No matter how much or how often things get screwed up, KE will not throw in the towel. There is One who set out this path. He will open this doors in His own time.  We continue to get hits and sell CDs on CB Baby, and are finally getting some download sales. But it looks like we will not be ready to play for a couple of months at least, and the Dec. 11 date may be cancelled as were Oct. 25 and Nov. 14.

It's eye-opening, though to find out how many more great bands and prog/fusion artists are out there, having found Pete Levin (Tony Levin's brother) today, a wonderful jazz organist and as you know, every good B-3 player is like a brother to me even if I haven't met him. I look at his career, and I am amazed I never heard of him. His tone is so pure. And he plays great left hand bass, something I also excel at but never use any more, and something which is a strength of the instrument. 

As I sit here on an overcast Saturday morning with honey-do chores waiting for me, I can't help thinking that even though I am riding in time on one level, someday everyone will see the children!

Feel free to write.
Mike V.

Our dear friend and bass guitarist Tony D'Amato has informed us that, due to situations in his life that have changed, he is unable to continue with Kinetic Element. Tony has been a tremendous help to us, stepping up to the plate to replace Matt Harris in 2008 just in time to save our appearance at the Prog Day Pre-Show, and helping us put together new music and record Powered by Light. We'll miss him.

We're working with a bassist who I'll introduce when the time is right, but unfortunately it's become apparent that we won't be ready in time to play Orion Studios on Nov.14 so we've had to cancel this show, which we wanted very much to play. Tony is playing his farewell show with us at The Camel in Richmond on Oct. 25.

We hope to reschedule Orion when the time is right.
Meantime please do check out our new CD Powered by Light, which can be purchased from the band by writing me (here or at bigroad3@gmail.com) or from CD Baby at www.cdbaby.com/cd/kineticelement.

God bless you all!
Mike V.

PROG DAY 2009 ... what can I tell you, when you get to see 8 great progressive rock brother bands over two days, get a vendor table to sell  you own band's new CD, sit next to a musical brother band Farpoint and chew the fat and get great food, meet great people, cement new friendships, all because of the passion that we all share for Prog, how can it get better than that short of Christ's return?! Man was it a great weekend. Look up Prog day to see who played, plenty of music at www.progday.net, and I'm tellin' you as great as Ozric Tentacles was my favorite was Deluge Grander.

Kinetic Element sold a BUNCH of CDs, and got tremendous positive feedback from the ones who bought on Saturday and relayed their impressions Sunday. Now it's back to marketing to you, the progressive rock consumer, to get you to listen a little closer amidst all the other great music in our genre. Thanks for spending time with us. All the pre-orders have been mailed out so THANKS to everyone who entrusted us with a check, your CD will be arriving soon.

We're trying to get back into rehearsal mode but Michael has developed pain in his bass drum foot and is going to get checked out. Any of you inclined to pray, please send some up from Michael as he is the pulse of Kinetic Element.

We believe we'll be seeing you soon.

We're in this prog together
Mike (the mad organist) Visaggio

The new CD sounds simply awesome. I officially pronounce it so. Now comes the hard part: getting you guys to buy it, getting you to talk about us and about the CD on the prog forums, getting you to give it a shot and see if it doesn't measure up to the standards progressive rock fans have. The bar is high. The effort was huge. The playing is excellent. Even my much-criticized vocals sound great thanks to John Morand at Sound of Music. We're somewhere among Kansas, Yes, The Moody Blues, UK, and Spock's Beard.

We are taking pre-orders for an anticipated release date of Sept. 5. New master versions of four songs are available to listen to at www.sonicbids.com/kineticelement.
We are asking $12 plus $3 shipping and handling for a total of $15 which we believe is competitive. Just drop me a note here with your request and I'll get back with you ASAP. When the manufacturing is finished it will be on CD Baby and other sites where you can use a credit card. 

Thanks for following this rock and roll fantasy of ours and helping us get over the proverbial hump... and God bless you

Mike (the mad organist) Visaggio

Well we had 19 amazing days in Sound of Music Studio but in the end the mixes did not quite come out right, and some adjustments need to be made. So we're going back into SOM on July 20, the first day they have open. Believe with us that all can be done in 3 days, and mastering can happen with a few days after, so manufacturing can be done in early August and we will have Powered by Light in hand at the Prog Day festival in Chapel Hill NC over Labor Day weekend. No we are not performing (unless the miraculous follows us around like it did last year) but we will have a vendor table and we look forward to meeting a lot of friends there.

