Renaissance Carries On After Loss Of Lead Guitarist

April 09, 2013|By ERIK OFGANG, Special To The Courant, The Hartford Courant

It's been a year of triumph and tragedy for the progressive rock band Renaissance. Last September the group completed its first studio album in 12 years, "Grandine il Vento." The album was released to celebrate the band's 40-year history and included a guest appearance by Jethro Tull's front man, Ian Anderson. It features Renaissance's signature mixture of folk, classical and rock, and was supposed to propel a comeback for the band. But in November the group's principle composer/guitarist, Michael Dunford, died. Annie Haslam, the band's lead vocalist and lyricist questioned whether the band would continue.

"It was just so quick and so unexpected it was just such a shock. I'd known him for 41 years it was unbelievable. I was a bit of a mess it wouldn't sink in I just didn't want to believe it," says Haslam, who's haunting operatic vocals and five-octave vocal range have wowed Renaissance fans for decades. Ultimately, urged by fans, Haslam decided to carry on with the band in honor of Dunford. "In the end I realized that that's what he would have wanted," she says. "He would have wanted us to carry on his legacy — the music of Renaissance."

Renaissance is on its first tour without Dunford. They perform at Infinity Hall in Norfolk on Wednesday, April 10, at 8 p.m. Guitarist and vocalist Ryche Chlanda, veteran of prog rock bands Nektar and Fireballet, was chosen as Dunford's replacement. At the concert the band will perform two of its most celebrated albums in their entirety as well as select songs from "Grandine il Vento."

Read on...

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Still Life CD - £7.99

VIDEO REVIEW OF NEW RENAISSANCE ALBUM

ANNIE HASLAM AT GONZO

Still Life CD - £7.99

Renaissance woman

When guitarist Michael Dunford passed away suddenly in November, Annie Haslam didn’t know if she could ever perform under the Renaissance moniker or even sing again. “It was that painful,” Haslam said while calling from Syosset, N.Y. “He just went like that. But we just finished recording an album and I owed it to him to continue.”

“Grandine Il Vento” was released Monday, April 8, and will be showcased when Renaissance plays Saturday at the Strand Center for the Arts in Lakewood and April 21 at the Newton Theatre in Newton. “It’s going to be interesting how I sound, since with the exception of a Christmas concert, I haven’t sung a note since Michael left us. I’ll have a couple shows under my belt by the time we play New Jersey.”

Expect Renaissance to play a few new songs. “We’ll do more as time passes, but right now it’ll just be a couple from the album,” Haslam said.

Read on...

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO

Still Life CD - £7.99

ANNIE HASLAM INTERVIEW

The British Progressive Band known as Renaissance was founded in 1969 by Keith Relf and Jim McCarty after the split up of their band, the Yardbirds.  Renaissance was set slightly apart from other Progressive bands throughout the 70s, such as Genesis, Yes and ELP, as they emphasized more on symphonic classical music blended into their progressive themes without relying on hard hitting synthesizer or screaming guitars.  But make no mistake; they were equally as popular amongst the same fans.  Between 1969 and 1971 the band went through personal changes with the inclusion of vocalist Annie Haslam and guitarist / composer Michael Dunford while former singer/songwriter Betty Thatcher remained as their lyricist.  The lineup continued to evolve until in 1973 when there were no original members left in the band just as they were finding their biggest success.  Renaissance went on to record 15 albums and did years of touring with highlights including Carnegie Hall with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal Albert Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, which Annie Haslam sites as her fondest memories of Renaissance later in this interview.  For most of Renaissance’s history, Annie and Mike where the core of the band and after four decades of music, Annie went on to pursue other interests outside of music, including artwork.  After a long dormant period, Mike Dunford’s sons stated that if you love the Renaissance so much than why don’t you get back together?  And, in 2009, that happened with a successful tour and time in the studio.  Mike’s unfortunate death in 2012 due to a stroke had a profound impact on Annie as they were close friends for decades, but she states how blessed she feels that he was on the recording of their forthcoming album Grandine il Vento.  Ryche Chlanda who has played with Nektar and Fireballet has now joined the band on guitar as they tour 2013.  Audioholics had an opportunity to speak with Annie Haslam at her studio in Pennsylvania.  Here’s what she had to say.

