Midwest Augustana

Originally from Chicago, Lauren has had a passion for singing throughout her entire life. Growing up in a household that was rich in music, her influences were widely varied from artists such as Susan Tedeschi, Bonnie Raitt, The Pointer Sisters, Eva Cassidy, EttaJames, Joss Stone, Jason Mraz, Black Eyed Peas, Christina Aguilera, and many more. Despite these modern musical influences, Lauren was classically trained throughout most of her early life. She began classical piano lessons at the age of 8, was an active member of several choirs and began taking classical voice lessons when she began high school. She eventually took her love of singing to the Quad Cities and obtained a bachelors…

A stunning collection of some of the greatest sacred music ever written. From the great Lamentations of Byrd, Tallis and Palestrina, the listener is taken on a remarkable spiritual journey through Bach’s great St Matthew Passion, Purcell’s moving and bleak funeral music for Queen Mary, and Handel radiant Messiah. Pergolesi’s masterful setting of the Stabat Mater and Telemann’s Passions-Oratorium are also to be found here, along with Haydn’s Stabat Mater and his dark and intense masterpiece Die sieben letzen Worte, or The Seven Last Words of our Saviour from the Cross. Finally, Allegri’s hauntingly beautiful Miserere opens this collection – a work that was copied from memory after one hearing by the child Mozart. Prior to that moment the work had only been heard in the Vatican.

Sonic's Rendezvous Band - Sweet Nothing (CD 1998)
WV-IMG+CUE+LOG or MP3 CBR 320 | Complete Scanwork | 406 or 128 MB
Scorching live recording from the Second Chance, Ann Arbor, on April 4, 1978, +

Sonic's Rendezvous Band - City Slang (CD 1999)
WV-IMG+CUE+LOG or MP3 CBR 320 | Complete Scanwork | 525 or 170 MB
Live recording from various venues in 1978-79 that captures the band in full flight

In the Midwest during the 1970s, you would be hard-pressed to find a rock group with a more impressive pedigree than Sonic's Rendezvous Band, which brought together members of four key bands from the fabled Detroit/Ann Arbor rock scene of the late '60s – Fred "Sonic" Smith of the MC5, Scott Morgan of the Rationals, Gary Rasmussen of the Up, and Scott Asheton of the Stooges. Among fans of high-energy Michigan rock, Sonic's Rendezvous Band would – with the passage of time – become nearly as legendary as their forebears, but it would be years before listeners outside of the Midwest had much of a chance to hear their music; fate seemed to conspire against them while they were together, and one of the most talented and powerful acts of its day ended up releasing only a one-song single during its six-year lifespan.