll always be nice to my fans!
May God bless you deeply,
Lec
SUNDAY, JULY 30, 2006 - This is just a quick update but I have two pieces of very good news for you! My album cover is done and is up near the top of my main page! Thanks to my brother, Robert McAtee, for his great work on the cover!
And my music is now scheduled to be featured in a third movie, The Twin Trilogy, which is currently in pre-production! More information on that soon! Much thanks to the movie's co-director Michelle Gussow for her interest in my music!
I'm short on time now so I'll close off this update but I'll be back with much more soon! Mega-thanks as always for your continued interest! I know that some of you have been waiting a long time for this album and I hope that seeing the cover makes you feel even more assured that it's really on the way!
Continued best wishes to all of you! Keep the faith and keep melodic rocking!
Lec
MONDAY, JUNE 12, 2006 - My album is still on pace for a late Summer release. Thankfully, I have no new setbacks to report! Only good news this time! So I'm starting to explore the possibility of assembling a band to do some concerts to promote the album! If you are interested or know someone who you think would be, just let me know!
I was one of several melodic rockers recently interviewed by Toto Dedication about the legendary Toto! Click here to read my comment on these melodic rock icons! Many of the other artists whose interviews appear in this feature are much more famous than I am! So I'm particularly honored that the page's coordinators, Eddy and Nicole Meuwese, value my opinion on Toto and chose to include it on their page!
In my last update, I presented you a message from Eric J. Seidman, who is producing the upcoming short movie All the Wrong Moves, which is scheduled to feature my music. Eric has since posted a new request and offer. Click here to learn about this great opportunity for you to help produce a movie and get rewarded for it!
I recently completed a very fun and challenging project, compiling my 100 favorite records of all time! Click here to check out the list, which has already drawn both compliments and criticism!
Getting off the subject of music briefly, I've really enjoyed following the World Cup this year. Having resided in America all of my life, I've had little exposure to soccer, despite being a sports fanatic for 28 years now, since I was seven years old. But having made many friends around the world and knowing their immense love for soccer got me curious.
On Saturday, I watched a complete soccer match for the first time, Sweden vs. Trinidad and Tobago. Though the game was a scoreless draw, I thoroughly enjoyed it and now see why so many of you love the sport so much! You may now count me among the converted! If your country is in it, best wishes to it!
As always, mega-thanks for checking in. I'll be back with another update soon. Until then, keep the faith and keep melodic rocking!
Peace and love,
Lec
WEDNESDAY, MAY 17, 2006 - Today's news update is a brief one that isn't particularly about me but rather a message from Eric J. Seidman, the writer, co-director and co-producer of the upcoming short movie All the Wrong Moves, which is scheduled to feature my music!
Hey everyone. My second short movie, "All the Wrong Moves," about a struggling actor who cannot seem to find his big break because every role he auditions for goes to Tom Cruise, will be finished filming in approximately two weeks.
At that time, editing starts, and soon after, we will be making DVD's to sell and submit to festivals, etc.
I am posting this because I am in the process of fundraising money and if anybody is willing to help us out with either donations, extra help raising money, etc., it would be greatly appreciated.
Those who help out will receive a free copy of the movie (slated to be priced at $8.00), a free shirt from the movie, and a credit at the end of the film. You don't have to donate a ton of money either. One or two dollars goes a long way. If interested, please e-mail me at [email protected], message me on here, or give me a call at 267-255-6777.
Thanks,
Eric J. Seidman
And of course I'll be back very soon with an update on a few other things, including the progress of my album! As always, best wishes to all of you and keep melodic rocking!
Keep the faith,
Lec
WEDNESDAY, MAY 10, 2006 - I made a vow to get my album out this Summer, which means I now have 134 days to fulfill that promise! And happily, I'm on pace to do it!
And I have some more good news! My involvement with movies continues to grow! My music has been selected to be featured in the upcoming All the Wrong Moves! This short movie is a comedy about a struggling actor who keeps getting beaten out for roles by Tom Cruise! I have a feeling that this movie is going to be as hilarious as I expect Downhill to be! Check back soon for updates! And mega-thanks to the movie's writer and co-director, Eric J. Seidman, for his interest in my music!
My brother, Robert McAtee, appears on the episode of CSI Miami that debuted on Monday. In the episode, titled Shock, Robert plays a disc jockey at a party who finds a model dead.
Over the next few weeks, I expect to be very busy in prepraing my album for release but I also plan to find enough time to do a few other things, such as attend the Indianaoplis 500, give you all regular updates on my album and continue my songwriting. I have so much material that I'm very excited about and ready to record and I also very much want to tour, both of which are additional reasons I want to hurry up and get this album out!
As always, thanks so much for hanging in there and staying interested in my music through all the delays! I always love hearing from you through e-mail but I look forward even more to seeing you at a concert, somewhere in the world and hopefully soon!
Keep melodic rocking!
Lec
TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 2006 - I don't think I've ever given you a news update just two days after my last one so you can probably guess that something major happened to cause that result! I'm very happy to inform you that my song Second Chance on the brand new sampler from MelodicRock.com has been selected to play over the closing credits in the upcoming movie Downhill! For several years I have dreamed about my music being in movies so this is a very satisfying accomplishment, especially because it resulted from a mere e-mail in answer to a stranger's want ad! Mega-thanks to Michelle Gussow for e-mailing me the ad!