AH:  What inspired the Renaissance reunion?

Annie: Well, it was actually Michael Dunford's son William who said, "Dad, you loved the band, didn't you?  So, why don't you get it back together?"  Then unfortunately or fortunately, whichever way you'd like to look at it, he was interested and brought the tour together in 2009.  Which was our 40th anniversary tour.  Originally it was going to be all the members but it didn't happen that way.  There were too many conflicts of time and different things going on.  The only time that we could actually go out and do the tour where the dates that John could get.  Which, unfortunately clashed with some things that the other band members couldn't change.  So, we decided to move on or there wouldn't be another opportunity.  That was it really.  So, it was down to Michael and me and we asked Rave Tesar and Dave Keyes if they would join up, and they did.  Then we brought in another keyboard player, Tom Brisland at that time and Frank Pagano.  Tom stayed with us for about a year and then Jason Hart joined.  We've got a great band of musicians.

Read on...

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO

Still Life
CD - £7.99

LINK: Renaissance Woman (Annie Haslam interview)

When guitarist Michael Dunford passed away suddenly in November, Annie Haslam didn’t know if she could ever perform under the Renaissance moniker or even sing again.

“It was that painful,” Haslam said while calling from Syosset, N.Y. “He just went like that. But we just finished recording an album and I owed it to him to continue.”

“Grandine Il Vento” was released Monday, April 8, and will be showcased when Renaissance plays Saturday at the Strand Center for the Arts in Lakewood and April 21 at the Newton Theatre in Newton.

“It’s going to be interesting how I sound, since with the exception of a Christmas concert, I haven’t sung a note since Michael left us. I’ll have a couple shows under my belt by the time we play New Jersey.”

Expect Renaissance to play a few new songs. “We’ll do more as time passes, but right now it’ll just be a couple from the album,” Haslam said.

The new material is primarily ethereal and poignant, with songs that are among the prettiest the prog-rock band has ever recorded. Heavenly imagery, such as angels, abounds on the album.

Read on...

GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Annie Haslam - Carpet of the Sun

ANNIE AT GONZO
Still Life
CD - £7.99

Annie Haslam kickstarts new Renaissance tour, CD in Wilmington

Don’t call the music of the band Renaissance “progressive rock” in front of longtime lead singer Annie Haslam. It’s not that the description upsets her; it’s just that she doesn’t think it’s accurate.

“Most people say that, [progressive rock], but I don’t think it really fits us,” said Haslam. “Progressive rock nowadays is a little bit heavier. I’ve always described us as classical rock or symphonic rock. And to somebody who has never heard us, that gives them an idea what to expect.”

Fans can make their own determination how to describe the band when lead vocalist and lyricist Haslam leads a revitalized Renaissance back out on tour for 12 dates in April, with a stop for one show at 8 p.m. Friday, April 12, at the World Café Live Wilmington in Delaware.

The band will play two of its timeless albums in their entirety — “Turn of the Cards” from 1974 and “Scheherazade and Other Stories” from 1975 as well as some of its new stuff.

The thing is, it hasn’t been easy for Haslam and Renaissance to get back on the road in recent months. The band completed its latest studio album, “Grandine il Vento,” in 2012. But this will be the group’s first concert appearances since the death of principal composer and guitarist Michael Dunford in November 2012, shortly after the latest record was completed.

Add the shock of Dunford’s death to the fact that Haslam herself experienced some health issues that prevented her from doing much of anything — she had a collapsed vertebra in her back and was in a brace for five months.

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CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO

Still Life CD - £7.99

RENAISSANCE: John Wetton Duet With Annie Haslam On New Renaissance Album Grandine Il Vento

 

John Wetton (Asia, King Crimson, UK, Uriah Heep) appears as guest vocalist on the new Renaissance album Grandine il Vento, performing a duet with vocalist Annie Haslam accompanied by only the grand piano of keyboardist Rave Tesar.

