Signs & Wonders Review
Sun King Rising’s Highly Anticipated Second Album Signs & Wonders Released Today
October 1st, 2022
Sun King Rising’s long-awaited second album, Signs & Wonders, has been released today on PeacockSunrise Records. “We are thrilled to represent such an astounding artist and album,” says label head, Nick Katona. A year in the making, the 10-song album is now available on all popular formats: CD, Digital, Streaming, and coming on vinyl.
PeacockSunrise Records is the Americana/Rock label spinoff of Nick Katona’s successful Progressive Rock label, Melodic Revolution.
Sun King Rising is the professional moniker of singer/songwriter/piano player John Blangero who hails from Port Isabel, Texas. He calls his music “the new wave of southern rock and soul music.” As with Sun King Rising’s highly acclaimed debut album, Delta Tales, Pittsburgh’s Ace Acker again served as producer.
Signs & Wonder is a collection of Blangero’s southern noir stories set to music, with a cast of colorful characters, intrigue, tales of sin and redemption, murder without justice, and love without limits. Had William Faulkner and Tennessee Williams been lyricists, they might have written deeply nuanced musical stories like Sun King Risings.
The album’s first single, “No. 6 Magnolia Avenue,” is a classic 60s/70s horn band pop in the vein of Chicago, Spiral Staircase, and Blood. The official release of Dante Ludovici’s cinematic short film of the same title is to be released in the coming weeks. Ludovici directed the official “Free Will in China Blue” video from the first album, as well.
Listen Now!
Signs & Wonders Sessions
John Blangero – Piano, Keys, Lead Vocals, Orchestral Arrangements
George Perilli – Drums on all tracks except 4 and 10
Roger Humphreys – Drums 4
George Elliott – Bass Guitar on all tracks
Willie Ross – Guitar 1 2,3 4.5,8
Steve Schuffert – Guitar 6,7 8 9
Ace Acker – Acoustic Guitar 3
Fred Delu – Electric Piano 4
Background Vocal Arrangements by
Stevee Wellons and Ace Acker
Background Singers:
Stevee Wellons – All tracks but 10
Joy Brown – 1,3,4,5,7,8,
Bernice Wilkerson – 1,3,4,5,7,8
Pete Hewlett – 6,9
Ace – 2,6,9
Raloh Guzzi – Horn Arrangements
Ralph Guzzi, Eric Defade, Kevin McManus – Horn Section
Kennv Blake – Saxophone 4
Studio Credits
Engineered by David Granati
Recorded at Maplewood Studio, Ambridge, PA
Mixed and Mastered by Brian Foraker
Produced by Ace Acker
Album Art
Clint English
Sun King Rising Online
Website: https://www.sunkingrising.com
Bandcamp: https://sunkingrising.bandcamp.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SunKingRising
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sunkingrising
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIjlf9aROZ-0EHHqvk9hzng
PSR Profile: https://peacocksunriserecords.com/project/sun-king-rising/
PeacockSunrise Records Online
Website: https://peacocksunriserecords.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PeacockSunriseRecords
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peacocksunriserecords/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SunKingRising1
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIjlf9aROZ-0EHHqvk9hzng
Sun King Rising Offers Special Pre-Order Packages for New Album Signs & Wonder
Signs & Wonder is a collection of Sun King Rising’s southern noir stories set to music, with a cast of colorful characters, intrigue, tales of sin and redemption, murder without justice, and love without limits. Had William Faulkner and Tennessee Williams been lyricists, they might have written deeply nuanced musical stories like Sun King Rising.
Blangero’s music draws from his southern family roots, the literary genius of William Faulkner, the bluesy compositional brilliance of George Gershwin, the blue-eyed soul of Elton John, and the funky rhythms and horns of the 60s-70s Muscle Shoals. Soaring electric guitars add spice to this gumbo. It is a unique fusion of innate design with heartfelt musical expression— “the Genetics of Soul.”
“With this album, Sun King Rising has made a quantum leap,” says Katona. “Musically and lyrically, Signs & Wonders rocks hard while engaging the imagination. It is thematically coherent, complex, and sophisticated.”
Blangero attributes this to the vastly improved circumstances under which Acker was able to produce it. “We started recording the first album in January 2020. Two months later, the COVID-19 pandemic locked the whole world down,” he says.
Coping with resulting restrictions on travel and meetings forced Blangero and Acker to complete the production remotely, with thirty-two different players and singers recording in multiple studios across the country. Says Blangero, “It was a logistical challenge, to say the least.”
With Signs & Wonders, the production team had no such hurdles. Recording again at Pittsburgh’s Maplewood Studio with engineer David Granati at the helm, Acker put together a full 5-piece band, a horn section, and a background chorus with the city’s most acclaimed talents. “Most of the cuts on the album we recorded live at Maplewood, with the same band,” Acker explained, “resulting in a far more consistent sound. The logistics were a breeze.”
