Blonde Vinyl Memorial

by Knottheads on H

Blonde Vinyl Memorial
Veil of Ashes
Veil of Ashes was an alternative band influenced by The Doors and Gene Loves Jezebel. They were a local favorite in the San Francisco bay area, but never seemed to get much national attention. Their Blonde Vinyl release is a compilation of earlier demos, with the liner notes indicating that all songs were recorded in a short period before the album’s release.

After the Blonde Vinyl release, the band changed members and names before releasing one more album and calling it a day.

Recently the band has gotten together to release a compilation album of demos, live songs, and one newly recorded cover song. The album is called Eternal Teenage Angst and will be released in 2013. There is also now an official Veil of Ashes website.

  Veil of Ashes
Veil of Ashes


Pre-Blonde Vinyl Career

album cover  
Prayers For The World
Realty Records (1987)
Produced by Nelson DeMarco

Sean Doty – poet, guitar
Phil Meads – drums
Sterling – bass

Chuck Harris – Engineer

01) I.C.U. 2:44 Doty / Sterling also on The Young & The Reckless
02) Only Love 3:16 Doty / Sterling also on The Young & The Reckless and Nëgro
03) Falling 3:56 Doty / Sterling also on The Young & The Reckless
04) I Know 3:27 Doty / Sterling also on The Young & The Reckless

Other Information:
A special thanks to Lance Harris, who provided a copy of this cassette for me to add information on this album.


album cover  
Nëgro
Realty Records (TP0002 1987)
Produced by Nelson DeMarco and VOA

Sean Doty – guitar, poet, voice, piano
Sterling – bass
Phil Meads – drums, percussion

Nelson DiMarco – keyboards

01) Tears on the Red 3:40 Doty / Sterling also on The Young & The Reckless
02) Hide Me 4:23 Doty / Sterling re-recorded on Pain
03) Liturgy 5:41 Doty / Sterling also on The Young & The Reckless
04) Let Me Die 3:20 Doty / Sterling also on The Young & The Reckless
05) Without Eyes 3:21 Doty / Sterling re-recorded on Pain
06) Blood & Fire 3:29 Doty / Sterling also on The Young & The Reckless
07) Only Love 3:55 Doty / Sterling also on The Young & The Reckless
08) Apology 3:19 Doty / Sterling also on The Young & The Reckless


album cover  
Pain
Graceland (CD09074 1989)
Produced by Gene Eugene

Sterling – bass
Phil Meads – drums
Sean Doty – vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, harmonica, poet
Lance Harris – keyboards, Hammond B-3, piano, lead electric & acoustic guitars

Gene Eugene – piano on “Come Unto Me”
Derri Daugherty – backing vocals on “Time Changes”
Steve Hindalong – backing vocals on “Time Changes”
Joseph Linn – percussion

01) The Times They Are A Changin’ 3:53 Bob Dylan
02) And They Call It Love 3:50 Harris/ Meads/ Doty/ Sterling
03) Without Eyes 3:22 Harris/ Meads/ Doty/ Sterling
04) Corpse 4:36 Harris/ Meads/ Doty/ Sterling
05) Suicide 3:27 Harris/ Meads/ Doty/ Sterling
06) She 3:27 Harris/ Meads/ Doty/ Sterling
07) Take My Hand 4:05 Harris/ Meads/ Doty/ Sterling
08) Testimony 5:09 Harris/ Meads/ Doty/ Sterling
09) The Cross Was His Own 3:31 (author unknown)
10) Hide Me 4:23 Harris/ Meads/ Doty/ Sterling
11) Come Unto Me 5:21 Harris/ Meads/ Doty/ Sterling

Other Information:
This album was intended to be the first part of a trilogy, the following albums to be called Passion and Promise.


Blonde Vinyl Releases

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The Young And Reckless: The Regression of Veil of Ashes
Blonde Vinyl Records (BVCD3372 1992)
Produced by Veil of Ashes, Nelson Di Marco, Shona Davidson, and John Dlugosh

Sterling – bass
Sean Doty – vocals, guitars
Phil Meads – drums. percussion
Lance Harris – guitars on “Passion Play”

Nelson DiMarco – keyboards

01) Passion Play 4:34 Doty / Harris  
02) I.C.U. 2:37 Doty / Sterling originally on Prayers For The World
03) Tears On The Red 3:37 Doty / Sterling originally on Negro
04) Falling 3:14 Doty / Sterling originally on Prayers For The World
05) Liturgy 5:37 Doty / Sterling originally on Negro
06) Let Me Die 3:17 Doty / Sterling originally on Negro
07) Blood & Fire 3:22 Doty / Sterling originally on Negro
08) Only Love 3:52 Doty / Sterling originally on Prayers For The World and Negro
09) I Know 3:22 Doty / Sterling originally on Prayers For The World
10) Apology 3:16 Doty / Sterling originally on Negro

Other Information:
This album contains one post-Pain song, as well as everything off of Prayers For The World and Nëgro that had not been re-recorded on Pain.


