November, 2007

THE FRIEND OF AFRICA - STEVE KERCHER & THE AFRICAN CHILDREN'S CHOIR CD SINGLE AND SONG DOWNLOAD NOW AVAILABLE
The Friend of Africa - Steve Kercher & the African Children's Choir is now available in CD format and will be available on iTunes in the coming weeks. To purchase the CD and related merchandise please click here.



OCTOBER 3, 2007

THE LOVE THAT LASTS FOREVER IS NAMED FINALIST IN SESSION I OF THE 2007 JOHN LENNON SONGWRITING COMPETITION
Steve Kercher's song, The Love That Lasts Forever, was named a finalist in the 2007 Session I of the John Lennon Songwriting Competition. The demo for the recording was performed by Steve on piano and Becki Wing on vocals. Steve is currently active in getting the song recorded by a leading female recording artist. To download a stream copy please go to this link.



AUGUST 27, 2007

INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED AFRICAN CHILDREN'S CHOIR TO RECORD ON THE FRIEND OF AFRICA SONG PROJECT
The internationally acclaimed African Children's Choir will be singing on The Friend of Africa. The choir was recently featured on the soundtrack to the feature film Blood Diamonds starring Leonardo DiCaprio (Titanic), Djimon Hounsou and Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind). The choir also appeared on Fox Television's Idol Gives Back program - singing with Josh Groban - and the 2007 season finale of American Idol. The recording session will take place September 3 at Surreal Studio in Anchorage, Alaska.



JULY 2007

LEGENDARY SESSION PLAYERS JOIN THE FRIEND OF AFRICA SONG PROJECT
The Friend of Africa, a World Music influenced Pop-Rock song co-written by award winning Biographer, Kevin Belmonte and performing Songwriter Steve Kercher, will feature the participation of legendary bassist Abe Laboriel and popular session drummer John Robinson. The recording session is set for July 30 in Los Angeles. The song is scheduled for a September 2007 release through Kercher’s Cartwheel Galaxy label.

Laboriel has more than 3,000 sessions and appearances on more than 600 albums to his credit. He has collaborated with such renown artists as Ella Fitzgerald, John Denver, Michael Jackson, Joe Pass, Stevie Wonder, Joan Baez, Clint Black, Christina Aguilera, Ray Charles, Joe Cocker, Dolly Parton, Lionel Richie, Ziggy Marley, and k.d. lang.

According to John Robinson’s website, he has become the most recorded drummer in history, surpassing Hal Blaine. Some of the hit songs that Robinson has performed on include We Are The World, All Night Long by Lionel Richie, I'm So Excited and Slow Hand by the Pointer Sisters, Higher Love and Back In The Highlife by Steve Winwood, Express Yourself by Madonna, Off The Wall and Bad by Michael Jackson, Change The World by Eric Clapton, Quincy Jones' The Dude, Q's Jook Joint and From Q With Love and Ray Charles, Genius Loves Company. Robinson is currently on tour with Barbara Streisand in Europe. The Friend of Africa is lyrically based on the abolitionist struggle of nineteenth century British statesman, William Wilberforce. Kevin Belmonte is the author of the award winning biography, Hero For Humanity, the Life of William Wilberforce.

The Friend of Africa is being produced by Kercher and Marty Walsh. Walsh is the former guitarists for the legendary Rock band Supertramp. He has played on gold and platinum selling recordings for several artists including Leann Rimes, Eddie Money and Donna Summer. Walsh has worked with producer Michael Omartian and has performed and written for television and film. Walsh will perform lead guitar on The Friend of Africa.

Cartwheel Galaxy is dedicating ten percent of immediate gross revenues as well as fifty percent of net profits from the sale of the song to Africa aid relief organization to be announced.



MAY 2007

STEVE KERCHER AND MARTY WALSH BEGIN PRE-PRODUCTION WORK ON THE FRIEND OF AFRICA (WILLIAM WILBERFORCE) SONG
The World-beat/Pop-Rock song, The Friend of Africa (William Wilberforce), co-written by Steve Kercher and Kevin Belmonte, the historical consultant to the producers of the forth coming Bristol Bay film release, Amazing Grace, is lyrically based on the subject of the film, William Wilberforce. In addition to the up-coming film there is a forth-coming PBS/BBC documentary on Wilberforce celebrating the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in the U.K and U.S. driven by Wilberforce's efforts. The song is being co-produced, along with Kercher, by Marty Walsh, former guitarist for the band Supertramp and who has worked with many platinum selling artists including Leann Rimes.



JANUARY 2007

STEVE KERCHER SIGNS WITH BIGIN MUSIC OF CHINA
Steve Kercher has signed with China-based Bigin Music Group, one of the leading Asian music licensors with distribution in China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. The company has begun licensing Kercher's recordings with distributors of ringtones and MP3s as well as producers of other media in those territories.



AUGUST 2006

TOUR OF TURKEY SUCCESS
The Steve Kercher Band performed a series of concerts throughout the country of Turkey July 22 - August 3. The band toured from Istanbul to Antakia on the southern border near Syria. For photos from the tour please click here.



JUNE 2006

TOUR OF TURKEY CONFIRMED
Steve Kercher Band will be on tour throughout the country of Turkey July 22 - August 3. The band will perform a series of free concerts in cities from Istanbul to Antakia. Look for photos and live MP3s from the tour in the coming months.

PUMP AUDIO SIGNING
Steve Kercher signed a non-exclusive music licensing agreement with New York-based Pump Audio whose clients include HBO, NBC, MTV, Nike, Mercedez-Benz, and Kodak.



APRIL 2006

ANDREW DOOLITTLE ON TONY DANZA SHOW AND TONIGHT SHOW WITH BIRD YORK
Andrew Doolittle appeared on the Tony Danza Show and The Tonight Show recently playing guitar for Singer-Songwriter, Bird York. They performed the song In the Deep from the Oscar winning film Crash.



JANUARY 2006

STEVE KERCHER IN CONTRACT SIGNING PROCESS WITH MUSIC LICENSING COMPANY PUMP AUDIO
Steve Kercher is in the process of licensing part of his song catalogue with the music licensing firm Pump Audio whose clients include HBO, NBC, MTV, Nike, Mercedez-Benz, and Kodak. Keep your ears open while watching TV (but don’t watch too much, please).



DECEMBER 2005

FRIEND OF AFRICA CO-WRITER AT LONDON NARNIA PREMIERE
Kevin Belmonte, the co-writer, along with Steve Kercher, of the song, The Friend of Africa, will attend the London premiere of Narnia, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (Walden Media/Disney) on December 7. Belmonte is the historical consultant to the producers of the forth-coming Walden Media film Amazing Grace based on the life of the British abolitionist, William Wilberforce. Steve Kercher, along with Music Producer Kenny Lewis (Stryper, VH1) are in preproduction on the compilation CD, The Friend of Africa, that will be used to further promote Wilberforce's legacy.



NOVEMBER 2005

MAIDEN VOYAGE, ON STAND-BY FOR PBS SERIES
Maiden Voyage, the instrumental composition written by Steve Kercher and Hikaru Adachi, has been placed on stand-by for the PBS series, Road Trip Nation. Stand-by means that the producers of the series have chosen the recording of the composition, featuring fiddle player and Compass Recording Artist, Jake Armerding, as a possible supporting musical track for the up-coming 2006 television season.