Billy Sherwood is the nexus for a
number of projects involving other Yesmen, both current and former
band members. On most of these projects, he has been working with Tony Kaye. CIRCA:
and Yoso also include Kaye and CIRCA: formerly
included White, while Sherwood features various Yes members on his various tribute albums and a Jim Ladd's Headsets album. Sherwood
is producing John Wetton's new solo album and Kaye and Geoff Downes guest: see here.
Tony
Kaye & Billy SherwoodYouTube channel
In Sep 2010, at Mexicali Prog (Baja, Mexico), Billy Sherwood
(guitar, vocals) and Tony Kaye (keys) played a two-man show.
Sherwood described the show as 'CIRCA: Lite'. The set included "I
Confess", "No Way We Can Lose", "I Could/Red Light Ahead", "Man Over
Bored" (from No
Comment), a piece from the Headsets album Chapter 2: Sides, "Fireworks"
(No Comment),
"Ever Changing World" (CIRCA:), "In the End" (No Comment). The pair
played an 8-date
Japanese tour in Apr 2011: Kaye (keys), Sherwood (electric
guitar, vocals) + pre-recorded bass and drums by Sherwood. A portion
of ticket receipts will go to victims of the recent earthquake and
tsunami. A show in Bogotá, Colombia on 11 May then followed.
In late Mar, Sherwood described the set list as, "a mixture of
CIRCA: / YES / SOLO works / Toto and some special instrumental
pieces..." The pair launched a YouTube channel
that previewed some pieces to be played: "Time and a Word" and "I
Could/Red Light". The 20 Apr Nagoya show is available on streaming webcast
here; set: "Confess", "Together We Are", "Cut the Ties", "Time
and a Word", "I Could/Red Light", Kaye solo, "Fireworks", "I've Seen
All Good People", "Owner of a Lonely Heart", "Otherside", "I am
Waiting", "Wondrous Stories", "Man Over Bored", "The More We
Live—Let Go", "No Way We Can Lose", "Say Goodbye", encore:
"Roundabout". The show ran to 1 hour 45 minutes. A live DVD, "Live
from Japan 2011", is now planned. In Jun 2011 on Facebook, Sherwood
said it would be released in Japan "soon" and elsewhere
subsequently.
The pair returned
to Japan for 12 dates 10-25 Nov 2011. They will next be performing a live webcast
through UStream, along the same lines as CIRCA:'s New Year's Eve
show (see below).
CIRCA:Official website; MySpace page; online
media kit; official
forum
In 2011, focus moves back to CIRCA: with a new line-up, a new
album, entitled And So On,
and touring. The band is now Billy Sherwood (lead vocals,
bass), Tony Kaye (Hammond B3, keys), Johnny Bruhns (ex-Yoso, Yes tribute band Roundabout,
worked with Ronnie Ciago, filled
in
at a Yes rehearsal in 2008; guitar, backing
vocals) and Scott Connor (ex-Yoso, ex-Genesis tribute band
Gabble Ratchet;
drums). (This now means the current CIRCA: is all of the live Yoso
line-up minus Bobby Kimball.) Connor replaces Ronnie Ciago (Facebook) (works
with Patrick Moraz, worked
with Mick Taylor, Jaco Pastorius, Robert Downey Jr.; percussion,
drums, backing vocals), who was briefly in the band. A promo video
for the band is here
and a promo for the album here.
The album is out through the band's website, with a general
release in Europe to follow, probably on Frontiers; in Aug 2011,
Sherwood estimated this would be in a few months. Tracks: "And So
On", "Cast Away", "'Til We Get There", "Notorious", "Half Way
Home", "In My Sky", "True Progress", "Each to His Own", "Life's
Offering". While the album credits Ciago as a member of the band,
all the drums on the album were actually by Sherwood and Ciago
does not play on it. Artwork is by Michi Sherwood.
CIRCA: played a 2.5 hour live webcast in HD on
31 Dec (6pm PST/9pm EST) via their UStream channel
CIRCA: HQ. The show
will then also be archived.A promo
video/rehearsal clip is on YouTube. To Yesfans.com in Dec 2011, Sherwood said,
"There are plans for more of these type sof events for the
future... TK BS 2man show, my solo works and more... stay
tuned !!" On ProgressiveEars.com, Mars Hollow's Kerry Chicoine said in Jan
2012: "we (Mars Hollow) hope to do one of these live broadcasts
with CIRCA: soon (Billy's told me of plans for CIRCA: covering a
couple of classic albums)".
