WEYE, CH 369 News Archives
The Full Collection of HeadEye Historical Documents as originally reported on the Home page's "Current News."
[Orignally Posted 20-12-2023]
HeadEye: THE MUSICAL!!!
Touchstone Theater Presents our Honest-to-Goodness Full-On All-Singing All-Dancing All-Alien Musical!
[Earth Date 20-12-2023] It started as a whisper whipping through the windmills of the brain of Earth Ambassador and HeadEye Musical Director Jason E. Hedrington as his young mind dined on concept albums and Rock Operas in his Chippewa Falls, WI basement bedroom. He sought to share with his peers the wonderous thematic stories of Pink Floyd's THE WALL and ANIMALS, Yes's TALES FROM TOPOGRAPHIC OCEANS, Emerson, Lake, and Palmer's TARKUS...bells, he even saw a connecting principle in Steely Dan's ROYAL SCAM and Rush's SIGNALS.
He grew. Gobbled more Prog. Jumped into Jazz. Went to college and became a writer. Fancied himself a freelancin' novelist. Started at least one. Discovered the Grateful Dead & Phish and joined a jam band. Moved out east and started gigging.
Fell in love. She fell out. Spent long Phantom of the Opera nights behind the piano. A concept emerged: A MUSICAL! A modern love story that, like, EXPLAINS IT ALL, MAN!!
It would have been terrible, most likely. Youth, after all, and its know-it-all-ism and arrogant suppositions that humans wanna hear another thinly-veiled therapy notebook masquerading as a love story Rock Opera.
He got involved in some bands. Freelanced a LOT. Played pertnear every night. Drank too much. Found himself far too busy to finish a goshdarn MUSICAL. Which is a nice way of saying he gave up on it. Couldn't find satisfaction in it.
He grew some more. Played some of the tunes once in a while. Then didn't for a long time. Revisited the core ideas and songs of this musical idea here and there in typical Piscean dreamer mode. Forgot it again--maybe by choice or laziness. 15 years or so went by.
And then he got busy again. With music that is. Recommitted to the cause of music. Dove in, got a job teaching at the School of Rock and carved out a professional musician niche for himself. It culminated in finally getting serious about recording his first solo album. And so he did.
Funny thing happened. He decided the album would be populated by friends, peers, legends, and students of the local Lehigh Valley music scene, and one by one they came in to play on the songs and listen to others and one question kept coming up: "Is this a musical?"
Haha, good one, he thought, but also shared stories of old ideas and how some of these songs were from an old project idea. "Is this a musical?" Hardy-ha! Yeah, a few tunes were almost in a musical.
Is this a musical?" Pfffssshhh, I thought about that once a long time ago and started one with some of these songs. "Is this a musical?"
Huh. Maybe I'm actually recording a musical, he thought. He listened. He reshaped the songs, the flow, the themes. Wrote new songs to fit. Got to tinkering. Figured it'd be fun to at least record a STORY album--the concept piece--a THEME album. He had his alien pop in, abduct some folks, get involved with some Earth chicks, and next thing you know there was an intergalactic love intrigue getting pressed to wax.
He released the album. "Is this a musical?" His friends and performance Art co-patriots at Touchstone Theater heard it. "Dude, this is a musical."
And now--with their help, writing, guidance, and actors...THIS IS A MUSICAL.
HeadEye's debut album just couldn't be contained. It is now officially a musical. The actors and dancers are hired. The script is done. The music has had its final tweaks...and we have DATES. Feb. 29th (of course we start on the Leap Year) to March 10th (Daylight Savings, natch). 6 night shows, two Sunday Matinees. Smash ye olde button below for details and get ready to see EARTH GIRLS come alive on THE STAGE. YOWZA!
[Originally posted March 2023]
Nice, Nice, Very Nice…
The Fiscal Year of the Musical Dawns
You fans of HeadEye are no strangers to our propensity to fiddle about behind the scenes tinkering away for months at a time in our mostly windowless studios bathed in the digital glow of our viewscreens.
And tinker away we have! And continue to do! In fact, it seems our most modus operandi is a perpetual state of tinker, tinker, tinker, or as the Earth Bokononist Kurt Vonnegut said: "I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don’t let anybody tell you different. There you go, I just saved you a bunch of time being miserable."
