Tag: Winston Elliott

Steven Wilson at TIC

On By bradbirzerIn progressive rock6 Comments

Yesterday, I had the grand privilege of introducing the The American Conservative audience to the joys and delights of Big Big Train.  This morning, I’ve had an equal blessing in introducing Steven Wilson to The Imaginative Conservative audience.  It’s prog week in the Birzer house!  Then again, when isn’t it prog week in the Birzer house?

For this one, I focused on Wilson’s previous album, HAND.CANNOT.ERASE and explored the Christian humanist elements within it.

A huge thanks not only to Winston Elliott and Steve Klugewicz, masterful editors of The Imaginative Conservative, but to Stephen Humphries as well.  As some of you might very well know, there is no one in the world outside of Wilson himself who knows more about Wilson than Humphries does.

To read, please click here.

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World Party Live, 2012

On By bradbirzerIn progressive rockLeave a comment

My great friend, Winston Elliott, sent me a link to this tonight.  I had no idea it existed.  Great to see Karl still performing beautifully.  Looks better than ever.

What Matt Cohen and Eva Brann Have in Common

On By bradbirzerIn progressive rock musicLeave a comment
Image borrowed from The Imaginative Conservative.
Image borrowed from The Imaginative Conservative.

For regular progarchy citizens, please forgive this unusual post.  As some of you might know, the founding editors of progarchy are also each deeply immersed in the world of the Liberal Arts, the greats of Western Civilization, and liberal education.  It’s what we do when we’re not progging out.  Promoting liberal education by day, prog by night.

Every once in while the world of antiquity and the world of progressive music meet and harmonize.  Here is one such example.  Two weeks ago, I had the incredible privilege of seeing Dr. Eva Brann, tutor at St. John’s College, Annapolis, and widely regarded as the foremost proponent of liberal education in the world.  No exaggeration.

Here’s her talk–well worth reading.  http://www.theimaginativeconservative.org/2014/06/odysseus-patron-hero-liberal-arts.html

But, of course, how could I think of Odysseus and not think of my favorite The Reasoning song, a song I’ve listened to at least weekly since it came out?  “A Musing Dream.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qeCFbLzWzE

So, a huge salute to Homer, to Eva Brann, and to the Cohens for advancing so much beauty, truth, and goodness.