Ed Hale Starts Giving Guitar & Songwriting Master Classes

The guitar obsessed singer/songwriter Ed Hale performs his American Summer on a Norman B18

Singer, songwriter, guitarist Ed Hale who records and releases albums both solo and with his longtime bandmates in The Transcendence has announced that he’s going to be starting to give guitar and songwriting master classes in metropolitan New York at his home recording studio.

The singer has been very active on social media, namely Instagram and YouTube with his new Transcendent Television project, regularly posting episodes discussing favorites among his extensive guitar collection or premiering his newest songs. It’s been an exciting process to watch in the more stripped down and less flashy format than we are accustomed to from the singer. Dare we say we are slowly getting to know the real Ed Hale just a little bit better than we ever have before.

Taking to giving in person master classes in both guitar and songwriting in his home studio takes it to a whole new level of “personal” for the usually more crafted and calculated performer. “I think the older we get the more real we get, right? And I dig showing younger artists what’s up,” Hale says about the new project. “Whether it’s turning them on to all the older music that created some of the greatest music in the rock and roll pantheon, or just showing them how to freely play with passion till they can’t stop smiling, it’s a f*^king thrill to do and then witness man.”

For an artist who’s known for his prolific songwriting — Hale bandmates say the singer writes nonstop 24 hours a day, pumping out 10 to 25 songs a week, and his obsessive use of unconventional open guitar tunings, the question is how much is Ed Hale going to reveal in his master classes. That’s going to be the big mystery that only students who enter the singer’s studio / guitar museum will discover. It should be quite the experience. One student we could get a hold of who’s taken a few lessons with Hale commented “I got to my first lesson at Ed’s place early. I was really nervous. But Ed opens the door in his bathrobe eating a bowl of Captain Crunch! And he’s like “hey what’s up dude? You’re early. Come on in. Let’s jam.” It was amazing!”

That does sound cool. No doubt about it.

Those interested should visit the website for Hale’s new venture Guitar Lessons Master Classes of New York for more info or to book a session.

TRANSCENDENCE’S ED HALE ON HEROES, VILLAINS, & AN “ALL-STAR LINEUP”

After catching up with Ed Hale last week in the first part of my interview with the singer/songwriter/guitarist/keyboard player for the former Miami based band Transcendence, today we delve further into the group’s current status and the making of their latest album, All Your Heroes Become Villains.
I encountered an interesting parallel story during a recent weekend in New York. During lunch with musician pals Richard X Heyman and Edward Rogers, an obscure British musician named Jimmy Campbell came up. Campbell wrote a few mildly successful hits in the mid ’60s during the full flush of the British Invasion. Few Americans know of Campbell, but Hale sure does. His label, Dying Van Gogh, has a multi-artist tribute planned and Rogers is contributing a track to the effort! Anyhow, here’s the rest of my little chat with Mr. Hale.
Read the full interview here.

HALE TO START RECORDING NEW ALBUM – LISTEN LIVE WITH RYAN SEACREST!

Ed Hale is returning to New York this week to begin working on a new solo album. Transcendence bassist and Ex Norwegian front-man Roger Houdaille is set to produce. The album Hale was originally scheduled to begin recording was supposed to be a followup similar in sound and style to his last acoustic whisper-pop Ballad On Third Avenue; it was titled Born To Lose, based on the song of the same name. But word now is that Hale and Houdaille have changed things up and have been discussing Hale creating an album blending more commercial, pop, and electronica styles into the mix. The album has been tentatively titled Knee Deep in the Apocalypse and contain a whole new batch of unrelated songs to the original project. It is scheduled to begin production on April 2nd. “The Born to Lose album was already finished, you know, in my head, the album is finished. The songs, they’ve already been written. This new album was supposed to just be an extension of the Ballad On Third Avenue album. Same vibe, same style, just more raw, less instrumentation, you know. And we may still do that. I’m not sure really,” Hale recently commented. “But it’s true. We are really excited about this whole new idea of going a bit more mainstream. I mean I just, who would ever think it? You know? It could sound incredible.”
Hale will talk more about the new album, as well as his hit single “I Walk Alone” live with Ryan Seacrest on New York’s Z100 radio station on Monday morning, April 4th. Listen in to catch the show or look for it online.

VIEW PHOTOS FROM HOME BUILDING WORK TRIP IN GHANA, AFRICA

Transcendence singer Ed Hale with mission group in Ghana Africa
TRANSCENDENCE lead singer Ed Hale recently returned from a two-week home building mission trip in a remote village in the country of Ghana in Africa. The trip was sponsored by Habitat for Humanity and Christ Church United Methodist in New York City. Several videos of the trip were also posted to YouTube on the TranscendentTVchannel. Photos and slideshow, and Hale’s personal comments and blogs about the trip can be had by clicking here: http://www.flickr.com/gp/15783175@N06/gwkr5c