Post-Blonde Vinyl Career

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Veil of Ashes ep
Realty Records (1991)

Sterling – bass
Sean Doty – vocals, guitars
Phil Meads – drums. percussion
Lance Harris – guitara

01) Marilyn’s Right To Twinkle Doty re-recorded on Mr. Sunshine
02) I Hope I Left You Smiling Doty / Sterling re-recorded on Mr. Sunshine
03) Bed of Roses Doty re-recorded on Mr. Sunshine


album cover  
Veil of Ashes ep
Realty Records (1991)

Sean Doty – vocals, guitar
Sterling – bass, vocals
Jeremy Hawley – drums
Scott Anderson – guitars

01) I Hope I Left You Smiling Doty / Sterling re-recorded on Mr. Sunshine
02) 20 Loves (One With a Promise) Doty re-recorded on Mr. Sunshine
03) Pimps and Preachers Doty / Sterling re-recorded on Mr. Sunshine
04) Stygian Shore Doty re-recorded on Mr. Sunshine
05) Bed of Roses Doty re-recorded on Mr. Sunshine
06) Stygian Shore (unplugged) Doty re-recorded on Mr. Sunshine

Other Information:
This ep was released before the band changed names to Veil.


Sean Doty and Sterling Shortened their band name to Veil after their Blonde Vinyl release. The recruited some new members and released an album in 1992.

Sean Doty formed a band named Unveiled and released an independent CD called Youth Music in 2000.


Veil

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Mr. Sunshine
Eden Records (FLD9791 1992)
Produced by Veil and Masaki Lui

Sean Doty – vocals, guitars
Mike Jackson – drums, vocals
Rich Medina – keyboards
Brendan Merithew – guitars, vocals
Sterling – bass, vocals

Masaki Lui – violin
Scott Anderson – additional guitars on tracks 3, 8, 11, 12, and 13
Jeremy Hawley – Drums on track 13

01) Marilyn’s Right To Twinkle 3:02 Doty
02) Good Times 3:38 Doty / Sterling
03) The Hunger 4:35 Doty / Sterling
04) Mr. Sunshine 4:12 Doty / Sterling
05) A Cry For Help 5:06 Jackson
06) Pimps And Preachers 3:55 Doty / Sterling
07) 20 Loves (One With Promise) 4:13 Doty
08) This Love 2:27 Cake / Sterling
09) Norwegian Wood 3:44 John Lennon / Paul McCartney
10) Queen For A Day 5:08 Doty / Medina
11) Bed Of Roses 3:14 Doty
12) Stygian Shore 4:24 Doty
13) I Hope I Left You Smiling 3:21 Doty / Sterling
14) Three Years Old 6:42 Merithew


album cover  
Demos
Independent (Unreleased 1994)

Sean Doty – vocals, guitars
Mike Jackson – drums, vocals
Rich Medina – keyboards
Brendan Merithew – guitars, vocals
Sterling – bass, vocals on “Seraphim Twist”

01) Angel Falls 5:37 Doty
02) Demon Box 5:16 Doty
03) Seraphim Twist 3:44 Sterling

Other Information:
Sterling posted information about this release on Facebook. Here is what he had to say about these songs: “You may have heard it bandied about that there is unreleased Veil material that no one has heard outside of Veil: it is true. We have three demo’s of great quality (and freaking awesome lyric and music) that we were shopping around after the Mr. Sunshine album.” He also indicated that they are still looking to release these songs in the future. The line-up listed above was assumed based on the Mr. Sunshine line-up, but could be incorrect.