I checked out the trailer of Downhill, which is located in the media section of the movie's web page. To say the least, it looks like a comedy that is very creative and holds back nothing in pursuit of big laughs! I'm looking forward to seeing the movie and I'll of course keep you posted on its progress!
On an unrelated note, I hope your tournament picks turned out better than mine! George Mason, who would have guessed? I have a feeling that even if they lose in the semi-final game - which is scheduled to be played just about eight miles (13 km) from me - a movie will be made about that story. I should try to pitch my song Fighting Chance to the Patriots!
As always, thanks so much for visiting. I'll be back with another update hopefully in the first half of April. Until then keep your heart set upon going the distance!
Keep melodic rocking,
Lec
SUNDAY, MARCH 26, 2006 - This isn't one of my longer news updates but it's already been 73 days since my last one and that's more time than I prefer to go without filling you all in on my activities!
To start off, I'm happy to tell you that my album is on pace for a Summer release! This month marks the 11th anniversary of me beginning work on it, so as you can probably imagine, I'm extremely psyched about its impending release! I can hardly wait to get this album out and see you at a concert somewhere in the world!
Today I followed many of my favorite artists and joined the MySpace bandwagon! Click here to check it out! And while you're there, feel free to add me as a friend and add any of my sound samples to your MySpace page!
And Trail of Crumbs, my first movie, now has a web page! Click here to visit it!
As always, thank you so much for your continued interest. I'll always greatly appreciate any fans who I have at any point in my career. But I'll always have a special place in my heart for those who took an interest in me before I had an album out - when I was way in the underground!
Peace and love,
Lec
THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 2006 - Hello and happy new year to all of you! This is my first update of 2006 and I PROMISE you that in this year, my debut album, It Began in the Underground will be released! If I run out of gas, I have a flat tire, I don't have enough money for cab fare, my tux doesn't come back from the cleaners, an old friend comes in from out of town, someone steals my car and there's an earthquake and a terrible flood, I might have to delay the album until 2007! But I don't anticipate that happening! And, by the way, I'm aiming at a June release! I can hardly wait to get it out, play some live shows, get over to Europe and start recording album number two!
If you're reading this page, you probably know me primarily as a musician. And certainly, melodic rock is an extreme passion of mine. I believe it's in my DNA. But it's not the totality of who I am and once in a while I enjoy sharing with you other sides of me. I always enjoy getting to know about my favorite musicians not only as musicians but also as people and I hope you take the same interest in me. And in this update, I will share with you a new side of me - Lec Zorn the actor! I mentioned in my last update that this was going to happen but now I have a few more details to share with you!
On Tuesday, January 3, I made my movie debut, playing a bit part in the mystery Trail of Crumbs, which will hopefully be released to theaters or, at the very least, on DVD. I got the part thanks to the movie's director, my brother, Robert McAtee, who along with Molly Leland wrote and stars in the movie. Robert is also doing the music for the movie.
The filming of the scene in which I appear was conducted in Louisville, Kentucky. It was a lot of fun not only to be in the movie but also to be behind the scenes of one for the first time. It was a great experience and I would welcome the chance to appear in another movie. In addition, I'm currently trying to get my music in several movies.
In the movie, I play a member of the Bird Club, a group of men who gather to share their stories about birds. The leader of the bird club, a character named Woody (played by Jeff Swarthout), might be a bad guy or just an eccentric. I didn't get any speaking lines in this movie - hopefully next time! - but a close up of me was taken. We'll have to wait and see if it ends up in the final cut! But even without speaking, I still acted. I had to sit there and pretend that I was very interested in learning about the history of the starling in this country! And Robert seemed to think that I and the others in that scene all did a great job!
The scene took about 30 minutes to finish. Much of that time was setting up the lighting and arranging me and the other bird club members the way the crew thought looked best. The scene was done in nine takes. None of them were rejected, they just did that many so they would have several to choose from both in Woody's speaking and in shots from various angles.
Of course, I will let you know when the movie is released! And the album, too! And I'll be back soon with another update! As always, thank you so much for hanging in there with me through all the delays and obstacles! Until next, keep melodic rocking and keep the faith!
Peace and love,
Lec
SUNDAY, DECEMER 11, 2005 - Hello again to all of you and thanks for checking in, especially during these times in which news is a little slow. But I have a feeling that 2006 will be a much more active year for me and will include the long awaited release of my debut album, It Began in the Underground! The album is done and I expect that in the early months of the new year, I'll be in position to promote it as aggressively as I want to.
As I type this, I'm three days away from my 35th birthday. When I was studying economics, I learned of a concept called "the law of diminishing marginal utility," which teaches that the more you get of something, the less you enjoy each additional unit of it. And there is a lot of truth to it in many areas of life. Every birthday I had up to 26, I thought it was cool to be a year older. Every birthday from 27 on, I didn't think it was so cool anymore!
But I don't dread being 35. I see a lot of positives in it. For one, I feel much younger than my age. As I've gotten older, I've become more and more conscious about the way I take care of myself and I really believe that I'm in the best physical condition of my whole life.
