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Dubbel-CD, beräknas i lager mot slutet av augusti.

This is Van Stephenson, but with a little help from his friends.

As most will be aware, over the course of the last couple of years, Melodic Rock Classics have been archiving Van’s vast collection
of unreleased songs and demos. There are more than 500, covering all styles from 70s singer/songwriter,
80s AOR and pop to 90s country…and then some.
The ultimate goal is to pay tribute to Van with some form of all-inclusive box set/s. During the course of
sorting the archives into categories, a certain number of tracks were found to feature vocalists other than
Van. I decided that the box sets should be dedicated to just Van with his songs, so the idea came to put
together a separate release that featured these songs – Van’s own or co-written demos and the various
vocalists used on those original sessions.

Hence the title – ‘Same Pen, Different Voices’.

And while Van’s voice may be absent from this release – his spirit and his style are all over it, with some
absolute melodic classics about to be launched. This is a double disc of lost Van Stephenson tunes written
with many of his regular writing partners such as Dave Innis, Sam Lorber, Robert White Johnson, Bob
Farrell and Dave Robbins.
But that isn’t all. Lost among the hundreds of songs were a set of session tracks written with Dann Huff for
the classic Giant ‘Time To Burn’ album. One of those songs has already been featured on the ‘Van’s
Versions’ release (‘Get Over It’), but I’m excited to announce the others will all make their debut on this
release and they all feature the voice of Dann Huff himself.
Three of these tracks have never been released before and I must thank Dann for his co-operation in this
release and allowing the tracks to finally see the light of day.
They may have been lost for 30 years, but they are magnificent!
It doesn’t stop there – there is a trilogy of songs co-written with Jaime Kyle (previously released), two
featuring vocalist Robert White Johnson and another featuring TJ Seals, son of Dan Seals.
Sadly, we couldn’t ask Van himself about the details behind these songs, so many are still missing credits
and even the vocalists themselves are unknown in many cases. I have managed to fill in the details behind
some of them thanks to the co-writers, but to all those that are featured on the songs – thank you for
adding your talents to Van’s legacy and please know that the performances delivered some 20-30 years ago
now live on today and sound as good as ever.

Disc 1 is all male lead vocals; Disc 2 is mostly female lead vocals

Kommer i lager skiftet juni/juli.

BIG GAME is the Recording project launched by Mid-West Guitarist, Singer/Songwriter John McAfee in the Summer of 1995 after leaving his former band “The Affair” (Mind Dust Records) of 11 years where he paid his dues playing as many as 300 dates a year recording and touring extensively in the U.S.A., Canada, and abroad (Richard Josef Soviet Glastnost Tour 1989) receiving MTV and Radio airplay. John was also an endorsing artist for GHS Strings, Washburn Guitars, Evans Guitar Products, and Laney Amplification.
On Drums and backing Vocals, John’s long-time friend, former band mate and future Brother–in-law Sid Sidall (The Affair, Shyster, Classic IV). Sid’s showmanship and technical finesse was the heart of this red-blooded American Rock & Roll Band. Sid was also known for his work in radio as program director for Toledo’s Rock Station WIOT FM 104.
Bass guitar duties are provided by Nep Sindel (VXN a.k.a. Edwin Dare, D.E.Z., Wolfgang, Gunnar Ross). Nep’s reputation as an accomplished Bassist and Songwriter is well known in the Detroit area, and not only confirms his maturity as a pocket groove player, but also in his contributions as a performer and songwriting team player.
Last but certainly not least on Guitars and Vocals is Dan Strickland (D.E.Z., Wolfgang). Dan’s extensive musical background and classical training often fuels his creative fire as a soloist and songwriter. A multi-instrumentalist, Dan’s use of musical textures adds to the identifiable edge and energy of the band, which is undeniable on tracks like “The Assassin” and Instrumental “Goin Off”.
This Lineup produced an original 5 song EP released in 1996. With 12 other songs that never made it past the Demo stage and live performance, the band went on to headline regional shows and provide support for acts like The Spin Doctors, Vince Neil, .38 Special and more until the turn of the decade.