Trevor Gordon Hall

One of Candyrat Records stable has opened arms to Trevor Gordon Hall, who seems capable of Michael Hedges-like twist and turns of fret prowess and ingenuity. Time will be the proof, but in the meantime fingerstyle fans are in for a treat as Hall hones, refines, explores and shares his talent. Entelechy marks Hall's 4th official release, which includes a 2009 Christmas CD. Compositionally Hall creates rhythms and grooves that intertwine melodies that are on the order of acoustic soundscapes that often have a therapeutic and hypnotic quality. "Whenever it Rains" represents, perhaps, the best example of these qualities. It is hauntingly subtle and achingly seductive. Close your eyes and you will see the rain steak down your windowpane. Curiously, it is not the guitar that brings Hall all of his notoriety; rather it is the kalimba, a type of African thumb piano that creates vibrations that are incredibly harmonious with the vibrations made by a steel string guitar. Hall explained that the kalimba has been the evolution of an idea for him tracing back to his love of music boxes as a child. He bought a basic kalimba and started messing around with it. In an attempt to increase the volume he eventual mounted the kalimba on the soundboard of the guitar -- Voilà, a unique and resonate dimension suddenly and magically enhanced his ability to weave melody. Limitations of the first kalimba attached to his guitar led to the designing of a two octave chromatic kalimba with the help from a kalimba distributor and a few builders. Hall's kalimba does not dominate Entelechy, like some of the percussive techniques occasionally push fretwork aside. The word ergonomic (if that is possible) seems to sum it up nicely. The kalimba and guitar are simply a comfortable fit. "Kalimbatar", the first track opens the CD with a pulsating groove that allows the kalimba a bit of elbow room and slides the tempo in a different direction until they eventually walk hand into the sunset. One listen -- you'll get it! - Minor7th.com

Well here's something Michael Hedges never thought of. Trevor Gordon Hall, in his Candyrat debut disc, Entelechy (the mysterious fundament driving sentient creatures from potentiality to full existential exaltation, or that embodied final stage itself), has mounted a kalimba on the soundboard of his acoustic guitar so that the sound issuing off the African instrument's tines travels through the guitar body in resonance with the axe's steel strings, lending a richness beyond the exotic finger-piano's norms. And yes, like all the sublimely meta-talented Candyrat artists, Hall plays both simultaneously. Sounds impossible, I know, especially once you've laid an ear to any of the songs here, but travel to his home page (http://www.trevorgordonhall.com/home.html) and you can watch him do it. Unreal.

Unless you've spent an ungodly amount of time honing your craft, arriving at an estate echoing ECM, Windham Hill, Oregon (the group, not the state), and the hallmark new chamber music icons, you can forget trying to get noticed by Candyrat, a label remarkably distinctive. Hall's work is fully formed and mature, entrancing for its melodic content and finger-wrenching acumen (catch some of the chords this guy grabs so fluidly!), but exceedingly naturalistic for all its complexities and shifting flows. Even when waxing a bit abstract, as in the title track, the effect is of wheeling kestrels, windchimes, soft breezes, and melodious happenstance.

This is not to say that Hall can't whip up skirling rondos and zephyrs, he's quite capable of that, but the tone and set of this disc are overarchingly of an antiquarian's pastorally Byzantine craftwork, a small museum of contemplative wonders rather than the blaring shout of the pedestrian ruck. Much delicacy abides, a good deal of interwoven quietude and harmonic richness, but the disc is not without its backbone and sinews as well. And you can see why such work baffles critics and even marketers; it can't be pigeonholed. 'NuInstrumental', 'contemporary instrumental', and so on, but what it really is, is neoclassical, exercises extending what Yepes, Tarrega, and others were doing.

The guitar has always been vilified, the red-headed stepchild of the ever-reactionary conservative realm of classical music. It still is. Go ahead, name me just four major modern classical pieces written with guitar, especially acoustic guitar, as the centerpiece. Ya can't, unless you're a college professor teaching what Eno termed 'dead music', and even then good luck. As far as I can determine, this small body of modern work started with Jansch, Renbourn, Kottke, those cats, and it's unbelievably determined individuals like Hall and fellow Candyratters who have continued the practice most noticeably. Rockers ain't doin' it, jazzbos ditto, even classicalists harsh the gig, but here we have yet another example of the well-tempered, novo-tempered, and supra-tempered guitar manifesting in ways even the six-string sympathizers of yore could only dream of. - AcousticMusic.com FAME Review

Rad local show that you should attend alert!

