The following is the current press release from MyMusicPR for the online release of the Lions Mane debut album 'Strands'.

Formed early in 2008 by Alan Dawson, resident engineer for online music community KilkennyMusic.com, The Lions Mane began as an online experiment for the multi-instrumentalist; as he released tracks anonymously through online social network MySpace.com. “I wanted to release music without it being important who was making it, music for music’s sake” says Alan. “The internet is the perfect way to do that.”

Drawing influences from a wide range of genres; stemming from the progressive sounds of 70’s bands like Yes and King Crimson to the roots reggae style of Steel Pulse, whilst combining the raw grunge of 90’s Seattle bands, Alice In Chains and Soundgarden, with the modern day sounds of The Mars Volta and Tool. The Lions Mane quickly garnered the respect of music fans in the online world, with it’s own style of melodic riffs interwoven with chunky guitars, layered vocals and strong rhythmic patterns.

The online demand for gigs led to several successful live performances in Kilkenny and Dublin in 2008, with Dawson on vocals and guitar, accompanied by various line-ups of musicians; each from other popular Kilkenny bands.

Following the gigs, Dawson went in to the studio once again, to record additional tracks for the album, this time accompanied by drummer James O’Brien. A permanent fixture for live performances, the young percussionist quickly became an integral part of The Lions Mane, reinforcing the experimental concept with an innovative style.

‘Strands’ was due for release late last year but did not come into fruition, due to close scrutiny in the mixing stages. “At the time it could have sounded a lot better,” says Alan, “I wanted it to sound like I had initially envisaged and there was no need to rush unnecessarily.”

“Some of the old tracks were re-recorded from scratch, adding new elements, and during this process the material grew into the 12 tracks that are now on the album. I’m happy that the overall sound is consistent and I’m pleased that I took the time to do it properly.”

After months of development; ‘Strands’ is finally available to buy online, exclusively through The Lions Mane’ official website www.iamthelionsmane.com.

With a running time just over 60 minutes; ‘Strands’ costs €10 to download and contains the four currently heard tracks on MySpace, along with seven new tracks: ‘Dead and Over’, ‘Kingdom’, ‘Smegma’ plus four new ‘DNA’ tracks, all of which can be previewed on the website. High-res artwork for the album is also included in the download.

The online release of ‘Strands’ will be followed later in the summer by national tour dates in association with MyMusicPR.

For more information and to download a copy of ‘Strands’, go to www.iamthelionsmane.com.

Hey one and all,

So it has been a while since a blog post or any cd or gig related news but the mane is still holding strong and processing new material. The CD, titled "Strands" due to be released last year did not come into fruition, due to close scrutiny in the mixing stages. Basically it could sound a lot better, and with a little bit more time, and effort, it will encompass all the qualities one would expect to find from the demos on the page. Under this new light however (and some very fine plugins from Waves), I'm confident it will turn out a lot more like I had initially envisaged. I figure it's taken this long, so there is no need to rush unnecessarily given the circumstances. Some tracks have been completely re-recorded from scratch, while others have slight tweaks but the overall sound is consistent. So anyone who reads this please don't come up and ask me about it anymore!! You will be frowned upon most sincerely.

The album when finished(early summer hopefully by the gods!!) will be released online to download with the option of cd or mp3 quality(artwork also included). Should you be considering to purchase it the option will be all yours.
The actual physical cd will be released closer to the summer to coincide with some live performances. Two additional tracks will accompany this version. Also to be released is the "Smegma" music video directed, shot and soon to be cut by oss237(when he finds time away from his never ending hectic schedule).
In addition to this a new track titled 'Dna 4' has now been added to the player, which is also available for download!!
More updates to follow....



The track layout (Just in case anyone is interested)
1 Dna 1
2 Leaf
3 Dna 2
4 Pulltiout
5 Buddha
6 Dna 3
7 Dead and Over
8 The Dragons Breath
9 Dna 4
10 Kingdom
11 Dna 5
12 Smegma

Anybody coming?? We need at least 10 people to show so that we know that there are 10 people that like the music. We are also considering changing the name to "Evan's Minge"?? Any other suggestions?.....the best one gets a T-shirt signed by Evan!

If that isn't incentive i dont know what is!