Vin Downes: News

"Unlike the Stars" is featured in the Music Trax section of the May issue of 'Accent on Tampa Bay Magazine'. 

http://issuu.com/accentontampabay/docs/accent199_0514_short/59?e=1991823%2F7770421

My very good friend, Dave Kurtiak, has set my songs "Turning Years" and "Where I Began" to some beautiful time lapse footage. Check them out and share...

https://www.youtube.com/user/vindownes71

Here is a review of "Unlike the Stars" from One World Music's Steve Sheppard.

http://www.zonemusicreporter.com/recording/viewreviews.asp?rvwbrdcmmt=1241

Here is the link to Bill Binkelman's review of "Unlike the Stars" for the Zone Music Reporter.

http://www.zonemusicreporter.com/recording/viewreviews.asp?rvwbrdcmmt=1245

New review of "Unlike the Stars" from Zzaj Productions. Click the link and scroll down a bit...

http://rotcodzzaj.com/wordpress/?page_id=4618

Here is a link to New Age Reviewer, Serge Kozlovsky's website. He has posted a review for my new album. Click the tab for reviews. Artist's are listed alphabetically. 

http://sergekozlovsky.com/

"Unlike the Stars" is #4 on the ZMR Top 100 Chart for Radio Airplay for the month of February 2014! Big thank you to Ed and Stacey Bonk at Lazz Promotions for getting my record out there!

Here is a review of my new album by Michael Diamond for the Zone Music Reporter.

http://www.zonemusicreporter.com/recording/viewreviews.asp?rvwbrdcmmt=1211

"Unlike the Stars" has entered the UK's One World Music Top 50 Albums Chart for the month of February at #46. OWM's hosts, Steve and Chrissie, will be doing an hour long show featuring my album that will include an interview with me to discuss the album's concept and creation. Stay tuned for more info.

http://www.oneworldmusic.co.uk/#/owm-top-50-show/4576642843

"Unlike the Stars" has entered the January Zone Music Reporter Top 100 Chart for New Age/Ambient/World Music at #75! The chart is based on world wide radio play. Not bad considering the album was not released until the end of January! Check back in February to see where it goes...

http://www.zonemusicreporter.com/charts/top100.asp

"Vin Downes has crafted a beautifully organic album with his latest offering, "Unlike The Stars". Every track is masterfully composed and resonates positively on its own -- sometimes introspective, sometimes outgoing, yet always articulately performed. This album is so very tasteful and musically refreshing that listeners will instantly recognize it as a 'new' classic." 

Jim Ellis
Astreaux World Radio / Promotions
http://astreauxworld.com

"Unlike the Stars" is now available on iTunes and Amazon.

iTunes ~ https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/unlike-the-stars/id819660900

Amazon ~ http://www.amazon.com/Unlike-Stars-Vin-Downes/dp/B00IGYSVJO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393437643&sr=8-1&keywords=vin+downes

Here is a new review of "Unlike the Stars" by Kathy Parsons at www.mainlypiano.com. http://www.mainlypiano.com/2014_Reviews/Downes-Unlike_the_Stars.html

My new CD in now available for purchase. You can order CDs from the STORE tab to the left, or CDs and downloads from CDBaby. http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/vindownes3

The album will be available for download on iTunes and Amazon, as well as a number of other music sites, next week. 

Here are a couple pre-reviews for the new album, "unlike the stars".

Music and Media Focus ~ Michael Diamond 

http://michaeldiamondmusic.com/2014/01/08/unlike-the-stars-by-vin-downes/

New Age Music Reviews ~ Keith Hannaleck

http://newagemusicreviews.wordpress.com/2014/01/09/instrumental-guitar-review-vin-downes-unlike-the-stars/

All of my incredible Kickstarter supporters have received their pre-release downloads of my new album "unlike the stars", along with the album artwork done by Anthony Saint James. The CD is currently in the duplication process and is also out for pre-reviews. It looks like the official release will be the last week of January 2014.

K. Lyn Wurth has highlighted me in her newest blog entry, "Strong Music, Never Far From Me". K. Lyn is a wonderful writer from Iowa who recently published her novel, "The Darkwater Liar's Account". I am a big fan of K. Lyn's writing and I am very grateful for her unending support of my music. Check out her monthly blog and pick up a copy of her book!

http://www.klynwurth.com/vin-downes-strong-music-never-far-from-me/

This past week, I spent three days in Vermont at Imaginary Road Studios with engineer/co-producer Tom Eaton finishing overdubs and completing the mix of the new album. The overdubs consisted of Tom playing a beautiful piano solo in one song and Tony Levin adding bass to four songs. Having the opportunity to work with Tony was an extraordinary experience. I am so grateful for his contributions to the record.

