All the news that’s fit to print about violinist/vocalist/guitarist Joe Deninzon
Hey, everyone!
Happy Labor Day! Hope you all had a great summer.
As the summer winds down, I’m looking back on the past 3 months and wondering… how the hell did I do that!?
Shuffling between Kansas shows in places ranging fro North Carolina to Oregon to the Ozarks to Texas and Ohio and Nebraska and North Dakota, and leaving the kids with family in Asheville and Cleveland and Colorado, commuting to my family vacation in St. Martin between Kansas shows. Every other day was a travel day. I’m lucky I still remember where I am when I wake up in the morning!
Anyway, I’m grateful for every moment. Trying to sleep, exercise, and take my vitamins, you dig?
Kansas had a great string of shows with 38 Special, The Outlaws, Night Ranger, Starship with Mickey Thomas, and Jefferson Starship (That’s right, there are two touring Starships! More on that later..) Here we are with David Frehberg, Cathy Richardson, and other members of Jefferson Starship!
Daryl’s House is owned by Daryl Hall from Hall & Oats and is a super cool venue. We are excited to be making our debut there!
Stratospheerius is: Joe Deninzon-electric violin/lead vocals
Jason Gianni-drums
Michelangelo Quirinale-bass
Bill Hubauer-keyboards on select shows
Dan Asher/Jeff Kotch-bass
Almost a year ago, Stratospheerius released our album, “Impostor!” On 7D Media. This was our most acclaimed album to date, peaking at #4 on the Relix National charts, making numerous critic’s “Best of 2024” list, and receiving much love from fans worldwide. This year, it is eligible for Grammy consideration, and we have submitted it in the following categories:
Best Instrumental Composition: Voodoo Vortex (Part I)
Best Rock Album: “Impostor!”
Best Rock Performance/Best Rock Song: “Outrage Olympics.”
You can listen/watch the music here on our FYC PAGE
Joe Deninzon Violin Tour
I thought it would be fun to showcase and talk about my collection of acoustic and electric violins, violas, chin cellos, and other bowed stringy things, as well as some of the studio work I have done. Check it out!
Here’s a recent interview I did with Jim Masters on his show. We talked about my journey fro a shy immigrant kid who didn’t speak any English, to falling in love with rock violin, my adventures in freelancing and hustling for years in NY, teaching, Stratospheerius, and joining Kansas, among other things. Check it out!
Kansas Keeps Rolling
As I write this, Kansas is about to embark on a 2-week West Coast run, followed by shows in Minnesota, Kansas, Pennsylvania, Missouri, South Carolina, Canada, andmy favorite neighborhood venue, The Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood, NJ on Nov 2nd with members of the New Jersey Symphony!
For this who don’t know, I have a PATREON page. For the base price of $5 per month, I’ll share behind the scenes crazy stories in my “Gig Diaries.” For $10 you get a free unreleased track every month. Higher tiers include lessons, personalized, zoom concerts, free tickets, and free swag. I haven’t heavily promoted this page, but it does exist, and all this helps fund future JD/Stratospheerius albums, tours, and other such endeavors.
I’m long overdue for this newsletter, but I’ve been running around like a chicken with its head cut off and have let things pile up on my to-do list. (Sorry about that)
Anyway, hope you’re all staying cool and finding some time to travel, chill out, and catch some live music.
Speaking of live music… Kansas is in the middle of an epic tour with our friends 38 Special and the Outlaws. As a young kid in the 80’s for whom MTV was the gateway drug that led me down the “evil” path of rock n roll and away from my parents’ classical music aspirations, 38 was one of the bands I’d listen to on a regular basis. It’s great to get to know these guys and watch them kick ass every night before Kansas goes on.
We’ve been playing mostly outdoor amphitheaters, and have had to deal with rain.. a LOT of rain! In fact, the first ten shows in a row were monsoon gigs! It’s like a cloud was following us everywhere we went! But fortunately, outside of the recent Richmond, VA, show where everyone risked getting struck by lightning, we’ve had no cancellations, just a few delays. The show must, go on, as they say!
