Flying Colors Second Nature

The formation of the band started with the idea of having virtuoso musicians and a pop singer joining together to make new-fashioned music the old fashioned way. The idea was brought in 2008 by executive producer Bill Evans and the record was done with the help of music producer Peter Collins. Intrigued by the idea, and the prospect of working together, the musicians signed on to form a band and record a full-length album.

The self-titled debut studio album by Flying Colors was released on 26 March 2012. It debuted at No. 9 on Billboard's Hard Rock chart, and No. 11 on the BBC's Rock Album charts.

The band also made a short tour in Europe the same year and recorded a Blu-ray/DVD which was released in October 15th 2013.[3]

On December 16th 2013, the band announced on their website that songwriting had been completed for their second studio album.[

1. Open Up Your Eyes
2. Mask Machine
3. Bombs Away
4. The Fury Of My Love
5. A Place In Your World
6. Lost Without You
7. One Lost Forever
8. Peaceful Harbor
9. Cosmic Symphony
I. Still Life Of The World
II. Searching For The Air
III. Pound For Pound

"Mask Machine" is now on Spotify

And it is also on Amazon for $1,99USD

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

FLYING COLORS TO RELEASE SECOND NATURE VIA MUSIC THEORIES / MASCOT LABEL GROUP ON SEPTEMBER 29 IN EUROPE / UK AND THE 30TH IN NORTH AMERICA

TOUR DATES ANNOUNCED FOR OCTOBER!

Morse, Portnoy, LaRue, McPherson and Morse announce special brief tour to commence October 2 in

Los Angeles with shows planned for Chicago, Philadelphia, Spain, Italy, Netherlands,

Germany, Switzerland, England and France

Rotterdam, Netherlands --- Mascot Label Group and Flying Colors have announced a September 29 release date in Europe and the U.K. for the band's SECOND NATURE album via the Music Theories label. The critics were united in acknowledging the eponymously titled debut album from Flying Colors among the most fascinating releases of 2012. Teaming the talents of such heavyweight names as Deep Purple/Dixie Dregs/ex-Kansas guitarist Steve Morse, drummer Mike Portnoy (Transatlantic, Winery Dogs, ex-Dream Theater), Neal Morse (Transatlantic, Spock’s Beard and a prolific solo artist), bass player Dave LaRue (Dixie Dregs, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and more) with a comparatively new talent, pop singer/songwriter Casey McPherson, the band challenged conventional wisdom about combining virtuoso music and melodic songwriting. Or, as the quintet’s modus operandi was once memorably defined by Executive Producer Bill Evans, ‘crafting new-fashioned music the old-fashioned way’.

The mission was to team a pool of virtuoso players, a pop singer/songwriter, and the right producer—to create sophisticated music that was accessible. Over 100 singer/songwriters were considered for the role. Portnoy pitched the idea of approaching McPherson, a member of the group Alpha Rev, whose 2010 album called ‘New Morning’ dominated the Billboard Top Ten for 17 weeks. McPherson went on to prove the ‘x factor’ that elevated Flying Colors above the norm.

The UK’s Classic Rock magazine hailed the band’s debut as “fearless”, praising its “Journey-sized choruses” and referencing artists as diverse as The Beatles, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Doors, Muse and even Frank Sinatra. In late 2012, the band toured the United States and Europe, dazzling fans with Flying Colors originals and selections from the catalogues of the five members. The chemistry can be heard on ‘Live In Europe’, a Number #1-charting Blu-ray, DVD, CD and vinyl package recorded and shot in Tilburg, Holland.

Schedules allowing, the protagonists had always viewed Flying Colors as a genuine band as opposed to a mere side project, and quietly yet purposefully they began writing a second studio album. From the first writing session to final delivery of the masters in July 2014, the process took almost a year and half, albeit in four distinct stages: writing

sessions via Skype in January/February 2013, another burst of writing and recording at Neal Morse’s house in Nashville, a trip to Portnoy’s home that spawned five additional songs, and finally individual recording/arrangement throughout the spring of 2014.

