Damon Fibraio: Latest News

The latest press release from Days Before tomorrow is on the press page along with the older reviews and such. It mainly promotes the LA Music AWards, the winning of Album of the Year, and briefly mentions the Whiskey show. PUtting it here for posterity, mostly.

We shot a video for one of our songs, The Sky is Falling, last night in New York, as the Yankees were rapping up the world series. We hope to have that video posted on youtube this weekend, and when we do, a link will be posted here, if not embedded directly.

Last week's gig at Sweeney's was actually great. I could hear everything and with the exception of backing vocal issues, I feel we were really on aroll. We are now firmly on the march to L.A. now with 2 weeks until the award show, we are putting a new set together, well, modifying the old one, moving some songs around, dropping one and adding one for the Whiskey gig and figuring out how to fill 10 minutes of time at the awards. I am told they broadcast the L.a. Music aWards on the net and am still trying to find out how and if I can, it'll be posted right here.

My friend, sTeve, is also using my camcorder to shoot footage of the band for future use, I suppose he wants to make a documentary of the L.a. trip. So, maybe some cool videos of DBT will be up here soon.

I am so focused on everything for L.A. that everything else, including Visions stuff, is on hold. Most of the songs we are learning for Visions are songs I alreayd know. But I can't put anything major into this with half my gear always up at the DBT studio until after we get back, so I'll just work around it as I always do. I see Visions striking out in 2010 some time, and you can always check this site for the latest shows.

Sadly, no studio work is being done due to my general frustration with recoridng gear and its accessibility for us. It's a shame, too, as Rich and I spent a lot of money on that new computer and other hardware is being picky, i.e. my tascam audio interface/control surface and won't cooperate so I may have to spend yet more money to get more gear to fix problems as usual. Maybe in 2010 I'll actually record something of note. That is if DBT is not in full scale writing mode itself. Who knows? We can only wait and see what stems from this journey.

Anyway, more news will be posted here as I get it.

I think I am officially allowed to announce this now.

Days Before Tomorrow has won Record of the Year at the L.A. Music Awards. We were informed last week. This just makes the trip out to California that much sweeter. I am happy to be a part of this project, even though my meager keyboard talents do not grace this recording. It hopefully means more good things to come. I suppose time will tell.

We played at Arlene's Grocery last week. Sadly, the recording is not up to standards to post any songs from, but it was an interesting show nonetheless, even if we were almost on top of each other on the stage. At least I had fun, I can't speak for the rest of the guys.

the official schedule as it stands now is slightly altered. Posting it below...

Sweeney's Original Night... Philadelphia
Thursday, October 22
9:00 PM
Sweeney's Station Saloon
13639 Philmont Avenue
Philadelphia, PA
215-677-3177
www.myspace.com/sweeneysphilly
The Whiskey A Go-Go... Los Angeles
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Whiskey A Go-Go
West Hollywood, CA

Los Angeles Music Awards
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Avalon Theater
Hollywood, CA
You can go to Days Before Tomorrow's web site to purchase tickets to the Whiskey show if you live in the area. I believe you can also attend the L.a. Music awards show as well, but not 100 percent sure. Will post more as I know.

OK, so The New Visions web site is up. And on that site I am relocating the Visions recordings that were here and adding a ton more assuming I can find some. So go check that out. And if you want to see the older Visions web site, maintained by Russ, Click here.

OK. Two shows down with Days Before Tomorrow, that went well with some comical and stressful moments, like the one guitar player's amp not working right before showtime at our second gig, the bass player getting lost at our second gig as well, forcing our set down to 4 songs to 15 people at best, and of course, the first gig being performed on the stage the size of a snowflake with my back pressed up against the wall, but this is how most bands start out, right? So, two more gigs to go. October 14 at Arlene's grocery in NY and October 22 at Sweeney's in Phillie.