The band played a series of west coast North American dates with
Connor: Mexico
on 3-4 Sep, with support from Mars Hollow (whose latest
album was produced by Sherwood) on both dates; the set was
expected to include [SPOILERS—highlight
to read]"And So On", "Cast Away", "Til We Get There" and further material from the new album.
The 4 Sep show had an audience of ~60. Shows 6-8 & 21 Oct in
southern California followed, with Mars Hollow and Souljourners
supporting on 21 Oct. Rehearsals (with Ciago) had taken place
through Aug. Songs rehearsed include "Cut the Ties", "Together
We Are", "Set to Play", "Ever Changing World", "Twist Of
Fate" and material from the new album.
In a Feb 2011 interview, Sherwood said the band were planning to
tour the UK and the rest of Europe in Sep/Oct, with the same
promoter as for the Yoso tour in 2010 and the possibility of a
resultant live DVD, but such dates have yet to appear.
Jimmy Haun withdrew from the band to focus on commercial work (see further below), while Jay Schellen is now
concentrating on Asia Featuring
John Payne and Unruly Child.
The plan had been for Connor to join CIRCA:.
However, Connor opted out of the band. In an interview
published Mar 2011, Kaye talked of having just completed the new
CIRCA: album with Bruhns and Connor, although subsequent reports
from Sherwood and Kaye then had work on the album continuing
through to at least May 2010. Ciago then joined the band after the
album has been recorded. For Mexican dates in Sep 2011, Ciago was
unavailable and Connor was announced as filling in, but Connor was
then announced as replacing Ciago on 12 Sep 2011. Sherwood
explained on Facebook on 13 Sep 2011:
Scott had domestic family
matters to deal with when we returned from Europe with Yoso...
at that point in time it was not the time to join CIRCA: that
said... it is the time now and we are all happy about how fate
has worked it's magic. I did in fact play the drums on the new
CIRCA: record... I often play / sing on records and don't take
credit {Backing vocals for OZZY "Momma I'm Coming Home" for
instance among many others projects, including YES....}. I like
people feeling involved and so that is why the credits read
"CIRCA: is"... not drums by... {Ronnie joined the band after the
recordings were completed}. I don't have an ego about needing to
see my name credited here there and everywhere, in bands I am a
team player, always have been. [...] I know you will enjoy
watching Scott play the hell out of the parts live... and will
enjoy his playing on the next CIRCA: record
Sherwood earlier said on Facebook (12 Sep):
We [...] wish Ronnie Ciago the
best on his musical journey. Ronnie jumped into the band after
the recording was completed for "And So On", unfortunately due
to his prior commitments it became clear it wasn't meant to be
CIRCA: are now managed by Derek
Shulman (ex-Gentle Giant; managed Yes; signed World
Trade, Dream Theater) and Leonardo Pavkovic
(MoonJune Records/Management, managed Soft Machine Legacy, Allan
Holdsworth; worked with Bill Bruford,
Bozzio/Holdsworth/Levin/Mastelotto Band, Eddie Jobson)
at 2 Plus Music & Entertainment,
Inc., who had previously taken on Yoso and who also work with
Frontiers Records (work with Yes, Asia, John Wetton, Unruly Child).
YosoYoso
MySpace page; Yoso official
site; Yoso
YouTube channel
Yoso was based around
former Toto vocalist Bobby Kimball (MySpace page; lead
vocals, additional keys live), Billy Sherwood (lead vocals,
bass; guitar and drums in studio) and Tony Kaye (keys). They
were joined on tour by Scott Connor (now in CIRCA:,
ex-Genesis tribute band Gabble
Ratchet; drums, percussion) and
Johnny Bruhns (now in CIRCA:, Yes tribute band Roundabout,
worked with Ronnie Ciago, filled
in
at a Yes rehearsal in 2008; guitar, backing
vocals). The debut album, Elements, is out on Frontiers
Records (FR CD 466). Tracks: "Yoso" (4:18), "Path to Your
Heart" (4:22), "Where You'll Stay" (3:42), "Walk Away" (4:35), "The
New Revolution" (3:44), "To Seek the Truth" (4:25), "Only One"
(3:42), "Close the Curtain" (4:44), "Won't End Tonight" (3:59),
"Come This Far" (4:19), "Time to Get Up" (3:52), "Return to
Yesterday" (7:19); bonus live CD: "Yoso" (5:30), "Rosanna" (6:17),
"Owner of a Lonely Heart" (6:18), "Walk Away" (4:47), "Good for You"
(3:37), "Yes Medley: Yours is No Disgrace/Heart of the Sunrise/South
Side of the Sky/Starship Trooper/I've Seen All Good People" (8:59),
"To Seek the Truth" (4:27), "Hold the Line" (4:17), "Cinema" (2:04),
"Gift with a Golden Gun" (4:20), "White Sister" (6:17). Details
in
Yescography. These live tracks seem to be taken from
the band's 2009 Mexican shows, with Jimmy Haun (worked on Union, Jonathan Elias,
ex-Lodgic, ex-Conspiracy; guitars, backing vocals)
and Louis "Lou" Molino III
(MySpace page; working with Trevor
Rabin, worked with Billy Sherwood; drums, backing
vocals) rather than Bruhns and Connor.
