Glass Hammer

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Glass Hammer
Origin Chattanooga, Tennessee
Genre(s) progressive rock
Years active 1992–present
Members
Fred Schendel
Steve Babb
Walter Moore
Susie Bogdanowicz
Matt Mendians
Former members
Michelle Young
David Carter
Brad Marler

Glass Hammer is a progressive rock band from Chattanooga, Tennessee. They formed in 1992 when multi-instrumentalists Steve Babb (then known as "Stephen DeArqe") and Fred Schendel began to write and record Journey of the Dunadan, a concept album based on the story of Aragorn from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. To their surprise, the album sold several thousand units via the Internet, TV home shopping, and phone orders, and Babb and Schendel were convinced that the band was a project worth continuing.

While many musicians have appeared on Glass Hammer albums over the years, Babb and Schendel have remained the core of the band. Both men play a variety of instruments, but Babb mainly concentrates on bass guitar and keyboards while Schendel also plays keyboards as well as various guitars and drums (until the addition of live drummer Matt Mendians to the studio recording band in 2004). They also sing, although a number of other vocalists (most notably Michelle Young, Walter Moore and Susie Bogdanowicz) have also handled lead vocal duties.

Lyrically, Glass Hammer is inspired mostly by their love of fantasy literature (most notably Tolkien and C. S. Lewis) and by their Christian faith. Although by their own admission they have tried to avoid becoming an overtly Christian band, their 2002 release Lex Rex was a concept album based on a Roman soldier's encounter with Jesus.

Musically, their most apparent influences are Yes, Kansas, Emerson, Lake & Palmer and, to a less noticeable extent, Genesis. While Glass Hammer has, for the most part, combined those influences into a characteristic style of their own, they made much more direct references to the aforementioned bands on their 2000 album Chronometree, which told the story of a drug-addled progressive rock fan who becomes convinced aliens are speaking to him through the music he listens to.

Contents

[edit] Current formation

The following musicians both record frequently and perform live with Glass Hammer, but can be considered "guest artists" rather than full band members:

[edit] Former members

[edit] Discography

  • Journey of the Dunadan (1993) - Progressive "Rock Opera" based around the story of The Lord of the Rings
  • Perelandra (1995) - Loosely based around the stories of C.S. Lewis, particularly the Space Trilogy and The Chronicles of Narnia
  • Live and Revived (1997) — Live and unreleased tracks from the first two albums
  • On To Evermore (1998) - Tells the story of a sculptor and Arianna, the woman he creates from stone
  • Chronometree (2000) - A tongue in cheek concept album about "Tom" who is convinced he hears messages from aliens in his old Prog Rock LPs
  • The Middle Earth Album (2001) — A mostly-acoustic album, "recorded live at the Prancing Pony in Bree," which expanded on the medieval fantasy-inspired acoustic folk song style found on several songs on Journey of the Dunadan
  • Lex Rex (2002) - A Roman centurion's quest for glory leads him on an epic journey
  • Live At NEARfest (2004) — A recording of their June 29, 2003 performance at NEARfest 2003; features a guest appearance by Rich Williams of Kansas on guitar
  • Lex Live (DVD) (2004) — A film of their September 22, 2003 performance at Rhythm & Brews in Chattanooga, Tennessee
  • Shadowlands (2004) — A studio album, this time with no concept; features a cover version of Longer by Dan Fogelberg
  • The Inconsolable Secret (2005) — Double CD whose story is based on an epic narrative poem written by Babb; features cover art and a new logo by Roger Dean
  • Live at Belmont (2006) — Two-DVD-Video of the band's performance at the 2005 'Past Watchful Dragons' conference at Belmont University in Nashville, TN; features special guest Carl Groves of Salem Hill and contains music mainly from The Inconsolable Secret
  • Culture of Ascent (2007) — A concept studio album about Jon Krakauer's novel Into Thin Air, featuring the guest artist Jon Anderson

[edit] External links

[edit] Reviews

  • Live at Belmont (DVD)
    • [1] Stephanie Sollow, Progressiveworld.net
  • The Inconsolable Secret
    • [2] Brian Nielsen, GH Forums
  • Shadowlands
    • [3] Progarchives.com
  • Live at NEARFest
    • [4] DJ Barry, Phantom Tollbooth
  • "Lex Rex"
    • [5] ProgNaut.com

[edit] Interviews