A number of incredible local musicians, including guitar wizard Trevor Gordon Hall and the Carolynn Cott Band are all slated to perform at Chaplins The Music Cafe in Spring City this Thursday.

Click the link for details.

Labels: carolynn cott band, chaplins music cafe, Trevor Gordon Hall - All Around Philly (http://www3.allaroundphilly.com/blogs/pottstown/chrism/blog.html)

SPRING CITY — Area musicians came together to perform at Chaplin's Music Cafe in Spring City to make money to donate to organizations helping out in Haiti. The concert was part of the World Help for Haiti movement which is sponsoring concerts across the globe to help the earthquake victims. The movement encourages musicians to sign up at worldhelpforhaiti.org and donate proceeds from concerts to three different aid groups helping Haitian earthquake victims.

According to Carolyn Cott, who organized the Spring City concert, $570 was raised Thursday night which will feed just under three people in Haiti for an entire year.

For more information on how you can put on a concert to help Haiti, visit www.worldhelpforhaiti.org

To read more about the local music scene, visit our blog Scene & Heard. - Pottstown Mercury (http://www.pottsmerc.com/articles/2010/02/08/news/doc4b6f417361d1e634411018.txt)

You won't find many words in Trevor Gordon Hall's esoteric guitar scapes, but there is a lot to say right now about his upcoming record, "Finding My Way."

For the past 2 years or so, Trev's been beaming at shows and in person about all the new music coming out of him and over the excitement of working with Grammy Award winners Joe and Phil Nicolo on the album (they've worked with a laundry list of greats, from the Stones to James Taylor to The Police to Bob Dylan).

And now you can see why. Get your first taste of the new album at his Myspace, where he's posted 4 new songs, including his stirring take on The Beatles' "Come Together."

Hall has also announced that he's signed with Revel Music to release the effort, and they've been shopping it around for proper distribution. National touring is likely, but stay tuned for details on the local CD release party in the coming months, as it will surely be a must-go-to.

More info at Trev's Myspace. - All Around Philly (http://www3.allaroundphilly.com/blogs/pottstown/chrism/2008_11_01_archive.html)

In The Studio With Sennheiser And Neumann
November 5, 2009


Studio 4 Recording, Conshohocken, Pa.

The Philadelphia Chapter, in partnership with the Producers & Engineers Wing and new partners Sennheiser and Neumann, presented a microphone demo at Studio 4 Recording on Nov. 5. Phil Nicolo, Philadelphia Trustee and GRAMMY-winning engineer, welcomed guests to his studio for an evening of listening and critiques. "Our goal here is to share our knowledge, share what we do and get a little closer as a community," said Nicolo.

Guests listened to eight microphones, both old and new and variably priced, and compared the sounds of each from Nicolo's control room as Chapter Secretary and vocalist Lauren Hart, acoustic guitarist Trevor Gordon Hall, Jealousy Curve guitarist Steven LaFascia, and studio assistant and drummer Will Yip performed.

Hart asked Nicolo about each microphone she spoke into, including topics such as cost, set-up techniques, best uses, and comparisons to other microphones. Nicolo discussed the aesthetic pleasantries of many of the older and more expensive microphones, but offered practical, cost-effective solutions to achieving a comparable sound.

Overall, the lesson of the event was to sometimes forget about conventional techniques, and risk making mistakes. "Forget what you think you know," advised Nicolo. "Just get out there and try stuff. Make mistakes." - Grammy's Association NARAS (http://www.grammy.info/MusiCares/News/Default.aspx?newsID=3634&newsCateg

Picture this: a single table lamp, incense burning, and against the backdrop of a mural depicting nature in instrumental and musical brushstrokes, guitarist Trevor Gordon Hall invites his audience to journey with him as he questions, "Where do I go from here?"

