ProgNaut.com staff members

Ron Fuchs - Owner/webmaster/reviewer (speciality: all things progressive)

Terry Jackson (speciality: all things progressive)

My name is Terry Jackson and I am a General Manager at a unit of a very popular family dining restaurant chain. I’m married to a lovely lady that I met while doing live theater in the mid-80s. We have always had a dog but no children. I was born on Halloween. My main interests are comic books like Sandman & Astro City and music in general but prog in particular. Early Genesis with Peter Gabriel is IMHO the best music ever made. Yet, I am of the belief that the appropriate Genesis record to start a novice who’s curious about that sound is “Trick of the Tail.” My favorite album of all time is Queen II, the one with no hits. There are two disparate artists, that if you put their music on, I am forced to dance. They are James Brown and Oingo Boingo.

I had a profound, life changing experience in 1975 when I first heard “The Musical Box” by Genesis. After years of listening to AM radio pap, I could not believe that music of this beauty, density and texture actually existed. I immediately picked up all the Genesis, Yes, Gentle Giant and similar records I could get my hands on.

I was a lead singer for a rock band called Evidence in the early 80’s. The lead guitarist (Tony Cinquini) and I wrote around a hundred songs, one of which was a 25 minute long epic. Our main claim to fame was we could play Rush songs impeccably. We knew the entire 2112, but would rarely play it outside of our studio space. I’m still singing and playing my guitar, but mostly for myself and friends. Tony and I still get together occasionally and play and write in his home studio. You can find some of our (definitely not prog) meanderings on anthonycinquini.com or Broadjam under T’n’T.

I have always been a big collector. Through my college years, you could find me at anyone of several used record shops on an almost daily basis. I took a retro Motown listening detour through the mid-80’s and early 90’s when I thought prog was dead. (It wasn’t, it was only sleeping) I discovered Spock’s Beard and the Flower Kings around 1997 and have now amassed an incredible (yeah, incredibly large) collection of symphonic progressive rock music. You can usually find me at many of the west coast prog festivals or concerts. I also have a fondness for groups like Jellyfish, Del Amitri and Bourgeois Tagg. As a vocalist, sweet harmonies and memorable melodies are what gets me the most.

There are some artists and albums I think are vastly underrated in prog circles: Kayak’s Royal Bed Bouncer, Ambrosia’s first two records, Crack the Sky’s Animal Notes, John Miles’ Zaragon, Be-Bop Deluxe’s Sunburst Finish, 10cc’s How Dare You, Bruford’s Gradually Going Tornado and Utopia’s Ra. I figured since I already bared my soul thus far, it wouldn’t hurt to throw a little more gasoline on the flames. Additional current prog favorites include Magenta, Marillion, A.C.T, Sylvan and Izz.

This is enough about me to decide if you will be able to trust my reviews and recommendations. Enjoy!

Joe Shingler (speciality: all things progressive)

My less than auspicious introduction into the world of music began as a scrawny 8-year-old moppet behind the bellows of a red and silver speckled accordion. And for the next few years I was awarded the dubious honor of entertaining my bemused relatives at family gatherings, as both the monkey and organ grinder.

The Italian side of the family grew misty eyed to standards like “Lady Of Spain” and anything by Al Martino, while my Slovak relations leaned towards the polka classics, “She’s Too Fat” and “The Beer Barrel Polka”.

All throughout the ordeal I sweated like a pig on a barbeque spit from embarrassment, and the sheer exertion of pumping that gaudy speckled squeezebox.

Fast-foreword to the early 1960s’, to a time when Garry Lewis & The Playboys made it chic to have an accordion player in a pop/rock band. Well, maybe not chic – but acceptable.

It was also a time when nearly every neighborhood had a garage rock band on the block, and ours was no different. Our band, The NyteRaiders (pretty cool eehhh), had three guitarist with a working knowledge of four chords, a hyper-kinetic drummer who insisted on including a variation of the “Wipe-out” solo to every song, six wannabe vocalists crowding around a pair of microphones while alternating tambourine duty, and I provided psychedelic accordion. We were avant-garde and didn’t even know it.

Our sole motivation was to attract girls. Unfortunately, in order to do so, you had to be good. So The NyteRaiders rode quietly into the sunset, never to appear on “American Bandstand”, “Shindig”, “Where The Action Is”, or even headline a junior high ‘Sock Hop’.

Yet my short stint in this musical abomination did whet my appetite, setting the wheels in motion for what would take another 15 years to achieve … the creation of an Honest To God band … Vesuvius.

After undergoing three name changes (Crimson Cult, Quartermass, and Asylum), and a revolving door ensemble of musicians numbering over 50, Vesuvius eventually stabilized and settled on the line-up of Kevin Lazar (lead vocals, flute & sax), Thom Havens (guitars & vocals), Roger Hutchins (bass & vocals), Greg Shaginaw (percussion), and yours truly (keyboards & vocals). The band incorporated elements of prog/rock, commercial rock & roll, heavy metal mayhem, and what would now be termed Industrial sensibilities; coupled with an elaborate theatrical stage presentation bordering on the bizarre. Vesuvius combined the theatrics of Gabriel era Genesis and the psychedelic lighting effects of Hawkwind on a bargain basement budget.

The band attained local cult status and attracted the attention of various labels with their inclusion on a radio sponsored compilation album of Chicagoland talent – “The WKQX Hometown Album”.

Unfortunately, the full potential of the band would never be realized. The group disbanded at a critical juncture in their career due to the unexpected departure of an integral member, and the inability to find a suitable replacement. The departure left the remaining members fragmented, bitter, and disillusioned. Indelible scars which remain today.

But life goes on. And thanks to the advancements in affordable professional home recording equipment the time was right for my return. So in 1998, after a twenty-year self-imposed exile I returned to music with a renewed vigor and the unique vision that has become my current project Ghosts Of Pompeii.

Ghosts Of Pompeii is the culmination of my musical DNA , beginning with my first accordion recital and leading up to my current compositions. And all the nicks and bruises along the way.

I’ve been happily married to my childhood sweetheart Andrea - and on September 29th 2007 we celebrated our 40th Anniversary. We’re the proud parents of two adult sons, Jason and Keith; and Jason has provided us with three beautiful grandchildren, Seth, Brooke, and Tara. We have been truly blessed.

In those ‘twenty missing years’ between Vesuvius and Ghosts Of Pompeii I re-channeled my creative energy becoming a free-lance writer, publishing over 40 articles and four short stories.

In 2003, after 34 years of service, I retired from U.S. Steel – allowing me to concentrate on my music and writing skills, as well as Moderate a number of Music and Horror Movie Websites.

Yet with all the free time that retirement has afforded me … there are still not enough hours in the day to accomplish everything that needs to be done.

Joe Shingler/Ghosts Of Pompeii