The band's origins date back to late 2008 and they played a handful
of live dates in 2009 and early 2010, before their main tour later
in 2010 in the US and Europe. However, Yoso disbanded in early 2011,
with Kimball departing. Sherwood and Kaye returned their attention
to CIRCA:, which Bruhns has also now joined. To Yesfans.com in Mar
2011, Sherwood explained:
Music is a journey for me, it
has taken me to some exotic locations... and I don't mean
geographicaly. It has lead me to work with so many different
artists and bands. Yoso became another desitnation on this
journey. I always believe in what I do or I don't do it. I have
a deep respect for Toto and Yes and felt we represented that
music very well and more importantly found our own sound within
the record we made as "Yoso". All this said prog is where I am
rooted, CIRCA: was never far from my mind or TK while we were in
Yoso. Tk and I are now returning to our natural surroundings of
pure prog, we have the new record coming... CIRCA: "And So On"
and a tour for Europe being set up.
About the band
Sherwood explained: "Yoso was started when I suggested to Bobby
Kimball we should write some new music and form a band, we had been
working together on various tribute projects I was producing and one
thing lead to another, before too long we had 5 songs in the can and
were well on our way to making a record". The It Can Happen tour of
Italy by CIRCA:—then Sherwood, Kaye, Haun, Jay Schellen (GPS, ex-Badfinger, ex-Peter Banks)—and
Kimball
was planned for Feb 2009 with a set encompassing CIRCA:, Toto and
Yes material. However, the tour was cancelled late in the day.
Schellen withdrew and Molino took over for live work in late 2009.
He too then stepped aside given other commitments and by the
beginning of 2010, Jody
Cortez (ex-ETC... with B. Sherwood, ex-Boz Scaggs)
was on drums. Further changes followed:
another new drummer (Connor) and that Haun had withdrawn to focus on
commercial work.
Yoso were working on a second album. In a May
2010
interview, Kaye said they were "working on more Yoso music
right now". He also described the second album as "a little more
complex progressive thing". He went on, "We've started thinking
about writing stuff, and I know Billy's started writing stuff". In a Jul/Aug
2010 interview, Sherwood said: "We plan to expand the horizons
musically speaking for Yoso future but the 1st debut CD reflects the
starting point [...] we will be getting more adventurous with things
as we proceed".
Debut album, Elements (see
details in Yescography)
The album was initially recorded by Sherwood (vocals, all
instruments) and Kimball (vocals). Kaye then came in to record
keyboard parts, and likewise Haun on guitar and Schellen on drums.
When Molino replaced Schellen, he then recorded alternate drum parts
for the album, but with Haun's and Molino's departure, the eventual
release uses Sherwood's initial guitar and drum tracks. In Jul 2010
to Yesfans.com, Sherwood explained:
I had all the gtr and drum
parts tracked and done {I sketched out some keys but didn't
bother much knowing TK was into it from the word go...}. Jay did
play a few tracks as did Jim, then Jay left the band and knowing
Jim was destine to as well... I went back to the original tracks
I had already cut and finished the record.