On November 7, Hall celebrated his first official debut performing at Rock and Roll After School with an array of musical selections released in his CD entitled Finding My Way. This on-the-rise musician is a recent college graduate who has written numerous pieces artistically expressing deep philosophical ideas as well as the reasoning of his own personal debate between doubt and faith. "My music grows with me," says Hall, "starting from when I was about ten, the different stages I went through in life began being reflected in my music with a punk rock phase and death metal phase. My own personal growth has been the force behind what I do with each different style of music."

Striving to simply be the best musician he can, Hall has dedicated much of his time honing his skills as a guitarist, and has effectively discovered how to utilize his instrument to serve as a voice and method of expressing himself. Revel Music recently signed him as a solo artist with nine-time Grammy Award winner Joe Nicollo. Hall adds, "This has been an amazing experience. As an introvert I find complete strength in solitude and as a soloist I can bring that to my music."

Although he is always aware of his limitations on the guitar, he nevertheless wants to be able to express his philosophical perspectives through music. He has beautifully recorded the journey this stage of his life is taking. "For me it's been very different trying to reconcile what happens after graduating college and dealing with the existential meaning of life. I hope that people will be able to find life in my music. The music that I write holds such a deep meaning for me and my hope is that my listeners experience the same thing." The innovative musician has discovered the limits of his instrument and seems amused in finding unlimited ways to stretch it.

This Rock and Roll After School instructor plays his non-lyrical art with such precision that the complex finger work seems almost effortless. "It's hard to explain what genre it is, so I often call it experiential or experimental. Sometimes I ask other people to just listen to it and decide for themselves what it is and I like that it can't be strictly classified as one specific thing." He has written several songs that crescendo into a melodic chaos symbolic of the tumultuous processing of the brain, yet each creative melody is distinct as he builds on top of the other. After harmoniously blending them together, he fades into a quiet reverie kept pace with a steady "heartbeat." He is communicative while piercing the minds and souls of his audience. "Just because you don't have words to work with doesn't mean you can't say something," he explains.

In lieu of the holiday season, Hall will be releasing a Christmas album December 1 and both his CDs are available for purchase online wherever music is sold. Hall shares, "I feel like my gift for writing comes to me through my one instrument, but I would like to extend it to more than one someday and write for an orchestra. I love doing everything and anything related to music though, so I'm open to whatever the future has for me!" For more information and to hear music clips check out www.myspace.com/trevorgordonhall. - Phoenixville News (http://www.phoenixvillenews.com/articles/2009/11/18/life/srv0000006813378.txt)

The 12 Days of XPN Local Music – Day 4 – Trevor Gordon Hall “New Year’s Resolution”

Trevor Gordon Hall- “Sharp, absorbing and beautiful meditations for guitar that will get your mind moving in new ways.” ~ Tom Moon, Music Critic

Trevor has found his heart as a solo instrumental performer. His first release, Portraits of Imagination, sold briskly on iTunes and was named as one of the top New Age albums on cdbaby.com. Trevor caught the eye of nine-time grammy award winner producer and label president Joe Nicolo, who signed him to the Revel Music label. Trevor’s album Finding My Way is gaining high rated reviews from industry professionals, giving him the opportunity to work with legends such as the critically acclaimed bassist Michael Manring. And after placing third at the 2009 international Canadian Fingerstyle Guitar Competition, Trevor is excited for the coming days. His new album Finding My Way, and a Christmas album Let Your Heart Be Light, are available online.

Myspace: myspace.com/trevorgordonhall
Download: “New Year’s Resolution” by Trevor Gordon Hall
- WXPN (http://xpn.org/allaboutthemusic/trevor-gordon-hall-new-years-resolution-5331)

In The Studio With Sennheiser And Neumann
November 5, 2009


Studio 4 Recording, Conshohocken, Pa.

The Philadelphia Chapter, in partnership with the Producers & Engineers Wing and new partners Sennheiser and Neumann, presented a microphone demo at Studio 4 Recording on Nov. 5. Phil Nicolo, Philadelphia Trustee and GRAMMY-winning engineer, welcomed guests to his studio for an evening of listening and critiques. "Our goal here is to share our knowledge, share what we do and get a little closer as a community," said Nicolo.