Although Annie Haslam and John Wetton are life-long friends and musical collaborators, it is not widely known that John Wetton was a touring member of Renaissance briefly in 1971. With this guest vocal appearance, he has finally recorded with the band as well.

Grandine il Vento will be available in April.

Hear a sample of the track Blood Silver Like Moonlight  below:

Original post

EXCITING NEWS FOR RENAISSANCE FANS

World-renowned progressive rock pioneers Renaissance will be making their first concert appearances since the tragic November 20^th passing of principal composer/guitarist Michael Dunford. Lead vocalist and lyricist Annie Haslam will continue to lead a new, revitalized Renaissance that looks forward to a future that will honor their 40 golden years of achievements. These shows will feature a mix of repertoire from their classic albums as well as the title track from their recently completed new studio album Grandine il Vento. Guitarist /vocalist Ryche Chlanda (Nektar and Fireballet) was recently chosen as Dunford’s replacement. Annie Haslam commented: “We feel Ryche is the right musician to carry on with Michael's legacy.”

In addition to their continued touring schedule, the band had completed recording their first new studio album in twelve years shortly before Dunford’s passing. Grandine il Vento was recorded at Studio X in Ridgewood NJ, USA, June - September 2012. It was produced by band member Rave Tesar, and co-produced by Ms. Haslam. 

Grandine il Vento features band mainstays Annie Haslam on Lead/ Backing Vocals and Michael Dunford  on Acoustic Guitars/ Backing Vocals joined by Rave Tesar on Piano/Keyboards, David J. Keyes on Bass Guitar/String Bass/ Backing Vocals, Jason Hart/Keyboards/ Backing Vocals and Frank Pagano on Drums/Percussion/Backing Vocals. All the music was composed and arranged by Michael Dunford (except ‘Blood Silver Like Moonlight’ was arranged by Rave Tesar) with all lyrics by Annie Haslam.

After completing their North American tour of 2011, Renaissance released Turn of the Cards and Scheherazade and Other Stories Live 2011,  a 2CD/DVD package on their own label; Symphonic Rock Recordings, which is distributed by RED; the independent arm of Sony Music.

Ms. Haslam is known for her five octave vocal range; which when combined with the group’s progressive symphonic sounds still takes audiences on the same magical journey as it has for over forty years.

Annie Haslam, Michael Dunford and company first took the helm from former Yardbirds members, Keith Relf and Jim McCarty in 1971 and soon had established Renaissance as a world class recording and touring act, able to sell out venues like New York’s Carnegie Hall and The Royal Albert Hall in London.  They would go on to release over a dozen albums before eventually parting ways in the mid-80’s. However, Annie and Michael would continue to write new material together and in 2001 reunited the band to record a new studio album, tour the following year, and release a live album. After another sabbatical, a new incarnation was introduced to the world through a series of amazing live shows, captured for posterity on Turn of the Cards and Scheherazade and Other Stories Live 2011.

Renaissance’s current lineup consists of Annie Haslam with five world-class musicians whose considerable talents maintain the group’s high standards of musicianship and creativity that provides the foundation for their seminal fusion of rock, avant-garde experimentation and classical composition. Keyboardist Rave Tesar and bassist/vocalist David J. Keyes are veterans of prior incarnations of Renaissance as well as Haslam’s solo band and recordings.  Keyboardist/Vocalist Jason Hart has recorded and performed extensively with Rufus Wainwright, Duncan Sheik, Antony and the Johnsons, and Keren Ann among others, and drummer Frank Pagano has worked with artists as diverse as Bruce Springsteen and the Smashing Pumpkins. Guitarist/vocalist Ryche Chlanda completes the line-up.

http://www.facebook.com/RenaissanceTouring

www.anniehaslam.com

Photos available at:

http://www.renaissancetouring.com

Renaissance Spring Tour Dates:

April 10 Wednesday - THE INFINITY MUSIC HALL, NORFOLK CT

April 12 Friday WORLD CAFE LIVE AT THE QUEEN WILMINGTON, DE

April 13 Saturday THE STRAND THEATER LAKEWOOD, NJ

April 14 Sunday LEVOY THEATRE MILLVILLE, NJ

April 17 Wednesday CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS- THE EGG ALBANY, NY

April 19 Friday TUPELO MUSIC HALL LONDONDERRY, NH

April 20 Saturday TUPELO MUSIC HALL WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, VT

April 21 Sunday NEWTON THEATRE NEWTON, NJ

April 23 Tuesday THE VARIETY PLAYHOUSE ATLANTA, GA

April 25 Thursday PALLADIUM THEATER ST. PETERSBURG, FL

April 26 Friday THE PLAZA THEATRE ORLANDO, FL

April 28 Sunday AMATURO THEATER FT. LAUDERDALE,

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM ANNIE AT GONZO

Still Life CD - £7.99

Live In Philadelphia  CD - £7.99

LINK: Annie Haslam joins the Music Illuminati

Annie Haslam is the vocalist extraordinaire (with a five-octave range!) for the progressive / classical rock band Renaissance. The band’s classic albums include 1974′s Turn of the Cards and 1975′s Scheherazade and Other Stories, both of which they recently covered in full on tour. Renaissance’s songs include “Mother Russia”, “Carpet of the Sun”, “Song of Scheherazade”, and “Northern Lights” which was a Top 10 single in the UK in 1978. Renaissance will soon be releasing a new album called Grandine il Vento.

Annie Haslam has also released several solo albums, starting with 1977′s aptly named Annie in Wonderland. And she is an accomplished painter! She responded to the following questions by email, with her answers received on 11/19/12. Sadly, her bandmate, Renaissance guitarist and songwriter Michael Dunford, passed away suddenly on 11/20/12 of a massive Instantaneous Cerebral Hemorrhage.

---

Jeff Moehlis: How was your part of the world affected by the recent hurricane?

Annie Haslam: Well, I live in Bucks county, PA. There were many trees down in the area, I lost 7. It was a scary experience, the hurricane sounded like a freight train going through my house. But of course the folks in NJ got the brunt of it all. Very sad, but people are pulling together over here to help the victims. As of yesterday parts of Staten Island were still without power.

JM: You’ve recently had problems with your back. How is your recovery coming along?

AH: Thank you for asking. Unfortunately we had to cancel most of Fall tour, it was very disappointing for me because I knew how many people were excited to see us again. We did however do the last 5 (the 6th had to be canceled because of the hurricane). I am in a metal back brace for 3 more months so had to wear that on stage too… a little cumbersome but as I painted it black to go with my stage outfits it ‘sort’ of blended in. I had to tell the fans what was happening as it was necessary for me to hold on to the microphone stand to keep steady and from falling over. In spite of this, my voice was very strong though and I believe I had a huge amount of Angelic help!

Read on...

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE ON GONZO:

Annie solo:

Live Under Brazillian...  CD - £7.99

Still Life CD - £7.99

Live In Philadelphia  CD - £7.99

Renaissance:

The Other Woman c/w Ocean Gypsy CD - £9.99

THOSE WE HAVE LOST: Michael Dunford

I woke up this morning to an e-mail from Rob Ayling telling me the sad news that Michael Dunford of Renaissance has just died. He wrote: "I will miss Michael, he was always good fun and absolute pleasure to deal with, as well has being a stunning composer and musician - the Prog world will miss him as will I". 

 I have taken the following obituary from the official Renaissance website:
http://renaissancetouring.com/2012/11/michael-dunford-of-renaissance-passes-away/

Michael Dunford, musical composer and guitarist of the progressive rock band Renaissance passed away on Tuesday, November 20, 2012. He had just returned home from the first leg of the band’s North American tour and suffered a massive Instantaneous Cerebral Hemorrhage while dining at his home in Surrey, England Monday night. He was rushed to hospital where doctors declared his condition irreversible and terminal. He passed away at 11:06 pm GMT, surrounded by his family without having regained consciousness.