And still pursuing my melodic rock dream at this age makes me feel proud. So many aspiring recording artists have long given up by my age. Yet if you ask me "What do you want to do with your life," my answer is still, like in those classic Twisted Sister videos, "I WANNA ROCK!" I'm very happy and very thankful that I had the perseverance to hang in there and keep chipping away at my dream for all these years. Even when it looked distant and the thought of quitting entered my mind, what kept me going was thinking about how much I would end up regretting it if I quit.
And releasing my debut album at 35 is appropriate because I have drawn much inspiration in recent years from former Tampa Bay Devil Rays pitcher Jim Morris, the subject of the movie The Rookie, who in 1999 made his Major League Baseball debut at the same age. He became the oldeest rookie in MLB since 1970. Similarly, I will be significantly older than most debut artists. Almost every artist in my vast music collection was in his/her 20s at the time his/her debut album was released and a few were under 20.
One thing that I've learned is that having to wait a long time for something that I really want makes it even more special when it finally happens. And this album is an example of that. And it also gives me even more admiration for my Belgian friend Kurt Vereecke, who is a few years older than me and working on his debut album, which is scheduled for release under the project name Frozen Rain.
And I am close not only to releasing my debut album but also to making my movie debut! My brother, actor/screenwriter/director/musican Robert McAtee, has offered me a bit part in his new movie Trail of Crumbs, an exciting myestery that is scheduled to begin filming next month! This very well might be the only movie that I ever appear in, but I look forward to this new challenge and if I like it I might consider pursuing other opportunities in that field.
But I expect that my main career ambition will always remain music. And as soon as this album is released, I plan to devote much of my attention to my second album as well as getting re-located to Europe and putting a live band together. I already have lots of material ready that I'm very excited about. And since my last news update, my outlook for the future has gotten much brighter!
Just three weeks from today, it will be 2006. I've never looked forward to a new year more than I'm looking forward to this one. I look forward to presenting you my debut album next yearand hopefully seeing you at a concert somewhere in the world soon afterward!
Keep the faith,
Lec
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMER 23, 2005 - Not much news to report right now but I'm sending this message to wish all of you a very happy Thanksgiving and, in case, I don't talk to you again first, a very merry Christmas and happy new year.
With all the setbacks I've faced, it would be easy for me to feel like this has been a lost, wasted year. But I don't look at it that way. Sometimes people look at the suffering in the world and because of it conclude that there is no god. But I believe that God uses suffering to help us become better and stronger people. The events of the last few months have done just that for me. I've learned a lot about love, patience, kindness, compassion and understanding. And because I'm a father, that's particularly important.
Because of the hardships of the last few months, I wasn't able to release my album or re-locate to Europe this year. But the Lecster will rise again and aim with full force at those and other goals. Maybe, just maybe, 2006 will be my year!
Keep the faith,
Lec
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2005 - I'm very sorry to have some bad news for this update. My CD release is on hold - and I emphasize on hold, not cancelled - because my wife is in the midst of some serious health problems. I would rather not go into great detail about the problems at this time but they command much of my attention. While the recording and mixing is done for all of the songs on my album, if I released it now, I would not be able to concentrate enough on it. So I have decided to delay the release until I can give the relentless, aggressive, 100% effort that I demand of myself. Hopefully I can give that effort in the very near future.
Though the last few months haven't been the best or the easiest in my life, they have in no way broken my spirit, determination or optimism. But I'm a practical and realistic enough person to understand when I need to re-arrange my priorities in response to sudden changes.
I'll try to be back soon with another update, which hopefully will include a lot of good news. Thanks so much for your continued interest in me and my music and for hanging in there with me through the last few months. I promise, you'll be glad you did!
Keep the faith,
Lec
SUNDAY, JULY 10, 2005 - A million apologies for my disappearing act over the last 4 1/2 months. It's been a crazy time during which I've been dealing with a lot of personal things and haven't been online much. Right now it's a little after midnight on Sunday morning. I should be in the sack now but I'm squeezing in this update beucase, no pun intended, I don't want to keep you in the dark. I'm alive and I'm sane and I'm immensely looking forward to the future.
If you know much about me, you know that Jim Peterik has influenced me more than anyone else in music. His current band, Pride of Lions, has a spectacular song titled Unbreakable, which I've adopted as my theme song. This ultra-dramatic rocker, from POL's self-titled debut album, would have fit in very well in one of the Rocky movies. But its message goes much deeper than that. It is about staying strong, relentlessly persevering and aiming at triumph, even when faced with overwhelming hardship. The song, which might be my favorite that Jim has ever done, sums up my philosophy of life as much as any.
Unfortunately, the events of the last few months have delayed my album. But all the music on the album is recorded and mixed. And I'm going to release it this year if it's the last thing I ever do!
Thanks for hanging in there with me. I owe e-mail messages to several of you and I appreciate your patience. I will respond to you all as soon as I can. And even when you don't hear from me, I have nor forgotten about you!
My music is all about faith, hope and love. And with good reason. I'm about all of those things. My music encourages people to embrace those principles through adversity. And now I'm embracing them through adversity. And I look forward to sharing lots of good news with you in the future. I will close this update with a quote from the aforementioned Unbreakable.
"The hope that we hold is what keeps us alive"
Peace and love,
Lec
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2005 - The status of my album is still the same as it was when I gave you my last update nine days ago but there's another development that I'm pleased to tell you about!
