American Idol Goes Prog Rock!

District97 · February 14, 2011, 06:52:55 PM

Hi folks,

My name is Jonathan, and I'm a drummer/compose from Chicago. I saw a bit of discussion about my band District 97 here, so i figured I'd say hi. D97 released our debut album "Hybrid Child" last September on Laser's Edge, and we've received a lot of support amongst Frost fans. The kicker that seperates us from any other prog band is that we feature 2007 American Idol Finalist Leslie Hunt and Chicago Symphony Orchestra virtuoso cellist Katinka Kleijn. Here are some links you guys can check out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1V_qBdYgG30 (New Music Video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZaPUJrykAg (First Music Video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncIPNbuwy6c (Cover of "Tom Sawyer")
http://www.district97.net (website/store)
http://district97.bandcamp.com/album/di ... at-calprog (Download of full concert from CalProg 2010)
http://www.dangerdog.com/2010-music-rev ... review.php (Review of "Hybrid Child")

I'll leave you guys with some quote about the band from people you may recognize:

Bill Bruford: I love the CD...the sheer skill and gusto with which they tackle it makes you laugh out loud. Great drumming. Jonathan plays and writes like a demon. Congratulations to them. (Watch Bill and me duet! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izGV61jdyXc and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MR7VPkaA_XE)

John Wetton (King Crimson, UK, Asia): 'Can't take you with me' is dynamite. I wish you luck, you're a good band, and deserve success, see you on the broad highway.

Roine Stolt (Flower Kings, Transatlantic): Your band is one of the very few I can see a real true potential in and I'm sure you have many new fabulous albums coming in the near future.

Jonas Reingold (Flower Kings, Karmakanic): Your band is great...I really dig your stuff, it would be fun to do something together in the future, keep up the good work, you´re one of the most talented progressive bands I´ve heard lately, good luck.

Jim Derogatis (NPR's "Sound Opinions", Rolling Stone Magazine): District 97 is a wildly ambitious progressive-rock group whose youth belies its accomplishments onstage and on its new "Hybrid Child" CD.

Paul Bielatowicz (Carl Palmer Band, Neal Morse): We made our way back to the hotel and I put on District 97's CD while finishing my nachos – what a GREAT album!

Hybrid Child is out everywhere, and in any case I'd love to hear the thoughts of some like-minded music fans!
Jonathan

ich_bin_besser · February 14, 2011, 07:03:36 PM

Yep, highly recommended. 8-)

gr8gonzo · February 14, 2011, 08:31:05 PM

Yep. Unique and enjoyable crossover stuff. We do our best to spread the word around here.

johninblack · February 15, 2011, 06:32:26 AM

Welcome, feel free to join in

Liking what I've heard of D 97 so far.

Mooncat · February 15, 2011, 08:54:36 AM

Saw the feature in a recent issue of Classic Rock presents Prog and then checked out the website and free download. From there bought the album and would thoroughly recommend it.

ChrisX · February 16, 2011, 11:14:57 AM

From the first public service announcement on Progressive Ears where the short version of one of the songs was posted I have been all over District 97. Excellent album and some stunning musicianship. Leslie's vocals however are the factor that drew me in from the start and hopefully she will be with them for a long long time.

The long piece on the album, Mindscan, is a firm favourite. It is not an epic like Milliontown but it is almost like the audio equivalent of an X-files episode and when you approach like that it really does work.

Again, this one comes highly recommended.

E.S. · February 16, 2011, 11:37:37 AM

Whoa, this was really a pleasant surprise. I like what I've heard so far, gotta get the album. Brilliant singer.

District97 · February 20, 2011, 07:42:49 AM

Hi everyone,

Really appreciate the kind words and enthusiasm. If anyone is moved to take the plunge and buy the CD, we'd very much appreciate if you do it at http://district97.net/merch.html. Regardless of where you get it though, we very much appreciate the support.

District97 · April 10, 2011, 08:19:35 AM

Wanted to update you guys; we're pairing up with Roine Stolt's Agents of Mercy for a US tour next month. Here are the dates:

Shank Hall w/Agents of Mercy
Monday, May 16th in Milwaukee, WI
Get tickets at http://www.shankhall.com/
...
Martyrs' w/Agents of Mercy
Tuesday, May 17th in Chicago, IL
Get tickets at http://www.martyrslive.com/

Winchester Music Hall w/Agents of Mercy
Wednesday, May 18th in Cleveland, OH
Get tickets at http://www.thewinchester.net/concertschedule.html

Orion Sound Studios w/Agents of Mercy
Thursday, May 19th in Baltimore, MD
More info at http://www.orionsound.com/bprs.htm

Magic Room w/Agents of Mercy
Friday, May 20th in Brighton, MA
Get tickets at http://newears.org/. Only 80 seats!

New Jersey ProgHouse @ Rockin' Joe (No AoM, 2 sets of District 97)
Saturday, May 21st in Kendall Park, NJ
Get tickets at http://www.njproghouse.com/ Only 50 seats!

Rites of Spring Festival (No AoM)
Sunday, May 22nd @ Majestic Theater in Gettysburg, PA
Get tickets at http://rosfest.com/.
The fest starts on Friday, 5/20, and includes other great bands like Moon Safari, Mars Hollow, Quidam, and many more!

Hope to meet some of you on the road!

Pedro · April 10, 2011, 01:43:34 PM

Look out for Tinyfish at RosFest...Simon Godfrey(lead vox and guitar synth) is Jem's brother.

turbo · April 10, 2011, 07:47:37 PM

How about playing some gigs this side of the pond id deffo come see you if you did.

Againesis · May 26, 2011, 12:03:20 AM

Got this the other day so thought (seeing as it's a DAMN fine album) I'd give this thread a bit of a bump. Well well worth a pur-chase.
Embarrased to say I thought that $25 was a bit high to purchase from the band direct so I got it from Amazon - a steal at £8 ish.

Pedro · May 27, 2011, 06:52:02 AM

I hear that District97 had a pretty successful showing at RoSfest - Congrats to them/you!

rogerg · May 28, 2011, 03:56:47 AM

Quote from: "Pedro"I hear that District97 had a pretty successful showing at RoSfest - Congrats to them/you!

they were massive. incredible. technical, and oh so musical. Leslie Hunt is a star and all the band are monsters. I love the new album, but if you get a chance to see them live, do it!! epic. I laughed and cried during their ROSFest set. joyous. Cairn and I turned to each other after their last song and said, "holy fuck!"

can you tell I like them?

gr8gonzo · May 28, 2011, 06:54:37 PM

Hard to believe it was more than a year ago when I first posted the link to the video for "I Can't Take You With Me". My, how they've grown. Looking forward to their next release.