Here are all the dates for the tour with Outlaws and 38. We also will have other artists joining us, like Dave Mason, Jefferson Starship, Eli Young Band and Blue Oyster Cult. Please visit kansasband.com for ticket links to all the shows for tour and beyond.
Stratospheerius stuff
The “Impostor!” Album keeps making waves all over the world! We are so grateful to our label, 7D Media, for helping this album grow, as well as our European distributors Burning Shed and Just for Kicks, and The Bandwagon USA!
Our music has been streamed and purchased across 5 continents and in countries including the US, Canada, Brazil, India, Australia, South Africa, Mexico, Japan, Viet Nam, and all over Europe!
“Outrage Olympics” has gotten over 60k Spotify streams and the video has been featured in 5 international Film Festivals. We are so grateful to all the fans, old and new, who have embraced this album and hope that we can follow it up with something beautiful and continue building the buzz!
Here are some more recent reviews of “Impostor!”
“. Chasing The Dragon is diverse, dynamic, bombastic and 100% harmonious; indeed, a classic prog rock epic for sure, and a powerful end to a magnificent album.
Impostor! is a MUST have album for fans of Kansas, Spock’s Beard, and The Neal Morse Band, so check it out indeed!”
If you haven’t already, check out THIS LINK which will take you to all the places where you can stream, purchase, or download the album.
And here again is the video for our “smash” single, “Outrage Olympics.”
Kansas’ relentless touring schedule has limited Stratospheerius from booking live shows, but all that is about to change. Stay tuned for soon-to-be-announced dates!
In the Press
Joe Deninzon NicknLex reaction video and interview
Reaction videos have become all the rage in recent years, and Stratospheerius is honored to get our first one from the awesome NickNLex! These guys are passionate and knowledgeable about music and are just the nicest people you can talk to. Check out their reaction video to the song “Impostor!” And the interview I did with them for their show. And please subscribe to their channel!
Joe “Mojo Sauce” on MTV’s “Say What Karaoke!”
Back in the year 2000, I was a hungry 25-year-old newcomer to NYC, taking any gig or opportunity that came my way. My wife Yulia was finishing her Master’s degree at Juilliard. In 1999, MTV held their VMA’s at the Met Opera and put up ads at Juilliard looking for seat fillers and people to appear in the crowd. Yulia signed up but didn’t take part….but they had our contact info in their database. A few months later, I got a call from MTV saying they were holding auditions for the show “Say What Karaoke” and asking if I’d like to try out. I thought, what have I got to lose? It could be an interesting experience!
The auditions were held at Fordham University. I picked the song “Get a Job” by the band OutKast and sang my heart out! A few weeks later, I got the call inviting me on the show. They filmed the whole season in one day at MTV studios in Times Square.
The judges were Mandy Moore, the late great Ananda Lewis, and Luke Esterkyn, the lead singer of Stroke 9.
I actually had hair back then, and a pair of purple magenta glitter Doc Martens, and could show my bare chest without shame (before the beer belly, haha!) And I knew how to ham it up for the crowd. I still do. Anyway, that’s all I’m gonna say. I found the videotape and had it transferred to digital, and here it is in all its glory. Enjoy!
Nad Sylvan is a Swedish singer best known for his work with Genesis guitarist, Steve Hackett. Nad does an amazing job recreating Peter Gabriel’s vocals on the classic Genesis material, but he is also a great songwriter and multi-instrumentalist and has released a string of great records. The latest, “Monumental,” on the Inside Out/Sony label, features me on the second, single, “I’m Stepping Out.” The album also features an all-star cast of musicians, including bassists Nick Beggs, Jonas Reingold & Tony Levin, drummers Marco Minnemann, Felix Lehrmann & Mirko De Maio, as well as a few guest guitarists with Randy McStine, David Kollar & Neil Whitford. Such an honor to be among these legendary musicians on a beautiful record that is very well-written and well produced. I think you’ll dig this one. Order the album HERE and watch the video below.
Some people do Sodoku puzzles to chill out. I write rock and pop string arrangements. In fact, I’ve written over 300 of them, and have over 200 currently available for sale! Check out my catalogue HERE! I call it “Joey D’s Rock & Pop String Arrangement Emporium!”
