04 January, 2012
New single now available for download! The new single from the forthcoming Red Orkestra album, Burning Little Empires, is now available for listening/downloading. Check out the “Downloads” section of this site to hear “The 7th Seal”.
11 December, 2011
New album news: The newest Red Orkestra album will be called “Burning Little Empires”. Release is slated for February. More details to follow.
12 October, 2011
One of the in-store FNAC concerts from the Red Orkestra showcase in Portugal this past summer has been released and can be viewed in its entirety here . Also, video of the Enola track “Red Stars” from the Manta Festival in Guimarães can be viewed here .
10 September, 2011
New album news: The album is recorded, mixed, mastered, and nearly ready to go. Red Orkestra will be releasing their 4th full-length studio album in January of 2012. Stay tuned for further details (including the album’s title, upcoming shows, and the release of the first single, “The7th Seal”).
3 August, 2011
Portugal Showcase 2011: The Manta Festival in Guimarães, Portugal—and secondary FNAC shows—went very well. A big thanks to everyone at the CCVF for making it all happen, to Fabulous Generation for all their hard work, and of course to the multitude of energetic fans who came out to see the shows.
28 June, 2011
Portugal Showcase 2011: Red Orkestra has been invited to play the Manta Festival inGuimarães, Portugal in July. The band will be the headliners on Friday, 22 July. Other dates are currently being booked around the festival date as well and will be announced soon (see Gigs section for details).
5 April, 2011
Red Orkestra is pleased to announce that work has commenced on a new, full-length album. The as-yet untitled record is slated for release by late 2011 or early 2012. This record—for which recording has already begun—is a departure from the last Red Orkestra album All’s Well in Heaven and Hell as it returns to the much more up-tempo and defiantly optimistic character represented by songs off the first few releases like “Wide”, “The Sweet Hereafter”, “Awake”, “Radio Towers”, “One by One”, and “Red Stars”.
An important note: This release features the return of the full Life with the Machines line-up; and yes, they still know how to rock!
9 September, 2010
The cover of Red Orkestra’s All’s Well in Heaven and Hell sparked a bit of a conversation on CBC Radio 3 this week. See the posting here (and see how many of 100 books on BBC’s book list you have read).
6 September, 2010
On Thursday, 30 September, Johnny will be playing a solo acoustic set opening for Red Orkestra guitarist Steve Parkinson and his backing band, the Stony Lonesome. The show is at UW’s Grad House. Johnny will be playing songs from the Red Orkestra albums as well as a few new tracks that he will be playing live for the first time. Steve and his band have nearly completed recording their first record, so keep a watch out for it; it’s going to be a very special recording.
7 July, 2010
Work on the new Red Orkestra record has commenced, though it will still be a while before the band is ready to head into the studio. Johnny and co. are working on writing, arrangements, and demos for the as-yet un-named record.
15 March, 2010
Red Orkestra has just booked two shows supporting Alun Piggins . The first show–Wednesday, 24 March–will happen at the Boathouse in Kitchener, Ontario. The second, will be at The Press Club in Toronto, Ontario, on Friday, 7 May. If you have never seen Alun live, he is a singular performer, who is guaranteed to entertain you as much with his in-between-songs humour as he is with his tremendous performance of his great songs.
1 March, 2010
New songs posted: Three tracks from the new All’s Well in Heaven and Hell album have been posted in the Downloads section of the website.
2 February, 2010
The new Red Orkestra album, All’s Well in Heaven and Hell, is now available for purchase internationally. In North America, CDs can be purchased via Scratch Records and Distribution , and in Europe via the Fading Ways Music Store .
7 January, 2010
The CD release shows have been booked: The first CD release show for the new Red Orkestra album “All’s Well in Heaven and Hell” will take place at The Boathouse in Kitchener (with special guests Night Crash Noir) on 20 January; the second show will happen on 13 February at The Press Club in Toronto (special guests TBA).
2 December, 2009
The new Red Orkestra album, “All’s Well in Heaven and Hell” will be released in Canada on Wednesday, 20 January. CDs will initially be available only at the CD release shows (the first of which will be happening on the 20th), with the national and international release taking place in February. Digital downloads will, of course, also be available.
9 November, 2009
Planning has commenced for a full-band tour in Europe for summer 2010 to promote All’s Well in Heaven and Hell. The record’s release is just a couple months away, and the band will begin playing promotional shows. More details to follow.
29 June, 2009
The new album has been mixed and is being mastered this week. Things are running a bit behind schedule, but it shouldn’t be long now. Due to a busy summer schedule, a fall or winter release can be expected.
24 March, 2009
The latest Red Orkestra album, All’s Well in Heaven and Hell, is nearing completion. A few more things have to be recorded, and then the record will be mixed and mastered and sent to be pressed. Check back regularly for more updates.
