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News album reviews interviews press articles press releases about singer songwriter recording artist Ed Hale and rock band Ed Hale and the Transcendence

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ED HALE SIGNS PRODUCT ENDORSEMENT DEAL WITH ULTRASONE HEADPHONES

 

Singer/songwriter Ed Hale signed a two year product endorsement agreement with German luxury headphone manufacturer UltraSone this week guaranteeing the singer will use UltraSone headphones exclusively for his new album. Hale, who is currently in the recording studio in New York City commented Friday “Obviously UltraSone headphones sound great. Without that there’s really nothing else. But really sold me was their S-Logic Surround Sound technology. It enables listeners to listen at much lower levels than we normally do and still hear the music we are creating which translates into much less potential for hearing damage or hearing loss. This is more than important I would think.”
No details about the agreement were made public but Dying Van Gogh Records stated that the artist is in the process of signing multiple product endorsement deals including last week’s agreements with MikTekmicrophones and Dean Markley guitar strings. Hale earned his street cred back in the heyday of the jangly guitar rock of the early nineties and has never been shy about saying no to product placement or advertising no matter what the benefits. He and his band Transcendence boycotted participation in the Budweiser Battle of the Bands Concert Series after they won the competition and once made waves by refusing to appear in a guest spot on the Howard Stern show.
“I don’t see how or why that particular decision caused any waves at all. What the hell does the Howard Stern show have anything to do with what we do in Transcendence?” the singer was quoted as saying. “What we are looking for are companies whose products we actually use, or want to use, companies we admire, who are aligned with the bigger mission. UltraSone is breaking boundaries. Their headphones are incredible sounding AND they have new technology that actually respects the health of the listener. That’s innovative. Big ups to them.” Hale is currently excited about a possible agreement with the Gibson guitar company.

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ED HALE AND CREW BEGIN RECORDING NEW ALBUM — FOLLOW UP TO BALLAD ON THIRD AVENUE

Ed Hale and a handful of his fellow Transcendence members are in the recording studio in New York City this week and have begun work on a new album, the followup to last year’s commercially successful Ballad On Third Avenue. Their band, Ed Hale and the Transcendence, have a new album being released September 6th — the long awaited rock-opera concept album All Your Heroes Become Villains, on Dying Van Gogh Records. This new album the band just started recording will be released as an Ed Hale “solo album”, not to be confused with Ed Hale and the Transcendence. (confused yet?) Ed Hale’s solo albums tend to be quieter, more tame and on the acoustic side, though they usually feature the same roster of musicians he has worked with since first appearing in the public eye in 2002 with his eclectic debut, Rise and Shine.
Although Ballad On Third Avenue is still active and going strong on radio — the second single “New Orleans Dreams” is scheduled to hit Hot AC radio stations all across the US, the UK, and seventeen countries in Europe on August 15th — the band felt that they just might be able to “squeeze in a few weeks in the recording studio to complete a new batch of songs” before promotional and touring efforts begin in earnest for the All Your Heroes album. The “new batch of songs” will most likely be a full length of 10 to 12 songs and follow in the same footsteps sonically as Hale’s last solo effort: stripped down acoustic singer/songwriter whisper-pop. The style was new territory for Hale, who has largely been associated with the “alt-rock” genre over the years.  But the new format treated the singer well, fueled by the first single “I Walk Alone” which garnered airplay on over one-hundred Triple A radio stations across the United States, bringing Hale’s music to a whole new legion of listeners and fans.
The new album is tentatively being called Born to Lose, at least as of today, based on the song of the same name. But things can change quickly and dramatically in Hale’s camp as those close to the artist know only too well. The album was originally slated to begin recording on June 1st and was going to have Hale attempting to create a contemporary hit Top 40 album; but the idea was vetoed by Dying Van Gogh Records label mate Roger Houdaille, who is producing the album. “Ed already has enough songs to record ten more Ballad On Third Avenues if he wants to and right now that’s how people relate to him. So I don’t think we should mess with that. I didn’t think it was a good idea for him to jump into a totally different sound again after only one album. Especially now that he is starting to get more attention and momentum. He can do his Top 40 album later,” offered Houdaille with a laugh.
Hale reports that he has been brushing up and learning to play a host of new instruments over the past few months in preparation for the album, including the ukelele, balalaika, mandolin, autoharp, glockenspiel, dulcimer, Persian setaar, a chinese guqin zither (really?!), and the Turkish oud. “If I’m not going to get my shot at recording a Top 40 album right now then at least I want the new album to go in somekind of new direction. I don’t want it to be “Ballad On Third Avenue part two.” So I figured why not try to make something as organic as we can… you know like we’ll use all these traditional stringed instruments from all over the world to mix things up a bit, but still make it sound like a modern record.” “Mixing things up” is certainly territory Hale and company know well. The band’s debut disc Rise and Shine was a world-music meets modern rock fusion that included musical styles from all ends of the earth and back that turned more than a few heads, earning the band two hit singles in the process. The band has continued to change and evolve its sound with each successive release, challenging listeners to keep up with their fervent quest for the new and different. The rapid and prolific pace at which the band records and releases albums on that quest culminated in what many believe is their best album to date, 2005′s Nothing Is Cohesive.
But that was over five years ago. Since that album’s release, Hale or “the band” have recorded four more albums, two of which have yet to be released: All Your Heroes Become Villains, scheduled for release in September of this year, and The Great Mistake, scheduled to be released in January 2012. In the meantime fans can look forward to what awaits on this new new album. Hale and his merry men of Transcendence plan on staying in New York for most of the summer or until they finish the project. No release date is set yet.
Randy Foster
Ascot Media and PR

