Our engineers and the entire Sky Trail Productions team would like to wish you all a very happy holidays. We hope you are all enjoying some downtime with family and friends as we wrap up 2011.

This has been a great year for Sky Trail Productions. We worked with a great group of artists including Wandering Monks, Al Laughlin and Highway 50, Octopus Nebula, and The Magic Beans. We also formed our own record label called Royal Frog Records.

We’ve ended 2011 on a high note as well. Earlier this month, Sky Trail Productions hosted an evening with Al Laughlin and Highway 50 at the Lazy Dog.  The show was a huge success, and we are looking forward to releasing Al’s new album early next year. This week, we are doing some drum recordings for Bill Douglas and his band Revolutions. It’s been a great way to end the year.

We expect 2012 to be even better for us. Next year, we plan on expanding the Royal Frog Records artist roster considerably, and we are looking forward to helping many local Boulder and Denver musicians capture great recordings of their songs.

Happy New Year from Sky Trail Productions and Royal Frog Records. We’ll see you in 2012.

Sky Trail Productions would like to highlight one of our featured recording artists, Al Laughlin. Al has been playing music in the Boulder area for more than 20 years. He was the original keyboard player for the Boulder-based band, the Samples, from 1987-1998. During the 90s, the Samples achieved a great deal of success touring nationally, and Al was a huge part of the band’s sound during this time period.

A decade of heavy touring eventually took its toll on the Samples. They played six nights a week for about eight months a year for the better part of a decade. During that time, they recorded seven albums on three major record labels – Arista, MCA, and W.A.R. Records. By 1998, this grind had gotten to many of the band members, and Al and original drummer Jeep (currently recording with Sky Trail Productions as Mr. Anonymous) left the band. The original bass player continued playing with Samples’ leader and song writer Sean Kelly for two more years before they parted ways as well.

After leaving the Samples, Al endured some rough times. He was in and out of jail on a regular basis from 1997-2004, battling a variety of substance abuse issues. He spent about three years in jail during that time.

While in jail, Al began writing a lot of songs. He wrote the lyrics first as a way to work through his struggles with substance abuse. Since he didn’t have an instrument with him in jail, Al would write down the music he heard in his head on staff paper. These songs became the basis of an album Al eventually recorded in 2005 called Highway 50.

Highway 50 was recorded about a month after Al finished his jail time and got sober. It was an amazing experience for him, and in many ways was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream to record a solo project. Al found that recording this album helped him heal after an intense experience struggling with drugs and alcohol.

You can see Al Laughlin playing with Highway 50 at the Lazy Dog on December 16^th. They will be previewing material of a new album recorded at Sky Trail Productions, which will be released in early 2012.

Sky Trail Productions would like to announce that one of our featured recording artists, The Wandering Monks, will be playing live at the Fox Theater tonight. This is a special show commemorating the release of their debut album, recorded at Sky Trail. The Wandering Monks have recently signed with our record label, Royal Frog Records, and we are excited to be working with them.

The Wandering Monks have been bringing a fresh sound to the Front Range hip hop community for more than two years. The duo consists of two Boulder/Denver area emcees, AD and Linguistory. Their music blends soulful grooves with intelligent, socially conscious lyrics that seek to bring different generations and cultures together. Audiences have really responded to their positive energy and message of hope.

You can click on the link below to hear some of the music off of their debut album recorded at Sky Trail Productions:

http://soundcloud.com/search?q%5Bfulltext%5D=wandering+monks

If you like what you hear, we hope you’ll join us at the Fox tonight for their CD release party.

Sky Trail Productions is proud to announce that one of our featured recording artists, The Wandering Monks, will be having their CD release party at the Fox Theater this Friday night, November 25^th. The Wandering Monks are part of Sky Trail’s recording label, Royal Frog Records. In our previous post, we discussed the Freedom Movement Collective, a group that sowed the seeds for the music being created by The Wandering Monks today.

As the members of the Freedom Movement Collective began pursuing other projects and passions in their life, founding member AD started looking for other musicians to work with. He placed an ad in the Westword, which was answered by a young emcee looking to establish himself in the Front Range music community.

The Courtship

The two entered into a year-long musical courtship where AD would send instrumental tracks to Linguistory who would craft lyrics for them. Despite a double digit age disparity between the two, AD was committed to developing an equal partnership with his younger counterpart. He gave Linguistory free reign with the lyrics he wrote, and this fueled the dynamic between the two moving forward. Both members of The Wandering Monks share an equal role in shaping the direction of their music.

While AD was working up new material with Linguistory, he was also pursuing another side project. After about a year, it became clear to him that there was something special developing between him and Linguistory. At that point, he began devoting all of his energy to The Wandering Monks, and the duo began taking off. They’ve been playing all over the Front Range during the last two years, headlining shows at venues such as the Fox Theater and Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom.

A Unique Niche in the Hip Hop Community

The ten year age gap between AD and Linguistory could have created several challenges for the two, but instead they have used this difference as a strength. Linguistory brings a youthful exuberance that balances AD’s long-running musical experience. It enables the two to reach a wider audience as each emcee appeals to a slightly different generation.