Guests listened to eight microphones, both old and new and variably priced, and compared the sounds of each from Nicolo's control room as Chapter Secretary and vocalist Lauren Hart, acoustic guitarist Trevor Gordon Hall, Jealousy Curve guitarist Steven LaFascia, and studio assistant and drummer Will Yip performed.

Hart asked Nicolo about each microphone she spoke into, including topics such as cost, set-up techniques, best uses, and comparisons to other microphones. Nicolo discussed the aesthetic pleasantries of many of the older and more expensive microphones, but offered practical, cost-effective solutions to achieving a comparable sound.

Overall, the lesson of the event was to sometimes forget about conventional techniques, and risk making mistakes. "Forget what you think you know," advised Nicolo. "Just get out there and try stuff. Make mistakes." - Grammy's Association NARAS (http://www.grammy.info/MusiCares/News/Default.aspx?newsID=3634&newsCateg

Trevor Hall
February 26, 2007
@ Chaplins Music Cafe in Spring City
w/ The Red Chairs opening at 6:30 PM
Trevor @ 8 PM

All The Right Words
by Chris March

Sometimes people struggle finding the right words to say. Granted, there are an awful lot of words to choose from, which explains why there are also those who never shut up. And of course, not everyone speaks the same language either.

But then there is music.

Everyone has a song that spoke to them strongly or said the right words at the right time. Sometimes a two-minute pop ditty can convey the indescribable emotions between a boy and a girl with frightening precision. Music can also encourage a teenager to grow his hair long and pick up a guitar. Still, most music comes with its own barriers since lyrics are just more use of language. But then there are instrumental artists like Trevor Hall who take mighty steps over these barriers without so much as a word.

The 21-year old Douglassville native had just arrived home from George’s Music in Spring City where he works when he phoned in to chat with Time Out about his upcoming show at Chaplin’s this Monday.

“All throughout history, instrumental music has been a big thing,” said the guitarist. “But it hasn’t been as big in recent years, so my hope is to bring that back. I want this to be a successful show so people realize that instrumental music is a very beautiful thing and that it is still very accessible to the common person.”

But the common person does not know a guitar the way Hall does. He has wielded the six-string since he built one with wood and some fishing line at age 10. He has since moved on to a more professional-looking acoustic, but his hunger for the instrument remains as strong. And it does not take long to notice music is the lens which he sees life through. He talks with great fervor over the phone about what music can represent to people and how songs don’t need words to be expressive.

“Music is a language and all language has to say something,” he said. “So I could sit around and study music as a science and try to figure out all the semantics of it, but if I have nothing to say, it’s pointless.”

He culls his songs from the walks he goes on, sitting by the river, visiting art galleries or by simply watching a movie. And this array of influence explains why his music is so colorfully descript and rich with influence.

"There’s something about taking a message or a frozen moment in time and putting that into a musical language that actually helps you take music into a new direction, because you’re not thinking about music. You’re thinking about something beyond music, and that music tends to be the language that gets you to that,” he said.

The 13 picturesque tracks of his self-released debut, “Portraits Of Imagination” unfold like a pop-up storybook that pulls listeners into its pages and saturates them with his world of guitar wizardry. Without lyrics, the songs are open to interpretation, but the mood evokes cascading landscapes and visceral sunsets which tell stories of their own. As the silent narrator, Hall bends each note and slides along each string with the same purpose a painter would with a brushstroke across a canvas.

And this experience is exactly what fans can expect from Hall on Monday, but in a more personal setting.

“Whatever I do on my albums, I always do live,” he said. “I try to do everything I can. And what I’ve been doing in my new compositions is trying to learn how to play it all together at one time, instead of looping.”

However he pulls off the complexity of his arrangements though, his performance will be sure to leave some speechless.

“I love [music] because it’s so versatile and there are so many different things you can do with it,” he said. “And that’s what is great about it, because you’re not limited by anything.”
Chris March - Pottstown Mercury
© 2007 Trevor Gordon Hall
- Pottstown Mercury

Season 5 a fantastic success! Thank you!

Year five was a huge success on all counts! Wow! What a weekend. So many new faces..so many new friends!

A huge thank you to Rob Poland and CandyRat Records.

And huge congrats to our Competition winners Ewan Dobson, Callum Graham, and Trevor Gordon Hall on their levels of musicianship and creativity.

