7th Order

History

7th Order's pre-history began in Hawaii, on the Honolulu rock & roll club scene. Jones and Thorpe had met in a Honolulu elementary school in the 1960's, where they developed an interest in the rock & roll music of the era - and after spending some time in the late 70's on the local club circuit, they separately undertook music careers that eventually took them to various parts of North America (and in Thorpe's case, resulted in significant worldwide success with his band, Vicious Rumors). 7th Order later evolved from studio sessions Jones had organized in California/Washington beginning in the 1990s. In various radio interviews, Jones has identified the band's musical influences to be the blues/rock and roll innovators of the 1950s and 1960s. In one particular interview on the Netherlands' Radio Heemskerk, in August 2003, Jones discussed spending several years playing in various bands around the US, prior to 7th Order's formation, and having crossed paths with established members of the rock and roll scene like Jesse Ed Davis, Mick Taylor, B.B. King, Peter Green, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Roger McGuinn, Eric Clapton and others. With Jones acting as band leader, songwriter, and producer - Thorpe and Pugh flew in from California to help out with the very first 7th Order demo recording sessions in Seattle, WA. in December 2001 (and were possibly considered band members during the early stages of the band's development).

While 7th Order had received worldwide recognition via radio and TV exposure since their 2003 radio debut, their progress may have been impacted by several non-band related matters. Jones once commented in a radio interview: "My 23 year old son passed away in November of 2004...and that is something you don't just bounce back from in a few weeks. I then returned to Hawaii, and the band was just going to have to wait until I could deal with a few things". Consequently, 7th Order appears to have then decided to delay release of their debut CD, The Lake of Memory (the title song reportedly having been inspired by the writings of Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner), but they also had to withstand yet another tragic setback when their management consultant and longtime friend, Steven B. Williams, was murdered on a boat off of Santa Catalina Island, California in May 2006 (Williams had previously been a successful rock radio DJ on stations such as Denver's KBPI and Honolulu's KIKI (AM)) - the CD release eventually took place in October 2007. The one constant, as far as personnel was concerned, was Jones (who wrote and sang all of the band's material) - with guests Pugh and Thorpe on guitars & bass, Tim Kelliher on drums, and various session players.

Upon having changed their home base to the Hawaiian Islands, the band has shown some interest in supporting benefits and community causes. A broadcast in May 2009 originating from KKCR radio on the Hawaiian island of Kauai featured several station ID promos (done by band founder Jones, who was introduced as "...of 7th Order"), recorded for one of the station's yearly "fund drives". Members also autographed and donated copies of The Lake of Memory CD for attendees of a benefit motorcycle run for Aseltine School, a school that "helps meet the educational needs of emotionally disturbed and learning disabled students from throughout San Diego County" in San Diego, California - held on July 22, 2011. Additionally, after the death of guitarist Ronnie Montrose in 2012, the 7th Order home page encouraged fans to support the "Sweet Relief Musicians Fund" - a California Bay Area based organization who "provides financial assistance to all types of career musicians who are struggling to make ends meet while facing illness, disability, or age-related problems".

The title track from the second 7th Order "extended play" CD single release, 2011's Road to Yerevan (a band original written by Jones/Pugh), was played and discussed extensively on radio shows on RTRFM in Perth, Australia:, CKWR in Ontario, Canada, FM 93.8 in Johannesburg, South Africa and WNTI-FM in Hackettstown, NJ (US).

Current activities

The ASCAP database may show evidence of what the future may hold for the band, as it lists several Jones compositions that are not on any 7th Order CD's. It therefore seems possible that these previously unknown songs may be destined for a future 7th Order release (as mentioned on DJ Stan Hilborn's show on CKWR Radio in March 2012).

In May 2015, the 7th Order web site announced a new compilation/career retrospective "mixed media" CD (audio and video) release titled The Initiate's Journey, 2003-13, which has been available worldwide since June 2015. The new CD subsequently received regular airplay on numerous radio stations around the world, including Radio Italia (Milan, Italy), WLOY Loyola College Radio (Baltimore, Maryland), KKUP Radio (Cupertino, California) and Radio Marabu (Berlin, Germany).

On 12/17/16, the "Adventures in Plasticland" radio show on 98.5 CKWR-FM in Ontario, Canada featured a 7th Order 15th anniversary special, that included an interview as well as an airing of the band's first ever demo recording session in Seattle, December of 2001. The press release on 7th Order's Facebook page stated that this would be a one time only opportunity for followers of the band to hear these sessions.

Discography

The Lake of Memory (EP)

1. "The Lake of Memory" - 7:38
2. "Lazarus" - 4:48
3. "Force of Nature Comes Down" - 3:40

Road to Yerevan (EP)

1. "Road to Yerevan" (Jones/Pugh) - 8:08
2. "Powderkeg" (Jones) - 3:15
3. "Live Acoustic Medley" - 2:58

The Initiate's Journey, 2003-13 (career retrospective, enhanced "mixed media" CD)

1. Force Of Nature Comes Down (Jones) 3:43
2. Lazarus (Jones) 4:52
3. Hats Off (Pugh/7th Order) (Studio Outtake) 4:34
4. The Lake of Memory (Jones) (Alternate Mix) 7:39
5. Throwing Fate The Slip (Jones) (Studio Outtake) 2:39
6. Powderkeg (Jones) 3:12
7. Road to Yerevan (Pugh/Jones) 8:08
8. 100 Year Rain (Jones) (live) 2:30