We were also able to edit and mix in two woodwind charts written by David Watson and Darryl Dixon of Chops Horns. David performed and recorded these flute/alto flute charts for me in October at Tim Shider's studio in Plainfield, NJ. They really add a unique vibe to the album, and I am very thankful to David and Darryl for being a part of the project.

On November 18th, Will Ackerman will be adding a guitar part to one song before reviewing the final mixes with Tom. Mastering is set for December 20th at Tom's Universal Noise Storage Studio in Massachusetts. If all stays on track, I am hoping for a January release.

With Tony Levin 11/7/12 

Tony recording on his NS.

With Darryl Dixon and David Watson of Chops Horns.

I wanted to update everyone on the progress of the new record. On August 12th, multiple Grammy Award winning cellist, Eugene Friesen added a track on my song "Unlike the Stars" at Imaginary Road Studios. Unfortunately, I was  unable to be in the studio while he was recording, but Will Ackerman called me during the session for a listen-in, and later sent me a rough MP3 of the track. Words cannot describe the emotion and beauty in Eugene's playing...unbelievable! I am very thankful to have him as part of the project.

Eugene's website ~ http://www.celloman.com/

We are currently looking to finish tracking (piano/Tom Eaton, vocals/Susan Whittle, bass/Tony Levin, guitar/Will Ackerman) and mix the album in the first half of November. This is later than first projected, but Imaginary Road Studios is an extremely busy place and Tony Levin is currently on tour with Stick Men and Peter Gabriel in Europe through October.

In the meantime, as much as I want to be able to release this album right now, I have to try and be patient. It will be well worth the wait...I promise. 

Again, please know that I truly appreciate your confidence, encouragement and support.

I spent an incredibly creative and productive week with Will Ackerman, Tom Eaton and Anthony Saint James at Imaginary Road Studios in Vermont. I have recorded 11 songs, coming in at 46 minutes of music.  We have already started mixing of the solo guitar pieces. The next phase of the project will be adding contributions from some amazing guest artists, including Will Ackerman on guitar, Tony Levin on bass, Tom Eaton on piano, and the possibility of adding others on percussion, voice and solo instruments. All of this will be decided as we move forward and listen to see what the music calls for.

I am extremely happy with the work we have done so far and I am eager to move forward. I am very excited about this record! I will keep everyone posted as things progress.

As always, thank you all for your encouragement, support and positive vibes!

~ Vin

I have a Kickstarter up to raise some additional funds for my new Recording with Will Ackerman this summer. Check it out and be a part of this project with me!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1823248297/vin-downes-new-album-with-producer-will-ackerman

Today was an incredible day, spent in the hills of Vermont, at Will Ackerman's Imaginary Road Studios, where we began pre-production on my next recording project. Will and I worked through the first nine songs that will appear on my next CD.

Working with Will is a dream come true for me. His musical ears and their dynamic and emotional sensibilities are unsurpassed in the field of acoustic music. His ability to push an artist to new levels of performance is truly remarkable. I left with a brand new perspective on my music, a new way to approach my instrument and a new understanding of how to communicate my compositions to the listener. 

This CD will be produced by Will Ackerman. It will include some re-recorded songs from my first two releases with a fresh new take, as well as some great new material that I am very proud of. The recording sessions will take place the second week of July, 2013. These sessions will include some remarkable guest players, including Will himself. 

I am really looking forward to this project. This is where my love for fingerstyle guitar began ~ Ackerman, Hedges, Cullen, de Grassi ~ Somehow, someway...it lead me here. 

So grateful....

Next week I will be heading up to Vermont for a pre-production meeting with Will Ackerman at his Imaginary Road Studios. Will's initial listening notes are incredibly enthusiastic and positive. This project will include re-recording songs from my previous albums and a handful of brand new pieces. We are both very excited to begin working together. The recording sessions will take place in July. 

Here's the trailer for the new season of Roadtrip Nation, which starts airing on PBS this fall. My song "Glad Rags" is featured in episode one. I am very happy to be a part of this fantastic show for another season.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXQjCPFCEYE&feature=youtu.be

On July 9th, my wife and I had an absolutely unforgettable afternoon visiting with Grammy Award winner and Windham Hill Records founder Will Ackerman and his engineer, Tom Eaton, at Imaginary Road Studios in Vermont. Will gave us a tour of the studio and his property, and shared an array of music created in this state of the art facility.

I am thrilled to announce that Will has agreed to produce and record my next project. We will begin pre-production of the music in the fall, with the recording sessions taking place in the spring of 2013.

I am extremely grateful for this incredible opportunity to work with one of my favorite musicians and producers. Will's music, and the music of Windham Hill Records, including Michael Hedges, David Cullen and Alex de Grassi, have always had a prodigious influence on me as a composer and fingerstyle guitarist.

http://imaginaryroadstudios.com/