Q. What do The Beatles, The Who, Lady Gaga and Bang on a Can have in common?
A. They’re all playable on the Rock Band video game!

BANG ON A CAN’S ALL-STARS: FIRST EVER CONTEMPORARY MUSIC GROUP TO BE RELEASED VIA GROUNDBREAKING ROCK BAND NETWORK

Evan Ziporyn, clarinet

Founded in 1992 by the “relentlessly inventive” Bang on a Can (New York Magazine), the Bang on a Can All-Stars have continuously redefined concert music and its role in society. Shattering traditional notions of genres and performance practices alike, the All-Stars have repeatedly proven themselves to be “the country’s most important vehicle for contemporary music” (San Francisco Chronicle).

The All-Stars have yet again forged into uncharted territory with their recent release via Rock Band Network, the ground-breaking initiative that gives musicians, publishers and record labels the ability to author their original recordings into gameplay files to promote and sell their music as playable Rock Band tracks through the Rock Band Network Music Store (RBN Store). With more than 1500 tracks available to date on the Rock Band platform, the Rock Band Network Music Store has dramatically increased the number of available songs, further securing MTV Games and Harmonix’s position as the leading provider of downloadable content for music-based video games.

The Rock Band platform stands next to none in music content, including prolific artists such as Jimi Hendrix, The Who, AC/DC and Green Day, who are exclusive to Rock Band. The Rock Band platform allows fans to interact with their favorite music in a unique and hands-on way, as well as giving artists the ability to reach fans through a whole new medium. Rock Band has pioneered offering musical content in a variety of ways, through on-disc gameplay, game export, downloadable content and the Rock Band Network. It is in this cyber world that the All-Stars recordings thrive as the first and only classically based tracks featured in the network, launching the New York-based group into an elite pop culture circle previously inhabited solely by rock-and-roll icons.

The All-Stars tracks are an assortment of Bang on a Can classics, highlighting the music of BOAC founders Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe, as well as long-time collaborator and All-Stars clarinetist Evan Ziporyn. Authored for Rock band Network by RockGamer Studios, recently released songs from the Bang On A Can’s All-Stars include Gordon’s Yo Shakespeare (1992); Lang’s Cheating, Lying, Stealing (1994); and Ziporyn’s Shadow Bang (Head) (2001). Additionally, Wolfe’s Believing (1997) will be released in the future via Rock Band Network. All tracks will be available for Xbox 360 via download through the Rock Band Network store on Xbox Live or via http://www.rockband.com/music.

All-Stars fans will also have an opportunity to experience Rock Band live at the 2010 Bang on a Can Marathon on June 27 at Winter Garden in New York City, where MTV and Harmonix will have a Rock Band system up and running to play throughout the eclectic 12 hour extravaganza.

More information about the All-Stars and Bang on a Can is at www.bangonacan.org.