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China Blue: An introduction
In the late 80’s I had yet another promising band break up. At this uncertain crossroads I started my own group and called it China Blue. I wrote the music while my best friend Tom Gasbarro was the lyrical engineer. We used our songs to explore those avenues of defining moments...decisions that were made in the Twilight of Destiny. It is where you either won the girl or lost it all in a sea of regret; the pivotal epiphany that the thing you love most just got away. We did things on our own terms and even after Tom moved on, I swore I would pick it up again one day.
As my career gained momentum, I co-founded Vox Tempus. Like many bands, success drove us apart. During this new crossroads I played some of my old China Blue demos for Michael Riesenbeck, who suggested I take the best and add new material to round out a complete album. It was a long journey, but after much sacrifice, Michael withdrew for family obligations. We wrote some great songs together and he gave me the encouragement to do my own thing. Thanks Mike.
Tony Mills came to us through Andrew McNiece, who knew we were looking for a singer. Once I heard Tony’s work with Shy, I knew Tony could make these songs shine. His initial demos blew me off my chair! Tony’s schedule was tight once he joined TNT, so we invited Phil Vincent to write with us and ease Tony’s workload. Tony is a great guy, and his wife makes an excellent curry.
Josh Ramos was a guitarist I always admired. Years ago I wrote the closing of Don’t Be a Stranger after being inspired by Josh’s work with The Storm in Show Me The Way. Our mutual friend, Demi Solario, thought our styles were a good fit, and paired us up for Josh’s new album. We really hit it off while Josh and I spent several weeks writing in San Francisco. When Michael told me he was leaving China Blue, Josh immediately stepped up. His playing truly moves me and as a friend he has never let me down.
Doug Odell was a bassist I met at the Melodic Rock.com festival. We only met about an hour before we performed the All-Star set together. I immediately liked the guy; he is a personable, strong-but-silent, monster bass player. Later that month, I flew to England to play Firefest with Steve Grimmett & the Grim Reaper guys while Doug was playing with Crunch (formerly Adriangale) the next night. His character left an impact on me, so when it was time to do bass tracks for this album, I knew Doug was the best choice.
Ronny Smith is an awesome guitarist that is generally behind the scenes, working with bands like Xenon and Trippin on Dolls (with members of American Angel) as their rhythm guitarist and sometimes producer. I was a big fan of these bands when I lived in Jersey, and had respect for the role Ron played with them. I jammed with Xenon a few times and Ronny’s personality really won me over. His playing brings a certain intensity and a wealth of good ideas, so I gave him an open canvass to play with.
Pete Newdeck brought me in for the Steve Grimmett CD, and his drumming only rivaled his production abilities. He does it all from his home studio and he is quick. As this album neared completion, I needed to wrap up drums for the final batch of songs. Zane Petersen became busy with his solo album and suggested I find someone else to knock out the remaining tracks. Using two drummers was not my first choice, but it did give me the chance to collaborate with Pete again. Pete slammed out some powerful tracks within days of my phone call - gotta love that.
Wavid (David Williams) is an artist I have long admired. He did several covers for Kevin Chalfant, Ross Valory and other Journey-related endeavors. We shared a love of classic album art, mystical images and the use of color. This is a guy who knew what I was going for and he delivered.
Along the way I got help from some key people like Fabrizio Grossi, whose counsel has been priceless; and Ron Vining, who landed the deal with Frontiers Records and helped us tie it all together. Their input has been invaluable and for that I am truly grateful.
As for me, my name is Eric Ragno. This album was a new start and a tribute to my roots. As I built this team of pros, the inevitable scheduling conflicts frustrated me to no end. I used this time to work on albums with Ted Poley, Steve Grimmett, American Angel, Danny Vaughn, Josh Ramos…and more. I love this music and I hope you do too.
Music is the ultimate expression of friendship in a band and that is what I would shoot for in these tracks. I have played with all of these guys at one time or another, been to their houses and traveled with them. As we share the same influences and passion for music, they knew what I was looking for and I certainly knew they could deliver. I would do anything for any one of these guys and I guess it is no coincidence then that I too appear on all of their new albums.
This China Blue record has truly been a journey for all involved. We hope the music touches you in some way as it helped us explore who we are, when we faced those defining moments in life at the Twilight of Destiny.
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