Rock Keyboardist Eric Ragno News Page






		June 18, 2008 Well school is out, our bags are packed and we've got a bunch of people lined up to hang out at our house for awhile. It's time to hit the east coast. It's been an eventful month, all leading up to the King of Prussia show next weekend. I am posting the flyer here one last time, and I hope to see you there. I'll be playing with both Ted Poley (Danger Danger) and Eric Martin (Mr. Big), and there are enough family and friends coming out to make this something really special. I hope to see you there. : )


		Other than that, what's going on? I had an awesome Father's Day, and the kids really took care of me this year! It was really special, and it makes me step up my efforts to make my kids feel as loved and special as I possibly can! Everything else takes a back seat...which is why I'm pretty happy to be taking them all with me for this batch of shows. Leaving them while I was on tour in April was not easy at all - I take this a little more to heart than others, maybe because my kids are so small and have already suffered so much loss. It feels good to be their daddy.


		There were a series of bootlegs popping up online from the shows we did in Europe with Graham Bonnet. A lot of people are making money off of these unauthorized recordings, to the point that even the band has released their own unauthorized bootleg, using my photographs as bonus features! Everyone seems to be cashing in on this except myself and Graham. I spent a bit of time fretting over it - Graham HATES this sort of thing, so they even released it the day he flew to Finland so he wouldn't find out! When questioned, they stated that they would be pulling the boots by the time Graham came home so there is nothing anyone can do about it.		Down to Prague


		Pretty frustrating...these were our friends mind you. But the only people profiting from these bootlegs are at home burning bad copies on their home computers, while Graham & I have moved on and are out doing higher profile shows with other people (that will probably be bootlegged as well. lmao) So I can stay home and sweat it, or keep making the music you love...tough call eh? The quality of the recordings I've found aren't very good, but between You Tube and the boot sites (and a series of torrents from what I understand), it's easy enough to get this same content for free. I would ask you to please avoid them...but if you really have to have a souvenir from the tour (and you can't see spending $40 for a Japanese import of a German performance!) then e-mail me and I will hook you up.		Graham & I survey the troops (photo courtesy of Eva)


		Frontiers Records has begun their advance press on the upcoming From the Inside album, and have posted some sound samples here. Their release is here: Frontiers Records is pleased to announce the release of FROM THE INSIDE second album "Visions" on August 1st 2008. FROM THE INSIDE is the project that marked the start of the cooperation between legendary Melodic Rock singer Danny Vaughn (Tyketto) and Frontiers Records. Released in September 2004, the first album was welcomed with great acclaim from both fans and press and it finally brought Danny back to the classic Melodic Rock sounds. Together with producer Fabrizio Grossi (Glenn Hughes, Starbreaker) he was able to put together a finely crafted and top quality contemporary Melodic Rock release. In the winter of 2007, Danny and Frontiers Records President Serafino Perugino once again discussed the production of a true Melodic Rock record in the vein of classic Journey and Tyketto that could follow in the footsteps of the successful debut - From The Inside. Fab Grossi was again recruited and the two of them worked on the songwriting, along with keyboardist Eric Ragno. Danny says: "I always like the idea of a challenge that steps outside of what I normally do. I have to approach the writing and performing of the songs from a different angle than I would with my own stuff. Fabrizio and I set out some guide lines of the type of songs that we wanted to do and we kept coming back to the idea of doing an album with a real Journey vibe. How challenging is that? Having just come off tour with Journey themselves, I was in the right frame of mind to do that and I think the 6 songs that he, Eric and I wrote together really show what we're capable of. "From The Inside" was a very successful album with my fans, so I was very interested in trying another one. Let's see what they think!"


		The songs were later complemented by additional killer tracks penned especially for the album by Tom and James Martin (of Khymera, Ted Poley and House of Lords fame), with "Love Is No Stranger" by Joey Carbone (Joseph Williams) later added to the album, thus completing the tracklisting. Recording sessions finished in the winter of 2008 with Jimi Bell (House of Lords), handling guitar duties and Peter Lobo on drums. Tommy Hansen (TNT, Jorn, Pretty Maids, Helloween etc) took care of the mix in April. The result is a truly amazing Melodic Rock album with a harder edge: a flawless collection of extremely well-written songs, with tight musicianship and the vocals... well, this just may be Danny Vaughn's greatest vocal performance to date. "Visions" will absolutely take your breath away. A must have release for 2008! Final tracklisting includes: Light Years (also available on ROCK THE BONES vol. 6 sampler cd and specially available for prelistening in streaming on www.myspace.com/frontiersrecords page for the week); Making Waves; If It's Not Love; Listen To Your Heart; Love Is No Stranger; 21st Century; Days Of Hunger; Visions; Moment To Moment; One More Night In Heaven; Push Me Off; Telemetry.