I am about to begin working on material for a new album from an up and coming band called Seven Ten! This Chicago quartet recently released its debut album, Love & War, on Metal Mayhem Music but its guitarist and bass guitarist have since left the group.
I originally inquired about joining Seven Ten about 3-4 years ago upon seeing a want ad on MelodicRock.com but at the time, I resided in New Albany, Indiana, about 250 miles south of the band, and the position that went to someone else. But seeing that it was again vacant and now residing only about half the distance as before, I inquired again.
This evening I had a long phone conversation with Seven Ten's dynamic vocalist, Michael St. Allen, and I was amazed at how much we have in common musically. We plan to get together in the near future and work on new songs for the second Seven Ten album.
This is no way changes my career with The Lec Zorn Project but I think that working with Michael will help me grow as a songwriter and a musician. Seven Ten's music is largely '80s style metal. I very much enjoy that style but don't get into it on my soon to be released album. But I want to write and record in that style and this will give me a great opportunity to do that. I'm trying to branch out into more musical directions.
I've already written a lot of material for future albums and while it all has a melodic rock foundation, my newly written songs variably go further in several directions than anything on my first album - harder rocking, softer rocking and more prog.
Though I love the freedom of having my own project, I've always been open to the idea of being in a band under the right circumstances - 1) I would be working with people who I had a lot in common with musically 2) I would be working with people with whom I got along well and 3) I would have enough time away from the band to continue my carere with The Lec Zorn Project. It looks like Seven Ten might be that opportunity. I'm very excited about pursuing it and of course, I'll keep you updated on it!
Until next time, take good care of yourselves and each other and keep melodic rocking!
Lec
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2005 - There's not a lot of news on the album, but for once, that's good news! It means that the album is STILL done except for the bonus track interview and STILL scheduled for release in the Spring! So I wanted to assure you that everything is still on for the release! I expect the interview to be recorded no later than the first half of March. I think it will be a great enhancement to the album. I wish more artists did interview bonus tracks on their CDs.
I'm currently exploring the possibility of an album release party that might include a concert! Check back for details!
In addition to finishing the recording and mixing of my album, another musical milestone took place in my life in January! I was informed by one of my cousins-in-law and then confirmed through my research that I am related to Elvis Presley! If the information that I have is correct, Elvis is a half-sixth cousin of my paternal grandmother! The link is their great-great-great-great-grandmother, Elizabeth Jones, who was married twice. Elvis descended from one of her marriages, my paternal grandmother from the other. Here's how it works!
1. Richard Callaway + Elizabeth Jones Hoy.
2. Keziah Callaway + James French.
3. Theodosia French + James W Hood.
4. William A Hood + Mary Warren.
5. Minnie Mae Hood + Jesse M Presley.
6. Vernon Presley + Gladys Love Smith.
7. Elvis Aaron Presley
1. John Hoy + Elizabeth Jones 2. William Hoy + Sarah Callaway 3. Celia Hoy + John Newland 4. Richard T. Newland + Philadelphia DeBoe 5. Thomas DeBoe Newland + Eliza Ann Menefee 6. Nancy Brent Newland + Lloyd Casswell Kelly 7. Lucile Newland Kelly + Ott Benton McAtee 8. George Kelly McAtee + Janice Diane Wichmann 9. The Lecster!
So now we know where I got my rock and roll ambition and my deep voice! And that I'm a former in-law of Michael Jackson and Nicholas Cage! Maybe I'll use these newly discovered connections to try to get a free ticket to Graceland and get my kids a dream vacation at Neverland Ranch!
One more note before I close this update, in recent months I have decided to re-locate to Europe in the near future. I haven't decided which country yet nor an exact date but I hope it will be this year and certainly no later than next year. There are several reasons for my impending re-location and one of them is that the melodic rock market is far better in Europe than it is here in America. So to all of you Europeans who are reading this, I look forward to being your neighbor!
Though I strongly dislike its government, I love America and have had many great experiences here. But I'm also immensely looking forward to starting this exciting new chapter in my life. I hope that I'll be able to make it over to Europe in time for this year's Sweden Rock Festival or at least be able to visit long enough to attend that concert. But even if not, I plan to attend annually after my re-location and one of my biggest musical dreams is to perform at that festival someday! But whereever you are, I hope to perform there someday and see you there!
As always, it's a pleasure to share with you. Having this page for more than four years before the release of my debut album and yet still getting more than 6,500 visits in that time has been a very pleasant surprise. Knowing that so many people from around the world have taken an interest in me before the release of my album gives me a great feeling. And even if I never get as big as cousin Elvis or ex-cousin-in-law Michael, I hope to always exceed your expectations and it would be a tremendous honor to keep you as a die-hard fan throughout my career.
Thanks again for your interest. I'll probably be back with another update within a month and hopefully it will finally include a release date for It Began in the Underground!
Peace and love,
Lec
FRIDAY, JANUARY 14, 2005 - Belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you. As always, it's great to have you with me for yet another news update! This is my 18th news update on this page and it comes seven days before the fourth anniversary of the first news update. And finally, I have the news for you that I've loooooooooooooooooooooooooooong looked forward to telling you! Okay, brace yourselves to prepare for the shock!
