released October 20, 2023

Gayle Ellett & the Electromags are back with a vengeance and a vibrant, hard rockin’, road-trippin’, tail-pipe busting, monster of second album. A follow-up to their guitar-focused, Shiny Side Up, this sophomore offering is a tour de force of global Prog stars dubbed Friends.

“I wanted to capture that feeling of hanging out on your deck, playing music with your friends under the stars all night long”, says Ellett of his lockdown inspired desire to jam with pals. Only Ellett, the acclaimed Prog musician of Djam Karet, took the “Friends” concept one step further, inviting pals from all corners of the globe to make music together, virtually.

Still based on the core group of Ellett (guitar), Craig Kahn (drums) and Mark Cook (bass), Friends features twenty-two guest musicians including members of BARAKA (Japan), Minimum Vital (France), Aisles (Chile), Electric Swan (Italy), Shylock (France), Edhels (Monaco), and California Guitar Trio (USA). The result is a late-night jam session full of fire and passion.

The track “Via Valencia” features 5-time Grammy Award winner Alfonso Rodenas on guitar, bass and Rhodes piano creating a stately, flowing, cinematic piece of music. You can almost see the coastline, and feel the warm sea breeze in your face on this excellent song. On “Splitting Hairs” award winning Blues guitarist Dudley Taft (with four #1 Songs on the HIT TRACKS TOP 100 Chart) brings to us some really high powered wailing guitar solos, as Ellett holds down the fort with his massive Hammond B3 organ. “Guitar City” features Paul Richards from the California Guitar Trio, but on this track he turns in his acoustic guitar for a rare chance to fire up his electric guitar, and the results are amazing. “Maximum Connection” with it’s bouncing keyboards played by Thierry Payssan from the group Minimum Vital (France) is another real treat, and includes contributions from high school friend Bill Polits and Topanga local Aquinas Magana playing tasty guitar solos. Issei Takami and Shin Ichikawa, from the Japanese band BARAKA, are featured on the track “TransPacific Highway”. Says Ellett, “I met them when my progressive group Djam Karet was head-lining a 3 day festival held on the beach in France about 15 years ago. They are amazing players and really nice people too! That is also where I met the guys from Electric Swan (Italy) and Aisles (Chile) who deliver killer solos on the track “Sons Of Sebastien”.

When asked how Ellett rounded up so many greats for one album, the musician points to his 50 year career in recording. “Some of these folks I met back in the 1980’s while networking with bands from other countries: asking them to trade me their lists of DJs, distributors, and local music magazines. Others I met in high school and college, and some are my neighbors here in Topanga (Calif.).” He goes on to explain that his process was straight-forward, “After I composed these songs, we then recorded my rhythm guitar and Craig’s drums, and Mark recorded his bass at his studio. Then I would send those basic elements along to my friends, and they over dubbed their parts at their own studios.”

Now that the album is finished, Ellett says he’s proud to have achieved his goal, “I always wanted to get all my friends together to play. And even though we didn’t get to be in the same room, when I put on this album, it’s like we’re all playing together under the same late night sky.”

The Electromags is:
Gayle Ellett: lead & rhythm guitars, minimoog, rhodes, hammond, mellotron
Mark Cook: bass (except tracks 3 & 5)
Craig Kahn: drums

All music composed, produced, mixed & mastered by Gayle Ellett
Album cover photography by Carl Weingarten
Recorded between April 2022 & August 2023 in Topanga, CA., and Arlington, TX., and at numerous studios throughout the world.
Band Website: www.GayleEllettAndTheElectromags.com
© ℗ 2023 Gayle Ellett (BMI)
Released & distributed by PeacockSunrise Records
Catalog No. PSR-1-011
Officially Released: October 20th 2023


1 Viewer Discretion Advised (Featuring Ted Price)
Ted: Hammond organ
Gayle: electric guitar, minimoog, mellotron
Mark: bass
Craig: drums
www.soundcloud.com/TedPrice (USA)

2 The Many Moods of Morgan (Featuring Brian Chapman)
Brian: electric guitar
Gayle: rhythm guitar, minimoog, rhodes, hammond, mellotron
Mark: bass, soundscapes
Craig: drums
www.GreenhornBrothers.com (USA)

3 Via Valencia (Featuring Alfonso Rodenas)
Alfonso: electric guitar, rhodes, bass
Gayle: rhythm guitar, mellotron, hammond
Craig: drums
www.TheBlueDolphins.net (Spain)

4 It’s all San Andreas’ Fault (Featuring Marc Ceccotti & Joee Corso)
Marc: electric guitar (first & last solos) & synthesizers
Joee: electric guitar (middle solo)
Gayle: rhythm guitar, minimoog, hammond
Mark: bass
Craig: drums
MarcCeccotti.bandcamp.com (Monaco)
www.JoeeCorso.com (USA)

5 TransPacific Highway (Featuring Issei Takami & Shin Ichikawa)
Issei: electric guitar
Shin: bass
Gayle: rhythm guitar, minimoog, hammond
Craig: drums
www.BARAKArock.com (Japan)

6 Splitting Hairs (Featuring Dudley Taft)
Dudley: electric guitar
Gayle: rhythm guitar, minimoog, mellotron, hammond
Mark: bass
Craig: drums
www.DudleyTaft.com (USA)

7 Maximum Connection (Featuring Thierry Payssan & Bill Polits & Aquiles Magaña)
Thierry: synthesizers
Bill: electric guitar (first solo), EBow
Aquiles: electric guitar (last solos)
Gayle: rhythm guitar, mellotron, hammond
Mark: bass
Craig: drums
www.Minimum-Vital.fr (France)
www.soundcloud.com/user-37140854 (USA)

8 Three Parsecs from Tucson (Featuring Carl Weingarten & Walter Whitney & David Udell)
Carl: electric guitar
Walter: synthesizers, percussion & gongs
David: electric guitars
Gayle: rhythm guitar
Mark: bass
Craig: drums
www.CarlWeingarten.com (USA)

9 Maria’s Lakeside Drive (Featuring Barry Cleveland)
Barry: electric 6 & 12-string guitars, bowed and bowhammered electric guitars
Gayle: rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, minimoog, mellotron, hammond
Mark: bass
Craig: drums
www.BarryCleveland.com (USA)

10 Guitar City (Featuring Paul Richards)
Paul: electric guitars
Gayle: rhythm guitar, minimoog, mellotron, hammond
Mark: bass
Craig: drums
www.CGTrio.com (USA)

11 Sons Of Sebastien (Featuring Lucio Calegari & German Vergara & Juan Pablo)
Lucio: electric guitar (first solo)
German: electric guitar (second solo)
Juan: synthesizers (third solo)
Gayle: rhythm guitar, minimoog (intro & outro solos), hammond
Mark: bass
Craig: drums
www.ElectricSwan.it (Italy)
www.AislesProject.com (Chile)

12 Bueno Sanga (Featuring Alvarez Ortega Bianchi & Jim Crawford)
Alvarez: electric guitars (first solo)
Jim: electric & slide guitars (second solo)
Gayle: rhythm guitar, hammond
Mark: bass
Craig: drums
LosPencales.bandcamp.com (Argentina)
www.JGCrawfordMusic.com (USA)

13 1960 Ocean Front Walk (Featuring Frederic L'Epee)
Frederic: electric guitar
Gayle: rhythm guitar, rhodes, mellotron
Mark: bass
Craig: drums
www.FredericLepee.eu (Germany)

TOTAL TIME 52:06