For arlene's grocery, if you can't make it to the show, and I encourage you to come if you are in the area, there is another option. Arlene's broadcasts their shows on the net. You will need Apple's QuickTime player, which you can get from Apple's Web site. Once you get that and install it you can Click this link to go to Arlene's broadcast page to listen to us. We go on about 10:00 PM Eastern. Hopefully, the Kurzweil PC3 keyboard will be making its stage debut at this show.

The L.A. Music awards looms ever closer and the night before that show, we'll be playing at the Whisky a gogo. Stay tuned for details.

Meanwhile, Visions had its first band rehearsal and we picked some songs to learn. It will be some months before we get it together enough to gig, but this should at least be a fun and relaxing project. Yeah, right. Knowing me, I'll stress over small things that nobody else will hear but me, but that's how I am. Not much I can do there to fix it.

That's all for now, back to learning how to use my Kurzweil.

OK, first the bad news...

It looks like THD is going the way of most dinosaurs, right into extinction. Mainly due to a lack of desire to keep pummeling out QueensRyche and Dream Theater songs. It's a shame that the band was so limitted, there was a lot of potential to kick serious ass, but some people just didn't want to go there. OH well, no hard feelings anywhere and maybe members of the band will pop up from time to time.

Out of the ashes of THD comes a true phoenix of sorts. Russ has told me that he wants to raise Visions back from the dead. So, looks like John, Russ and I along with Marcus the guitar player and a bass player will be picking up the clasic/modern rock cover band mantle to go make some cash on weekends. I've been moving in this direction for some time, and since Visions is the only band that lets me sing lead, this is an opportunity for me to have that outlet back. Plus, the extra cash won't hurt.

And now, here is the official Days Before Tomorrow calendar, right on the front page.


Don Hill's NYC
Friday, September 25
9:30 PM
Don Hill's
511 Greenwich St. at Spring St.
New York City
212-219-2850
www.donhills.com ________________________________________
Whiskey Tango Philadelphia
Tuesday, September 29
9:00 PM
Whisky Tango
14000 Bustleton Avenue
Philadelphia, PA
215-671-9234
www.whiskeytangotavern.com ________________________________________
Arlene's Grocery NYC
Wednesday, October 14
10:00 PM
Arlene's Grocery
95 Stanton St
New York City
212-995-1652
www.arlenesgrocery.net ________________________________________
Sweeney's Original Night Philadelphia
Thursday, October 22
9:00 PM
Sweeney's Station Saloon
13639 Philmont Avenue
Philadelphia, PA
215-677-3177
www.myspace.com/sweeneysphilly
Hope to see some of you at a gig soon.

OK, where do we begin...

First of all, everybody go to the Days Before Tomorrow web site and check out the schedule of dates. Basically, we're playing September 25 at Don Hill's in NYC, September 29 at Whiskey Tango in phillie, October 14 at Arlene's Grocery in NYC, which is also going to be broadcast on the internet, October 22 at Sweeney's in Phillie, and some dates in California for NOvember including the LA Music AWards. More info can be retrieved and you can even buy tickets for the Don Hill's show at the Days Before Tomorrow web site linked above, as adding dates to the concert calendar for my site is proving to be not as blind friendly as it used to be.

Also, I am eagerly awaiting my new Kurzweil PC3 as I am now officially a Kurzweil preforming artist. To read about this new wonder of keyboard technology that will be gracing my keyboard rig soon, check out Kurzweil Music Systems' web site.. I am grateful to the Kurzweil people for giving me this opportunity to use their gear and look forward to what I hope will be a wonderful relationship between us. OK, now time to wipe off my nose.

I am hoping that we can get some live recordings of the upcoming DBT gigs. Stay tuned for news as it happens. I am extremely excited about what is on the way and hopefully some of you will check out is in store with the DBT crew.

Naturally, all other projects are on hold, not that much was happening with them anyway while I put my time into Days Before Tomorrow, at least for the next couple of months. After the La Music awards, God only knows what will happen.

I will be posting more details about the Arlene's grocery webcast of Days Before Tomorrow plus other news about the lA music awards as I get them. Please check back often and keep going to the Days Before Tomorrow official home page for the latest news about the band, as time is limitted and I only really update here once a month or when real news happens.