Well, that’s it for now. Have a great summer and I hope to see you all down the road.
Hope this newsletter finds you in good spirits. Despite the world being on fire (literally and figuratively), we can still find solace in good music, art, friends, and all the beautiful things life has to offer.
Sorry to start on such a dark note.
First off, on behalf of Stratospheerius and myself, our hearts go out to all the people who lost their homes in the tragic LA fires that took place in January. One such person is our good friend, Rich Mouser. Rich was the engineer who mixed and mastered our “Impostor!” Album. He is a brilliant engineer whose resume includes artists like Tears for Fears, Wheezer, Dream Theater, and Spock’s Beard. Rich lived in Altadena and lost his home and his legendary recording studio, “The Mouse House,” where some of our favorite albums of the past three decades were created. His daughter started a Gofundme to help Rich recover some of his lost equipment so he can continue making beautiful records and rebuild his life. Please consider making a donation.
You can also donate to the artistic community through https://musicares.org, an organization run through the Recording Academy to help musicians. They are currently focused on artists based in the LA area affected by the fires.
New Stratospheerus Video “Voodoo Vortex Part I”
Our latest video is from our song, “Voodoo Vortex Part I” from our “Impostor!” Album. This is an instrumental song with a seventies vibe, inspired by some of my electric violin heroes, like Jean-Luc Ponty, Jerry Goodman, and Eddie Jobson. The seventies washeavily populated by innovative electric string players who paved the way for guys like me. The video includes AI footage generated by Robert Minsk, combined with still shots of Stratospheerus taken by Jody Gianni and performance footage from our album release back in December filmed by David P Levin. Enjoy!
“Outrage Olympics” video featured in two film festivals!
This is the first time one of Stratospheerius’s videos has been recognized by the film industry!
Our video for “Outrage Olympics,” which came out a few months ago, will be featured in two international film festivals; “Independent Shorts Awards” in LA and the “North Film Festival” in NYC. The video will be shown on the big screen for the North Festival, followed by a Q&A with myself and director David P. Levin, this coming Thursday Feb 27th at 2 P.M. at the Producers Club Theater:
358 West 44th Street, New York, New York 10036 United States
Joe Deninzon strings featured in Super Bowl DoorDash commercial
I was psyched to have my string work featured on a recent DoorDash commercial, which aired during the Super Bowl. I recorded all the violins, violas, and chin cello, in collaboration with my longtime colleague Aaron Paul Low. The commercial features one of my favorite comedians, Nate Bargatze.Check it out!
Prayers for Kansas’s Ronnie Platt
My good friend and Kansas bandmate, singer Ronnie Platt, has been diagnosed with Thyroid cancer, forcing us to cancel tour dates through the end of March. We hope too be back in April and are taking time off while Ronnie recovers from his surgery and as we look for a possible sub until Ronnie is able to tour and sing again. Sending him our prayers and healing vibes.
Four months after its release, our new album, “Impostor!” continues to make waves around the world! With rave reviews, multiple critics’ “best of 2024” lists,” air-lay on 120 stations nationwide, and 3 months (and counting) on the Relix Jamband Charts!
We are blown away by the overwhelmingly positive response and are grateful for the love people have shown for this music. It makes all our efforts worthwhile.
Here are some recent international reviews, which you can punch into google translate:
Attention, European fans! Stratospheerius is happy to announce that we recently signed a deal with Burning Shed distribution in the UK and Just for Kicks Music in Germany for our CD, “Impostor!” You can now order the physical CD directly from those sites and avoid expensive shipping costs associated with the US.
What an incredible year 2024 has been! Despite a few ups and downs, including a very close-call car accident, I’m grateful to be safe and alive and doing what I love to do!
This year was a milestone. New chapters, new releases, and… I turned 50!!
They say that age is just a number and I’m ready to keep going full blast; touring, recording, teaching, and spending time with family and friends.
Here are some highlights of 2024.
New year, new Viper!