The reclusive and soft-spoken composer, a mainstay in the world of progressive rock, was born, raised and educated in Surrey. His first job was selling clothing in a local shop followed by a stint as an airside driver at Heathrow Airport which enabled him to form a “skiffle” group which lead to his first rock band called Nashville Teens in the early 1960s. Nashville Teens reached #6 on U.K. singles charts with their version of Tobacco Road. On leaving them, he formed several other bands including The Pentad and The Plebes. One night he went to see the original band Renaissance perform locally and ended up joining them in the early 1970s. The original band members were Jim McCarty, Louis Cennamo, John Hawken, Keith Relf and Jane Relf.

Dunford and vocalist Annie Haslam took over Renaissance’s reins in 1971 and soon had established the group as a world class recording and touring act, selling out venues like New York’s Carnegie Hall and The Royal Albert Hall in London. They would go on to release over a dozen albums before eventually parting ways in the mid-1980s. However, they would continue to write new material together and in 2001 reunited the band to record a new studio album, tour the following year, and release a live album. After another sabbatical, the refreshed line-up was introduced to the world and captured for posterity on Turn of the Cards and Scheherazade and Other Stories Live 2011.

Earlier this fall, Dunford and the band completed recording their first new studio album in twelve years. Grandine il Vento was recorded at Studio X in Ridgewood NJ, USA. All the music on the new album except for one track was composed and arranged by Dunford and features him on acoustic guitars and backing vocals.

Michael Dunford is survived by his wife Clare, sons William (13) and Oliver (10), and sister Judy Kendall. Services will be held at Woking Crematorium at a date to be announced.

RENAISSANCE: All along, down along, out along lea

I really enjoyed watching the DVD of the first two line-ups of Renaissance the other night, although my alleigance to the Annie Haslam lineup remains unbroken.  Possibly the most peculiar track on there was their rendition of an old Devonshire folk song performed in such a way as to make it almost unrecognisable.

Steve Winwood et al have a lot to be responsible for. When the second incarnation of Traffic released the epic John Barleycorn album, they opened up a whole can of worms. The title track was a magnificent rendition of an old English folk song, and it seems obvious to me that the Renaissance dudes and dudette had a listen to it and thought to themselves that “we want a bit of this!”. However, despite their best intentions, their rendition of Widdecombe Fair, which inexplicably mis-spelled the titular village of the title, which is actually spelt Widecombe-in-the-Moor, and substituted the well-known jaunty air for a dirge-like tune which would have not been out of place on Neil Young’s Americana album, is really nothing short of peculiar.  Whereas John Barleycorn is a philosophical song about the changing of the seasons, and the human condition, Widdecombe Fair, whether sung by my father back in 1969 or Renaissance mark II a year later is basically a story of animal abuse, perpetrated by eight layabouts wanting to get pissed at a rural shindig, and has very little moral or philosophical depth to it. Here, by the way,  I should probably note that my old friend Father Lionel Fanthorpe, with whom I made a record on a Voiceprint some twelve years ago, once proposed a scholarly thesis interpreting the song as the account of how Uncle Tom Cobley et al were actually going to abduct the daughter of a wealthy landowner, or something like that. Whether you interpret the song according to him or simply believe that it is the tale of eight layabouts travelling to a country fair, getting drunk, and losing the horse which dies and comes back as a ghost, it is hardly the stuff of great philosophical thought.

However, it is a fascinating piece of rock and roll minutiae, and I am grateful to those jolly nice people at Gonzo for having brought it to my attention. 

THE ROOTS OF RENAISSANCE

Well, yesterday I solves a little personal mystery of mine which has been mildly bugging me for the last four decades (give or take a couple of years).

In the early seventies I used to occasionally spend the weekend with a school friend called Tim. He had an older brother whose name is lost deep within the sands of time, and he had a poster of a beautiful woman on his bedroom wall.

He was also into a band called Renaissance and turned me on to albums like Turn of the Cards which are personal favourites to this day. It was, therefore, a particular thrill to interview Annie Haslam recently. If you missed it you can find the interview:

part one   HERE, 
part two   HERE. 
part three HERE

but I always vaguely wondered who the woman on Tim's elder brother's wall was.

