STEVE SMITH

In my mid to late teens I discovered Yes, Rush, Genesis, Pink Floyd and Kansas; those bands, I think, set my musical tastes for life - especially Yes whose music, for me, still has no equal. Then the early eighties wave of prog rock came along with bands such as Marillion, Pallas, Solstice, Pendragon, Twelfth Night and IQ - so many great memories of gigs at the old Marquee in London.

These days with more prog around then ever, my fave bands from the 90's generation are The Flower Kings, Porcupine Tree, Spock's Beard, Enchant, Iona, Mostly Autumn and Echolyn to name but a few. It's frustrating that so much great music is all 'underground'; but the internet helps enormously to spread the word.

I live on the Sussex coast and work as an accountant by day, but London isn't too far away and I manage to get to quite a few gigs.
 

TOM DeVAL

I am 26, am by day an accountant (for my sins) and live in London. I have a pretty wide ranging musical taste, but at the end of the day it is rock music, in particular classic metal and prog, which I keep returning to.  I am currently making vague efforts to get my own band off the ground, but it's not easy, and I have great respect for those who actually get their act together for long enough to record an album, let alone make a career out of it!
 

STEPHEN LAMBE

Reading the other biogs on this page, it's amazing how a number of the contributors' experiences parallel my own. I grew up in the late 70s listening to, amongst others, Yes (first gig, Wembley 1978), Camel, Toto, Focus, Steve Hackett, Rush and Steely Dan, before a "poppier" spell in the 80s took me in the direction of the likes of Tears for Fears, Joe Jackson, XTC, INXS and Judie Tzuke. I now balance a love of all things Prog with an appreciation of the well-crafted, intelligent pop song. If a band can combine both (eg. Spock's Beard) then I am in raptures.

I have been to more gigs in the last few years than at any time since the early 80s, including a trip to Nearfest in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in 2001 (to be repeated in 2002). Aside from "The Beard", my current heroes are Norwegian Progsters White Willow, Karnataka, Porcupine Tree, Aimee Mann, Echolyn , Ben Folds, Boo Hewerdine and especially the fantastic Mostly Autumn.

I live in Gloucestershire, work in book publishing, run a rather neglected fansite to New Zealand singer/songwriter Jenny Morris and I also contribute to Russ Elliot's excellent Musical Discoveries site.
 

JOHN MORLEY

I am 41 years old and live in London, England. The first 'non pop' orientated band I ever got into was Supertramp, and I still consider their 'Crime of the Century' album a masterpiece - this was a defining moment for me when I made the transition from bubblegum music into something more meaningful. From here, I started to get into Yes, Genesis, Camel, Floyd and other prog bands of the day.

During the early 80's, I tended to drift away from a lot of the well known prog bands, and listen to more mainstream stuff, though I still kept up with what Yes, Genesis and Floyd were up to.

However, about 3 years ago,  I started to get back into the progressive scene again. I picked up Jerry Lucky's book on Prog, and was quite intrigued to see the wealth of new bands out there. Thus I started to invest in some of the recommended bands, such as Spocks Beard, Flower Kings etc. Since then I have expanded my CD collection with many new prog CD's ... and have never looked back.

I am particularly keen on Spocks Beard and the Flower Kings, and my tastes in general probably lean towards symphonic keyboard based music -  though I have nothing against good guitar based stuff either. Other bands I am particularly fond of are Ayreon, Glass Hammer, Grey Lady Down, Mostly Autumn, Jadis, Rocket Scientists, Le Orme, Dream Theatre, Ice Age ... although I do have a lot more in my collection.

In the last couple of years, I have also been to more gigs than I have ever
been to in my entire life. I live a short bus journey away from the London Astoria, which is sort of a home to prog bands these days. I have seen Spocks Beard 4 times, Flower Kings, Jadis, IQ, Pallas, Re Genesis, Greenslade, Dream Theatre, Camel, BJH, Yes, and many more ... and will continue to do so.
 

FRED HUNTER

Fred is the keyboard player of Californian bands Landsend. He also has a solo project entitled Transience.
 

EDDIE MERRYWEATHER

Eddie has been invaluable in his role of proof reader - reporting back to us on all of our errors! Thanks mate!
 

CHARLIE FARRELL and DOUG ANDERSON

Charlie and Doug help to keep us supplied with news of what's happening out there in prog land!!
 

DAVID LUSHER

I'm Scottish (from Edinburgh), aged 44, married with one son.  I currently live in Vienna, but have travelled to many countries and have lived in Italy, Pakistan, South Korea, and Ghana.  I love many types of music, including classical, blues and jazz, but my first love has always been rock music, particularly progressive.  I feel privileged to have been around when great bands like Led Zeppelin, Yes, Deep Purple, Wishbone Ash, ELP, Genesis and many others were making their way in the musical world.  My other love is writing poetry and I now have a website where some of my work is published at http://www.angelfire.com/ut/chiaroscuro
 

RUSS ELLIOT

I am a freelance music reviewer based in upstate New York, focusing on contemporary music featuring female vocals.  I publish reviews on the internet and in printed media.  Many of my reviews are initially published at Musical Discoveries, a website I founded whilst living in southern England during the 1990s.

I'm also involved with several significant internet projects:  I am co-editor in-chief of Northern Lights, the Renaissance website and I am also the web master for the official Miriam Stockley website.
 

JOHN STOUT

I'm Scottish and live in East Lothian with my wife, Karen, and our rather large moggie, Samson.

I guess my love affair with rock music began at the tender age of 16 when I first heard Rush's 2112 album, and even today I still rate the band highly. (I can't think of many other bands that have lasted 25 years with the same line-up, pursued their own musical vision irrespective of contemporary trends, and still retained the support of a major record label). By the time I'd made it to University prog rock was making a comeback with Marillion, Pallas, IQ and Pendragon all coming to the fore.  But somehow it all seemed to peak and then die away, and I lost touch with the prog scene.

Jump forward to 1999 and on hearing of a track by Arena shoved on at the end of a tape, I was intrigued enough to find out more about them. A change of job led to internet access, and something of a culture shock as I discovered that not only was Arena one of a brand of new prog bands, but old favourites that I'd thought dead and buried were actually thriving. Needless to say I then embarked on a crash course of catching up – learning has never been so much fun!

Fortunately Karen has been very understanding of my rekindled passion for music, and in some cases it has even rubbed off on her, with the likes of Mostly Autumn and Camel never far away from the hi-fi. My own choices tend to vary, depending on what's current, but bands which have impressed me include Dream Theater, Jadis, Porcupine Tree and The Flower Kings. Basically I'll give anything in the prog sphere a listen, and am always open to recommendations, but I also like to broaden my choice of listening from time to time to cover more traditional rock fare as well.
 

                                       BRYAN AND MARISA

Thanks also go to Bryan Drey for helping with the initial concept and set up of the New Horizons web site, and to Marisa Chrominski (formerly Hill) for her work as editor through the early years.