OK, everybody. Lots going on.

First of all, the Uncle Mike's gig is moved to a different location for Days Before Tomorrow. Check the Calendar for the latest news and also for additional gigs. Things are happening fast here, so keep checking the concert calendar for the latest gig info for the band.

Also, I uploaded a new photo which was taken a week or so ago which we are sending to Kurzweil Music Systems for a possible endorsement. Crossing my fingers.

There is so muchy more news to discuss, but nothing is confirmed so before I start rumors, we'll just wait and see. I will only report confirmed stuff from this band here. Don't forget to check the Days Before Tomorrow web page for all the latest info.

This quote comes directly from the L.A. Music Awards web site, about Days Before Tomorrow, the original prog rock band I play keyboards for...

Finally, we are fortunate to have found what just might be the best "Prog Rock" musical group in the world, Days Before Tomorrow. Their music and live performances have received critical acclaim from all over the world. We expect them to deliver one of the most memorable performances in the two decades old history of our event. Check out www.myspace.com/daysbeforetomorrow and take a listen to the magnificent vocal work and musical compositions.

Now, how awesome is that?

Well, it's apparently official. As of today, I was just informed that Days Before Tomorrow has a gig at a place called Uncle Mikes in New York. The date is September 25, 2009. I will post more details as I get them in the concert calendar.

DBT is also hard at work writing new material. We have one song mostly finished, with the exception of an intro I am working on, asn a few others in various stages of music assembly. The songs are decidedly longer and more progressive than what is on the DBT CD, which is a good thing. Now, to convince them that we need a keyboard solo.
THD played at Cooks on July 18th. The show was light, but energetic, if not alcoholic. The onstage volume made things hard to hear yet again, but at least I didn't forget my samples. THD is taking a break, as if we really needed one, and the future seems unclear at this point.

John Pine, one of the vocalists from THD and I are throwing around ideas or at least I am assisting him with original work. We are also going to bang out a couple of covers in the studio for fun, once I get the new expansion pack for my drum software installed.

Rich and I are hoping to someday finish these songs we wrote. I am still waiting on lyrics from him.

And that is the latest news. Things are picking up, folks, so definitely keep visiting. Hope everybody is well.

Life has been very busy between NHB, DBT, THD and every other three letter acronym or abbreviation you can find, except STD, thank God. Here's how it shapes up.

Days Before Tomorrow news:

It looks good for me to be signed on as an official band member. We are currently writing new material as we speak, as well as tightening up a few loose ends on the pre-existing material. I have three songs still to learn, but we have shifted a bit to new material. There is hope to play a gig or two this summer before the big L.A. Awards gig, but we'll see.

THD News:

It's a mixed bag here. I have been gburning out on QueensRyche and Dream Theater, but the band seems to want to stay in that direction. So, we play Cooks on July 13 or so, but there is movement towards working on original material here, so I'll swallow the tribute stuff for now. We are throwing a Savatage song into the set for Cooks after I begged for it, so at least it won't be too monotonous.

Between two nights a week for dBT and THD having Thursdays, NHb on Mondays, I am lucky I am awake now to write this. I am hoping my body will eventually get used to the busy schedule. IN the meantime, I have pulled down any work in progress demos as they will be used in either Days Before tomorrow, THD or when I get Rich to pull his head from his ass and start working on our stuff. We are waiting for the next expansion pack from toontrack which will give us drums suited for hard rock and metal and then all should be good to go. Plus the boy needs to give me lyrics. So, the work in progress demos will be shuffled between three projects, pulled apart and reassembled and the like. Hopefully the material will all find a home somewhere. Sorry for those who wanted them, but the site is big enough without half finished stuff here.

I'll keep you posted as I can. It is getting highly busy around here, which is good.

OK, the bad news first...