Veil of Ashes

album cover  
Eternal Teenage Angst
Independent (2013)

– Track 1 (Dead Artist Syndrome cover):
Sean Doty – vocals, guitars
Sterling – bass, background vocals
Lance Harris – guitar, background vocals
Phil Meads – drums, background vocals
Mike Jackson – percussion on “Reach”

– Tracks 2-4 (1994 Demos):
Sean Doty – vocals, guitars
Sterling – bass, background vocals, vocals on “Seraphim Twist”
Mike Jackson – drums, vocals
Rich Medina – keyboards
Brendan Merithew – guitars, vocals

– Tracks 5-12 (Mr. Sunshine Pre-Production Demos):
Sean Doty – vocals, guitars
Sterling – bass, vocals
Mike Jackson – drums, vocals
Rich Medina – keyboards
Brendan Merithew – guitars, vocals

– Tracks 13-17 (Cornerstone 1988):
Sean Doty – vocals, guitar
Sterling – bass, background vocals
Lance Harris – guitar, keyboards
Phil Meads – drums, flailing about

01) Reach 3:47 Healy
02) Angel Falls 5:37 Doty
03) Demon Box 5:16 Doty
04) Seraphim Twist 3:44 Sterling
05) Marylin’s Right to Twinkle (1991 demo) 3:02 Doty
06) The Hunger (1991 demo) 4:31 Doty / Sterling
07) I Hope I Left You Smiling (1991 demo) 3:10 Doty / Sterling
08) 20 Loves (1991 demo) 3:57 Doty
09) Pimps and Preachers (1991 demo) 4:06 Doty / Sterling
10) Stygian Shore (regular version) (1991 demo) 4:10 Doty
11) Bed of Roses (1991 demo) 3:05 Doty
12) Stygian Shore (acoustic version) (1991 demo) 4:25 Doty
13) My Town (live 1988) 3:07 Doty
14) Sleep (live 1988) 4:32 Doty
15) Without Eyes (live 1988) 3:57 Doty / Sterling
16) Let Me Die (live 1988) 3:33 Doty / Sterling
17) Come Unto Me (live 1988) 4:17 Harris / Meads / Doty / Sterling


Veilf Of Ashes Links


Older comments on “Veil of Ashes

  1. Sean Doty on January 01, 2008 at 02:42 pm said:

    Hey… go ahead and add some MP3’s… I say so… and I wrote them!! haha… Hiya Mike – Sean Doty

  2. Sterling on April 13, 2008 at 08:01 am said:

    actually,the recordings for the young and restless were the exact same recordings we used for negro (pronounced with a long a sound, Spanish for black) and yes this the sterling from veil. i’m being interviewed by for Jerry Wilson’s book right now “god’s not dead and neither are we” i’m always surprised to see still interested in us after 20 years. good luck and god bless.p.s. add some mp3s i wrote them too… ha,ha

  3. Knotthead Matt on April 24, 2008 at 01:08 pm said:

    Thanks for that information – I look forward to reading that book. I was wondering if those were the same recordings – I’ll have to change the info. I would love to put up some mp3s – but need to get on a better hosting service. You two ever thought of doing a MySpace tribute site? That could be a cool idea.

  4. Will Lewis on September 02, 2008 at 10:54 am said:

    I guess I’m the first fan to write on this post. Hi guys! Loved everything growing up as a kid, gave me great music to listen to. I was inspired all the way.

  5. Steve Warner on February 07, 2009 at 11:11 am said:

    I have really great memories of being in high school and listening to your music. Pain was one of my first CDs. I’ve also got Negro on cassette. I got a job working at a Christian radio station in the early ’90’s and will never forget hearing from the program manager that we were no longer allowed to play your music because they felt the song “Queen for a Day” was praising a homosexual. I didn’t get a copy Mr. Sunshine when it first came out and it disappeared from the shelves (never to return) shortly after that. I did manage to grab the MP3s in the early Napster days. I absolutely loved the song “Three Years Old.” My son turns one tomorrow. I’ve been humming “Three Years Old” all day…

  6. Lance Harris on March 03, 2009 at 09:48 1m said:

    Hey there…it’s Lance Harris! I joined Veil of Ashes in late 1987. I actually got the audition from John Dlugosh – a long time friend of Veil. I loved their music and felt honored to join an established band. They had already released 2 independent recordings and were looking to sign a recording deal. I had the privilege of playing with them for 3 1/2 years before departing in 1991. Sean and I co-wrote only 2 songs together… “She” from Pain and “Passion Play” from the Young and the Restless.

