Performing songs she contributed to the band Citadel, Rejyna uses an acoustic guitar, a headset mic and various effects to present enhanced solo renditions of songs from Citadel albums and CD’s.  She presents songs that often stray from pop formula writing, citing lyric-writing influences such as; Yes, Jethro Tull, Rush, Cat Stevens, and even Gentle Giant.  The musical aspect of her compositions also draws heavily from rock-based genres that feature non-conventional song structures.  While Citadel focuses on the harder side of the rock-meter, Rejyna as a soloist strips it down to the acoustic core of the composition.

“Yes, I use a vocal harmonizer, but I turn off the autotune pitch correction.  I use the Vocalist to weave 2, 3 and 4 part harmonies around my own voice and the guitar rhythms that I record live into the looper, and I then layer in solo and harmony guitar riffs.  One of my most requested solo songs is an instrumental titled “Happy Hands” where I use the looper to lay down a rhythm guitar part, then add a lead, then a harmony lead, and then a bass line.  Creating solo-orchestrated musical pieces live in front of an audience is a different adrenalin beast from performing with other musicians.  The sweat and fervor in my live show is proof that trying to do it all correctly in ‘one-take’ in front of a live audience is the endorphin ‘buzz’ I am addicted to…and I hold DigiTech wholly responsible for my gear addiction” (Rejyna)

Rejyna recently released a CD of one of these live performances entitled, Solo Sojourn Live, which is available on CDBaby and their online affiliates like iTunes, Amazon, eMusic and Napster. 

Rejyna will be the opening act for Jim Volk’s Acoustic Guitar Night.

From:

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/life_and_entertainment/2012/01/08/2-this08-jan-art-grqfg7u6-1.html

“Guitarist Jim Volk will headline an evening of music with warm-up sets from recent International Thumbpicking Contest winners Josh Woods and Shohei Toyoda and singer-guitarist Rejyna.”

From: http://www.mcconnellarts.org/wp/archives/7516

“Jim Volk is a high energy solo acoustic guitar player that thrills his audiences every time he plays.  His performances include a wide mixture of blues, rock, country, guitar bangin’ “modern acoustic” – and, crowd favorite medleys Jim puts together on the fly.
http://jimvolk.com 

Out in western Kentucky there is a International Thumb Pickin’ Contest that BOTH Josh Woods and Shohei Toyoda have won – in consecutive years.  Nobody can win that prestigious award without being able to play the guitar VERY WELL:

Josh Woods – is a self taught Kentuckian guitar player, himself.  Thousands of avid guitar players attempt the extremely complicated Atkins/Travis style of playing guitar, yet only once in a millennium does one come along that was born to do so. That would be young Josh Woods. His long fingers on his large strong hands seem to know exactly where to go on the fret board.  And, the rhythm of his accompanying “thumb” is flawless – and, will have you up out of your seat dancing as he plays.

http://www.youtube.com/user/atmahack/videos

Shohei Toyoda – came to finger style guitar from a different direction – he is a graduate of Berklee College of Music, where he developed a love of finger style guitar from virtuoso guitarist, Guy VanDuser – who arranged Stars & Strips for the late great Chet Atkins.  Since graduation, Shohei has traveled the world over to learn from the Masters of Guitar. He has sat at their feet to internalize their ’soulful’ music. He brings to the world a form of fingerpicking unique and energetic.

http://shoheitoyoda.com/

Rejyna – is a composer, guitarist, vocalist, performer and studio artist who has worked in all types of bands and musical genres. A great bulk of her work can be heard on the releases of the rock band Citadel, who has been releasing their own indie music for the last three decades.”

http://rejyna.com

McConnell Arts Center of Worthington, 777 Evening St.

Tickets cost $15, or $20 the day of the show

Call 614-431-0329 or visit www.mcconnellarts.org

Citadel ® – Since 1979 – The Original Citadel

http://citadelsongs.com
http://citadelband.com
http://citadelmusic.org
http://facebook.com/citadelprog

Rejyna’s solo show puts a new spin on many Citadel songs. Using two phrase loopers and a vocal harmonizer, Rejyna weaves multi-part vocal harmonies and complimentary guitar layers into a rich, full sonic delivery. Nothing is prerecorded ~ it is all done live ‘while you watch’

Rejyna is performing Citadel songs from her recent CD “Solo Sojourn Live” available at CDBaby, iTunes, Amazon, Napster, Spotify, etc.

By searching the name “Rejyna” you can find her on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and many other online social networks.

Released by W.E./Citadel of Cynosure Productions (BMI) – contact citadel_1@msn.com for more information

Espresso Yourself Music Cafe in Powell, Ohio closed their doors for good on Sunday 09-11-11.  To many central Ohio musicians, this church-turned-concert venue was a sanctuary; a place they called home for open mics, the songwriters group, tribute nights, regional artist concerts and weekend music and art focused activities. 

