Official Website of Recording Artist Ed Hale
Transcendence singer/songwriter Ed Hale and Princeton University Professor Dr. Cornell West.
The Ambassador said “as always Dr. West was at his cerebral best, inspiring, intriguing and intoxicating the intellect so much that one dared wonder if there was anyone else alive on planet earth in that moment as interesting or thought provoking. The man was on fire.”
Now official. The new ED HALE solo album Ballad On Third Avenue hits retail stores nationwide and 250 online digital stores and portals on June 16th, 2009. To receive updates and hear the first songs/MP3s for free as soon as they are released, sign up either at edhale.com, MySpace.com, ReverbNation.com, or the Ed Hale PAGE on Facebook. (Only one is necessary) Free song streams and downloads will start posting in May, as well as the first music video.
The atmosphere in the Dying Van Gogh Record’s office in downtown New York is infectiously joyous and celebratory this afternoon. The label is home to music artists Ed Hale, Transcendence, Ex Norwegian, Dreaming In Stereo, and Andy Pratt among a few others, and just minutes ago, finalized the signing of a new distribution agreement – with Burnside Distribution Corporation – that will put the label’s new releases – as well as prior-released back-catalogue titles – in thousands of retail stores worldwide as well as make the music available for sale on over 250 digital music stores and music portals online including Amazon.com, iTunes, and Rhapsody.
For new bands to the label’s roster such as the indie-rock sensations Ex Norwegian or Dreaming in Stereo, this was great news. For singer Ed Hale and band Transcendence this was a much needed turn around from a dark period when they were unable to release any new music for almost two years. Though the band has had three new albums recorded and ready for release since early 2007, they were unable to release them due to the alleged bankruptcy of their record label’s former distributor Synergy Distribution. Synergy, a Colorado company owned by Michael Fitts and managed by Paul Schulman, had hundreds of independent labels signed to its roster at one time, but in early 2006 stopped paying the labels for sales of CDs and digital downloads, claiming that the closing of record store giant Tower Records created such a negative impact on the company financially that they were unable to pay the labels whose music they were selling. If the labels weren’t being paid then neither were the artists. This of course put the band Transcendence in a tough spot.
“Hey am i gonna be on one of your crazy YouTube thingies?”
New video footage released of Ed Hale in the recording studio with producer Fernando Perdomo recording vocals for the song “New Orleans Dreams” from the soon to be released album Ballad On Third Avenue (Dying Van Gogh Records). The song, inspired by the hurricane Katrina catastrophe and its effect on the city of New Orleans and the entire country, is track #8 on the new album, due in stores the first week of April, 2009.
Seattle, WA
January 2nd, 2009
Over the New Year holiday weekend this year, singer-songwriter and recording artist Ed Hale and girlfriend Nahal Mishel-Ghashghai, who Hale affectionately refers to as Princess Little Tree, held a Lennonesque three-day “Bed In for Peace In Gaza” in Seattle, WA. The project was originally intended to create awareness about the ongoing violence in Gaza and promote peace in the region, but snowballed into a much bigger event over the three day period. The singer and Mishel-Ghashghai communicated with a multitude of people via social media along with a wide variety of media outlets as well as various embassies of countries like Israel, China, Iraq, Chechnya, Russia and South Korea. They posted a video synopsis of the event on YouTube a few days later that can be viewed below.
Ed Hale and Nahal Mishel-Ghashghai Post Three Day Bed In For Peace In Gaza Press Event on YouTube
“The problem was how to celebrate New Years Eve respectfully with all of the recent violence, turmoil, and humanitarian crises happening around the world, especially the brutal battle going on in Gaza and Palestine. To do the usual party to party scene all night just didn’t seem appropriate at the time considering… the idea just grew from there… from that original thought… Then it just came down to if we had the energy and the commitment to really do something. That’s what it always comes down to isn’t it? The idea was how much can we do if we focus 110% on peace in the world for four solid days and nights? That was the question.”