		I guess that's it for now. I've been working on the new Los Angeles album with Fabrizio, and it is going strong. I've been hearing from Angelmilk Records on a regular basis now that the Vox Tempus re-release is imminent. And I've lined up some exciting things for July that I will get into once I get home! For now I'm headed off to the Jersey Shore to kick off Summer! See you in PA!




		May 29, 2008 Wow - May is practically over! After a few weeks of winding down from Europe, I've had some trouble finding my groove again. I continue to do maintenance on this site (thanks to input from the brilliant Kim Dyer!) and have made more additions to my Video page. Thanks to everyone who has sent in these great clips! There has been a lot going on, and I've made several attempts to document it all here - it just takes forever! lol Rather than procrastinate into June, I'm just gonna throw it all out there. : )		at the Brandenburg Gate on the Berlin border


		A lot has happened since we got home from the tour. Amidst it all was a bit of he said/they said stuff between Graham Bonnet & the band, regarding the cancellation of the Russian dates over insufficient funds. A few rock sites reached me for comment, and in an exclusive to melodicrock.com I tried to be fair about the situation. Still the drama escalated. The more dust that gets kicked up, the more music fans (and rock websites) contact me for details - and I've honestly tried to avoid it. Graham feels we should just move on, and I agree. The tour suffered from some unfortunate business decisions, which were not based from malice but from general inexperience. In the end, it was a business decision, not a personal decision or any kind of difficulty issues, that caused the cancellation of any future tour dates. I hope that puts it to rest. If not, just e-mail me and I will sidestep your questions as best I can. : )		onstage with Graham Bonnet


		My current focus is a set of dates with my insane friend Ted Poley (Danger Danger). We'll be doing a concert-in-the-park in Pennsylvania, and are working out some warm-up stuff beforehand. I'm looking forward to working again with my good buddy Vic Rivera (and finally hearing my work on the Poley/Rivera record?) and recreating that same magic with Ted that we did on his Smile album. If you can make it out, please stick around for the Eric Martin set - there will be some surprises, and Eric's band has now invited me to join that set also.		The Annex will be there...shouldn't you?


		In the meantime I've been catching up with some old projects and revisiting some old friends. From time to time I'd get mail from Dre Allen, who I toured with in 2004 along with his lovely wife Dawn Robinson (En Vogue). I've been laying down some keyboards for both of their upcoming albums, which has been a nice change of pace. These two are like long last family for me, and I'm thrilled to be working with them again. I didn't know that Dre has been dropping little previews on his My Space page. Here was one of them: Hey guys...go to my music player & listen to the progress on the first major recording of my new album The Rehab! It's starting to really sound like a hit now...today we will be laying the drums & mixing it! I brought in my good friend Eric Ragno to lay strings & some other things...I think we have a winning combination! I have to beg his ass to finish the record with me...LOL...well...thats my daily studio update...listen & let me know what you think!		with Dre Allen & Dawn Robinson, 2004


		I've been reading some excellent reviews on the new album I've done with Germany's Michael Bormann (Jaded Heart). Fireworks Magazine is running the first single Glory And Pain (one of three songs we did together) on their monthly covermount CD in issue#32. (Get magazine ordering info here.) The first pressing has already sold out in pre-sales (the official release isn't until the end of this week!). In the meantime, Melodic Rock.com has posted a profile of the new album Capture the Moment, along with soundclips. More info on Mike's website.


		I had dinner last weekend with Dan Reed from Vox Tempus, in from Colorado. We talked about our album's re-release this summer on Angelmilk Records. This deal was announced months ago, and in fairness we've been paid. We're just waiting for the label to do their thing. Meanwhile the band lost its web domain (nice work Ray!) so our primary web home now is our My Space page. Hell, isn't that what all you kids do now anyway?		Vox Tempus


		Speaking of Vox, our old friend and super-drummer Gregg Bissonette is once again on tour with legendary Beatle Ringo Star and his All-Star band. Also joining the tour for the first time is my longtime friend the Dreamweaver himself, Gary Wright! Gary's association with the Beatles goes further back than most people know, so this pairing seemed inevitable.		with Gregg


		As we wrap things up for summer, I am putting the final touches on the China Blue album, and asked JK Northrup to do an alternate. God bless him, he has been incredibly patient with me! I'm hoping to post some new soundclips with his amazing production (finally!) as soon as I get the revised disc and send a copy over to Frontiers.


