C LANZBOM OF SOULFARM LEADS 'MEDITATIONS' ON 3RD SOLO CD

MEDITATIONS, due for release Feb. 6 on Desert Rock Records, taps deeper into the spiritual side that rises from SOULFARM's Middle Eastern grooves and transports the listener to places rarely visited through the band's exotic country rock. Drawing primarily from Americana-style acoustic folk to Renaissance to new age jazz, MEDITATIONS embarks on a timeless cultural journey through his delicately intricate guitar excursions.

“This gives me an opportunity to work on my classical, acoustic and more improvisational and world beat leanings," says Lanzbom. “It allows me to broaden the magically warm experience I've always gotten from playing guitar."

Without sacrificing his own personal style, Lanzbom has crafted an album that demands repeated listens. His playfully joyous, highly skilled approach creates a rich, fluid tapestry of sound that recalls the boundary-stretching fretwork of Pat Metheny, the subdued flamenco of Ottmar Liebert and the new age acoustics of Michael Hedges.

Lanzbom also gets the chance to work with another group of musicians just as incredible as his bandmades in SOULFARM. He's joined on MEDITIATIONS by Darren Solomon (Ray Charles, Barry Manilow) on acoustic and electric bass, Park Stickney on stringed harp, periodic SOULFARM special guest Miri Ben-Ari on violin and Darius Kaufman (Sinead O'Connor) on flute. SOULFARM drummer Mark Ambrosino even drops by to add an occasional flourish on the snare. Steven Miller (Medeski, Martin & Wood) engineered MEDITATIONS, and Lanzbom produced.

Lanzbom utilized a basic guitar-harp-acoustic bass trio to record half of the tracks, and expanded he unit with violin and flute on the rest of the album. Throughout, Lanzbom switches between five different guitar types to achieve his evocative tonality and singular harmonics. On “Ode Yishoma," he was even able to replicate an entire string section with his Hammertone guitar technique.

Lanzbom's two previous solo CDs, From This Day On (1998) and Beyond This World (1996) have so far combined to sell 30,000 units. Based on those sales, MEDITATIONS is shipping an initial 7.500 copies.

“People call me from all over the world to say how much they love the music and can't stop playing it over and over," says Lanzbom. “I can't think of a better reason to keep doing this."

MEDITATIONS is being nationally distributed through Sameach Music. It is available online at www.soulfarm.net or by calling Desert Rock Records at (888) 526-0206.

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