Every musical track on my debut album, It Began in the Underground is DONE! All recorded and all mixed! What a spectacular feeling of triumph it is! Now the only thing left un-recorded is the album ending interview, which I hope to record within a week or two. I previously recorded an interview when I thought the album was nearly done but ended up making several changes. So I've decided to re-record the interview to reflect those changes.
So I'm now aiming at a Spring release for the album on both CD and download! And you can now download a sound sample of every song on the album! Just go to the main page to check them out! The newly added samples are The Rush of Passion's Fire, Play the Game Tonight, Second Chance (Alternate Version and Second Chance Outro. The latter is a late addition to the album which features a melody from Second Chance with just keyboards and vocals. Eric Ragno came up with the idea, presented it to me and I loved it! You can listen to the whole thing on the main page!
So now, with sound samples of every musical track on the album available, you should be able to get a pretty good idea whether you want to buy the album or not! And in case you are interested in owning some songs but not others, the songs will be available for individual download, too! But the bonus track interview will be released only on CD.
On to other news, I recently was one of several melodic rock artists who was interviewed by Lords of Metal on the very important subject of illegal downloading. Click here to read the interview!
Finally, I recently added a new section to my page titled Political/Social Resources. As those close to me know, I have a lot of strong political/social views. And while of my many friends around the world have a full range of ideologies and I don't force my beliefs on anyone, I do want to make known to all who are interested what I believe and why I believe it. This new section is my way of doing that. I feel that it's particularly important for me to do this because the media concentrate almost exclusively on the left and right and I'm neither.
But regardless of your views, we can still be friends. We can debate these issues vigorously but when we're done go get a pizza and watch a game together and still like each other. And you can still like my music!
As always, thanks for reading and thanks for hanging in there with me for so long! It's been worth the wait for me and hopefully for you, too!
I'll talk to you again soon!
Lec
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2004 - It's been a Long Time Coming, no pun intended! But now I'm entering the last lap and the checkered flag is waving. What can I say, residing in Indianapolis has affected my speech!
The biggest news right now is that my debut album, It Began in the Underground, is almost done! Yes, it's been almost done for three years now! But this time I promise, no more late additions to the album! I've been working on the album since March, 1995 and after almost 10 years and $20,000 spent on it, I'm ready to get the thing out!
I've decided to release the album on two formats - on CD and on download. Details on both coming soon. Individual songs from the album will also be available for download. Those who buy the CD will get a bonus track, an interview with me. I hope that the album will be available in January.
Getting back to my album, I'm pleased to announce the addition of three great musicians to it, all of whom were recruited by Michael Riesenbeck, the guitarist and mixer on three tracks from my album - The Rush of Passion's Fire, a cover of the Kansas classic Play the Game Tonight (I recorded this for a Kansas tribute album that is now on hold and decided to put it on my album) and an alternate version of Second Chance.
Featured on keyboards on all three songs is Eric Ragno of Vox Tempus and Takara. Eric is a phenomenal keyboardist who to me is a combination of Geoff Downes of Asia, Yes and The Buggles and Kevin Moore of Dream Theater and Chroma Key!
On vocals are Lars S�fsund from Sweden on The Rush of Passion's Fire and Play the Game Tonight and Phil Vincent, a well established solo artist, on the alternate version of Second Chance! Lars and Phil both have excellent ranges and strong deliveries! Thanks to Eric, Lars and Phil for their great work on my music and thanks to Michael for recruiting them for me!
Also, I'm pleased to inform you that you can already hear many songs from my album on Radio Free Bureaucrash! This new internet station is available for free! The station is a new branch of Bureaucrash, a page devoted to the libertarian philosophy. Radio Free Bureaucrash plays libertarian artists such as me plus songs that promote libertarian ideas. I warn you that most of the artists on this station are not melodic rock and most fit in with the trends of the day. But from the times that I've listened, I'm on there about once an hour. And I'm pleased that there are libertarian artists who perform music that fits in with the trends. They're in position to reach people who I'm not and vice versa.
Well, there's a lot that I'm looking forward to over these next few weeks and I'm about as excited now as I've ever been in my life. This whole process of nearly 10 years would not have been possible without my having a whole lot of faith in God,, faith in myself and relentless determination. The light at the end of the tunnel is now very bright and I urge you to pursue your dreams with the zeal and determination with which I have pursued mine.
I will probably be back very soon with some big news - and a much re-vamped look to my page. Until then, keep the faith and "keep you heart set upon going the distance."
Peace and Love,
Lec
THURSDAY, JULY 29, 2004 - Well. The Lec Zorn saga continues! I'm sorry to have taken over 3/4 of a year to get back to you but on the bright side, when you don't hear from me for a long time, it probably means that a lot of interesting things have been happening in my life!
Last December 14, my 33rd birthday, I got quite a spectacular present - my daughter Aria! She was definitely the best birthday present that I've ever had and adjusting to having a baby is part of the reason why I have been away for awhile. But I'm happy to say that my debut album is nearly done and I'm fairly certain that it will be out before the end of 2004!
And I'm very happy to inform you that I have a new sound sample from the album! It's for my song Second Chance, which I think might be the best song I've ever written! It's a very energetic and exhilarating pop rocker and the hook is the kind that I've loved for over 20 years and has been sorely missing from radio since the beginning of the grunge era 13 years ago!