		Yeah wait, there's more...I finally received my copy of the new Tony Mills (TNT) Vital Designs disc today, which also comes out this week. It is a kick-ass album that I am really proud of, although the keyboard mix confused me at times. The liner notes drove me a little nuts, as my writing contribution (God Called My Name) is not listed, and the playing credits aren't clear. But it's all in fun - I did this for my friend Mills, I owe him that much. He did a phenomenal job on the China Blue album, which I hope to get some news on very soon. Melodic Rock.com has posted some sound clips on their Mini Bytes page, which you can download: Give Me A Reason, Say It One More Time, A Conspiracy, A Vital Design, Exclusion Zone.		with Mills


		Speaking of release dates, I've been getting asked when the Ramos/Hugo album will finally arrive! This one has received a lot of hype due to its Journey comparisons, and now that Frontiers is also releasing the new Journey album I was a little concerned what our fate might be! The current forecast is October 10 of this year, which is the day after my birthday - killer! But keep in mind, things can change at any time without notice...but this is one of my babies and it sounds killer.		with Fabrizio & Josh


		Shit...am I done yet? lmao I was contacted last month by Bay Area Rock Promotions about scouting out a headline act for their 2nd annual Bay Area Rock Festival in San Francisco on June 27 and 28. I was at the show last year to see my friends Enchant and DC Cooper perform, and it was awesome! I suggested that we bring Graham Bonnet up and bring the same band we performed with in Europe, which sounded great at first. But Graham will just be getting back from a tour of Finland with Joe Lynn Turner that week, while I'm out with Ted Poley. We probably still could have worked things out if the band didn't unravel. (No, let's not start that again... ; ) I turned them on to Jeff Scott Soto, who is now headlining the first night of the festival, with Liquid Tension Experiment headlining the second night. Also look for my friends in Enchant as well as my bro Erik Norlander, his wife Lana Lane and the Rocket Scientists to be playing that weekend. I seriously wish I could be there...I wish we all could have been there.


		Sweet Jesus...could there still be more? Michele Luppi and Fabrizio Grossi are hard at work on the sophomore album for the Los Angeles project. With the song selection now in the band, we can confirm that joining us will be Peter Lobo on drums, with Tommy Denander and Joey Sykes on guitars. The songs completed so far are: Neverland, Nowhere to Hide, Paradise, Passing By, Confessions of a Broken Heart, Promises and Inside. We are recording the album this summer and shooting or a release in early 2009. Trust me, this will be the best one yet!		with Fab & Pete


		Thanks to my friends at Frontiers for sending over a copy of their latest Rock the Bones compilation, which features my song Light Years (also on the From the Inside disc featuring Danny Vaughn). You can stream the track as well as other new Frontiers releases by visiting their My Space page. But you have to scroll down to the second player. It was in the default player last week, but the song has now been replaced by the new Journey tracks. (Incidentally the new Journey album comes out on Tuesday in the U.S. exclusively thru Walmart.)


		Let me throw one last shout-out to my friend and sometimes bandmate Jack Frost (Seven Witches), who is touring with ex-Anthrax singer Joey Belladonna. I've seen some great footage (like the clip of Indians at right) and both guys seems to be having the time of their life! OnTrackMagazine.com recently posted a new audio interview with Joey Belladonna. Joey discusses the "Never Look Back Tour" and reveals more details about the circumstances surrounding his departure from ANTHRAX in 2006. In addition, he talks about the latest addition to the BELLADONNA lineup, guitar "master" Jack Frost (SAVATAGE, SEVEN WITCHES), and what fans can look forward to from his band in the not-too-distant future. The Never Look Back tour will take Joey and his band across the U.S. and Canada, then sending them to Mexico, South America, Europe and Australia by year's end. In their downtime from touring, BELLADONNA will be hard at work on a new album due some time this fall. The lineup is completed by RC Ciejek on bass and Paul Marciano on drums. For more information, visit Joey's website.		Joey Belladonna (with Jack Frost) performs Indians in Springfield, 4/28/08


		Finally...before I sign off, let me throw this out there. My first 6 years or so living in Los Angeles, I worked with a team that designed and built a one-of-a-kind temple and ashram center for SRF in upscale Pacific Palisades. There were seven of us, we worked hard and were very proud of what we accomplished. Now I see trailers for a new Mike Myers movie called The Love Guru, from the people who brought us Austin Powers. In the first trailer, there is a an image of the temple with some digitally added elements - a giant sign with the main character's name on it, along with a helipad! At one point the church found out and asked them to revamp the imagery, which produced a second trailer.		Taken from the original Love Guru movie trailer


		On the one hand, I am very proud of the work we did and I'm glad that the world gets to see it, even in this bizarre, somewhat sacrilegious context. But adding all that extra crap just seemed too, I dunno, blasphemous to me. I know to everyone else it's just a cool looking building, but this was a huge part of my life in the 90's. Check it out for yourself - the Temple appears at the very beginning of both movie trailers.		Taken from the new Love Guru movie trailer


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