Misery, the shadowy "they" also say, loves company. Perhaps that is why HeadEye spends so much time alone these days--busy, busy, busy farting around and not being miserable or needing company. Bokonon would smile.
Well, what, pray tell, does this have to do with YOU and the current HeadEye news?
This not necessarily the news update:
1. IT'S OFFICIAL: after a couple years of hints and rumours and teasing we have one last big tease for you concerning HEADEYE THE MUSICAL--it's booked, it's happening, and it will be a Touchstone Theater collaborative production. We have just entered the YEAR LONG production process that will culminate in early MARCH 2024.
2. We're also in the final stages of preparing the PATREON FAN CLUB SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE. We're aiming for this JULY which will re-lauch the webcasts on Twitch and will feature monthly radio show podcasts and quarterly CD SINGLE RELEASES with B-Sides, remixes, and other bonus material. Groovy!
3. We also have HeadEye's first MUSIC VIDEO on the way! Old music partner Gooda Ooftah from the Wandering Root camp is currently cooking up an animated sensory feast for "Ja Aber Nein." You can check out some of his current video and guitar work with his band 2 Fat 2 Skydive at the button below.
So, as always, keep tuning in and keep your antennae up!
[Originally Posted 11-23-2022]
NEW SINGLE! Lead Track From Next Album, "IT'S LOVE."
AND A QUEUE OF NEW ROLL-OUTS AS THE YEAR OF ERIS & FIBONACCI DAWNS
It's finally here! Always and ever behind the scenes HeadEye and Earth Ambassador John Paul DeBard have been tweaking and even twerking away this Year of the Too Two Moon inside both the Earthbound Studio 73 and the orbiting Satellite 73 amassing a mountain of digital files as the next album, EARTH GODS, begins to take shape like so much space gas forming proto-planets and run-on sentences. We've intercepted transmissions of muttering musings about another vinyl LP pressing, and even rumours of a series of 45's, but this much we DO know for certain: the Grand Mothership has uploaded a new digital single from the future album in honor of Earth holiday CYBER MONDAY (AKA 11/28/22, or more accurately 28-11-2022), and you can listen to it NOW!
"It's Love" is HeadEye's anthem of unconditional universal love: Want love? Give it! And giving it to YOU is a cast of familiar EARTH GIRLS album contributors formulating a new mix.
Lead singers SYLVIA POPICHAK and KIRA LOKAY are back blending their voices with our old friend & one-time Groovy Girl SARAH STOLL, newcomer NATALIE SCHWARTZ, and Music Director Jason E. Hedrington (who also provided the usual dizzying array of synth overdubs). They're ALL together delivering this timely message of hope for humanity who continues to teeter on the edge of oblivion.
EARTH GIRLS drummer Bret Talbert, The Martian Hoo-man, is back with his bombastic delivery, and we're stoked as ether sailors to bring the Seti Alpha String Five onboard.
And most certainly you'll be pleased as protons that Art Director Nate Fehlauer is still at the helm delivering the evolution in HeadEye imagery for the next phase!
"It's Love" is available NOW! EXCLUSIVELY right here through the website at our /music page. You can stream it for FREE, though you are highly encouraged to pay the pocket change that will help support independent Art and further endeavors into the realm of love and healing humanity.
OH! BUT WAIT! Oh-ho-ho that's not it!
First of all we have a B-SIDE as well, and it's no ordinary B-SIDE! This is the first offering from a future COVERS ALBUM in the works, and it's a reimagining of Steve Howe's masterpiece "Mood For A Day" from Yes's FRAGILE. HeadEye and The Seti Alpha Strings take you on a mind meld to the center of your emotions. It's quite the trip!
"It's Love" marks the first salvo in a whole line-up of upcoming goodies. We're finally dropping a PATREON, our Christmas hero NORTH POLE PANDA is back as a FREE DOWNLOAD for the holidays, and good golly the webcast that got us all through the pandemic is set to relaunch over on Twitch post-haste. Via the Patreon subscription service more singles are on the way, and the multitude of both historical and fresh content there will be a nebula-sized museum to behold.
The Golden Apple is off and rolling. We're finishing 2022 with a musical evolutionary step, and stepping it up even further for 2023.