“The first album was very much a blind date,” Mike Portnoy explains. “Although we already had ‘Team Dregs’ of Steve/Dave and ‘Team Transatlantic’ of myself/Neal, it was the first time that the five of us – seven if you include Bill Evans and Peter Collins – had collaborated together as a group. This time there was an existing chemistry, we had not only the prior experiences of making the debut album but also the 2012 tour as well.”

Sporting stunning artwork from the legendary designer Hugh Syme (Rush, Aerosmith, Def Leppard, Whitesnake) and bookended by two tracks of truly epic stature – ‘Open Up Your Eyes’ and the multiple-part ‘Cosmic Symphony’ – the album is every bit as breathtaking as the debut. Portnoy stresses that the music’s proggier path was “not conscious at all.” The drummer continues: “Direction was never even discussed. We just did what we do. I think perhaps not having a producer to ‘trim the fat’ possibly led to the songs breathing and expanding a bit more.” Perhaps Steve Morse sums things up best with the statement: “This is an album full of many layers. The more you listen, the more you can hear. It’s an album to keep listening to.”

VIEW THE ALBUM TRAILER HERE:

The complete track list is as follows:

Flying Colors – Second Nature

1. Open Up Your Eyes (12.24)

2. Mask Machine (6.06)

3. Bombs Away (5.03)

4. The Fury Of My Love (5.10)

5. A Place In Your World (6.25)

6. Lost Without You (4.46)

7. One Love Forever (7.17)

8. Peaceful Harbor (7.01)

9. Cosmic Symphony (11.46)

I. Still Life Of The World

II. Searching For The Air

III. Pound For Pound

Flying Colors will tour from October 2-14, across the United States, Europe and the UK.

Portnoy comments on the tour: "We're happy to say that we've carved out some time in October to play as many shows as we can in the only window we currently have collectively available. We will try to geographically hit as much ground as we can in America and Europe in that window.

I look at Flying Colors LIVE as something that is not to be taken for granted and expected to always happen. It's something that is very special and unique and should be embraced as such.Because of our situation, it's safe to suggest to people to try to come to us if we can't come to you!

FLYING COLORS

OCTOBER 2014 TOUR

10/02 LOS ANGELES, CA JAMES ARMSTRONG THEATER Buy Tickets

10/03 CHICAGO, IL ARACDA THEATER Buy Tickets

10/04 PHILADELPHIA, PA KESWICK THEATER

10/07 BARCELONA, SPAIN RAZZMATAZZ 2 Buy Tickets

10/08 MILAN, ITALY MILAN LIVE CLUB Buy Tickets

10/09 TILBURG, NETHERLANDS 013

10/11 FRANKFURT, GERMANY BATSCHKAPP Buy Tickets

10/12 PRATTELN, SWITZERLAND Z7 Buy Tickets

10/13 LONDON, UK ISLINGTON ASSEMBLY HALL Buy Tickets

10/14 PARIS, FRANCE ALHAMBRA Buy Tickets

Special Guests for the US shows will be BEND SINISTER

Special Guests for Europe/UK will be JOHN WESLEY

Second Nature Pre-order Purchase Links:

MASCOT LINKS

Main page/splash page - http://flyingcolorsmusic.com

LP + T-shirt bundle - http://bit.ly/1AubduY

CD + T-shirt bundle - http://bit.ly/1nDzg5r

LP - http://bit.ly/1pB7eEn

CD - http://bit.ly/1pok4IL

RADIANT LINKS:

http://www.radiantrecords.com/products/503-flying-colors-second-nature.aspx

STANDARD EDITION

DigiPack CD

* Beautiful DigiPack CD with 24-page booklet.

* Gorgeous artwork by legendary album designer Hugh Syme.

2LP

*180 gram vinyl set including a downloadcard, good for one MP3 download of the album.

2LP + DigiPack CD Bundle - combined for one low price!

* Beautiful DigiPack CD with 24-page booklet.

* Gorgeous artwork by legendary album designer Hugh Syme.

*180 gram vinyl set including a downloadcard, good for one MP3 download of the album.