Tracklist
1. Bitter Waters Sweetened 04:20
2. No. 6 Magnolia Avenue 04:11
3. Lanterns On The Levee 03:58
4. Buried In The Blues Again 03:56
5. Jubal Takes A Wife 04:29
6. She Was A Blonde 04:56
7. One More Story To Tell 03:24
8. Low Wine And Cruel Ruin 04:39
9. Anchorless 05:48
10. Alabama Nocturne 03:01
Signs & Wonders Sessions
John Blangero – Piano, Keys, Lead Vocals, Orchestral Arrangements
George Perilli – Drums on all tracks except 4 and 10
Roger Humphreys – Drums 4
George Elliott – Bass Guitar on all tracks
Willie Ross – Guitar 1 2,3 4.5,8
Steve Schuffert – Guitar 6,7 8 9
Ace Acker – Acoustic Guitar 3
Fred Delu – Electric Piano 4
Background Vocal Arrangements by
Stevee Wellons and Ace Acker
Background Singers:
Stevee Wellons – All tracks but 10
Joy Brown – 1,3,4,5,7,8,
Bernice Wilkerson – 1,3,4,5,7,8
Pete Hewlett – 6,9
Ace – 2,6,9
Raloh Guzzi – Horn Arrangements
Ralph Guzzi, Eric Defade, Kevin McManus – Horn Section
Kennv Blake – Saxophone 4
Engineered by David Granati
Recorded at Maplewood Studio, Ambridge, PA
Mixed and Mastered by Brian Foraker
Produced by Ace Acker
Album Art by Clint English
Pre-orders for the long-awaited 2nd album Signs & Wonders pre-order options.
Digital Pre-order Special – $ 10
CD Pre-order Special No. 1 – Signs & Wonders for $12
CD Pre-order Special No. 2 – Signs & Wonders plus Delta Tales for $20
Pre-order only offer… purchase the new album Signs and Wonder and get the first single “No. 6 Magnolia Avenue” now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app, and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released.
Digital album releases September 30, 2022
CD ship out on or around September 15, 2022
Pre-Order
https://sunkingrising.bandcamp.com/album/signs-wonders-2
There is greatness within, and anyone who enjoys Americana-style rock cannot afford
to miss out on what is a true classic of the genre…Music rarely gets better than this.
—Kev Rowland, ReZonatZ
Sun King Rising Online
Website: https://www.sunkingrising.com
Bandcamp: https://sunkingrising.bandcamp.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SunKingRising
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sunkingrising/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIjlf9aROZ-0EHHqvk9hzng
PSR Profile: https://peacocksunriserecords.com/project/sun-king-rising/
PeacockSunrise Records Online
Website: https://peacocksunriserecords.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PeacockSunriseRecords
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peacocksunriserecords/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PeacockSunriseR
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMg1m0HR52cPLzbnYXz6r_A/featured
Sun King Rising to Release Second Album Signs & Wonders on PeacockSunrise Records Oct. 1, 2022
PeacockSunrise Records is thrilled to announce Sun King Rising’s second album, Signs & Wonders is to be released on October 1, 2022, the album will be available on all popular formats: CD, Vinyl, Digital, and Streaming.
Sun King Rising is the professional moniker of singer/songwriter/piano player John Blangero who hails from Port Isabel, Texas.
He calls his music “the new wave of southern rock and soul music.”
PeacockSunrise Records is the Americana/Rock label spinoff of Nick Katona’s successful Progressive Rock label, Melodic Revolution. Like Sun King Rising’s highly acclaimed debut album, Delta Tales, Pittsburgh’s Ace Acker served as producer.
Save for Queen’s Brian May, Blangero is perhaps incomparable in all the world. Like May—Queen’s guitarist—Blangero is not only a brilliant, entirely original musical artist but also a world-renowned scientist (May is an astrophysicist) specializing in genetics research.
Blangero’s music draws from his own southern family roots, the literary genius of William Faulkner, the bluesy compositional brilliance of George Gershwin, the blue-eyed soul of Elton John, and the funky rhythms and horns of the 60s-70s Muscle Shoals. Soaring electric guitars add spice to this gumbo. It is a unique fusion of innate design with heartfelt musical expression— “the Genetics of Soul.”
“With this album, Sun King Rising has made a quantum leap,” says Katona. “Musically and lyrically, Signs & Wonders rocks hard while engaging the imagination. It is thematically coherent, complex, and sophisticated.”
Blangero attributes this to the vastly improved circumstances under which Acker was able to produce it. “We started recording the first album in January 2020. Two months later, the COVID-19 pandemic locked the whole world down,” he says.
Coping with resulting restrictions on travel and meetings forced Blangero and Acker to complete the production remotely, with thirty-two different players and singers recording in multiple studios across the country. Says Blangero, “It was a logistical challenge, to say the least.”
With Signs & Wonders, the production team had no such hurdles. Recording again at Pittsburgh’s Maplewood Studio with engineer David Granati at the helm, Acker put together a full 5-piece band, a horn section, and a background chorus with the city’s most acclaimed talents. “Most of the cuts on the album we recorded live at Maplewood, with the same band,” Acker explained, “resulting in a far more consistent sound. The logistics were a breeze.”
Signs & Wonder is a collection of Blangero’s southern noir stories set to music, with a cast of colorful characters, intrigue, tales of sin and redemption, murder without justice, and love without limits. Had William Faulkner and Tennessee Williams been lyricists, they might have written deeply nuanced musical stories like Sun King Risings.
The album’s first single, “No. 6 Magnolia Avenue,” is classic 60s/70s horn band pop in the vein of Chicago, Spiral Staircase, and Blood,
Concurrent with the single’s release, PeacockSunrise will debut its cinematic music video directed by Dante Ludovici, the man behind the cameras for the official “Free Will in China Blue” video from the first album.
Sun King Rising Online
Website: https://www.sunkingrising.com
Bandcamp: https://sunkingrising.bandcamp.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SunKingRising
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sunkingrising/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIjlf9aROZ-0EHHqvk9hzng
PSR Profile: https://peacocksunriserecords.com/project/sun-king-rising/
PeacockSunrise Records Online
Website: https://peacocksunriserecords.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PeacockSunriseRecords
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peacocksunriserecords/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PeacockSunriseR
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMg1m0HR52cPLzbnYXz6r_A/featured
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