In 2009 Ed Hale attended a two week Civilian Diplomacy Trip to the country of Iran with the world’s oldest non-profit peace and diplomacy organization, the Fellowship of Reconciliation. Hale was among 11 Americans chosen for the trip, along with journalist Robert Dreyfus and author Larry Beinhart and several members of American prominent nuclear watchdog NGOs as well as other peace activists. They met with various members of different departments of the Iranian government including presidents Ahmadinejad and Khatami, Iranian Peace activists, members of the Islamic Republic clergy, Imams and Ayatollahs, leaders of Christian Churches and Jewish Synagogues there. They also had time to connect with a lot of the Iranian people all over the country, who were extremely happy and excited to meet Americans. Hale has been writing about the experience extensively in his Transcendence Diaries (run a search for “Iran”) and speaking about the trip to various groups over the years. CLICK TO READ MORE Continue reading “Ed Hale Photo Gallery From Civilian Diplomacy Trip To Iran”
SCENE IN SAN FRANCISCO – SINGLE
CREDITS:
Produced by Ed Hale and Fernando Perdomo. Mixed and mastered by Zach Ziskin. Ed Hale – Vocals, acoustic guitars Fernando Perdomo – Acoustic guitars, bass, keyboards, background vocals Derek Cintron – Drums Greg Byers – Cellos Matthew Sabatella and Zach Ziskin – Background vocals
NOTHING IS COHESIVE
CREDITS:
Ed Hale, Fernando Perdomo, Roger Houdaille, Jon Rose, Bill Sommer, Ben Belin. Recorded at Perdomo Sound, Summer of 2003. Mastered by Fred Freeman
NEW ORLEANS DREAMS – SINGLE
“After seeing what’s been happening down South, I just felt like it was the right choice [to release this single] for where we are right now. We wrote the song based on what I’d seen down in Biloxi, Mississippi doing reconstruction work with Habitat for Humanity. And this was Hurricane Katrina we’re talking about. Years later, things were just as bad as they were right after the hurricane hit. It was very sad, very hard to see how little was being done by the government. So that’s where that song came from. But the people we helped, you know, the looks on their faces after they saw their houses rebuilt… man that was why we were down there. It was priceless. Then came the BP Oil Spill, right? And then this new series of floods and tornadoes… it’s like when will it ever end?! So the song just works. It’s still appropriate even though the country has elected a new president and everything appears to have changed…. for some of us maybe, but not for everyone. Not for the people of New Orleans.”
The original album version of the song has been remixed and edited by Zach Ziskin for release as a single for radio. Of this latest venture, Hale commented “Man I hope that every living breathing person on earth buys the song or downloads it so we can raise a truckload of money for the people down there. It’s only ninety-nine cents, yes, but collectively we could make a huge difference.”
CREDITS:
Produced by Fernando Perdomo and Ed Hale
Single Version Mixed by Zach Ziskin
Recorded at The Cave, Miami Beach, FL
Published by Transcendent Music Publishing (ASCAP)
Musicians:
Ed Hale – Lead and background vocals, acoustic guitars
Fernando Perdomo – Acoustic guitars, bass, balalyka, keyboards
Matthew Sabatella- Background Vocals
Greg Byers – Cello
Executive Producer: Nahal Mishel-Ghashghai
Photography: Flavia Molinari
Contact: pr@dyingvangogh.com
Dying Van Gogh Records
304 Park Avenue South 11th Floor
New York, NY 10010
800.827.7763
www.dyingvangogh.com
www.edhale.com
www.transcendence.com
Thanks to: Fernando Perdomo and everyone at Cave Studios for your brilliant musicianship, Zach Ziskin for your superior mixing skills, Roger Houdaille and the whole staff of Dying Van Gogh Records, Flavia Molinari for your vision, Brian Johnson and Anim8ter Freelance, Amanda Alexandrakis & South Beach Marketing & Promotion, Greg Byers, Matthew Sabatella, FMQB, friends and family, and most of all my beloved princess Little Tree.
SLEEP WITH YOU
CREDITS:
Recorded between June 2002 – February 2003 at Dungeon Recording Studios, Miami, FL
Produced by Fred Freeman and Ed Hale
Musicians:
Ed Hale – Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards
Ricardo Mazzi – Drums, Percussion, Machines
Jon Rose – Pianos, Keyboards, Machines, Vocals
Fernando Perdomo – Guitars, Sitar, Theremin, Sound Effects, Vocals
Roger Houdaille – Bass Guitars, Vocals
Head Engineer: Fred Freeman
Assistant Engineers: Manny Rodriguez, Michael “Lets Go” Lukacina
Mixed by Jeremy DuBois & Fred Freeman
Mastered by Brent Lambert at Kitchen Mastering, NC
Bass Guitar by Howard “Stro” Stroman on the songs Minnie Driver, Sleep With You, Beautiful One, Vicodin & Keep Moving On
Zach Ziskin played Guitar on Keep Moving On & Vicodin
Photography by Jill Kahn
Drawings and Paintings by Veronica Saenz
Art Direction & Digital Illustrations by Eduardo Silva
All songs arranged by Transcendence
RISE AND SHINE
ACOUSTIC IN NEW YORK
CREDITS:
Produced by Ed Hale Recorded November 1995 at Terry’s Studio, New York, NY Engineered by Patrick Naidl Remixed by Cliff Rawnsley Jr. at Sunflower Studios, Hollywood, Florida Ed Hale: Vocals, Guitar All songs music and lyrics written by Ed Hale except where noted. Photos by Vanita Gupta. Graphic design by Eduardo Silva for TMG Records.