This is just a short update but I'll be back with much more news very soon. I don't have a lot of time at the moment but I wanted to give you at least a short update to tell you that I'm still alive and well and that my album IS on the way out very soon! And by the way, this page is about to undergo a major renovation, which I think you will like! Hopefully the changes will have taken place by the time you check back!
Thanks for your patience over these last few months! I greatly appreciate it and hopefully when you hear my album, you will feel that it was worth the wait! Until we talk again, take good care of yourselves and your loved ones, be happy and keep melodic rocking!
Lec
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2003 - It's funny how life works out sometimes. So much so that I've almost reached the point of not being surprised by anything! A year ago at this time I was a family of one and figured that I would be for a long time to come, though I did hope to get married and have kids someday. But now I'm a family of four! I am pleased to announced that since my last update, I have married my beloved Shareeda "Sherri" Khan and am in the process of legally adopting her seven year old son, Joshua! And, as you might have figured from the "family of four" line, Sherri is pregnant! She is carrying a daughter who we have decided to name Aria!
These changes have been extremely overwhelming, but equally welcome! And as if that weren't enough, my new family and I have re-located to Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, which has been a very exciting move for us. We are looking forward to our future here as a family!
That doesn't mean I've given up on music. Far from it! In fact, I'm more motivated to create melodic rock and have success with it than I ever have been! And that's saying a lot! After all, I know have four hungry mouths to feed rather than just one! And my passion for melodic rock is as extreme as ever!
A lot has happened since last time and I will try to at least go over some of the major details of my career since my last update. And of course, I INTEND to give you a updates much more regularly in the future! Whether I actually accomplish that goal or not is another story! But even if I don't, I'm still thinking about you all!
My debut concert took place on Sunday, July 13, 2003 at The House Cafe + Music in Indianapolis as the opening act for the legendary melodic rock supergroup Asia! It was a dream come true to play a gig at all after many years of dreaming about it and even far more so that it came as the opening act for one of my favorite artists ever! I've been a die-hard Asia fan almost from the beginning and their self-titled debut album is my favorite album of all time!
I wasn't planning on playing live until the release of my album, but my longtime friend Jeff Matheus was the concert's promoter and when I got the opportunity to do this show, I couldn't say no! Because of lack of time, I wasn't able to put a full band together. But I recruited two other musicianians and we performed along to a CD of the other tracks. I'm immensely looking forward to playing with a full band as soon as possible, but the three man show with the CD was much better than nothing.
Jeff's and my longtime friend Marq Johansen of Crown Point, Indiana (near Chicago), who leads the prog/sci-fi project Marq Johansen's Universe played guitar in the concert. I met Marq six years earlier in Indianapolis at an Electric Light Orchestra concert - where I also met Jeff - and we had talked about working together but never got around to it until preparing for this show. I also acquied the services of a vocalist from Indianapolis who I had previously worked with in the studio and who I knew had lots of live experience. And I played bass guitar and performed harmony vocals.
Our set, which lasted about 25-30 minutes, was comprised of, in order, Lecoverture, Long Time Coming, Play the Game Tonight (Kansas cover), Second Chance and Going the Distance. The show, which was scheduled for the unusual time of 3:00 p.m. to fit the venue's hours of operation, was delayed for about 90 minute due to the room being accidentally booked for a late morning/early afternoon church service.
Musically, the show mostly went well. Marq kicked major butt and I think I did pretty well considering that it was my first concert. I made a few rookie mistakes, but nothing that won't be solved by doing a few shows. Though I was a little nervous a few hours before the concert, I surprisingly felt completely relaxed throughout the concert, both performing and talking to the audience. I guess that's a sure sign that I'm a natural melodic rock performer!
The one big downer of the show was the vocalist who I hired. He was a disaster. He obviously had not adequately prepared for the show. He wrote out all of the lyrics and looked down at them while singing and stil managed to get many of them wrong. He also seemed to have drunk too much beer shortly before going on stage. And to top it off he interrupted my talking two or three times during the concert, once with a rude comment. He didn't ruin the concert but he definitely hurt it.
Because of his residing in Indianapolis, having a good singing voice and being a veteran performer, I thought I was making a good choice. I was completely wrong. I made a rookie mistake that I will do everything in my power to never repeat. I apologize to all who attended the concert and as a way of expressing my apology, your ticket from that show may be used for free admission to a future Lec Zorn concert of your choice.
Still, sharing the stage with Asia was a huge thrill, especially for my first concert. It was literally a Rock and Roll Dream. And after previously attending 122 concerts, it was great to finally be on the stage rather than in the audience. And despite the vocalist, my set still received moderate applause, which I consider very encouraging under the circumstances. And I hope to open for Asia again someday under better circumstances. As for their performance, it was a two man set featuring Geoff Downes on keyboards and John Payne on vocals and guitar. On Asia's recently albums, Geoff and John and been the group's only two permanent members and have used session players to fill out their sound.
Geoff and John delivered an excellent, intimate performance that featured I think only electrical instruments, thus giving their show a much fuller sound than an acoustic set. Their set was balanced and featured at least two songs from all seven of their albums of new material and some of the songs were much different than their studio versions. On a few of the songs, I wasn't crazy about the live versions, but overall, I enjoyed their concert very much. And they recorded it for an upcoming DVD release.