Antennaes up! Tune in! Don't miss all that's coming down the digital pipeline as the HeadEye Sci-Fi adventure warps on!
[Originally posted 2-22-22]
The Return of the HeadEye!
HeadEye's BACK from Tralfamador unloading gigawatts worth of new original content!!!
For many moon cycles Satellite 73 has been quietly beeping into the void along its synchronous orbit, silently continuing to gather data within this temporal linear-time reality while HeadEye attended an emergency gathering of the HeadEye High Council; but here upon the Grand Twosday 2.22.22 portal alignment we've received the first sub-space messages detailing the return! And boy oh howdy is it exciting stuff!!
First, in honor of Twosday HeadEye is releasing the FINAL single from the EARTH GIRLS album and it's a Double-A-Side TWOFER! Click the MUSIC tab above to check out Art Director Nate's cover art and stream both "The Lovesong of J. Eugene Hedrington" (a HeadEye duet with Jazmine Perdomo featuring THE GONZO PROJECT rhythm section of Dave Johnsen and Zach Martin) and "When I Sleep I Dream," the final song of the EARTH GIRLS cycle and of the original full musical concept (featuring lead vocals by Sylvia Popichak, Dave Johnsen again on bass--a Dave Twofer!--and School of Rock alum and RSP drummer Pete Ciccone).
But that's just the immediate cream of this big banana moon pie!
Here's what's loaded in the digi-canons ready for roll-out over the upcoming Spring season:
*The webcasts are back, but bigger and better than ever with a multi-camera shoot over at a new TWITCH.com site!
*HeadEye's Historical Documents--previously exclusive communiques to the Tralfamadorian homeworld's HeadEye Council--will now be available via HEADEYE RADIO! Yep--a brand new radio show available for download or stream on the new Mixcloud site!
*A MEGATON of new music hot to trot out including the first cuts from the follow-up album EARTH GODS, a covers album, an all-synth Classical album, and the first mumblings of a Bowie tribute! For the REAL deep fans there's even material forthcoming from fan favorite abductee Gil Powers (the pride of Coeburn, VA) and the interdimensionally challenged Sconnsyltucky Ooftah Boys. It's a rich, diverse HeadEye universe full of music!
*All the above and even more access to behind-the-scenes goodies and exclusive content on a new PATREON site! In the words of the sages Ogilvy & Mather: Membership has its privileges.
IN SHORT we're wrapping up the EARTH GIRLS era and charging the recalibrated warp coils for the next bigger and better chapter in the ever-developing HeadEye story! So go listen to the singles and get ready for HeadEye Mach 2, 2022!
(Originally posted Tuesday, 10/27/2020)
NEW Double A-Side Single & Afternoon Delight Returns!
"Facebook Booty Call" / "Disappear Now" have dropped! HeadEye Crew Hosts Weekly Webcast.
Intergalactically speaking it's been business as usual around the ol' UFO cockpit this past summer as Earth struggled (CONTINUES to struggle) to contain the vernacularly-named Covid virus. We've spent the bulk of quarantine on Moon Base 5 and the Studio 73 Satellite diligently recording, mixing, mastering and all the regularish things that go into album production, and making sure the proverb remains apt that the show must go on. Ah, music in the time of pandemic.
As restrictions loosened we transitioned to the Antarctic Ocean Floor Base 11 before braving the maskless hordes by resetting ourselves on solid ground at Studio 73's terrestrial Earth station in the USA's Pennsylvania Saucon Valley.
And like the British press saying The Beatles were OVER while the band mwee-ha-ha'ed and rubbed their hands together like supervillians about to kindly present their masterwork SGT. PEPPERS we here in the HeadEye camp have silently but surely been preparing for the oncoming onslaught.
And so it begins...
