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Marvin Gaye “What’s Going On?” Concept Album Analysis – Is It Still Relevant Today?
AVAILABLE NOW!!! GREY EXPECTATIONS- VOLUME 1 - A tribute to classic rock concept albums and Pink Floyd."Grey Expectations" is a 3-Volume CONCEPT ALBUM by Tyler Durdin and Wolves & Sheep. A chronological journey from birth to midlife crisis. Travel back in time to the days when music was an emotional journey.If you haven’t listened to Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On from start to finish in a while, you should. If you’ve never listened to this...
Wolves & Sheep “Crossroads” NPR Tiny Desk Contest Submission
This is our fourth NPR Music Tiny Desk contest submission in a row, and I hope you have as much fun viewing it as we did performing. I want to thank everyone who showed up on Sunday to make this happen. You all #crushedit and I'm so proud of every one of you. Beth Kille you are an absolute pleasure to work with and I'm blessed to have you as a friend! Thank you for engineering and mixing this...
Wolves & Sheep Monthly Concept Album Reviews
Starting this month (February 2022), we will begin analyzing and reviewing one (possibly two) classic rock concept albums or hip hop concept albums a month. Initially I was planning on starting with David Bowie's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spider from Mars but considering it's Black History Month, I changed my mind and we're gonna start with Marvin Gaye's What's Going On. The band and I are looking forward to revisiting some of these classic concept albums and also listening to some that we've never heard before. If you have...
I’ll See You On The Dark Side of the Moon
Many of you are still waiting patiently for the arrival of Grey Expectations, the Wolves & Sheep hip hop concept album trilogy that we will release as three albums over the course of 12 months. Since we’re currently in the process of additional mixing, I thought this was a good time to talk about my favorite album of all time, The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd. To say Pink Floyd and The Dark Side of the Moon were a major influence on Grey Expectations is an understatement. I would...
Tyler Durdin and Wolves & Sheep Win Two Madison Area Music Awards Including New Artist of the Year
We're thrilled to announce that Tyler Durdin and Wolves & Sheep won two 2021 Madison Area Music Awards (MAMAs). The MAMAs are an annual award show in Madison, WI initiated by the Madison Area Music Association, which raises money to foster future generations of musicians funding youth music programs and putting instruments in the hands of kids who might not otherwise have them. Tyler Durdin and Wolves & Sheep won the prestigious New Artist of the Year award, and Tyler Durdin and Ovrthro took home an award for Pop/R&B Album of the Year for Gripe Club. Tyler and the band were...
Tyler Durdin & Ovrthro – The Gripe Club EP
Wolves & Sheep is happy to announce the release of Tyler Durdin's Gripe Club EP, co-produced by Canadian producer ovrthro. Ovrthro co-produced the single Bill Burr along with the Pacific beat crew. The album was written during the summer and fall of 2020 during "lockdown" and contains a variety of themes that should be familiar to all of us these days. The album is available on all streaming services. Click the links to the right and start streaming! Gripe Club EP While waiting for the Wolves & Sheep album Grey Expectations to be...
The Grey Expectations Crew – Robin Eckman
Robin Eckman ALBUM ROLES: Drums, Honey Drums, Percussion, Great Hair Social Media Links 3rd Grade Friends Facebook 3rd Grade Friends Instagram 3rd Grade Friends Twitter Hello everyone. Meet Robin Eckman. Robin no longer has a social media platform, so he gets to see nothing I write about him. 😁 He's the guy in this photo with the great hair. Oh wait, he's the only guy in this photo with hair. I met Robin through Joe Martin and their band 3rd Grade Friends. The first time I saw him play, I was...
The Rise and Resurrection of the Concept Album
It's Time to Resurrect the Concept Album For far too long now we’ve been listening to music to “check out” rather than “check in.” These days the concept album is as scarce as catching two millennials listening to Mothership Connection on 5-foot tower speakers. In the near words of Marvin Gaye, “what in the *#&@! is going on?” Let’s be honest, average intelligence is dumbed down across the board. Music is no longer a source of inspiration....
The Pandemic’s Devastating Impact on the Minds of Musicians
Hello friends! I hope you're hanging in there. It’s the week after Thanksgiving… early Tuesday afternoon… and I’m already exhausted. I know I’m not the only person who feels this way. This year has been exhausting. The current president has been exhausting. Both sides have been exhausting. I’m supposed to be cranking out consistent blog content, but it’s been tough when I still have music to finish up, and… oh yeah…...
Grey Expectations Update #2: Our Hip Hop tribute to the Classic Rock concept album is almost complete!
In the last album update, I told you all that I was driving down to Maryland to finish up Grey Expectations. Plans were made. My car was packed. I said by to the wife and kid and began pulling out of the driveway when my brother called to tell me that a coworker had tested positive for covid. I was planning to stay at his house, but that was now out of the equation, so I drove back into the garage and started calling some other folks. I spoke to Kit Whitacre and some other folks and...
Grey Expectations Update and Gripe Club EP
Some quick updates for all of our friends and fans. I can't believe it's already November. It seems like it was March like two weeks ago. This year has been a doozy. We are two days away from the election... probably two months away from knowing who won. Who knows what's gonna happen or when we'll be able to "return to normal." Let's be real... there is no going back. There will be another virus, or another catastrophe, or an alien invasion....
Update on the Wolves & Sheep hip hop and rock concept album “Grey Expectations”
I know it’s been a minute. To those of you who have been waiting patiently for the arrival of the Wolves & Sheep concept album “Grey Expectations” … we are sorry for the delay. The road has been a bit bumpy lately for many of us in the band, and I’m sure it’s been rough for many of you as well. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully there’s not a freight train attached to it. You'll notice that we have a new album cover, designed by Liv Caspersson who is the daughter of my...
The Grey Expectations Crew – Cash The PRO
Cashmere The PROfessional ALBUM ROLES: Emcee, Writer, PROfessional Cash The Pro Facebook Cash The Pro Twitter Cash The Pro Instagram "This most PROfessional of all mammals uses his extensive vocabulary, carefully crafted lyrics, and razor sharp delivery to sneak up on unsuspecting prey. Although he can be found lurking near office conference rooms, he is most comfortable in his native environments... the studio and the stage." - David Attenborough #BBC Hello everyone, meet Cash The...
The Grey Expectations Crew – Erin “Atlas” Thompson
Erin "ATLAS" Thompson ALBUM ROLES: Emcee, Writer, Piano, Keys Guerrilla Music Instagram Facebook Twitter Hello everyone. Meet Atlas. He's one of the wolves in our band and he's on the far left in the photo above. Erin is an extremely talented keyboard player, producer, writer, and emcee... and he's a great friend of Tyler's. I've known Erin for over 20 years now. I believe we first met at WRUR during the Bruce Banner show. It's possible that's incorrect, so he'll have to correct me. We clicked...
The Grey Expectations Crew – Kit Whitacre
KIT WHITACRE Co-producer, Engineer, Mixing, Vocals, Electric Guitar, Saxophone, Organs, Synth, Harmonica, Percussion (More Tambo!) Well, it's time to get the blog rolling. Not like anyone will read this... or care... but it took me a couple weeks to clean up this website. Now that I've got that out of the way, let's get things started by introducing my man Kit Whitacre, whom I'm extremely grateful to have co-producing this album with me. "Grey Expectations" is soooooo much better because of...