The Eddie Album
The first ED HALE album was released on the independent record label Alarming Talent Records when Hale, who went by the name Eddie Darling then, was 17 years old and still in high school. The album was simply titled EDDIE. Hale was discovered by pop-music historian and critic Murray Silver—author of the Great Balls of Fire Jerry Lee Lewis Story book and movie who had started a small record label in the burgeoning Atlanta music scene. Though it is clear now, looking back there was no way one could predict the many stylistic roads Hale would travel down throughout his career as a recording artist. Described as a musical Picasso he is known for creating entirely different landscapes, little worlds each unique and special, with each new album he releases. More like movies than music albums. Some fans find it difficult to keep up with Hale’s voracious appetite for exploring different musical styles.
It may be due to the fact that Hale was still in his teens, new to the business, and under the guidance of heavy-handed executives and the pressures of the business, but the Eddie album did not foreshadow the style-surfing of Hale’s future work with jangly-pop college rock darlings BROKEN SPECTACLES, nor his later world-music forays with his current group TRANSCENDENCE. It did not indicate Hale would over the course of three years steer from middle-eastern and Brasilian music on Rise and Shine, to heavy commercial alt-rock on Sleep With You, to garage-pop and indie-rock on Nothing is Cohesive. The Eddie Album is a relatively consistent work. The influences are easy to spot, the Beatles, T. Rex, Dylan, though it is also slightly marred by when it was recorded. The music of the eighties had a very distinct sound, and this album was no exception.
For those searching for the quintessential starting point of the Ed Hale sound and story, the EDDIE album is it. It is moody, dreamy, bouncy, romantic 80’s euro-pop. His voice is soft and whispery, neither matured nor fully developed, he was often compared to a young Marc Bolan or David Bowie. He comes off like an innocent but daring young Casanova, ambitious and romantic, and a touch too cheeky. But the album is filled with catchy melodies that fans would soon come to expect. Raw passion, plenty of lust, and teenage emotion and angst.
Lush, orchestral production, and punchy eighties beats are the focus of this ten song disc. Standout tracks on the newly re-mastered release include She Says You’re the One, and You and Me. There is a yearning in both songs which is touching and poignant and similar to many songs Hale would write and record on future albums. Then there are the hints of what would soon be a trademark song style that he would explore deeper in Broken Spectacles — the anthemic and operatic long-song form in the likes of I’m Not Crazy, in which he ominously pleads “I’m not crazy/but I’m on my way.†It features an intriguing orchestral break in the middle of the song. Very Bowie, Elton John. Depending on whom you ask. Just Don’t Matter At All finds the artist waxing philosophic on growing up with a characteristic Beatlesque sing-a-long multi-voiced outro.
There is the misogynist dance-club hit Since I lost You which was all the rage in the dance clubs of Atlanta in the summer of ’89 which Hale still claims to prefer to forget, and the ego-infested rocker Obsession with Hale chanting “I’m the solution to all this talk about revolution†in the chorus with hubris typical of an American teenager, a super-hero confidence theme that dominated the lyrics of his early records; until the middle period of his Broken Spectacles work when his songs became more introspective and pensive, taking on an a nearly nihilistic and self-deprecating nature.
Ed Hale’s Eddie album is a classic for collectors of his work, but not a classic album. One can clearly hear the singer still developing and searching for a sound of his own. And the album as a whole is a much simpler transparent work than what we are used to by this point. But there are however four must-haves on the album: the aforementioned You and me, She says you’re the one, I’m not crazy, and Just don’t matter at all. These songs are classic Ed Hale and say much about what was to come. The purity, passion, and raw romanticism of each still bring goosebumps and a skip of the heart.
1. You And Me
2. Obsession
3. Just don’t matter at all
4. She says you’re the one
5. Since I lost you
6. Irrelevant babbling
7. I’m not crazy
8. And it’s you
9. My Wendy
10. I found you
11. My Wendy (original demo)
ALBUM CREDITS
ORIGINAL RECORD LABEL: Alarming Talent Records
ORIGINAL Release Date: October 20th, 1989
RECORDED: August 1988 – October 1988
STUDIO: Important recording studios, Ft. Meyers, FL
PRODUCED BY: Murray Silver, Ed Hale, and John McLane
ENGINEERED BY: John McLane
DIGITALLY REMASTERED BY: Eddie Mashal at Alle Audio; Hollywood, FL
MUSICIANS: Ed Hale – vocals, guitars, keyboards. John McLane – guitar, bass, keyboards, sax, and background vocals, Max Mazzone – Drums. Diane Kerri – background vocals.