  7. Joseph Bertrand on April 09, 2009 at 08:53 pm said:

    I picked up “Pain” on audio cassette at a Christian bookstore in 1991 for $3. I wore out that tape by playing it over and over. I bought the CD in 2001 from radrockers.com. I still have the album and I still listen to it frequently. Musically and lyrically and vocally it is a great album from start to finish. It’s not one of those albums were you like a couple of tracks here and there; it’s a piece of artwork that is designed to be enjoyed in one sitting to really appreciate the brilliance of it.

  8. Sterling on May 29, 2009 at 05:22 am said:

    Hey, it’s me again… a year later. Amazed to see Lance Harris’s comment there. Any way I live in Las Vegas now (my home town) and work in the pharmacy industry now. I haven’t done anything musically for 10 years. Last thing I did was with Dave Kuening from The Killers about a year before he and Brandon started that band. Before that I did a few goth bands i.e. “they, rahne..” and sat in other bands. Thanx everyone for your continued love. Oh, I found the original masters for Negro in some boxes I had in storage. YEA!!

  9. John Dlugosh on May 29, 2009 at 03:35 pm said:

    Sterling, I was in Vegas this week. Give me a call so we can catch up. Been trying to get in touch with you over the years. Look me up. Best!

  10. Sterling on July 19, 2009 at 08:17 am said:

    Hey, it’s me again. Just to let everyone know that the interviews I did for Jerry Wilson weren’t able to make it by the deadline for his book. However, I do believe that Sean got stuff in there… go find it and read it. Mazeltov!!!!!!!!

  11. Lloyd Woodall on August 09, 2009 at 09:27 pm said:

    Sterling, it’s good to know you’re out there. I’ve reconnected with Sean and Shona on Facebook. Hope you’re doing well. I missed you guys a lot in the 90s. Chalk up my falling off the face of the earth to a weird girlfriend and poor choices… Lloyd, roadie and hanger-on (remember Pepperdine and Chicago?)

  12. Sterling on September 24, 2009 at 06:37 am said:

    Dear Lloyd, ya gotta love the weird girlfriends.

  13. Pookumz on September 26, 2009 at 02:48 pm said:

    I have all these albums… too bad they are no longer working on music.

  14. Knotthead Matt on September 26, 2009 at 02:48 pm said:

    If anyone can add details to the Prayers For The World demo (songs, cover, etc), please let me know.

  15. Sterling on November 24, 2009 at 10:24 am said:

    Prayers for the World… I don’t have any copies but, the cover art was done by me by using an old 18oo’s drawing of the virgin Mary with my own hand drawn oval w/flowers frame around it. I was kinda copying a style that was being done by 4AD records out of England… the company that brought us Cocteau Twins, Throwing Muses, Wofgang Press and Dead Can Dance… both Prayers for the World and Negro were titled by me also. After I purchased a data base of over 500 college radio stations through out the U.S. and Canada, I sent them to every station and were actually being charted #1 in some Mid-Western stations.

  16. Sean Doty on February 21, 2010 at 08:27 pm said:

    Come on over to the new Facebook site entitled simply “Veil of Ashes.” We’d love to see you there!

  17. Lance Harris on March 08, 2010 at 04:38 pm said:

    I have some items from Prayers for the World. My brother King, who ran the soundboard with John Dlugosh for our shows, gave me all of his note books from his time working with Veil. I was amazed at how detailed they are… he did a lot of work for Veil that was behind the scenes. If you’d like, contact me, and I’d be happy to get you whatever I have. I do have several copies of the Prayers demo as well.

  18. Cynder on March 08, 2010 at 04:38 pm said:

    Hey there’s my brother^^ (Richard)

  19. Sterling on July 25, 2012 at 08:21 pm said:

    Thanks for updating the info about the demo’s from 1994 finally being released. The demo’s will be on an album called Eternal Teenage Angst. The album will include most of the demos from the 1991 EPs, live bootlegs from our 1988 Cornerstone concert and the 2010 Veil of Ashes reunion recording of Dead Artist’s Syndrome’s song “Reach.” Also we have a new website w/a bit of a blog updating fans on the new release http://www.veilofashes.com. Thanks for the great VoA discography… we may need to borrow it… LOL.

  20. Sterling on November 29, 2014 at 09:25 pm said:

    Just checking and noticing that you revamped the page a bit and it looks good. Also, thanks for this site. It’s a great resource for Veil fans and for fans of other bands as well.


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