Now, I'd always been vaguely aware that Renaissance was originally a band formed by ex-Yardbirds Keith Relf and Jim McCarty, who left during the sessions for the second album, but I never actually heard anything from that lineup. Yesterday the lovely Anne-Marie from Gonzo sent me a whole pile of interesting things, including a DVD of the first Renaissance lineup, so when we had finished the day's activities and taken Sheri, the intern, back to her B&B I poured myself a tot of  milk from the Kentucky cow, and Richard and I settled down to watch the DVD.

The first two tracks are indeed from the Keith Relf led lineup, and the sound of the band is completely different from the multi-layered orchestral finery of the later Renaissance albums, and my 30-something year mystery was solved. The woman on the poster on my mate's elder brother's bedroom wall was none other than Keith Relf's sister Jane...

However, then things got weird. I had always thought that Annie Haslam had joined the band after the two Yardbirds and Jane Relf had left. But in fact there was a brief interregnum of a couple of months when the band had two lead singers:  Anne-Marie "Binky" Cullum and Terry Crowe.

Binky had a very good voice, albeit totally different from either Annie Haslam or Jane Relf, and Terry Crowe was massively reminiscent of Nigel Tufnel of Spinal Tap, especially during the between song soundbytes, but as regular readers will know I can't abide a mystery. Both singers left the band after only short tenures, and I wonder what happened to them. When I went to bed last night I messed around with the laptop by my bed and found out that Binky is apparently working as a 'Massage Therapist', and that Terry is allegedly dead. But no-one could confirm or deny these stories with any citations or anything other than vague rumour.

So come on Gonzofolk. Get sleuthing. I need to know this stuff...

SOME USEFUL LINKS:

Renaissance

renaissancetouring.com/

2012-2013 Tour Announcement · New Renaissance Studio Album · Grandine il Vento. Join Renaissance Updates mailing list ...

Welcome to Annie Haslam.com

www.anniehaslam.com/

Annie Haslam, born in Bolton, Lancashire, breast cancer survivor, became lead vocalist for Renaissance has now turned her music into 'dream expressionism' ...

Annie Haslam's artist page at Gonzo

Renaissance - Mother Russia (BBC Sight & Sound 1977)

LINK: Annie Haslam interview

Critical Questions: Annie Haslam

BY JIM ALLEN

Renaissance's singer recounts her prog-rock journey.

British prog-rock band Renaissance actually began at the end of the ‘60s as an offshoot of The Yardbirds. Its initial lineup featured two key members of that classic blues-rock outfit: singer/guitarist Keith Relf and drummerJim McCarty, with Relf's sister Jane sharing lead vocal duties. Beginning with 1972's Prologue, however, the band was fronted by crystal-voiced songbird Annie Haslam, who has been at the forefront of Renaissance ever since. Renaissance reformed in recent years, with Haslam and guitarist Michael Dunford still on board from the ‘70s lineup; they're currently performing milestone albums like 1974's Turn of the Cards and 1975's Scheherazade & Other Stories in their entirety (see the new live CD/DVD Renaissance Tour 2011). They're also at work on Grandine Il Vento, their first new album in 11 years (and only their second since 1983). Haslam, whose personality turns out to be as lovely as her voice, was kind enough to take a trot through her band's history, leading up to the 21st century Renaissance.

What had Michael Dunford been doing before he convinced you to start up Renaissance again?

He'd written a musical based around "The Song of Scheherazade," which is one of the tracks on the album Scheherazade...so he'd been working on that for several years. I think it was his son actually, his son said, "Dad, why don't you get the band back together again?" I had been approached quite a few times before that by other members of the band and I just kept saying no.

Read on...

Currently available from Gonzo:

Live Under Brazillian...  CD - £7.99

Still Life CD - £7.99

Live In Philadelphia  CD - £7.99

PREVIEW OF THE NEW RENAISSANCE ALBUM

Renaissance uploaded samples from their forthcoming "Grandine il Vento album", scheduled for release next year.   SOME USEFUL LINKS:

Renaissance

renaissancetouring.com/

2012-2013 Tour Announcement · New Renaissance Studio Album · Grandine il Vento. Join Renaissance Updates mailing list ...