11 December, 2008
We are approaching the fifth anniversary of the creation of Red Orkestra. In mid-December 2003 the first demos of what would become Red Orkestra’s first album, After the Wars, were begun. The first live show for the band occurred on the 27th of that month at the El Mocambo in Toronto. With this context in mind, it seems fitting to announce that the first recording sessions for the next Red Orkestra project—a full-length acoustic album entitled All’s Well in Heaven and Hell—will begin during the holidays later this month. Steve Payne will once again be at the helm for this album, and although there will be no drums or bass on this album, there will be an assortment of other instruments never utilised by Red Orkestra before on a recording. The release date for All’s Well in Heaven and Hell is expected to be March 2009; an exact date and a CD release show will be announced as recording progresses.
It should also be noted that work has begun on the next full-band album, which will hopefully be released either by the end of 2009 or early 2010. The band will begin playing shows again in the New Year to introduce the new material, and Johnny will, of course, be playing acoustic shows as well.
20 October, 2008
After a long hiatus, Red Orkestra will be making some announcements in the very near future regarding shows, album(s), and possible tours. Keep checking back here for details in the coming weeks.
25 March, 2008
All Red Orkestra tracks are now available for download via Finetunes.net, including those appearing on the recently released Enola EP. The GO! Music Festival went well and there are some new photos from the show posted in the Images section.
24 February, 2008
Red Orkestra is proud to announce that the “Enola” EP will officially be released in Canada on Friday 7 March, 2008. The five track CD will be available in the Store section of this website (only $6 + $2 shipping!) and will also be available at our GO! showcase later that night.
21 February, 2008
On 7 March, Red Orkestra will be playing in the GO! Music Festival in Waterloo, Ontario for the second straight year (details in the Gigs section) . Also, local Kitchener-Waterloo radio station Kool fm has included Red Orkestra in their KW’s Koolest Band contest. The new single “Red Stars” will be the track representing the band when radio listeners decide which band is their favourite. Check out the site for more details, to check out the other bands, and to vote for your favourite Red Orkestra…I mean band.
19 February, 2008
Practising with the new band members has begun in earnest. Vince Wardell is sitting in on the drums and George Bettencourt on the bass. Guitars and singing are still being handled by Johnny and Stephen.
19 January, 2008
The planned CD release show set for 26 January at C’est What? has been cancelled due to circumstances beyond our control. There will be a make-up show soon so stay tuned.
Also, lots of writing and demoing for the next record(s) has been going on, as has recruitment of new band members for full band shows. There should be quite a few announcements in Red Orkestra land soon.
27 December, 2007
Today marks the fourth anniversary of the very first Red Orkestra show. Held at Toronto’s El Mocambo as part of a Fading Ways Records showcase, the Red Orkestra’s first set was performed by Johnny, Neil Leyton, Devin Stoneham, and Ian “Loaf” Woodward (who first joined the band earlier that day!). The band has changed a lot and has come a long way since then (14 players, three CD releases, one more CD on the way, countless shows, and two European tours), but that first show will always be a special night in the minds of those involved. Cheers!
11 December, 2007
The “Enola” EP–Red Orkestra’s third release–will have its official Canadian release on January 26th at C’est What? in Toronto. The night will include solo sets by Red Orkestra’s Johnny Charmer as well as his former “Charmer” and “Red Autumn Fall” bandmate Simeon Ross. “Enola” was released in Europe in October as part of the Johnny Charmer/Neil Leyton “Stay Feeling Tour”.
9 December, 2007
Another tour has come and gone for Johnny Charmer. Fifteen shows in 18 nights proved to be a very strenuous task for the Red Orkestra frontman, but all and all things went pretty well. Focus now is turning to the next Red Orkestra album; preproduction will be starting soon and a 2008 release is planned.
27 October, 2007
Johnny has made it to Europe, safely and soundly. He will leave Stockholm with Neil Leyton and his band on the 28th to get to Italy for their gig in Rome on the 30th. This will also be the first time the new Red Orkestra EP ‘Enola’ will be made available. A date in Oelde, Germany was also added to the tour for 7 November.
20 October, 2007
The Red Orkestra have just finished their third release: the “Enola” EP. The CD is a five-track collection of previously unreleased, remixed, live, and new tracks and will initially be available in Europe only. A Canadian release will occur sometime after Johnny’s European tour.
10 October, 2007
Only two more weeks until Johnny heads to Sweden to start his second European tour of 2007. The schedule is filling up but more dates will still be added in the next while so keep and eye on the Gigs section for the most up-to-date tour schedule.
1 August, 2007
Three Canadian dates announced for August: Johnny has a solo gig at the Café on King in Preston on the 4th, he will be performing another solo set in Toronto at C’est What on the 24th (with Simeon Ross), followed by a set at Kitchener’s Boathouse on the 29th to round out the month.