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SINGER/SONGWRITER ED HALE SIGNS MULTIPLE PRODUCT ENDORSEMENT DEALS

With the success of his new solo album Ballad On Third Avenue still climbing, singer/songwriter Ed Hale of the rock band Transcendence has been keeping busy. One of the activities that seemingly go hand in hand with rock stardom is product endorsement deals. But don’t expect Hale to show up on TV talking about a new car or sporting a new signature pair of sneakers just yet. In the past month though the singer has signed numerous product endorsement deals but so far has been keeping it in the biz, the music biz that is.
First came a two year exclusive agreement to use only Dean Markley guitar strings, both on stage and in the recording studio. Next was a new microphone for the singer known for crafting songs where the vocals are everything. Hale chose to go with American made MikTek. “I’ve been using Neuman U-87s for so long now… I really didn’t think there was anything better. But I was wrong,” said the singer about the microphone company. “A sales guy at Sweetwater actually turned me on to the MikTek CV4 and C7 microphones, and lo and behold days later I received an offer to try them out for myself and endorse them professionally. Total flow. What amazes everyone about these mics is that they sound as good and sometimes even better than microphones that are two to three times the cost! They are absolutely awesome in every sense of the word. And what’s more they’re made in the USA. And right now, at least to me, that’s a very good thing.”
Regarding Dean Markley guitar strings, Hale commented “Man I’ve been using Dean Markley strings since I was a kid. They’re it. Their technology is mind blowing, this new Alchemy Series they have is incredible. The strings are frozen so they last like ten times longer than other strings, and they’re double and triple wound which greatly reduces string buzz and keeps them in tune a lot longer. For someone like me who uses a lot of open tunings, this was a dream come true, a guitar string made for players who stretch the hell out of their strings in ways that aren’t necessarily traditional. I am more than honored to use Dean Markley strings exclusively. Keep ‘em coming. They’re awesome.”
Hale is known primarily as a singer and guitarist. He has fronted the modern rock band Transcendence for more than ten years and also releases albums and tours as a solo artist. Integrity has always been a calling card for the singer and his music. Thus he has attempted through the years to avoid product endorsement agreements that don’t make sense to his basic ethos. “I think random product placement in exchange for cash is bullshit,” Hale stated rather bluntly regarding the announcement of this new series of endorsement deals he has entered into. “There are always other ways to get funding if you’re serious about maintaining your integrity and still raise capital for your projects. Actors wear a different freaking watch every year just for cash. It’s prostifuckingtution is what it is. I don’t wear watches so how the hell can I endorse one? But microphones, guitar strings, these things make sense. I use them. If someone sees that I use a particular piece of gear they can be guaranteed that it has nothing to do with money and everything to do with how much I like the company and its products.”
Next up Hale is set to tie up agreements with keyboard mavens Kurzweil and Nord and is eager to speak with the Gibson and Taylor guitar companies.

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New album comes with a new name – Ed Hale and The Transcendence

New album comes with a new name – Ed Hale and The Transcendence

In anticipation of the brand new album, “All Your Heroes Become Villains,” the alternative rock band Transcendence has officially changed their name to Ed Hale and The Transcendence.
The name change took effect in their back catalog on retailers such as iTunes, Amazon & across social media websites. One of the main reasons for this change is to help new fans of the prolific singer-songwriter Ed Hale connect with his body of work recorded by the group.
Some time has passed since the last Transcendence album, “Nothing Is Cohesive” was marked as one of the important breakthrough CDs of 2005 by tastemakers Hellfire. It was during this interim that Ed Hale’s passion for activism took him across the continents to help people, building houses in places like Colombia and Ghana. He also got married, wrote a book, starred in the Transcendent Television series, traveled to Iran as an ambassador, founded the Dying Van Gogh record label and somehow managed time to launch his solo career with the charming, acoustic “Ballad On Third Avenue” album and the hit single “I Walk Alone.” Other band members went on to form successful indie acts too, namely Ex Norwegian and Dreaming In Stereo. Now, the group Ed Hale and The Transcendence is back in action with a new album and fresh name.
Download an mp3 from the upcoming album “All Your Heroes Become Villains,” to be released September 20th on Dying Van Gogh Records.