Christopher Gatsby: Espresso Yourself Benefit Show

On the final day, music from Christopher Gatsby, Jim Volk and yours truly, saturated the sonically fine-tuned hall.  A medium-sized audience had gathered to hear the final strums of acoustic guitar and melodic human voice that reverberated through the opened floor-to-ceiling windows and spilled out the front door onto the street arts festival.   The sunshine and warm temperatures beat back a few moments of cloud cover and sprinkles.  The folks inside ate wonderful food, drank exquisite beverages and soaked in the music while basking in the rainbow colors of light dancing through the stained glass.

Jim Volk: Espresso Yourself Benefit Show (Photo by Dannette Hizer)

There were countless similar musical events for several weeks prior to the closing date, numerous veteran EYMC performers just had to play the Cafe one more time.  Everyone had a story to tell of how important the environment created by Eric and his family was to their lives.  Players discovering or re-discovering their love for performing, listeners discovering a haven for real, diverse and passionate music, writers honing their craft in front of a family-like group of patrons.

All circumstances considered, the closing of EYMC is tragic, yet the ideology, which gained foundation amongst the owners, artists, musicians and patrons of Espresso Yourself, will carry on.  While other pressing matters are taken care of and until a new home is found for the Ahlteen Family to present talent, the hundreds of minstrels who found their song-heart at the cafe will infiltrate the countryside and city streets.  Without prejudice; they will ignite the coffeehouses, art galleries, street fairs, taverns, halls, backyards, basements, living rooms, festivals and campgrounds with that which heals invisibly – music.

Rejyna: Espresso Yourself Benefit Show

We all finished our sets, loaded our gear into our cars and parted ways until the next chance we might have to play together.  I still had half of my large coffee with a double-shot of espresso to finish.  I wanted to hang around a bit, maybe carry out a piece of wood or furniture, symbolically taking part in the dismantling.  Mostly I just watched the others wrap things, deconstruct things, load the trailers.  I cried a couple more tears, finished the last coffee I would ever have from here and ironically as I drove away, the sun lost to the grey clouds and the rain pounded the little town of Powell as I drove away.  

I urge you to keep your eye on the http://www.espressoyourselfmusiccafe.com website to stay current on developments with Eric, Ben and Chelsea Ahlteen.  I’d also advise you to visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/espressoyourselfmusiccafe and support their upcoming endeavors.

DREAMWORLD: Live at Espresso Yourself Music Cafe

All music is copyright their respective owners and all rights are reserved. 
Rejyna’s music is c. Citadel of Cynosure Productions (BMI) -
http://rejyna.com
http://citadelband.com
http://cdbaby.com/artist/rejyna
http://cdbaby.com/artist/citadel

“Solo Sojourn live” will be available on CDBaby and affliated digital sites like, iTunes, eMusic and Amazon starting May 1.

Rejyna - Solo Sojourn Live CD Gatefold

The following is taken from the liner notes of the Solo Sojourn live CD:

Using the latest in musical instrument technology, the acoustic folk-rock performance you hear on this CD is created in front of a live audience ‘on-the-fly’ by one person. 

Rejyna plays the rhythm passages while simultaneously recording them live onto a phrase looper.  The looper then replays those parts while Rejyna sings and/or adds guitar leads and harmony guitar leads to those passages.  During this guitar layering process, Rejyna sings into a vocal harmonizer that creates realistic multi- part vocal harmonies based on and mixed alongside her original voice. 

The result is a full, natural sounding sonic presentation that comes across like more than one person is playing and singing.  No pre-recorded ‘backing tracks’ nor in-studio overdubs are used on this recording – all layering or overdubbing is done by Rejyna on stage with the looper and harmonizer.  You can check out Rejyna’s web videos to watch the process for yourself.

Citadel music featured on this solo CD include:
Stygian Barque, Voice Inside, On Life and Living, Another, In Wonder, Standing Alone and Are You Aware.  The CD also includes Rejyna’s solo songs, The Songwriter, Freedom Dream, In Wonder, Dreamworld, and the instrumental songs, If I Cry and Happy Hands.

Rejyna’s Comments:
“I’ve had the pleasure of performing in many venues in my hometown during an extended visit with family and friends. Since it has been such a renewing experience, I’m releasing this CD of my solo live set to memorialize the good fun I have doing these performances with my guitar, looper and vocal harmonizer. 
        I’ve chosen the songs for this CD as a focus on some of the dream phases and life processes we go through when trying to find or rediscover ourselves, i.e., Self Doubt vs. Self Direction, Departures and Escapes vs. Surrenders and Separations, Renewal vs. Retreat, Cowardice vs. Celebration…
       I am thankful for the supporters of original music, for the convivial coffee houses and taverns that give me stage time, and for the technology that enables me to put out such a big sound from one voice & two hands.

You can find out more about Rejyna by googling her name; she is on Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, ReverbNation, and she has an archive creative content portfolio site at Rejyna.com

The photographs on the CD were taken by Rejyna’s daughter, Jazmyn Whitman of AnimeJaz.com.  The compositing, retouching and package design was done by James Eves III of Digipix.Us

All content is © Rejyna Douglass-Whitman & published by W.E./Citadel of Cynosure Productions (BMI) All Rights Reserved.  www.rejyna.com

Rejyna on the Web:

 www.rejyna.com

www.cdbaby.com/artist/rejyna

www.facebook.com/rejynamusic

www.youtube.com/rejyna

www.reverbnation.com/rejyna

www.twitter.com/rejyna

The live CD was recorded using an Audio Technica ATM73a headset mic, an Ovation Balladeer, a Digitech Vocalist Live 3 and a Digitech JamMan solo.

