{"id":20312,"date":"2012-06-01T16:33:03","date_gmt":"2012-06-01T21:33:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=20312"},"modified":"2013-02-05T16:11:56","modified_gmt":"2013-02-05T21:11:56","slug":"chris-bickley-tapestry-of-souls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2012\/chris-bickley-tapestry-of-souls\/","title":{"rendered":"Chris Bickley | Tapestry of Souls<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by John Kindred<\/span>
\nPublisher —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"ChrisShredguy Records’ latest guitar prodigy, Chris Bickley, has stepped forth from the shadows and has released his debut solo CD titled Tapestry of Souls<\/em>. Bickley hasn\u2019t actually been hidden from view; he has been hammering out an existence as a musician at a regional level. Currently living and working in Connecticut, his skills as a session player are highly sought after in the tri-state area. He also is the guitarist for Terri Lane\u2019s band, working alongside Chris Slade (AC\/DC, The Firm), Scott Spray, Bobby Torello and Eric Klasstad.<\/p>\n

Taking time out for himself has delivered his first CD Tapestry of Souls<\/em>, which was written over the course of two years. The album contains 11 songs, which comprise a mixture of instrumental and vocal tracks, featuring prominent vocalists from the rock community. There is a long list of \u201cguest musicians\u201d who appear on the album, lending their talents to Bickley\u2019s compositions. After seeing the list, you almost have to ask yourself, \u201cWho is not on the CD?\u201d<\/p>\n

As with his label mate Toby Knapp, Bickely dabbles within the confines of multiple genres in the rock realm. However, he doesn\u2019t fall off into the extreme world of metal. Bickely cuts a path more inside the lines of the melodic hard rock realm. His mastery of the guitar captures the essence of shredders, such as MacAlpine and Satriani. Just listen to the opening instrumental track \u201cRace Car Guy.\u201d The song references MacAlpine\u2019s inner melodic-shred-demon much like his work on his first two solo albums, 1985’s Edge of Insanity<\/em> and ’87’s Maximum Security<\/em>. Jimmy Kunes is the first to take the microphone on the song \u201cThis Time It\u2019s Gonna Hurt,\u201d a \u201870s-inspired blues-rock tune. The vocals are gritty and edgy, with plenty of melodic overtones guiding the song, which is complete with audible bass fills and catchy vocal hook during the choruses. \u201cFallen\u201d also starts MacAlpine-like and then gets all bluesy before returning to the intro hook. Bickley lays out some raw emotional passages note after note throughout the song. Eventually picking up the pace and rolling into a Deep Purple-inspired Hammond organ led groove and ending with a lot of shred guitar over the top. Kelly Keeling leads the way on \u201cCrying Shame.\u201d The Deep Purple influence makes its presence known during the chorus, a la Glen Hughes, and then follows suit as Keeling taps into his best Ian Gillan impression. \u201cAll or Nothing\u201d is a barn-burner instrumental shred fest where everyone gets to shine. <\/p>\n

\u201cChemical Love\u201d finds the listener halfway through Tapestry of Souls<\/em> and keeps the throttle open wide for another energizing instrumental song with a blazing solo and melodic passages. Chandler Mogel takes over vocals on \u201cLead You Astray,\u201d and the chorus sounds a lot like Robert Mason (Lynch Mob, Warrant, James Byrd Group) was belting out the lyrics. This is another moving, energetic song with a catchy vocal hook. The title track follows up next and opens with a beautiful acoustic guitar melody. As the instrumental song progresses, it smoothly builds into a powerful heavy piece driven by the drums and piano accompaniment with a memorizing solo glazing over the top. \u201cWalk in the Park\u201d leans backward to a \u201870s rock vibe and has an almost \u201cjam\u201d song approach. Complete with horns and Bickley\u2019s unique soloing approaches, we go from shred to bluesy riffs and back again all over the top of palm-muted eighth note chug of the rhythm guitar. This is a moving song, and the horns provided by Bill Holloman on sax and trumpet bring a different energy to the fold. \u201cA Step Behind\u201d re-acquaints us with Mike Vescera. He sings over a heavy, rhythmic pulse that builds into a layered vocal chorus. As this song is the last vocal-led track on the CD, it is a fitting end to this side of Bickley\u2019s songwriting skills. Closing out the CD is the final instrumental song \u201cOld No. 9.\u201d This is an acoustic-bluesy number with a big \u201870s snare, Bonham style, and hints of southern rock guitar harmonies appear as the mellow number brings the disc to a close.<\/p>\n

So what\u2019s not to like? Plenty of energy, solid musicianship by all those involved and music that doesn\u2019t drive the listener away with too much syrup or reckless aggression make this an outstanding debut release by Chris Bickely. He is the master of his domain and crafts enjoyable songs that instrumental fans as well as those who like their music with vocals surely will enjoy. <\/p>\n

Genre: Rock, Blues, Hard Rock<\/p>\n

Musicians:
\nMike Vescera – Vocals
\nVick Lecar- Guest Guitars
\nKelly Keeling – Vocals
\nChandler Mogel – Vocals
\nEric Klaastad – Bass
\nChris McCarvill – Bass
\nScott Spray – Bass
\nMichael K. Smith – Bass
\nDino Fiorenza – Bass
\nBill Holloman – Sax and Trumpet
\nGaetano Nicolosi – Drums
\nBobby ” T” Torello – Drums
\nBJ Zampa – Drums
\nDom Mauro – Bass
\nVic Steffens – Drums
\nPaul Pedroncelli – Drums
\nRick Gauthier – Bass
\nMike Giammattei – Drums
\nMark Focarile \u2013 Keys
\nTom Forst – Guitar
\nJimmy Kunes – vocals<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1.\tRace Car Guy
\n2.\tThis Time It\u2019s Gonna Hurt
\n3.\tFallen
\n4.\tCrying Shame
\n5.\tAll or Nothing
\n6.\tChemical Love
\n7.\tLead You Astray
\n8.\tTapestry of Souls
\n9.\tWalk In The Park
\n10.\tA Step Behind
\n11.\tOld No. 9<\/p>\n

Label: Shredguy Records<\/p>\n

Web:
\nhttp:\/\/www.chrisbickley.net<\/a>
\nhttp:\/\/www.myspace.com\/chrisbickley<\/a>
\nhttp:\/\/www.myspace.com\/terrilanerocks<\/a>
\nhttp:\/\/www.myspace.com\/therealthunderhead<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven: 8.5\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by John Kindred Publisher — Shredguy Records’ latest guitar prodigy, Chris Bickley, has stepped forth from the shadows and has released his debut solo CD titled Tapestry of Souls. Bickley hasn\u2019t actually been hidden from […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6772],"tags":[5045,1103,5313,2387,2205,5046,1067],"class_list":{"0":"post-20312","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-arcrvws2012","7":"tag-chris-bickley","8":"tag-hard-rock","9":"tag-mike-vescera","10":"tag-rock","11":"tag-shredguy-records","12":"tag-tapestry-of-souls","13":"tag-toby-knapp"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20312\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}