Sadly, only about 45 people attened the concert, which was given very little publicity from the local media. It also hurt that Boston had a show scheduled that night just a few miles away. But those who were there seemed to have a great time, including my friend of 13 years Robert Landrum who returned to his home state to see my first concert as well as to see Asia for the first time ever. This was especially appropriate as he and I often listened to Asia together in the early '90s.
At the end of the concert, Geoff and John presented Jeff with a plaque to thank him for putting the show together, then chatted with the fans, signed autographs and posed for pictures. I met them then as I had before the show and they were among the nicest people I've ever met in music. I met them briefly at my only previous Asia concert, in Cincinnati, Ohio on November 28, 1992 but was able to talk to them much more extensively this time.
The meet and greet session was immediately followed by a dinner across the parking lot at an O'Charley's bar and grill restaurant. Geoff and John, their two man road crew, Jeff and his wife Beverly, Marq, his wife Debbie, son James and manager Michelle Gussow, Robert, Sherri and I attended. It was a nice blend of good food and good conversation. It was a great way to cap off the day.
But shortly after returning home that night, I became violently ill for one of the few times in my adult life. I vomited profusely, which is very unusual for me, especially being a very healthy, athletic person who drinks no alcohol. I ate a hamburger at O'Charley's, as did at least two of the other people there and I don't think either of them got sick, so I doubt it was food poisoning. Sherri told me she thinks it was a combination of my pre-show nervousness and going about 12 hours that day without eating. That's probably as good a guess as any. But anyway, I didn't miss a day of work because of it and I was fully recovered in a few days!
Sadly, my friend Cyril Povyshev of Ekaterinburg, Russia was unable to attend the concert. Cyril was heartbroken to miss Asia's concerts in Moscow in 1990, which are featured on their CD and video Live Moscow, released outside the USA as Live Mockba. Cyril and his wife Nadya have been residing in Pittsburgh for about two years now and I invited him to not only attend the concert but also to introduce me to the audience. But hopefully he'll do that at my next concert, which hopefully will be soon!
I'm also pleased to tell you that I appear on three new CDs! In my last update, I told you about my song You Keep Me in the Dark being on the Munich's Hardest Hits CD sampler Melodic Rock is Back Volume 3! That CD is now available and in addition I'm on three other new CDs! My song Long Time Coming is on the brand new sampler Melodic Rock is Back Volume 4! Long Time Coming is also included on a bonus CD that was included with pre-orders of the debut album from MelodicRock.com! And like on Melodic Rock is Back Vol. 3, my song is featured right next to a song from none other than Jim Peterik of Survivor!
If you read what I expressed in the last update about being being on an album with Jim and especially one song next to him, just imagine how I feel for that to have happened twice in the same year! And making it even more special is that on the CD, Long Time Coming immediately precedes what might be my favorite song ever from Jim, Sweet Revenge, which was previously unreleased. Sweet Revenge is an awesome rhythmically persuasive rocker. It's one of the few songs that I can play the song over and over and never get tired of it. And Joshua is obsessed with the song, too, and dances passionately to it! I unashamedly acknowledge that Long Time Coming is only my second favorite song on the CD!
And also on the CD is a song from Michael Riesenbeck, the Dutch guitarist who plays on my song The Rush of Passion's Fire. And speaking of Michael, I make my session debut on his brand new debut album, Shouting Silence! I play synthesizer on the album's song Heart of Stone. Other guests on the album include marquee melodic rockers Jeff Pilson of Dokken, Tony O'Hora of Praying Mantis and Phil Vincent! It's a great honor to be in such company! As for the album, it's a great collection of melodic rock with some prog leanings!
And now it's time for more details of the tribute album mentioned in the last update! It's a tribute to Kansas and my contribution is Play the Game Tonight, a song I've always loved for several reasons, particularly its power and intensity! I play synthesizer and bass guitar on the song, Michael plays guitar and Ivan Arnold plays drums. I'm undecided on a vocalist. Also, the song features my first ever synthesizer solo. I worked hard preparing it and hope that it is the first of many solos in my career. I have never been a flashy instrumentalist and consider my main musical strength by far to be my songwriting. But hopefully my instrumental skills will keep getting better!
As of right now, I'm anticipating a release of my album, It Began in the Underground and its first single, Second Chance, in early 2004. And I hope that it will be worth the wait for all of you!
As always, thanks so much for hanging in there with me, even through the periods of silence. I greatly appreciate your support. This site turned three years old on Sept. 2 and a few days ago, it received its 5,000th visit. That's a very good number for an artist whose debut album has yet to be released.
I will hopefully be back soon with more news! Until then, may God bless you with all good things.
Your friend,
Lec
FRIDAY, APRIL 25, 2003 - Wow! I'm not sure where to begin! I'm astonished knowing that it's been 235 days since my last update! Never did I imagine that I would ever have a gap anywhere near that long! I apologize profusely for the extremely long delay, but when you read this whole update, I hope you'll feel it was worth the wait!
The last 235 days have definitely been the best of my life both musically and personally! I'll start off with the musical stuff! First of all, by the time you read this, my first ever commercial release will probably be available! On March 25, 2003, a major milestone took place in my life as I finally signed my first record contract! It was with Munich's Hardest Hits for the CD sampler Melodic Rock is Back Volume 3!