Using the Godin Freeway SA (Midi or Synth guitar) with the Roland GR-20 synth guitar pedal, a Digitech JamMan Solo looper and a DigiTech Vocalist Live 3, Rejyna runs through renditions of her Citadel songs ‘Stygian Barque’ (aka ”Baroque Ballad Barque’) and ‘Another’ (aka ‘Soft Rock Another’)

“Stygian Barque” is featured on the Citadel CD’s “The Citadel of Cynosure & Other Tales” and is also on ‘D’ANthologie 2 ~ Crosses or Crowns?”  with ‘Another’ – both of which are available on CDBaby at http://cdbaby.com/artist/citadel as well as on iTunes, eMusic, Amazon and other sites.

Stygian Barque: The metaphor of a boat (barque) sailing on the river Styx presents a message of internal struggle, with a merging of the heart and mind as the dream solution.

Another: Day after day, night after night, year after year – ever feel stuck in a cycle?  Rainbows are waiting in the dawn in Another Dream Away…

You can hear these songs live by following Citadel on Facebook http://facebook.com/citadelprog or by checking Rejyna’s solo performance schedule, Rejyna is at http://facebook.com/citadelsongs

Citadel ® is a registered US tradename, used with exclusive permission.
© W.E./Citadel of Cynosure Prod (BMI) - Posted by content authors and owners. All Rights Reserved. Do not duplicate or re-distribute without the authors written authorization. 

iTunes has Citadel here:  http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/citadel/id206493356
and the most recent Citadel CD is here:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/danthologie-2-crosses-or-crowns/id320727450

Look for “Citadelsongs’ on Twittter, YouTube and MySpace and check out these links for more Citadel:

http://citadelband.com
http://citadelmusic.org
http://citadelsongs.com
http://ilike.com/artist/citadel
http://reverbnation.com/citadel
http://facebook.com/citadelprog

The original Citadel guitarist/composer, Rejyna, will be performing an hour of Citadel songs ala solo acoustic style at Espresso Yourself Music Cafe in Powell, Ohio this Saturday.  Rejyna creatively uses a Digitech Jamman looper and Vocalist Live 3 to weave reworked versions of Citadel songs from several of the Citadel CD’s. 
Although Citadel has been loosely classified as a progressive band (i.e. Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd, Rush, Yes, Kansas) for the last 30+ years, Rejyna is giving the band’s songs an earthy twist by performing in intimate venues using a single guitar and some interesting music technology.  She does not perform with ‘backing tracks’ or computers; instead she records whole song sections LIVE in front of the audience into a looper which then allows her to layer in vocals and guitar solo and dual leads. 

Rejyna also uses the latest Digitech vocal effects – but she does not use them for ‘pitch correction’ or ‘autotune’, instead, she uses these devices to add harmonies to her lead vocal line in realtime.

How would one classify the music of Citadel as Rejyna presents it solo-style?  Call it folk rock, alternative, progressive folk, experimental indie – she just calls it Citadel…

For this special New Years Day show, Rejyna will also be joined on “Standing Alone” vocals by her mom and daughter, Margie and Jazmyn. 

Doors open at 6 and Rejyna’s set runs from 6:30 tp 7:30 pm

Come on out and hear some good music in a great venue on the first day of the new year! 

Espresso Yourself Music Cafe is located at:
50 West Olentangy Street in beautiful Powell, OH
(614) 436-7100 

http://rejyna.com/
http://citadelband.com/
http://www.espressoyourselfmusiccafe.com/

Citadel’s Rejyna comments, “I am using a few new things on this CD like the sweet Dean Boca 12-string semi-hollowbody electric, the Inspired Instruments YRG as a midi controller for on-computer revisions and the wonderful Digitech Jamman Solo.  Most of the improv overdub stuff will still be done on the Godin Freeway SA/Roland GR-20 combo directly into the Digitech GNX4.” 

The Citadel guitarist continues, “so yeah, I’ve got some new toys to play with and that always means a lot of my improv orchestrations will be the result of experimentation with the new toys…although this part of the process is a burden of patience, perseverance and pain (see photo below); it is my favorite aspect.  A ‘Cliff Jumping’ brain adventure in sound.”

So there you have it, the band still refuses to pick a genre and stick with it…   Maybe that is actually a unconsious social comment as much as it is a sign of possible ADD… 

We will all just have to wait a while longer to find out -

Join Citadel on Facebook at http://facebook.com/citadelprog
On Twitter: http://twitter.com/citadelband
On MySpace: http://myspace.com/citadelsongs
On You Tube: http://youtube.com/citadelsongs
iLike: http://ilike.com/artist/citadel

CITADEL ®
http://cdbaby.com/artist/citadel

http://citadelband.com
http://citadelsongs.com
http://citadelmusic.org

Just a little fun during polar studio sessions...

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