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Ian also has a web page for his first solo CD at:
http://www.cmo.com/cmo/cmo/data/ieskelin.htm.Concert review by John Turpin
::TheCat:: asked me if I had heard of Ian, the talented keyboardist and solo artist whom she had seen playing with Seven Red Seven in Sacramento. She didn't know that not only am I a fan, but I maintain a discography for him! According to his bio, he was in an East Coast band that opened for Information Society and Book of Love.
On May 13, I managed to see Ian and The Echoing Green in Decatur, AL despite a flood here at home (Slidell, LA), finals, 5 million bugs, and 12 hours of driving. The concert took place in Fellowship Baptist Church’s parking lot as part of their end-of-school-year “Dare 2B Different” youth group program.
The Echoing Green opened, playing to the crowd of mostly junior- and senior high students, who used the concert as a good excuse for stage-diving. Joey Belville, the singer/songwriter, was joined by his keyboardist and drummer. Joey clasped the mic and leaned toward the audience to sing his very personal and poetic lyrics as his keyboardist rocked his instrument on its stand. I wasn't familiar with The Echoing Green, but I was very impressed with their music and presence. It’s very easy to see why Joey likes Anything Box. Joey not only bared his soul, but got everyone jumping with kick drums and catchy melodies.
When Ian came on stage, his group looked and sounded more like a rock band than a techno band. Ian, his guitarist, acoustic drummer, and keyboardist played in perfect time with the pre-programmed music. Ian’s music is full of big hooks, energy, a distinctive drum programming technique, and words of encouragement. His set included “Let it Take You,” “With You,” “Come to Me,” both the album version and the high-energy Dave Sears (Seven Red Seven) remix of “Haven't You Heard,” “Supersonic Dream Day,” and finished with “The Way” and “Everybody (Take Control)”, “the slowest and fastest songs in my repertoire.”
General mayhem ruled as The Echoing Green and still more kids freaked out on the stage. The scene climaxed as Ian jumped off a stack of speakers into the arms of the crowd. (It’s a good thing, because he had to be in Newport Beach, CA in 4 days!)
In all, it was an excellent show. I picked up a copy of The Echoing Green’s cool new Aurora 7.2 remix CD (with mixes by Ian, Claude S. of Anything Box, Seven Red Seven, Scott Blackwell, and Prodigal Sons). Ian and Joey were very friendly, autographing CDs and talking to everyone. Not only did I pick up a new enthusiasm for my faith, but also some good stage-diving advice from Joey: “Remember to go down back first.” And, to fulfill my discographer’s dream, I gave Ian a copy of his file (I need to get out more I guess).
For comments, questions, or the Ian
discography, write to:
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Ian also has a web page for his first solo CD at:
http://www.cmo.com/cmo/cmo/data/ieskelin.htm.
[Update: I have more extensive information on Ian Eskelin and The Echoing Green]
Revised:
2002-06-17
by John Turpin
© 1992 by Control-Alt-Delete
Reprinted from Control-Alt-Delete by permission.
Thanks to ::TheCat:: for granting permission to use this and for the