The people at MHH contacted me early this year, telling me that they had heard my music, liked it and wanted to use one of my songs on the sampler! I would have been pleased by the invitation under any circumstances, but was particularly happy about it because I had never contacted with them. They initiated the whole thing, which tells me that they really like my music.
I sent them a CD-R of eight almost final versions of songs from my album and they chose to include You Keep Me in the Dark, which many people cite as their favorite song on the album!
Just to be on the album was a big thrill for me, but then, upon reading the album's track listing on the MHH web page, I noticed that one of the other featured artists is none other one of my two biggest songwriting heroes, Jim Peterik of Survivor! And my song is immediately before Jim's on the CD! It would be hard for me to overstate what a tremendous honor it is to be on the same CD as Jim, a man who has created so many melodic rock masterpieces and been quite possibly my biggest musical influence! Man, what a trip! (By the way, my other biggest songwriting hero is Kerry Livgren of Kansas!)
I remember 20 years ago, as a 12-year old 6th grader growing up in the small Ohio River town of Madison, Indiana, USA, I bought a vinyl copy of Survivor's Eye of the Tiger album. It was only the second album I ever bought, the first being Rod Stewart's Tonight I'm Yours! (Pay attention, people! This stuff is important and might even end up on a Trivial Pursuit card someday!) I can only imagine how I would have felt then had I known that 20 years later, I would end up on an album with one of those guys!
Also on the sampler is another melodic rock legend, my fellow Hoosier Henry Lee Summer! And 13 other melodic rock artists are featured as well, making this a 16 song CD! So buy it and discover some great new melodic rock for the third millennium!
And of course, I'm hoping that my album will be released very shortly after the sampler! I've been in touch with several melodic rock companies in Europe and hope to announce a signing very soon!
I'm now aiming for an early Summer release of my album. Of course, that does mark another delay, unfortunately, but I think it will be well worth it! The album was delayed most recently due to illness of guitarist Tommy Denander. But a lot of good has come out of it. I have added an intense rocker to the album, titled The Rush of Passion's Fire. I wrote this song from last Summer to just a few weeks ago and had intended to put it on my second album, but decided to use the extra time to include it on this one! It's one of my favorite songs that I've ever written and I wanted to go ahead and get it done! Playing guitar on the song is Michael Riesenbeck and playing drums is Ivan Arnold. Ivan works at Canyon Studios, where I've recorded my tracks for this album, and producer Chris Cassetta recommended him to me. And Ivan did not disappoint me! In addition to TROPF, Michael and Ivan join me on a song for an upcoming tribute CD to a melodic rock legend! More details in the near future!
And performing vocals on TROPF, the tribute song and the other vocal songs on my album is Casey Michels of the Indianapolis melodic rock/metal group Kidd Comet! Upon seeing my posting on http://www.melodicrock.com that I was looking for a vocalist for the tribute CD, Casey's manager contacted me, recommending Casey to me, and, upon my request, sent me a tape of his vocals.
I was very impressed, especially with his phenomenal range. He reminds me of a combination of Jon Bon Jovi, Geoff Tate of Queensryche and Tony Harnell of TNT and Westworld! So I hired Casey for the tribute song and ended up deciding to also hire him for TROPF and the other vocal songs on the album!
My original concept for this album was to have two lead vocalists collaborating on many of the songs. I had originally drifted away from that idea after hiring Tracy White. But hearing Casey's vocals changed my mind and I decided to add his vocals to the songs that feature Tracy. The two now split the lead vocals about equally and I also decided to improve upon some lyrics.
One other note from the studio, last Tuesday, I did my first ever session gig, playing keyboards on a new song from Michael Riesenbeck, which hopefully will be included on his upcoming debut album!
Back to my album, I hope to have some release information very soon, so be sure to check back for updates! I'm more excited about my album than I ever have been and really believe that melodic rock is in prime condition to make a comeback and get back on top, where it belongs! And to be at the forefront of its comeback would be awesome! I've kept the faith for 11 1/2 years now since the grunge revolution began, even in those dark pre-internet years in which I thought I was the only melodic rocker left in the world, and I'm not going to stop now!
On to a few non-musical notes before I close this out, you might have seen me on ESPN on September 26! I was among the thousands of maniacs celebrating Louisville's shocking and dramatic 26-20 overtime victory over Florida State! I was hoping to be a part of tearing down the goal posts, but my seat was near the top of the stadium and by the time I got down on the field, I was too far away! But I did touch one of the goal posts on the way down and it was cool to be in such a scene of pandemonium for the first time!
But that's a minor incident compared to this item! I'm very happy and proud to announce my engagment to my beloved Shareeda "Sherri" Khan! She was worth all the years of Starting All Over Again and the pain that I went through in past relationships! I'm immensely looking forward to my future with her and her seven year old son, Joshua! I hope to have more details on this matter in the near future!
Finally, I'll close out on a lightweight note! It's good to every once in a while take a break from all the crap of the world and just get a good laugh! And I recently discovered a site that helps me do that! And no matter what your political views are, I think you'll get a kick out of Dancing Bush! By the way, for the record, I'm a member of the Libertarian Party.
I send you a mildly belated Happy Easter and a much belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! And I'll do my best to make sure that I'm back with another update long before next Christmas! Until then, keep the faith!
