Just a quick word to point you to our photos section.  This past weekend Kirk, Shawn and I attended and met up for the first time in a year at the fantastic North East Art Rock Festival in Bethlehem, PA.  http://www.nearfest.com VDGG played on Friday night and simply "scorched the Earth".  We had the pleasure of thanking them for the musical inspiration after the show and got a few choice pics.  If you know the history of this band and it's inspirations you probably know that this was a special moment for us.  Maybe even pivotal.  Time will tell, but I smell some new music in the wind.... Stay tuned.

-Sean

Hi folks-

Thanks for tuning in and enjoying the music from our self titled EP.  Those are the only four songs we have officially released but some others are kicking around. 

I ran across some old mixes of a few rare things pre-EP.  While we produced crafted pieces there was always an improv/experimental side to the group too.  Pentatonic Lighting is the most obvious example as it was an improv that wound up on the EP.

I have uploaded another which is a bit odder,  called Tone Row.  It's a piece based on Arnold Schoenberg's 12 tone music- very loosely.  Where you make a melody using all 12 notes in the chromatic scale, but you cant repeat any until you use them all.  It makes for a pretty dense, tonally ambiguous sound. 

The other is called First Jam Ever and was on one of the first evenings I played with the band, I think I brought my 8 track and captured it.  It's just a little thing, more about mood than anything, though there is a bit of cool playing on it. If anything it shows we had instant chemistry.  I added this for shits and giggles. 

Dave is on Tone Row, First Jam Ever is Woody.... And Pentatonic Lighting is Carlos!

-Sean/Guitar

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Reviews

Mindworm - Top row: Shawn Malone (drums, percussion and engineering), Sean Tonar (guitars) Bottom row: Rob Grabel (aux keys, percussion), Woody Crawford (bass), Kirk Barnes (vocals and keyboards) Mindworm is an Atlanta, Georgia based band playing symphonic prog. They have so far released an EP consisting of three studio cuts ("Trolley", "Movin' In Movin' Out" and "Out of Uniform") and a fourth tune ("Pentatonic Lightning") that is more of a free-form jam. All the songs are good, but the improv cut is quite different in texture and style from the composed studio pieces. There are two other improv cuts available on their web site. Although I've enjoyed the improvised material, it is in the composed pieces that Mindworm shines. It's pretty clear that Mindworm has been influenced by Genesis, particularly in "Trolly", and more particularly in "Trolly"'s vocals which are a dead ringer for Peter Gabriel. But they can be forgiven for this, since "Trolly" is a killer tune with lots of great twists and turns and each band member gets their chance to shine. The other two cuts are less blatantly Genesis-like, and also feature some nice vocal harmonies. Occasionally Phreeworld's vocal stylings come to mind. They sound absolutely nothing like that other Atlanta prog band, Timothy Pure, so there's certainly no "Atlanta sound" thing going on here. In fact, to read their web site, it was quite difficult to find several people in Atlanta with a similar enough vision to put this band together. Given what I've seen in my part of the country (North Texas), I can believe it. This EP is a good omen of things to come, since the band is currently working on a full-length album of composed tunes. With regards to the improv stuff, Sean Tonar told me, "It's almost like a jekyll/hyde thing at the moment. I am tempted to make a whole CD of improvs and release it under a different band name even though it is still Mindworm". But the album will focus on composed pieces. I'll be looking forward to it ... the EP promises much, but has a few warts in the production which will hopefully go away on a "real" album. I'll be looking forward to hearing it! -- Fred Trafton

http://www.gepr.net/mas.html#MINDWORM

Member: Jayburd (Profile) (All Album Reviews by Jayburd)
Date: 6/11/2002
Format: CD (Album)

At long last Mindworm, the progressive rock band hailing from the Atlanta area has released their first independent recording. A four song EP available for sale soon. According to guitarist Sean Tonar this debut release is "a musical convergence that was ten plus years in the making."

The CD opens with "Trolley," a superbly performed and arranged composition, using many classic progressive rock sounds. It is also a tune with a few recognizable shades of Genesis, thanks to the Gabrielesque vocal style and Banksian keyboard playing of Kirk Barnes. However, the sounds coming from Shawn Malone's drum kit and Sean's eclectic approach to the guitar offset the ability to make too many Genesis comparisons. The middle section, a quiet instrumental interlude not uncommon in classic symphonic prog, makes for very interesting dynamics and, in terms of style, turns the piece into mini prog epic. The obligatory flanged backwards cymbal crash brings us back to the song proper and it ends with Kirk's heartfelt singing giving way to Sean's equally intense guitar soloing, nicely framed by the tight rhythm section.

After hearing "Trolley" for the first time one might assume that Mindworm is just a Genesis soundalike band. One would be wrong to make that assumption. In order for a band to be truly progressive the music must not fall into a pattern of sameness from song to song and Mindworm is far from doing that. Their adventurous musical exploration is evident in the less accessible but more experimental "Out of Uniform," which is the second song on the EP. The first half of this piece is an instrumental intro peppered with tasteful shifts in tempo and captivating interplay between guitar and keyboards. The second half is two short verses and choruses sung by Kirk. Very poignant lyrics commenting on the never trite topic of the futility of war. "They say we're winning this game of chess whose pawns are human lives. We fight for freedom. What do you think they say on the other side?"

The third tune on the EP is the superlative "Movin' In, Movin'Out" which has the rare virtue of being accessible and experimental at the same time. Definitely the crown jewel of the set. A little funk here, some time shifting there, and a touch of reggae thrown in for good measure makes for a wonderful musical concoction which reminds me of everything and nothing at the same time. On different listening occasions I've noted similarities to bands as diverse as Earth Wind and Fire, Deep Purple, Steely Dan, Dixie Dregs, and Gentle Giant. The Hammond organ intro paves the way to an out and out funky verse highlighted by the clavinet sound. Kirk's singing in the chorus section is complimented nicely by Sean's harmonized guitar "trilling" followed by a Ritchie Blackmore-like descending chromatic lick. This is an infectious tune which is well suited to be an AOR radio hit. Provided, of course, you can find a radio station with the foresight and the guts to play it.

The final number is an improvisational piece called "Pentatonic Lightning." An apt title because of Sean's use of the pentatonic scale on the guitar and the fact that the song was recorded during a lightning storm. Happily, no musicians were harmed during this recording. The title also fits because the band truly catches lightning in a bottle with this performance. One of those rare moments when the musicians can anticipate each others moves and effectively make original music on the spot. Here a big bass line, frenetic drumming, and tasteful keyboard orchestrations set the backdrop for the guitar to explore the space allowed by the pentatonic scale. The only overdubbing in this piece is the appropriate Wakemanesque keyboard soloing at the end performed by Shawn Malone.

Overall the first Mindworm EP is a very enjoyable musical sojourn. The only problem is it's too brief. This listener is left wanting to hear more...

http://www.progressiveears.com/asp/reviews.asp?albumID=1701