One common thread between the two is their multicultural background. As discussed in our last post, AD comes from a multiracial family – he is a Native American who was adopted by a white mother. He also has an adopted African American brother. Linguistory is white, but has strong ties to the Latino community. He has a host family in Brazil who he is very close with, and he speaks Portuguese fluently. He regularly incorporates elements of Brazilian culture into his music.

This multiracial focus enables The Wandering Monks to bring a truly unique element to the Front Range hip hop community. Portuguese and other South American dialects regularly enter their lyrics, creating a new brand of pigeon that draws from many of the languages stemming from South American culture.

Both AD and Linguistory play a substantial amount of the music found on their debut album. AD contributes many of the guitar, piano, and percussion lines, while Linguistory lays down the drum tracks. At the moment, they are working exclusively with a DJ live. Their goal is to eventually piece together a live band to support their lyrics.

The Wandering Monks see themselves as filling a unique niche in the Front Range hip hop community. Their music reflects the growing sentiment currently being expressed by the portion of the population who has felt marginalized during these tough economic times. These people have latched onto The Wandering Monks’ socially conscious lyrics and message of hope, enabling the hip hop duo to bring a tremendous amount of positive energy to an audience that is ready to soak it up.

After playing the Fox Theater on November 25^th and Black Sheep on December 18^th, The Wandering Monks plan to take some time off while they finish their second album at Sky Trail Productions. They will be launching a national tour next spring.

Sky Trail Productions would like to highlight one of our featured artists, The Wandering Monks. The Wandering Monks are a hip hop duo based out of Boulder. The two members of the band, AD and Linguistory, have been playing together for the last 3 ½ years, bringing soulful grooves and socially conscious lyrics to the Front Range. They have recently signed with Royal Frog Records, and have just released their debut album recorded at Sky Trail.

In many ways, The Wandering Monks are a natural progression of AD’s last project, the Freedom Movement Collective. AD started this group in 1999 as a social community organization that used music to get their message to the general public. AD is the product of a multiracial home, and this background has been a driving force in his music. He is Native American and was adopted by a white mother. His brother is African American, also adopted. As a result, AD has grown up his entire life valuing the benefits of racial diversity and its power to create a stronger, more inclusive community.

AD has taken this world view and brought it to his music. He created the Freedom Music Collective as a platform to reach out to the white community of Boulder and bring his Native American culture to the public consciousness. The group, which still plays on occasion, consisted of a diverse group of individuals with very different backgrounds:

• Justin Oberndorf (Mr. O) – DJ and 8^th grade English teacher by day
• Sista Sunday – vocals and holistic nutritionist/pilates instructor by day
• AD – vocals/lyricist

Freedom Music Collective brings the entire group’s outside pursuits to their music, incorporating it into a community forum that advanced their message of social consciousness. Their music runs the gamut, drawing from genres as diverse as soul, hip hop, rock, and reggae. However, the two constants that can always be found in all of their songs are catchy hooks and the intelligent lyrics fueled by AD’s world view. This formula was wildly successful, and as a result the Freedom Music Collective toured all over the country in support of prominent national artists such as KRS 1, Lyrics Born, The Wailers, Bassnectar, Glitch Mob, and Zilla.

Four or five years ago, the Freedom Music Collective began playing less frequently as the members of the group started focusing more heavily on their other life’s pursuits. At that time, AD met Linguistory. They began working together, and their music was a logical progression for AD to move in at that time.

To learn more about the initial years of The Wandering Monks, please check for the follow-up blog later this week. You can see The Wandering Monks live at the Fox Theater this Friday November 25^th and at Black Sheep in Colorado Springs on December 18^th.

Shine the Light by Jimmy Lange was recorded by the new Royal Frog recording artists “F5″ The recording and video were captured in the last days of Aug. This is only one of 5 songs recorded. Look out for more to come.

Check out the new sounds on our soundcloud…
[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/23012989"]

This is a combination of shots by the skytrail video team

Irie Sanchos is a four-piece outfit from Denver - they rocked out in SkyTrail Recording’s studio on Sunday and threw down some amazing tracks.

Scroll down to listen to the set now and get ready for a blend of reggae and psychedelia that is sure to stimulate your musical appetite!

Irie Sanchos on Facebook

SkyTrails on Facebook

Just a hint of Metal somewhere in the mix?

Filling Skytrail studio with a premium blend.

LISTEN HERE! DOWNLOAD! Check out Irie Sanchos

Irie Sanchose by Sky Trail Recording

Friday Aug. 11, Al Laughlin of “The Samples” will be playing a show in his new band “highway 50″ which is a powerhouse of talent that will no doubt trump any other act downtown this weekend! @ the Brick House (Next to the Lazy Dog @ 1346 Pearl St. Boulder). Music starts @ 10:30. It’s Friday Night in Boulder swing down to Pearl Street for some Local Live Music!

Chris Wright

Groove Daddy

Joe Perry

Al Laughlin