Welcome to Annie Haslam.com

www.anniehaslam.com/

Annie Haslam, born in Bolton, Lancashire, breast cancer survivor, became lead vocalist for Renaissance has now turned her music into 'dream expressionism' ...

Annie Haslam's artist page at Gonzo

Personal Message From Annie Haslam

I was as shocked as anyone else when I read this letter from Annie on the Renaissance blog this morning. I only interviewed her a few weeks ago, and was captivated by her personality and sense of humour. I hope you feel better soon my dear, and I look forward to being able to post some more positive news very soon. 

Love and Light to you Annie 
Jon and everyone on the Gonzo Team

Dear Friends

It breaks my heart that I have had to postpone the first two weeks of our very special tour.

I was hoping and praying that I would be OK. I had been working, finishing off the new album despite the pain in my back, but it became so extreme I knew I had to finally seek immediate medical attention.

After going to a Physiotherapist, Chiropractor, then X-Rays, MRI’s, Cat scans and narrowly missing having to undergo spinal surgery, a decision had to be made, and it was very difficult for me.

I have never felt such heavy disappointment and sadness knowing so many of you were so excited to see the band again. I am not allowed to go anywhere for 2-3 weeks, and will be in a back brace that I will basically need to wear 24 hours a day for 2-3 months.

We certainly will do all we can to make it up to you and come to play for you as soon as I am fully recovered. We are aiming for Spring 2013. I am so thankful that I will be allowed to make the short trips to the last grouping of dates in the New Jersey/New York/Philadelphia areas, take off my back brace and perform!

We are certainly not an ordinary band, either by our music or the way we are blessed by people like you that have regrouped like us, and helped us on our new journey and new album.

I thank you from the bottom of my heart and look forward to seeing you all very soon.

Love and Light

Annie x

SOME USEFUL LINKS:

Renaissance

renaissancetouring.com/

2012-2013 Tour Announcement · New Renaissance Studio Album · Grandine il Vento. Join Renaissance Updates mailing list ...

Welcome to Annie Haslam.com

www.anniehaslam.com/

Annie Haslam, born in Bolton, Lancashire, breast cancer survivor, became lead vocalist for Renaissance has now turned her music into 'dream expressionism' ...

Annie Haslam's artist page at Gonzo

ANOTHER ANNIE HASLAM INTERVIEW

I'm not the only person to have interviewed Annie Haslam recently...

Mike Ragogna: Annie, you're one of my hero-esses!

Annie Haslam: Oh gosh, not a hero-ess!

MR: (laughs) During an interview the other day, I joked with a couple, "You are the Mayor and Mayor-ess of town," and I thought I'd try that bad joke on another hapless victim.

AH: Is that what you call a female mayor?

MR: Nah, a female mayor is a mayor, and a female hero is a heroine.

AH: Heroine, oh God!

MR: Was just trying on "hero-ess."

AH: I'm going to copyright the word "hero-ess." I'll say it's my design. (laughs) You said that you were solar-powered, and I think that's incredible. I love that.

MR: Thank you, very much. We're the only solar-powered station in the Midwest of the United States and that's very strange to me.

AH: Yeah. It's not right, really, is it. We should all be solar-powered.

MR: Again, thank you for the kind words, Annie, very nice. Okay, let's dive into your new project. Can you go into what the motivation was to cover your two albums, Turn Of The Cards andScheherazade And Other Stories?

Read on...

SOME USEFUL LINKS:

Renaissance

renaissancetouring.com/

2012-2013 Tour Announcement · New Renaissance Studio Album · Grandine il Vento. Join Renaissance Updates mailing list ...

Welcome to Annie Haslam.com

www.anniehaslam.com/

Annie Haslam, born in Bolton, Lancashire, breast cancer survivor, became lead vocalist for Renaissance has now turned her music into 'dream expressionism' ...

Annie Haslam's artist page at Gonzo