It’s a dream come true for eclectic singer/songwriter Ed Hale of the rock group Ed Hale and the Transcendence (formerly Transcendence). His latest single “New Orleans Dreams” has risen to the #43 position on the FMQB Adult Contemporary Chart this week and once again hit the Top 5 Most Added Songs of the Week Chart for the fourth consecutive week since its release.
For long time fans of Ed Hale the news has got to be as much a “dream come true” as it is for the singer. Hale has been a favorite with critics and tastemakers since his debut album release nearly nine years ago, but he has never achieved major commercial radio success. That is until now. Fans can feel free to pinch themselves all they want and still tune their radios to “those stations that play the softer hit songs” on the FM dial to hear the indie artist singing the “Radio Edit” version of his song “New Orleans Dreams” from his latest solo album Ballad On Third Avenue.
Fans are encouraged to put their listening ears on and get those fingers out. The next few weeks will be crucial for Hale and fans as the higher the song rises so too does the competition. In uncharted waters much like the floods of the post-Katrina South that Hale sings about in the song, “New Orleans Dreams” needs to rise just three more spots to enter the Top 40 Chart where it will be greeted by such regulars as Adele, Coldplay, Train, One Republic, and Lady Gaga. A big coup for the New York based boutique indie record label Dying Van Gogh. And an even bigger coup for an artist like Hale who has never wavered from continuously releasing music regardless of which “format of radio” plays his albums or not.
Of course a Top 40 hit single less than two months before the long awaited new Transcendence album All Your Heroes Become Villains is released could do wonders for the modern rock outfit who haven’t released an album of new material in almost five years. Three of the band members released solo albums in the interim: Hale, bassist Roger Houdaille formed the indie rock sensations known as Ex Norwegian, and lead guitarist Fernando Perdomo formed the “prog-pop” super group Dreaming in Stereo.
ED HALE WEDDING DATE ANNOUNCED – FEBRUARY 13TH, 2010
Singer/songwriter Ed Hale, who was engaged to be married to Nahal Mishel-Ghashghai in September of this year, announced this week that a date has been set, February 13th, 2010, creating a “Valentines Day Weekend in New York City for friends and family” and invitations have been mailed. The couple will hold two wedding ceremonies back to back, both in Manhattan. The first of which at 10 AM, will be a Traditional Persian Wedding, where Hale is said to be converting to Islam in order to travel with and be considered legally married to Mishel-Ghashghai in the Middle East, immediately followed by what is being called “an eclectic take on the traditional Christian Wedding,” where Mishel-Ghashghai is reportedly converting to Christianity. A reception will follow in the same location. The couple shared that they are foregoing the usual DJ and wedding band at the reception in favor of more personal group activities such as readings by different guests, a meditation on love candle ceremony, a blessing by a Tibetan Buddhist Monk from the Nechung Center, and of course several musical performances by friends of Hale’s in the rock ‘n’ roll world. In lieu of wedding cake the couple will be having the 200 year old New York Italian bakery Viniero’s provide over two-hundred and fifty fresh cannoli. The reception will also feature a string quintet with sitar performing both classical and standards, and a Traditional Persian Classical Trio. Honeymoon plans have not been announced, but the couple has set up a wedding website at TheKnot.com that lists flight and accommodation information for guests. Hale commented “The only other time I’ll ever get to have this many of all my different friends from around the world gathered in one place will probably be my funeral, if I’m that lucky, so Nahal and I really wanted to have things be more personal and manageable so we could have the opportunity to spend quality time with people we don’t get to see very often. Introduce everyone to each other. You know, like that.” When asked about the “eclectic take” comment on the couple’s upcoming nuptials, Hale said “Well I think I’ve got her talked into doing a big group Stevie Wonder sing-a-long, but I’m pretty sure she’s nixed the idea of me walking in wearing a cape and top hat.”
ED HALE TRANSCENDS IRANIAN CONFLICT – ROCK STAR AND GOOD WILL AMBASSADOR TO VISIT IRAN
Monday, February 25th, 2008
by Keith Hannaleck
Transcendence lead singer Ed Hale has been chosen to be one of 14 delegates going on a Peace Delegation to the country of Iran with The Fellowship of Reconciliation.
New York, NY, Feb 25, 2008 – 14 delegates chosen from across the United States will be going on a Peace Delegation to the country of Iran with The Fellowship of Reconciliation, the world’s oldest peace organization headquartered in over 40 countries worldwide and started in 1914 in Switzerland to prevent war in Europe. College radio darling Ed Hale, lead singer for the rock group Transcendence has been chosen to be one of the 14 delegates.
Along with 10 others the group also consists of writer Larry Beinhart, best known for his infamous book turned movie Wag the Dog and Searching for Truth in the Land of Spin, Carah Lynn Ong, Policy Analyst for the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation in Washington DC, and journalist Robert Dreyfus, contributing editor and writer for The Nation, Rolling Stone, and The New Republic. The group will tour Iran for two-weeks, primarily focusing on the major cities of Tehran, Esfehan, Shiraz, and Qom and holding formal meetings with the country’s leading government and religious leaders in an unprecedented move since the Islamic revolution almost 30 years ago to discuss US/Iranian relations. The group of 14 Americans will also visit schools, universities, newspapers, radio, and TV stations to foster more peace, harmony, and solidarity between the American and Iranian people.
They will meet with three reigning Ayatollahs, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Ambassador to the United States, the Minister of Culture, and with the former two-term Iranian President Mohamad Khatami. The Fellowship of Reconciliation is a non-religious, not-for-profit organization that has been sponsoring trips such as these for over eighty years all over the world. Their primary mission is to foster peace and understanding between peoples of different cultures during times of high conflict in order to attempt to prevent war.
Ed Hale is the lead singer in the rock band Transcendence (Universal) and is also known for his outspoken human rights and peace activism and volunteer work around the world. He just returned from two weeks of home building in Africa with Habitat for Humanity (see YouTube) and made two separate trips to the Gulf Coast last year to help rebuild homes for Hurricane Katrina victims in Biloxi, Mississippi. He and his bandmates have two new albums coming out this year, The Great Mistake, and All Your Heroes Become Villains.
An interesting sign of the times, the funds to help pay Hale’s expenses were raised entirely online using social networking sites such as MySpace, the band’s fanbase, and something known as the ChipIn widget. Fans and friends were encouraged to post comments and donate anything they wanted to. The “widget†tracked the progress in real-time so all could log-on at anytime to see how much money had been collected and watch as the goal was reached and read comments from fans from around the world.
Hale has been keeping a blog about the trip online and will continue to post reports while he is in Iran. Upon his return he will be speaking at various events around the country about the experience and will be available for television and press interviews about the experience.
To learn more about the Fellowship of Reconciliation organization and how you can become involved click here.
For more information http://edhale.chipin.com/ ed-hale-goes-to-Iran-with-peace-delegationÂ