The Keith Emerson gig was canceled. According to news I have heard, and confirmed by message boards on the net, Keith has issues with his hand and he had to cancel the rest of his tour. So, days Before Tomorrow will not be playing on June 7, at least not with Keith emerson.

The Good News...

I have been added to their web site as a band member. I am not a full band member yet, but I appear on the members bio page. If things keep going well enough, I will be offered full band membership. That's the latest word from Scott, the guitar player. We are playing the L.A. Music Awards in November, and more stuff is in the works.

There is no other news, really. I have been spending my days absorbing the Days Before Tomorrow CD, which is awesome and should be purchased from their web site. I can play 9 songs in some form or another off of the CD, and I have 3 more to go. We practice twice a week and it seems to be a well oiled machine that actually gets things done. Other bands could stand to learn from this one.

Well, as it stands at the moment, the audition for Days Before Tomorrow was a success. I may be wrong, but I think they liked me enough to take me into the band on a trail run and if all goes well, possibly as a permanent member. So, for the next 5 weeks or so, I will be working on learning their CD completely to take to the Starland Ballroom on June 7, opening for the Keith Emerson band, of all bands. This is exciting for me, as Keith Emerson is one of my favorite keyboard players ever, second only to Jordan Rudess of Dream Theater. I am happy that it seems to be a nice fit between the band and myself and look forward to following this adventure and see where it leads me.

Meanwhile, THD has grinded to a halt again due to scheduling issues with the band for practice. Hopefully that band will eventually get back on track again and we can work on material or do whatever it is the band is doing this week.

So, in the meantime, go to the Days Before Tomorrow web site and check them out, they rock the house and now that they have me in the band, well, maybe it will get a little bit better. Their CD is called The Sky is Falling and it is really an awesome CD and I hope I can do their keyboard parts justice. Hopefully, this band will take off, as their seems to be a nice buzz going around about them and we will tour and do all kinds of cool shi.t I wonder if there will even be groupies. Ah, hell with groupies, I need equipment endorsements. More gear, more better.

Yes, it took a few months to sort out logistics, i.e. for the other band to wake up, I suppose, but I am finally getting my audition for Days Before Tomorrow on Wednesday. If this goes through, I can add a few more gigs to the calendar on this site, like Opening for the Keith Emerson band and playing the L.A. Music Awards in November. I'd say that is pretty cool stuff. Will keep you all posted as to how it went.

OK, so trying to kick myself into gear, I have massively overhauled a bit. There is a little flash player at the top of the page, that does work. It will auto play some selections from the music page, as you probably can hear. I uploaded newly remastered versions of a lot of stuff, most of which is playing in the player at the top of the page. I deleted things from the music page that I feel aren't up to snuff to make room for new stuff. Finally, I added an equipment page for those who are curious to see what is here. The THD site is being tweaked as well, to go over to The THD Official Page to check out things there. Hope you enjoy the updates and sign the damn guestbook already.

Laziness has set in and I have not been updating this site as I should, which is not good since I pay for it. Here's what's really going down.

THD is taking a bit of a break, but rehearsals should continue soon. We are apparently focussing on QueensRyche and Dream Theater triburtes as well as beginning to work on original material. At least, that's what the plan is this week. There are things going on like approaching booking agencies to get into big rooms. No new gigs have been booked beyond a second Cooks Cafe gig in July. However, hopefully, things will pick up soon.

After some delay, I am finally going to audition for Days Before Tomorrow, another original prog rock band with some serious gigs lined up, like JUune 7, opening for the Keith Emerson band at the STarland Ballroom and the LA Music Awares in November. Frm the stories I hear, their search for keyboard players has not been fun. For whatever reason, there was hesitation in auditioning me, but I think they are coming around thanks to the dilligence of Kelli who is doing backing vocals for them and is also one of THD's lead singers. We'll see how that goes, but from what Kelli says, it should be a no brainer.