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NEW ALBUM COMES WITH A NEW NAME – ED HALE AND THE TRANSCENDENCE

In anticipation of the brand new album, “All Your Heroes Become Villains,” the alternative rock band Transcendence has officially changed their name to Ed Hale and The Transcendence.
The name change took effect in their back catalog on retailers such as iTunes, Amazon & across social media websites. One of the main reasons for this change is to help new fans of the prolific singer-songwriter Ed Hale connect with his body of work recorded by the group.
Some time has passed since the last Transcendence album, “Nothing Is Cohesive” was marked as one of the important breakthrough CDs of 2005 by tastemakers Hellfire. It was during this interim that Ed Hale’s passion for activism took him across the continents to help people, building houses in places like Colombia and Ghana. He also got married, wrote a book, starred in the Transcendent Television series, traveled to Iran as an ambassador, founded the Dying Van Gogh record label and somehow managed time to launch his solo career with the charming, acoustic “Ballad On Third Avenue” album and the hit single “I Walk Alone.” Other band members went on to form successful indie acts too, namely Ex Norwegian and Dreaming In Stereo. Now, the group Ed Hale and The Transcendence is back in action with a new album and fresh name.
Download an mp3 from the upcoming album “All Your Heroes Become Villains,” to be released September 20th on Dying Van Gogh Records.

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ED HALE RELEASES NEW SINGLE “NEW ORLEANS DREAMS” THAT SHINES SPOTLIGHT ON THE SOUTH

New York, NY, July 06, 2011 — Ed Hale is known for being a musician and singer/songwriter, however there is more to his music than meets the ears. On his last solo studio recording Ballad on Third Avenue, a rousing collection of alternative pop-rock acoustic tracks, he sings about love and all the emotions that are forthcoming.
Yet there is much more on the album that needs your attention, particularly the track “New Orleans Dreams”. The track is a rather poignant take on the aftermath of hurricane Katrina and the ineptness of our government to help the suffering people of the area when it was needed most. This is a story that continues today several years later as people are still reeling from the disaster of the hurricane and many other natural disasters that would follow in that area including the disastrous BP oil spill.

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New Ed Hale Album ALL YOUR HEROES BECOME VILLAINS Released

Ed_Hale_ All_Your_Heroes_Become_Villains_CD_Cover

With each and every Ed Hale and the Transcendence album, one is never quite sure what to expect. During the nine years since their genre-defying breakout debut Rise and Shine, Ed Hale and the Transcendence have been musical shape-shifters, willing to assume whatever form and go in whatever direction their music demands. On their latest release, their fourth album, entitled All Your Heroes Become Villains, they harness the best of their previous efforts and multiply it by a gazillion. It was the result of a long, grueling recording process, appropriate for an album as equally accessible as it is complex and eclectic. Haunting melodies, rock-God guitar riffs, rhythmic adventurousness, bold sonic experimentation, inspired songwriting and Ed Hale’s impassioned vocals create a highly memorable experience for the listener that could easily be called a concept album. Each song seems integral to the work as a whole. All Your Heroes Become Villains comes off like an instant classic – stylistically and lyrically unified and thematic and by far their most ambitious work to date. This masterpiece is dark and heavy, and yet every bit the catchy ear candy that fans of the band have come to expect. Hale sings of hope, victory, loss, suffering and blind idealism on a personal and global level in his signature tortured baritone while the band weaves together their trademark post-modern rock meets Brit pop creating an aural soundscape that is truly unforgettable. Features the hit singles “Blind Eye,” “Waiting for Godot,” and “Solaris.”

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STREAM ALL YOUR HEROES BECOME VILLAINS BY ED HALE & THE TRANSCENDENCE:

CREDITS:

Transcendence is: Ed Hale: lead vocals, guitars, piano, keyboards, percussion Roger Houdaille: bass guitar, background vocals Fernando Perdomo: guitars, electric sitar, mellotron, percussion, background vocals Allan Gabay: piano and keyboards Ricardo Mazzi: drums, percussion Karen Feldner: background vocals Additional Musicians Kamran Aghaiepour: keyboards and remixing Zach Ziskin: additional lead and rhythm guitar Leor Manellis: additional drums Matthew Sabatella: background harmony vocals Dee Dee Wilde: lead vocals on All Your Heroes Become Villains — Main Theme Emiliano Torres: trumpet Alex Zapata: trombone Produced by: Ed Hale and Fred Freeman Co-production and remixing by: Kamran Aghaiepour Songs Arranged by: Transcendence Lead Engineer: Joe Syring Assistant Engineer: Rudi Meeuwen Recorded at Criteria Hit Factory Studios, Miami, FL and Dungeon Recording Studios, Miami, FL Mixed by: Fred Freeman and Ed Hale Mastered by: Zach Ziskin All Your Heroes Become Villains album cover painting by: Gina Rowland CD packaging artwork by: Gina Rowland and Susie Aminian CD packaging layout by: Susie Aminian and Roger Houdaille Photography by: Jill Kahn and Ron Roman Photo editing and touch-up by: Flavia Molinari A&R by: Dying Van Gogh Records All selections published by Transcendent Music Publishing (ASCAP), Baby Joon Music (BMI), Think Like A Key (SESAC). © 2011 Dying Van Gogh Records, a division of Transcendent Media Group Inc.