All songs music and lyrics written by Ed Hale
Spectacularly Broken
The 3 disc compilation of the best of Ed Hale’s work with underground rock group Broken Spectacles featuring over 40 songs, out-takes, home demos, live in concert tracks, and radio interviews. Remastered and Released in 1998 (currently out of print).
Song | Hear | Free | Price | Buy |
The Eddie Album
The first ED HALE album was released on the independent record label Alarming Talent Records when Hale, who went by the name Eddie Darling then, was 17 years old and still in high school. The album was simply titled EDDIE. Hale was discovered by pop-music historian and critic Murray Silver, author of the Great Balls of Fire Jerry Lee Lewis Story book and movie who had started a small record label in the burgeoning Atlanta music scene. Though it is clear now, looking back there was no way one could predict the many stylistic roads Hale would travel down throughout his career as a recording artist. Described as a musical Picasso he is known for creating entirely different landscapes, little worlds each unique and special, with each new album he releases. More like movies than music albums. Some fans find it difficult to keep up with Hale’s voracious appetite for exploring different musical styles.
It may be due to the fact that Hale was still in his teens, new to the business, and under the guidance of heavy-handed executives and the pressures of the business, but the Eddie album did not foreshadow the style-surfing of Hale’s future work with jangly-pop college rock darlings BROKEN SPECTACLES, nor his later world-music forays with his current group TRANSCENDENCE. It did not indicate Hale would over the course of three years steer from middle-eastern and Brasilian music on Rise and Shine, to heavy commercial alt-rock on Sleep With You, to garage-pop and indie-rock on Nothing is Cohesive. The Eddie Album is a relatively consistent work. The influences are easy to spot, the Beatles, T. Rex, Dylan, though it is also slightly marred by when it was recorded. The music of the eighties had a very distinct sound, and this album was no exception.
For those searching for the quintessential starting point of the Ed Hale sound and story, the EDDIE album is it. It is moody, dreamy, bouncy, romantic 80’s euro-pop. His voice is soft and whispery, neither matured nor fully developed, he was often compared to a young Marc Bolan or David Bowie. He comes off like an innocent but daring young Casanova, ambitious and romantic, and a touch too cheeky. But the album is filled with catchy melodies that fans would soon come to expect. Raw passion, plenty of lust, and teenage emotion and angst.
Lush, orchestral production, and punchy eighties beats are the focus of this ten song disc. Standout tracks on the newly re-mastered release include She Says You’re the One, and You and Me. There is a yearning in both songs which is touching and poignant and similar to many songs Hale would write and record on future albums. Then there are the hints of what would soon be a trademark song style that he would explore deeper in Broken Spectacles” the anthemic and operatic long-song form in the likes of I’m Not Crazy, in which he ominously pleads “I’m not crazy/but I’m on my way.” It features an intriguing orchestral break in the middle of the song. Very Bowie, Elton John. Depending on whom you ask. Just Don’t Matter At All finds the artist waxing philosophic on growing up with a characteristic Beatlesque sing-a-long multi-voiced outro.
There is the misogynist dance-club hit Since I lost You which was all the rage in the dance clubs of Atlanta in the summer of ’89 which Hale still claims to prefer to forget, and the ego-infested rocker Obsession with Hale chanting “I’m the solution to all this talk about revolution” in the chorus with hubris typical of an American teenager, a super-hero confidence theme that dominated the lyrics of his early records; until the middle period of his Broken Spectacles work when his songs became more introspective and pensive, taking on an a nearly nihilistic and self-deprecating nature.
Ed Hale’s Eddie album is a classic for collectors of his work, but not a classic album. One can clearly hear the singer still developing and searching for a sound of his own. And the album as a whole is a much simpler transparent work than what we are used to by this point. But there are however four must-haves on the album: the aforementioned You and me, She says you’re the one, I’m not crazy, and Just don’t matter at all. These songs are classic Ed Hale and say much about what was to come. The purity, passion, and raw romanticism of each still bring goosebumps and a skip of the heart.
ALBUM CREDITS
ORIGINAL RECORD LABEL: Alarming Talent Records
ORIGINAL Release Date: October 20th, 1989
RECORDED: August 1988 – October 1988
STUDIO: Important recording studios, Ft. Meyers, FL
PRODUCED BY: Murray Silver, Ed Hale, and John McLane
ENGINEERED BY: John McLane
DIGITALLY REMASTERED BY: Eddie Mashal at Alle Audio; Hollywood, FL
MUSICIANS: Ed Hale – vocals, guitars, keyboards. John McLane – guitar, bass, keyboards, sax, and background vocals, Max Mazzone – Drums. Diane Kerri – background vocals.
All songs music and lyrics written by Ed Hale
Song | Hear | Free | Price | Buy |