FIRST...we've decided that kickin' it old school is our particular wheelhouse, so we've dropped an old-fashioned DOUBLE A-SIDE single: "Facebook Booty Call" and "Disappear Now" (which will both be featured on the UPCOMING ALBUM...more on that shortly). These two songs make up the bookends of "The Facebook Story Arc" of the musical. [Oh yeah...if you missed earlier memos...the album is a whimsical blend of thematic-concept-album-full-on-musical. So there's that in the works as well.]You can scroll on over to our MUSIC link above and download both for $1.49 each or stream it for free. Further donations are enthusiastically accepted at Venmo: @HeadEye
Both singles again feature an All-Star guest cast. Please show these folks your love and appreciation:
FACEBOOK BOOTY CALL: Lead Vox, Jenny founds (https://www.rubydearmusic.com); Sax, Barry "Bee" (https://www.facebook.com/barry.bee.16); Drums, Zach Martin. DISAPPEAR NOW: All Guitars, Ryan Harrington (https://ryanharrington.band)
The full album is dropping digitally on CYBER MONDAY. Pre-orders are available by purchasing the USB, also at the MUSIC link. CD copies are coming for the holidays and VINYL is on the way--we're aiming for RECORD STORE DAY 2021.
In addition to all the recording work we are BACK LIVE on the miracle of the internet. Every Tuesday a HeadEye crew member hosts AFTERNOON DELIGHT on Jason E. Hedrington's Facebook page & Instagram @HeadEyeMusic, AND every Wednesday the Earthling behind it all, Jason, hosts "Long-Winded Wednesday."
There's also a bunch of cool new merch on the way featuring the spectacular designs of HeadEye Art Director Nate Fehlauer of Wiscy Jones Creative (www.wiscyjones.com) who is also responsible for the cover art on these new singles. Stay in touch with the fast and furious upcoming action here, on the Facebook page (@HeadEye), and sign the mailing list above!
Now go get the singles! MAKE IT SO!
(Originally Posted 02/12/2020)
NEW SINGLE, "JA ABER NEIN," HAS LANDED!
More Valley All-Stars and Das Germans in the UFO. OH JA!
After a brief swing across The Local Group cluster on intergalactic tour to the Triangulum Galaxy we were glad to get back to Studio 73 to finish the SECOND single...and the FIRST ALBUM TRACK! "Ja Aber Nein" OUT NOW--released February 14th, because there's no better occasion to drop a song about breaking up due to the advice of your psychic than Valentine's Day! (Not to mention that love triangle ballad B-Side!)
Let us tell you a bit about this next track:
*We've got reappearances by the gang from Touchstone Theater's JAKOPA'S PUNCH: Emma Ackerman [Touchstone Ensemble Member] on flute, Silagh White [Lehigh Valley Symphony] on Bassoon, the Jakopa Horns, and newcomer Alyssa Lou Ann Allen [Rio Bossa, Soul Folks] on vocals!
*We've also got the return appearance of Erik Santana [Hexting, Phlesh] throwing down the sitar-flavored guitar, and HeadEye's own Shawn Cavanaugh [LVMA Bassist of the Year] schlappin' da bass (bassists LOVE IT when you say "schlappin da bass") and Jason E.R. Hedrington on piano, Moog Voyager, and tuba.
*Drums this time around are laid down by Bret Talbert--you may remember him from Lehigh Valley band The Vultures.
*And, of course, it's all being recorded at Studio 73 by Mr Bootleg Sound himself, the Pope of Indie Rock, producer John Paul DeBard.
*Wait, what? We also have Improv Comedy superstar Sam Beedle [Synced Up, Sam Beedle's Magical Happy Hour, Touchstone] on this track??? Holy cow, I wonder what THAT sounds like? I mean, besides totally freekin awesome.
*Oh...yeah...and then there's Barry "Bee" on sax. If you know...YOU KNOW. This guy's list of achievements and collaborations would fill this entire news section. Let's just say for now that he's blessed us by being a total ringer...and he's got the golden hardware and New Power Generation jacket to prove it. 'Nuff said.
*Oh...yeah...and then there's the little matter of DAS GERMANS. The incredibly talented and creative forces behind Berlin, Germany's band TWO TIMES TWICE have joined us this time around for an exciting INTERNATIONAL collaboration. Via the modern miracle of Transatlantic fiberoptic cables and digital angels dancing on photon pins Sarah Sordid and Edyta Rogowska have supplied us with some of the hottest backing vocals and Hip Hop we and you (soon) have heard in a long time. We're really excited to feature these ladies and the work they are doing overseas at http://twotimestwice.com/
So get ready for the tasty treats and sonic seismic blasts of our exploration into the Psuedoscience side of love--the metaphysics of it all--the New Age prophecy of YES BUT NO. It's "Ja Aber Nein.".