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ED HALE RELEASES NEW SINGLE “NEW ORLEANS DREAMS” TO HELP RAISE MONEY FOR DISASTER VICTIMS

The latest single to be released from Ed Hale’s Ballad On Third Avenue album is entitled “New Orleans Dreams” – track 8 on the singer’s most recent album. This will be the fourth single released from the “Ballad…” album, which is still going strong with critics, music blogs, radio, fans and sales. Dying Van Gogh Records has agreed to donate a portion of the proceeds from all digital downloads of the single to the American Red Cross to help efforts to yet again aid and assist disaster victims in that region.
Fans can listen to and then purchase the song directly from a widget created by SoundCloud here.
 
Hale said of the decision that he got the idea after seeing footage on TV of the latest flooding and tornadoes to hit the South, including New Orleans. “That song is not obviously the perfect song choice to release as a single to radio, for obvious reasons. It’s over six minutes long to begin with…” Hale said. “Not exactly tailor-made as a ‘hit song’ for pop radio… But after seeing what’s been happening down South, I just felt like it was the right choice for where we are right now. We wrote the song based on what I’d seen down in Biloxi, Mississippi doing reconstruction work with my church and the Red Cross. 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 still 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 title track “Ballad On Third Avenue (Beautiful Losers)” was the first song to gain major traction at radio, helping bolster the album into the CMJ Top 150 on college radio where it stayed for several months. The second single, “I Walk Alone” was a shortened and remixed version of the album version. Worked by producer/engineer Zach Ziskin, the song was Hale’s first foray into the Triple A radio format (Adult Alternative) where it gained airplay on over one-hundred stations throughout the United States. “Scene in San Francisco”, the opening track on the new album was released to online radio stations only and may still be promoted to terrestrial radio stations after “New Orleans Dreams.”
Of this latest venture, Hale commented “Man I hope that every living breathing person on earth buys the song or downloads it from iTunes so we can raise a truckload of money for the people down there. It’s ninety-nine cents, yeah, but collectively we could make a huge difference.”

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PRODUCTION CREW SENT TO NEW ORLEANS TO CAPTURE FOOTAGE FOR “NEW ORLEANS DREAMS” MUSIC VIDEO

After seeing the footage from the latest natural and man-made disasters to strike the South, Ed Hale decided to release the song “New Orleans Dreams” from his Ballad On Third Avenue album as the next single to radio to raise money for the American Red Cross to help people struggling down there who have lost their homes and more. Thus a portion of all proceeds from sales and digital downloads of the song will go directly to the American Red Cross.
But releasing the song as a single wasn’t enough. Hale decided that the music video for the song, written years before the BP Oil Spill and this latest deluge of flooding and tornadoes, should feature real time video footage of what it looks like down in New Orleans and the surrounding areas right now. So he tweeted out to fans on Facebooka simple message looking for someone who lived in the area who could supply current video footage for his new music video.
Hale was relieved to discover many very capable people had applied for the project. One of them was Brian Johnson and company from Anim8ter Graphics. Hale was excited further by the project because it turned out that Johnson was an old friend and classmate of Hale’s from high school. On Memorial Day Weekend, Johnson and crew set out on a roadtrip from Central Florida to drive to New Orleans to film live footage of the city for the upcoming music video. They are currently in New Orleans as we type this post and report that though the devastation is alarming and heart wrenching, they have been able to obtain oodles of excellent footage of what things look like down South. They are updating us every few hours as well as their own Facebook page.
Hale believes that featuring real life video footage of what it looks like down there now will help raise more awareness about the multitude of different catastrophes that the people of New Orleans and the surrounding areas are having to deal with, even though the news reporting of the sound bite may have disappeared from the radar.
A music video for the song will come shortly as soon as the Anim8ter crew gets back and finishes editing. Our prayers and good wishes are with the crew to return home safely. In the meantime, fans can listen to and buy the song from iTunes or Amazon.com and get at least a small sense of satisfaction from knowing that their money is going to a good cause. Lend your own ninety-nine cents by listening to and buying the song below:
 
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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.