16 July, 2007
On the heels of a successful tour of Germany, Johnny Charmer will be returning to Europe for another tour in the autumn of 2007, again touring as support for Neil Leyton. The tour will include Belgium, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Italy. Check the Gigs section for updates on shows and dates.
19 May, 2007
After the tour, Red Orkestra will begin demo-ing new tracks for their next full-length album. For this reason, along with tracks from After the Wars, and Life with the Machines, Johnny will be playing some of the new material during his German tour. There is no release date set for the as yet un-named record, but it is expected some time early in 2008.
17 May, 2007
Red Orkestra lead singer/songwriter Johnny Charmer is set to head out to Germany for an extensive tour of the European nation. With 14 shows in 16 days, it will be a whirlwind tour that will cover much of the country. Check out the Gigs section for dates, locations, and information on the cities involved in the tour.
20 February, 2007
Rock This Town (Berlin) announced today that Red Orkestra lead singer/songwriter, Johnny Charmer, will be opening for Neil Leyton during the German leg of his European tour for the promotion of his 2006 release The Betrayal of the Self. Johnny will be heading to Germany via London at the end of May and will tour into June promoting Red Orkestra’s 2006 release, Life with the Machines.
27 January, 2007
Today marks the release of a previously-unreleased Red Orkestra track on the new compilation album ‘Fading Ways Fifty’; the album is a celebration of the fiftieth release of Fading Ways Records. The track, “These Troubles of Mine”, was written in 2004, shortly after the release of the first Red Orkestra record, ‘After the Wars’. Recorded in January 2006 for the album ‘Life with the Machines’, the song never found a place on the final track listing, despite being a personal favourite of Johnny’s.
16 June 2006
The second Red Orkestra album Life With the Machines has been completed, and will shortly be sent off to be pressed. The official release date for the record will be Thursday 20 July. Shows in Waterloo and Toronto will celebrate the release. Check out the Gigs section of the website for more details on those shows. The album will once again be released under a Creative Commons license and will be available via Scratch Records (www.scratchrecords.com), Fading Ways Records (http://www.fwmusicstore.co.uk/), and of course at all the live shows. Check out the Downloads section for a preview track.
24 January 2006
Work has begun on the follow-up to 2004’s “After the Wars”. Steve Payne is again at the helm in the studio. Recording started late in November and will likely be finished in time for a spring release on the Fading Ways Records imprint. The as yet unnamed album will be the second for the Red Orkestra and features the new line-up.
3 April 2005
After quite some time without, the Red Orkestra now has a full compliment of musicians. Guitarist George Bettencourt, who, for personal reasons, gave up the position of lead guitar at the beginning of the year, has been replaced by former ‘Candidates’ and current ‘Machines’ guitarist/vocalist Steve Parkinson; the bass and drums will be played by his fellow ‘Machines’ band-mates Neil McDonald and Rick Andrade. With the new line-up in place, work on the follow-up to 2004’s “After the Wars” will now begin, and the Red Orkestra will return to the stage after a prolonged absence. Keep an eye on this site for further developments.
10 December 2004
Well, the Red Orkestra made it to the top of the charts for the first time last week. The CD “After the Wars” was the number one record at CFXU 92.5 in Nova Scotia. A modest accomplishment, perhaps, but it is a step in the right direction nonetheless.
15 October 2004
Following a deal with the newly-formed Fading Ways Records UK, a second pressing of Red Orkestra’s “After the Wars” has been completed and will be sent off for distribution in the UK and the rest of Europe, where there has been considerable interest in the CD.
12 September 2004
George Bettencourt – who played guitar on several “After the Wars” tracks – has officially joined the Red Orkestra as the lead guitarist. This is the first such enlistment of a new member since Johnny began his search for a full-time band a month ago. With drummer Devin Stoneham releasing his solo record, guitarist Ian “Loaf” Woodward heading to the UK to tour with his band “The Pariahs”, and bassist Neil Leyton, well, being as busy as Neil Leyton always is, it became increasingly difficult to get everyone together and Johnny found that he needed a more full-time band than the one with whom he released “After the Wars”. Bringing in Bettencourt also aids the Red Orkestra project by having band members closer together, geographically speaking, than before. Keep an eye on this section, and the Blog section for updates as to the status of the band and the new projects.
25 August 2004
The Red Orkestra web site is now up and running, and the R.O. press kit is ready for our big promotional push in the fall. Many thanks to Astrid Bin, who has worked tirelessly to get both completed and looking fantastic. Keep an eye on this section for all your Red Orkestra news needs.
We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage (Canada Music Fund) and of Canada’s private radio broadcasters.