Live
Yoso played 7 US dates in Aug 2010; 14 Aug set was: "Yoso", "Girl
Goodbye", "Hold On", "New Revolution", "Gift with a Golden Gun",
"Yes Medley" (with "Looking Around", "Harold Land", "Every Little
Thing", "Survival", "Something's Coming", "Yours is No Disgrace",
"Starship Trooper", "Cinema"), "Where You'll Stay", "Open Your Eyes"
(closer to the Conspiracy version than Yes's), "First
Light" (Bruhns solo), "Africa", "Changes", "Walk Away", "Other
Side", "Burn Down the Mission" (Kimball feature), "Owner of a Lonely
Heart" (with "Make It Easy" intro and new, extended middle
section), "Path to Your Heart", drum solos, bass feature
(with Connor and initially Kaye; including an extract of CIRCA:'s
"Cut the Ties" and another from Sherwood's Oneirology), "Rosanna", "To Seek
the Truth", "Hold the Line"; encore: "Roundabout", "Louisana Blues"
(including Kimball piano intro). The 21 Aug show had an
attendance of ~700, but other shows had smaller audiences. The 19
Aug show had an audience of ~150. European dates followed in
Sep/Oct. In London, the show was sold out (capacity of 350). My
review
of the London show is here. Yoso played a charity
show in Los Angeles, CA on 6 Nov 2010.
The band's live debut was 3 Mexican dates in Oct 2009 with
Molino/Haun. Sherwood was producing a "Yoso Live in Mexico 2009" DVD
release, but this was dropped. The audio appears to be the source
for the live bonus disc accompanying the band's debut release, Elements. The band played the
Frankfurt Musikmesse Festival, Germany, on 24 Mar 2010 (with
Cortez/Haun). The band (with Schellen/Haun) had played a showcase of
~45 min.s at Uncle Studios, CA on 1 May 2009 for a promoter.
Conspiracy
&
Psy-op
Conspiracy has come to an end. Sherwood said in a late
2007
interview, "I don't foresee another Conspiracy record [...] my
focus is on Circa and obviously Conspiracy is dear to my heart, but
it took a turn and went into a dormant mode". Sherwood
(bass, guitar, keys, vocals) and Jay Schellen (drums) from the final
Conspiracy line-up did record an album entitled Psy-op. This
was initially described as the third Conspiracy album, but in May
2007, Sherwood wrote on MySpace
that he and Schellen were changing the name of the project given
Squire's absence. However, the project was held back so as not to
compete with CIRCA:; Sherwood wrote, "The
tracks are very prog. It will surface, I promise, just not right
now." In Aug 2008, Sherwood said,
"Psy-op will be released... it's just a matter of when. I don't wish
to cloud nor confuse what my main goal is "getting CIRCA: in the air
and on auto pilot"." In an Apr 2008
interview, Sherwood reiterated, "It's finished and mastered
and ready to come out but I didn't want to confuse fans with too
many products at once." But in Oct 2010, in response to a fan,
Sherwood said that the album was being abandoned:
The entire Psy-op CD has been
reverse engineered and dismantled in a manner of speaking....
The record was completed and we were about to go forward when
CIRCA came into being, and now with CIRCA in existence and now
Yoso, I felt adding another "band project" to the mix was that
one bridge too far. That's why I held it back and am now farming
the songs to other destinations.
The Psy-op album also
featured Tony Kaye (on 1 track), Geoff Downes (on 1 track), Michael Sherwood (Vocoder), Bruce Gowdy
(World Trade; co-wrote
and keys on 1 track, "Gone All the Way"),
Gary Green (ex-Gentle Giant; co-wrote
and guitar on 1 track, "Just Another
Day"). (There was an earlier report that two songs on the album were written with Gowdy
for an abortive third World Trade album, but Sherwood in Feb 2008
referred to
just one piece.) A Jan
2006 article quotes Sherwood describing the album as being
"really, really proggy". In Jun 2007, posting to the Progressive
Ears
forum, Sherwood described the album:
What began as Conspiracy 3 has now
morphed into a new project titled "Psy-Op". Chris moved back to
the U.K. [...] at the same time I was recording a lot of new
music which I planned for "C3". After assembling the record it
became clear to me that it is not Conspiracy but a whole new
kind of "project". [...] You can hear a sample at my web page,
{it's labeled Conspiracy 3, that will be changed}. It is
mastered and ready for release, that being said [...] since
[CIRCA:] are about to release our 1st record I don't want to
cloud the waters with a new project. It will come out down the
road in time...
As a preview, an excerpt from "Gone All the Way" was available for
download on Sherwood's
website. Sherwood described the
song as "a story of a man dreaming he is the only human left on
earth after a nuclear holocaust, by the middle of the song he
reailizes he in fact isn't dreaming, warmakers had finally "Gone All
The Way"."
Tribute albums by Billy
Sherwood et al.
Tribute albums involving Billy Sherwood but no other Yes men are
covered in Sherwood's section here.
Sherwood said in the Sep 2005 interview
that he would also like to tackle Genesis' The Lamb Lies
Down on Broadway, The Who's Tommy or "even some of
King Crimson's stuff".