Echolyn and American progressive rock

Abstract

Beginning in the late 1960s and continuing through most of the 1970s, British progressive-rock groups developed a style of music that privileged long, complicated pieces, employing a wide variety of musical techniques and features drawn from classical music. While the leading progressive rock groups were British, progressive-rock groups also formed in the United States. This study provides an overview of American progressive-rock bands since 1966, examining how these musicians attempted to blend elements of European art music with rock music. Musical excerpts from Starcastle, Kansas, Happy the Man, However, and U-Totem and others are considered. Recent music from the Philadelphia-band progressive-rock quintet echolyn is placed in the context of 1970s and 80s American progressive rock; analysis of portions of A Suite for the Everyman (1992) and Letters (1995), informed in part by scores and sketches provided the author by the group, detail how echolyn employs artmusic compositional techniques in a rock setting in a way that blends “symphonic-prog” and “avant-prog” approaches.

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