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In January, after 2 years of waiting, I finally picked up my new Mark Wood 7-String “Viper” electric violin. I had this one specially painted with the smoke from the opening credits of my favorite show, “Breaking Bad,” and dubbed the instrument “Heisenberg.” Alongside my old red 7-string Viper, it is now my main axe on all Kansas, Stratospheerius, and other gigs. Thanks to all the people at Wood Violins for the incredible craftsmanship.
I love my new baby!
New year, new Label!
In April, Stratospheerius signed with 7D Media, the label owned by Trey Gunn from King Crimson and AJ Chippero. On October 11th, we released out 6th album, “Impostor!” Which has garnered wide critical acclaim and made numerous “Best of 2024” lists! You can read some reviews HERE and download/order/stream the new album HERE!
Stratospheerius “Outrage Olympics” new video & Single
In April, we filmed for two days at Alpha Wave Studios in Whippany, NJ and the Art Factory in Paterson, NJ ro make the video for our first single, “Outrage Olympics,” directed by David Levin. If you hasvent’ checked it out already, here it is! And while you’re at it, SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL!
With my crazy touring schedule with Kansas, Stratospheerius only got to play 4 shows this year, but they were all special shows.
Feb 9th at the Iridium in NYC with our friends Ad Astra.
June 27th at Kennet Flash in Kennett, PA with Tim Motzer
June 28th at Starlight in Southbridge, MA with Peruvian guitarist Beledo, culminating in our December 15h Album Release Party/my 50th Birthday Bash at the “Progstock Presents” Williams Center in Rutherford, NJ with our friends Simon Godfrey, Randy McStine (Porcupine Tree), The Tea Club (feat. Kansas bassist Dan McGowan, and Stratospheerius.
We played the epic closing track, “Chasing the Dragon” live for the first time, and the best gift, for me, was my daughter Arianna sitting in as a guest vocalist. Here are some photos from that night taken by Jody Gianni.
In 2024, I completed my 115th show with Kansas, and the third and final leg of the massive 50th Anniversary Tour! This was the experience of a lifetime! Highlights this year were performing in Topeka, the band’s hometown, alongside founding members Kerry Livgren and Dave Hope, playing “Dust in the Wind” on Robby Steingardt’s white Barcus Berry violin on the final show of the tour at the Benedum Center in Pittsburgh, performing in front of 15,000 people singing along at theFestival d’été de Québec in July.
There are many more tour dates for Kansas in 2025. You can see them all at www.kansasband.com
Education Station
In July, I had the privilege of returning for my 14th year to teach and perform at the Mark Wood Rock Orchestra Camp Music Festival! I played my entire 30-minute Electric Violin Concerto, the performance of which will be posted next month. Also had the chance to work with Mark‘s Electrify Your Symphonyprogram at the Westbury, LI high school in November. Looking forward to more MWROC and EYS in 2025!
“When a band jumps several levels from one record to the next as Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius have done, I am reminded of all the unsung artists toiling away, pouring their hearts and souls into the music, chasing the dragon as it were. In this case, I think Impostor! is an example of watching the band grab that fire-breathing reptile by the tail. Well done, gentlemen!”
Ladies & Gentlemen,
It’s finally here!
The lead off-single from our forthcoming album is out on all streaming services and also available from the 7d Media Bandcamp!
HERE is the landing page with ALL the links to the song!
…and HERE is the video!
Two days of filming. Over a hundred hrs of editing! The official video for Stratospheerius new song, “Outrage Olympics,” is now LIVE!
Thank you to everyone who took part in making this video, and particularly to our good friend/video editing sensei David P. Levin!
Between writing and recording this song and finishing the video, it took a year! Really proud of this one and happy to share it with the universe. Can’t wait for you all to hear the full album from 7d Media out on October 11th!
New Album, “Impostor!” out on October 11th!
We’re happy to announce that the pre-order link to the new Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius album “Impostor!” is NOW available from 7d Media. The album will be released worldwide on October 11th on all platforms.
Anne Leighton is my longtime manager, publicist, and close friend who has stood by me through thick and thin. Here’s a recent interview I did for her podcast.
Joe Deninzon interview with Jeff Gaudiosi
I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Jeff Gaudiosi for his show, “Misplaced Straws.” Check it out!
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