Oh...and for good measure (cuz it's V-Day) how about that bonus B-Side where the main character sings to the third person in a love triangle...sung by the silky smooth Justin Fava formerly of Kill the Broadcast. We call him The Starland Fava Band and alternately FAVA VOX. Yeah. That's happening too.
Both available under our MUSIC link above. Download a copy for your bestest loved one(s)! Love long and prosper!
(Originally Posted 12/11/19) (Updated 12/20/19)
The Wheel in the Sky is Hecka Spinning!
OR...When it Rains it Floods!
What a crazy couple of weeks here at the landing pad! It's hard to believe that we dropped the debut single "Shadyside" (w/ B-Side "Irish Melody") less than TWO WEEKS ago, because since then all of the following things have happened:
*We entered into an agreement to have the Compact Disc Center be our OFFICIAL brick and mortar outlet where you can pop in any time for HeadEye merch.
*Both songs have been featured on 91.3 WLVR.
*Two really super cool INTERGALACTIC TOUR T-Shirts have landed, and we had a release party at Lost Tavern Brewery's tap room on beautiful Christmasy Main Street Bethlehem.
*EIGHT of the featured artists on the upcoming album (including composer/keyboardist/lyricist Jason Hedrington and producer/engineer John Paul DeBard) and 6 out of the 12 artists on "Shadyside" were just nominated for Lehigh Valley Music Awards. There's a nice write-up by John Moser in The Morning Call here:
https://www.mcall.com/entertainment/lehigh-valley-music/mc-ent-lehigh-valley-music-awards-nominations-20191209-nht3du557vft5fw74e5bfgguje-story.html
You can vote here: https://lehighvalleymusicawards.org/
*A REALLY nice article about the story-behind-the-release of "Shadyside" was just published by Dustin Schoof. It's a fun read! You can check it out on his website here:
https://www.dustinschoof.com/schoof-blog/2019/12/2/chatting-with-the-alien-jason-hedrington-on-the-cosmic-rock-n-roll-journey-of-headeye?fbclid=IwAR08kgJ0S_ST3S9frjwn7xWXBM9EsN6QS7RQi6bwgAaRa7ww-H3_h3njXP4
*We've already been working in the studio preparing the NEXT single, "Ja Aber Nein," dropping Valentine's Day!
And we're also still selling the album-support package to fund the full VINYL ALBUM set to hit shelves in 2020! Wander on over to the MERCH STORE (link above) to get your custom USB with the single "Shadyside," the B-Side "Irish Melody," exclusive pix and behind-the-scenes videos, one of THREE sweet HeadEye stickers, special HeadEye mints, and access to the next TWO SINGLES.
You can also order the shirts there! In short there's a ton of great CHRISTMAS GIFTS locked and loaded and ready to go!
So yeah...there's lots happening and even more on the way. Make sure you sign up to the newsletter/mailing list above and keep yourself in the timeloop.
And remember: Whatever you get inta...take care of your antennae! See you soon, nanoo, nanoo!
The First Report! Originally Posted 11/29/2019
New Site! Debut Single! Album Support Package!
And more! Welcome to HeadEye.org! Thanks for being here as we kick off our intergalactic tour!
Witaj! Thanks so much for stopping by the bridge. There's a megaton of cool happenings happening around our happenin' quadrant right now. We just dropped the debut single "Shadyside" (w/ B-Side "Irish Melody") on BLACK FRIDAY along with an album-support package of goodies that will go towards funding the full VINYL ALBUM set to hit shelves in 2020! Come grab one at a gig or visit the HeadEye MERCH STORE link above. $19.99 gets you a loaded custom USB with the single "Shadyside," exclusive pix and behind-the-scenes videos, one of THREE sweet HeadEye stickers, special HeadEye mints, and access to the next TWO SINGLES coming for Valentine's Day and Record Store Day. There's also t-shirts and more on the way. So polish up your antennas and hop aboard the shuttlecraft--HeadEye is taking off!
A special note: we're glad you're here growing with us--this site is still under construction. Consider this our "soft opening." There's a bunch of material, merch, music, information and more on the way. Please sign the mailing list above and keep your eyes open for all the HeadEye updates!