Ex-Apple Records artist Lon Van Eaton has high hopes for new multimedia show

But the discussion first turns to the new Apple Records CDs that were released that day. He says he's very happy that their track, "Sweet Music," made it on to the CD compilation, "Come and Get It: The Best of Apple Records."

 

"You can imagine how honored I am for that and just really pleased," he says. "It's great now that they're releasing "Sweet Music" on the compilation with all these great artists."

 

He says there had been talk of EMI releasing their Apple album, "Brother," on CD and he doesn't know whether it will be released or not. "I haven't heard anything. I guess if there is enough demand maybe they would."

 

The brothers put out a CD called "Black & White" in the late '90s that featured guest appearances by Ringo Starr, Denny Seiwell and Klaus Voormann. (It's still available through their Imagine a Better World website at http://www.imagineabetterworld.com/blackwhite.html.)

 

They have continued recording and are also considering a tour. "If we find some independent label who wants to hear the new stuff, I would love to do more music, which I've done. But all these years we have a lot of things in the can that is good. And the latest music is the stuff was written for the score for the Livies."

 

Livies, which stands for Live Interactive Visual Immersion Entertainment Shows, is their latest plan. As Van Eaton explains it, "Livies is a technology for theater that happens in geodesic domes."

 

On his website (http://www.lonvaneaton.com/lonvaneaton.com/Now_LIVIES.html), Livies is described as "Imagine a theatre of  breathtaking high definition images immersed in surround sound. A theatre where performances are projected onto awe-inspiring high definition virtual realities. A theatre designed to entertain audiences of all ages. This is LIVIES Digital Theatre...And you don't have to imagine it. It is here."

 

The concept involves a geodesic dome theater with live stage images with high-definition images and surround sound. 

 

"Imagine pre-recorded film and also live film that goes on that we shoot live in the other dome. It's really a whole new thing that we're excited about," he says. A release describing the show compares it to the Beatles' "Love" show.

 

"The dream," he says,"is to make it as big as Cirque du Soleil and have these things traveling around. And they're on different themes. The first show is called the Dance of Life, which is an environmental theme."

 

The Van Eatons are looking for some "angel investor types" to help finance the shows. They're looking at several cities as places to open the show, though Van Eaton says, "It seems Vegas in the right place to start." He also mentioned San Francisco as another possible show site. He said they've also been in touch with entrepreneur Steve Wynn in hopes of getting something going.

 

"When I go to do something, I try to keep as many of things I learned and what greatness the Beatles are in things that I do because they're the inspiration," he says. "We need more Beatle love and understanding."

 

(Our previous interview with Lon & Derrek Van Eaton about recording for Apple Records: http://abbeyrd.best.vwh.net/vaneaton.htm.)