* 1st Place - Ewan Dobson - Toronto
* 2nd Place - Callum Graham - Calgary
* 3rd Place - Trevor Gordon Hall - Philadelphia

The skill level among the competitors this year was simply astounding. With an Olympic styled judging system, scores can be separated by a decimal place or two. It is a difficult task to judge art, and often the question is asked "Is our children learning?" - oops, I mean "Why do we do this?" .. And the answer is simple : We are all creatures who aim to achieve. Be it outward or inward, we are for some reason, pre-wired to do this. (At least that's my personal take on it.) Getting up on that stage is an achievement on its own. - The Canadian Guitar Festival (http://www.comevisit.com/vezco/festival/index2.html)

Internationally-recognized musicians/DJs are instructing students ages 8-18 at Rock & Roll After School, the innovative new music school for kids opening on June 15 in Phoenixville, PA (suburban Philadelphia)


Noted musicians are teaching kids to rock at Rock & Roll After School

Noted musicians are teaching kids to rock at Rock & Roll After School

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PR Log (Press Release) – Jun 01, 2009 – PHOENIXVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA – Some of the Philadelphia area’s most talented music artists are instructing students at Rock & Roll After School, opening on Monday, June 15 at 400 Franklin Avenue in Phoenixville, PA. Rock & Roll After School is where kids ages 8 to 18 can learn from professionals how to play, perform and create their own music.

? Philadelphia-area musicians from well-known bands, including John Lilley (of the Hooters), Music Director/Instructor Michael O’Brien (formerly of Jealousy Curve), Michael Radcliffe (formerly of Robert Hazard & the Heroes), and Rich Fogg (formerly of Pawnshop Roses) are instructors in guitar, bass and drums. Revel Music artist and acclaimed solo guitarist Trevor Gordon Hall also teaches guitar.

? Piano and voice instructor Melissa Kusheloff Davignon, former backup vocalist for Tom Gillam, also previously taught general and choral music in grades K-12.

? Instruction in DJ (turntable) techniques is taught by club and radio DJ Erica Baran (The Baraness) and DJ and audio engineer Larry D. Fowler, Jr. (DJ Mr. Cisum).

“These talented artists have real-world performance experience that our students are eager to absorb,” said Erin Riley, President, Rock & Roll After School. “But more importantly, they share a desire to impart their love of learning and playing music to the next generation.”

Unlike traditional music schools or lessons, Rock & Roll After School functions as combination music school and after-school community center - where kids interact as they explore their musical pursuits. Students are taught music theory and musicianship, as well as songwriting and performance, and perform their original works alongside other selections during concerts held throughout the year. Master classes, workshops and special events are designed to enhance each student’s experience and musical endeavors, and to encompass all popular music genres.

Rock & Roll After School’s brand new, state-of-the art, 5,850-square foot facility features 8 private lesson rooms (including a soundproof room for drums), a “quiet room” for homework study, a group “hangout room,” and an impressive, 4,000-square foot performance venue complete with professional staging, 24-channel sound board, DJ booth and lighting. Expansive, colorful, custom wall murals highlight the school’s open and inviting spaces. An in-house music supply store keeps students stocked with guitar strings, picks, and drumsticks, and serves double-duty as a box office for special events.

To provide the most professional instruments and equipment, Riley has secured sponsorships from companies including Bugera amps, D'Addario strings, DW drums, Gallien-Krueger bass amps, Hercules, KORG, Rhythm Tech, Sabian cymbals, Seymour Duncan, Toca Percussion, Ultrasone headphones and Vater drumsticks.

Rock & Roll After School is located at 400 Franklin Avenue (in Franklin Commons), Phoenixville, Pennsylvania 19460, convenient to major routes including the PA Turnpike, I-76, and routes 422, 29, 202, 23 and 113, as well as SEPTA bus and R5 rail service. The hours are 3-8 pm Monday through Friday, and 11am-4pm Saturday. The phone number is 610.983.4650. Rock & Roll After School is not affiliated with any other music school. Complete lesson and registration information, directions, photos and more can be found at www.rockandrollafterschool.com.

Photos, media tours and interviews are available upon request. - PRLOG (http://www.prlog.org/10248116-noted-musicians-are-talented-instructors-for-rock-roll-after-sc