I've been lax on my own stuff, as you can see. I had to reformat the recording computer due to some odd crap with Windows and am slowly getting it reconfigured. The new drum software I bought sounds cool, but there are things I am still trying to tweak to get a drum sound I am happy with. This coupled with laziness is making personal projects slow to come. I definitely need some motivation in this regard. You'd think with all the money I have spent over the years that I'd be using this stuff every day, but sadly, it is not the case and I should be ashamed of myself.

I am aware that there are issues with the site, and will try to fix them as I get the motivation, but honestly, I am a lazy bastard, I admit this and at least if you admit you have a problem, you can take steps to fix it. I just turned 35 years old last Saturday, though, and I think laziness only gets worse with time. I suppose one day the spark will hit me and I'll work on my music career one day, well, at least outside of these bands.

Well, my hosting provider, Host Baby, has done somw rok and updated things. ONe of the things is now a captia graphic when signing the guestbook. It does not look like I can turn it off and with the spam that I get through the guest book, sadly, I don't want to turn it off. Sorry to all the visually impaired people who use my site. You can always email me if you want to say hi, or if you use mozilla firefox, there is this pluging that will get the captia codes for you called WebVisum. And it does work.

More changes coming as I figure out what is new here. I know it's been dead here as I focused on THD, but I got some new drum programs in and maybe I can focus on my own projects again. I plan on uploading some remastered versions of songs that are up here already so stay tuned for that as I have time.

Well, despite issues with a van to haul the PA, and my dumb ass forgetting the thumb drive with all my samples on it for the keyboards and other technical glitches, the professionals that we are managed to pull off an impressive night of Dream Theater and Queensryche at Cooks Cafe last night. As soon as I get some audio or video or pics, I'll post them or you can always check out THD's web site for the skinny. We await further gigs, and in the meantime, my attention will be on a short break from keyboards and fixing The No Holds Barred Radio Network so we can actually broadcast again. But stay tuned, as more news will be coming as things look promising for the band. Who knows, I may actually have the down time to finish up personal project soon. After I heal from the soreness from last night.

on the THD web site, I have uploaded a THD teaser, recorded at our band practice on February 5, 2009. This is 25 minutes of practice, montages of songs and such. It is passable quality for a recording, but it is meant to give you all a look at what we sound like. Naturally, we're going to sound much bigger and better at Cooks Cafe on February 21, 2009, but this is designed to give you a taste of what to expect.

I am also auditioning for another band, Days Before Tomorrow, a progressive rock band with its own originals as well. Will keep you all posted on how that goes. I have heard their Cd and it is very nice indeed.

Work has slowed on my own projects while I have been working on THD material, but I hope to contineu with this stuff as time allows. I'll certainly try to keep everybody posted as time allows. Please sign the guestbook and try to beat out the spammers who should realize by now that they are not getting through due to a moderated guestbook. Sorry, guys, you are the lose and I am the win.

It's been quiet because I have been spending my time restructuring my internet radio station and learning Dream Theater songs in bulk for the next THD gig. See the calendar for the date. But, I have purchased a camcorder and can now post videos. This is my first attempt, posted on my facebook account. More are coming and I promise, I'll do better at aiming the camera next time. What do you want from me, I am blind? So, let's see if I embed this code here, what happens.

Yes, folks. It only took 9 months or so, but THD finally has its first gig. Go to THD's official web site to see the news. IN addition, work continues on Sick of Your Lies, including redoing all the guitar tracks. Still trying to figure out what to do about the leads from the original session, considering redoing them as well. May post another mix to let you all hear the progress. However, with THD focusing on a lot of Dream Theater in the coming months, I guess I know where my time will be spend for the foreseeable future. Gotta love the guys in my band.

Yes, still ehre. Amidst studio wars, internet station drama, and band stuff, I am still functioning. I actually seem to have done some recording lately. I uploaded a remixed version of Tomorrow is Gone with new drums. I also put up a rough mix of the first song from the new project, Sick of your lies, a.k.a. work in progress demo 1. Work still continues, but I want you all to hear the progress being made. Also, don't forget to check out THD's web site,and THD's Myspace page for the other side of my musical life. IN case I don't get an opportunity to update again, Merry Christmas and Happy holidays to everybody and hopefully 2009 will see more activity to this and other sites. Please, sign the guestbook and give feedback on the music here, it is greatly appreciated.