The mellotron track really enhanced this record, they give me chills listening to them. OK we overdid the Mellotron Choir on See the Children, we're gonna fix it. Todd's work on new song Reconciliation (which we wrote and arranged with Tony last October) is just breathtaking.

Hope to see you all Labor Day weekend.
Mike V.

Have a look ..... all from Friday 5/24 .... in the Pics section!

Well Murfreesboro was a learning experience and that's all I am going to say about it ...

Waiting for Todd to come back from Italy to rehash the shows, and we have booked Sound of Music Studios here in Richmond for late May and early June to FINALLY record Powered by Light!  Intense rehearsals will be held to weed out the chaff and coax the wheat into full bloom.

Stay tuned.  I believe even as it was told me.

Kinetic Element gets back to the stage this coming Tuesday after going through six months of ups and downs due to personnel issues and personal issues and we are very excited to shift back into the high range.

I will be updating this site with new pics as soon as we can get some, because we are now a quartet with the addition of Todd Russell on guitar.  This addition pushes us a bit towards Yes/Genesis in sound and away from ELP.  I wanted to get a guitarist when KE was founded but somehow we never found a player who could do it or wanted to be part of it here in Richmond.  After awhile I decided who needs a guitarist? and we forged ahead as a trio which forced me to ratchet up my skills on the keys, which I relished because I wanted to see whether I could pull it off.  So far it has worked.

But last November Todd found us on Craigslist, sent me some files of his classical and jazz playing and a note that said he wanted to play prog.  So we gave him a shot and the result is a new Kinetic Element.  When we finally get into the studio he will be recording Powered by Light, and the suite and other songs will take on a new dimension.

Likewise our bassist Tony D'Amato gives us a different feel on the bottom.  He's doing a lot of Matt's old parts but is a bit more adventuresome, shall we say, on the high end of the bass.  And of course founding member Michael Murray on drums will be there classically progging his way around his huge kit.

It's been a long six months since ProgDay last August and I felt often that it might not be worth the fight.  I think we are now ready to resume the quest for prog world recognition.  I hope you will join us.

God bless us every one
Mike Visaggio

Happy New Year to all my friends around the world!

I'm sorry about being late, I think I was supposed to say this LAST night, but here we are in 2009 and time marches on!  In a lot of ways it's "good riddance" to 2008 and we're all walking into unknown territory in a world that looks like it's going to be remade for better or worse.  One thing's for sure though, progressive rock is going to be with us, and Kinetic Element will be making some. 

I'd like to direct you to the first actual review I have seen posted for "The Powered by Light Suite."  The link is:
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=101175508&blogID=457696225
A fine gentleman named Assaf has reviewed it.  He is published on a number of prog sites, and my old friend Floyd at www.progressiveears.com has also reviewed it but due to technical difficulties at the site, cannot post it yet.
The EP is available from me directly at this time.

May God prosper all your undertakings in 2009. 
Mike Visaggio

To everything there is a season.  A goodly number of unforeseen setbacks have slowed down Kinetic Element in 2008 and caused our Powered by Light project to be pushed out into 2009.  Things we thought would lead to bigger opportunities have not done so as yet.  But as Christmas season sets in and we go on yet another break due to the absence of one member and the illness of another, perhaps some reflection is due.

Kinetic Element has still done more than I ever expected to do in music, the progressive rock world has some idea of who we are even if by and large they aren't yet motivated to buy mass quantities of our CDs, and we have begun working in a guitarist named Todd Russell from here in the Richmond area.  So we are headed for quartet status.  There may be a vocalist in our near future as well.  This means we'll have to re-do all of Powered by Light adding guitar tracks to what we have recorded of the Suite and recording three more pieces with guitar more integrated into the tapestry.

All four of us wish all of you the most blessed and happy of Christmases, as for those who celebrate other Winter holiday themes, our best wishes go out to you.

Please have a good long listen to the music here and at www.mikevisaggio.com and drop me a note with your reactions.  Also see our videos on Youtube.

Thanks and God bless us every one
Mike V.

KINETIC ELEMENT
Mike Visaggio   keyboards and vocals
Tony D'Amato   bass
Michael Murray drums and vocals
Todd Russell     guitars