OK, everybody.

I am so sorry about lack of updates. I bet nobody even visits this site anymore. Honestly, nothing much has happened. I have rearranged thesstudio, set up the new recording computer and slowly am working out the bugs as time and motivation allow, amidst work, girlfriend and the like. So, here we are with an update, a small, but significant one.

Firstly, the band thing...

It seems to be back on track, because I am not giving anybody a choice any longer. So, allow me to introduce the new web site, THD band online. The site is under construction, but this is the band formed out of the ashes of queen of the Ryche, featuring myself on keys and vocals, Nat Gardner on guitars and vocals, Mark Raben on bass and vocals, Russ Murray on drums, and no vocla,s thank god, and Kelli McCleud on lead vocals. What will we be playing? Well, lots of stuff, including QueencRyche, but we are also working on other covers and originals as well. I'll be managing the THD web site and will be updating this site as well with news as it happens. Again THD band online is the site, give me a day or two to get a skeleton up and then we'll be ready to rock.

As for personal stuff?

Well, I remixed Tomorrow is Gone with new drums, similar to the Circumstances, Carry on and Perfect Strangers remixes done early this year. Have a glitch to fix in the mix, but will upload that shortly. From here, I am tweaking the system to start recording and will hopefully have soe new things up here as soon as I figure out the rest of the bugs in the new studio setup. Stay tuned, hopefully things will start picking up. Thanks if you've been stopping by, and if you are, tell your friends to come back and check things out as this iste will not bge dormant much longer. I am even reopening the guest book, hopefully we won't get moronic crap in this time.

Also, updated the links page to remove some things and add the THD web site, plus the bio, so check that out.

I really am still alive, everybody, but nothing much is happening. Hopefully, this weekend, we will destroy the old studio and rebuild it. Then things will get back tow ork. As for the so-called band, I haven't heard from anybody7 in weeks. The last thing I heard was our guitar player, Nat, went into the hospital with congestive heart failure, had tripple bypass, and is now home. Nobody calls and nat doesn't return calls, so I have no clue what is going on and really am not too concerned anyway. The new computer arrived some time ago, it is hot when it runs for a while, but it is fast and should hold up nicely. Once the rewiring is done, I will finish setting everything up on it and can start recording. Bought some new soft synths lately, like the oberheim obx vst version, an emulation of a keyboard I dearly love. The new MacBook pro is on the way which may be used for live performance stuff like b4 and pro53 and the oberheim synth, but we'll see. So, things are happening, slowly and behind the scenes, but after it is all done, I hope to have a lot of new things up here for all of you. I wish I didn't have to essentially remove all forms of communication with me, but maybe I'll return them once there are things to comment on. if you still visit here frequently loking for updates, I am sorry, but I will make it up to everybody once we get back on track.

Well, folks, sadly, I had to disable the guestbook since all it gets is spam that I have to delete and since I am sick of doing that, and nobody is signing it anymore, it goes away. If there is interest to have it back, then I'll turn it on again, I suppose. Another thing that jackasses on the net have ruined for others due to spam. I mean, god, some of the entries were just nonsense garbage characters. At least the ads for penis enlargement were somewhat amusing. Anyway, on other notes, still waitingt for new production computer and the studio rebuidl will commence, new keyboards are in like the korg m3 with the radias mounted into it, will try to get a pic up here soon, bgecuase it is bad ass. The band situation, well, I quit a cover band since it just wasn't my thing and the other band, named THD, is on hold while our guitar player is in the hospital with congestive heart failure. get well, soon, nat. Anyway, that band is bogged down anyway by other things, so it may be a little while before anything happens there. Yes, I am on hold due to things out of my controlo, but fear not, once things get themselves sorted out, lots of things will be happening around here, so hang in, it won't be quiet for muchy longer.