“Widely regarded as one of the best and rarest garage band albums, Calm Before by The Rising Storm enjoys almost mythical status among vinyl collectors.” (From a list of 61 rare vinyl records published on lovemoney.com. The list includes such classics as Elvis Presley, Elvis’ debut album; Introducing The Beatles; and Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue.

The Rising Storm, 1967. Clockwise from left: Todd Cohen, Tom Scheft, Bob Cohan, Richard Weinberg, Charlie Rockwell, Tony Thompson

“A bunch of prep school boys put together a rock band in 1965…They called themselves the Rising Storm, and their album Calm Before is one of the most sought-after obscure LPs of the rock era…impeccable taste in material…a fascinating assortment of well-chosen covers and surprisingly strong original material…the harmonies are tight and the instrumentation is pretty top-notch…coffee-house sophistication…great attention to detail and admirable musical skill.” [From a review of the Sundazed reissue of Calm Before, the 1967 album by The Rising Storm, in musoscribe, Bill Kopp’s music magazine. To read the full review, click here.]

calm before…the rising storm, the award-winning documentary about The Rising Storm and its legendary 1967 album, calm before. now is available on Amazon Prime. The 30-minute movie has been shown at seven film festivals, won a top award at five of them, and was named one of the 10 best rock documentaries of 2018 by rock writer Richie Unterberger. Watch it now!! Click here.

The Rising Storm, April 2019, Riverrun International Film Festival, Winston-Salem, N.C. From left: Tom Scheft, Charlie Rockwell, Tony Thompson, Bob Cohan, Todd Cohen, Richard Weinberg

Calm before…the rising storm is a documentary about The Rising Storm and its legendary 1967 album, calm before. The 30-minute movie has been shown at seven film festivals, won a top award at five of them, and was named one of the 10 best rock documentaries of 2018 by rock writer Richie Unterberger. See it now!! Click here.

calm before…the rising storm, a 30-minute documentary about The Rising Storm and its 1967 album, Calm Before, was named Best Short Music Documentary at the Jerome Indie Film & Music Festival in Arizona. The movie now has been shown at seven film festivals, won a top award at five of them, and was named one of the 10 best rock documentaries of 2018 by rock writer Richie Unterberger.Best Short Music Documentary

calm before…the rising storm, a 30-minute documentary about The Rising Storm and its 1967 album, Calm Before, will be shown at the Jerome Indie Film & Music Festival, which will be held Sept. 26-29 in Arizona. The movie already has been shown at six film festivals, won a top award at four of them, and was named one of the 10 best rock documentaries of 2018 by rock writer Richie Unterberger.

The Rising Storm, April 2019, Riverrun International Film Festival, Winston-Salem, N.C. From left: Tom Scheft, Charlie Rockwell, Tony Thompson, Bob Cohan, Todd Cohen, Richard Weinberg

calm before… the rising storm, a 30-minute, award-winning documentary about Calm Before, the 1967 album by The Rising Storm, has been named one of the top 10 rock documentaries of 2018 by rock writer Richie Unterberger. The movie, which has been shown at six film festivals and won a top award at four of them, is number 10 on Unterberger’s list, which includes movies about Elvis Presley, Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, Joni Mitchell, The Doors and The Beatles.

calm before… the rising storm, a 30-minute documentary about Calm Before, the 1967 album by The Rising Storm, will be shown in April 6 at the RiverRun International Film Festival in Winston-Salem, N.C. The movie had its premiere in August at the Juke Box International Film Festival in Carson City, Nev., where it received first place in the short documentary film category. It was shown at the Santa Cruz Film Festival in California, where it received the “Best Short Documentary Award,” and at Festival Sayulita in Mexico. where it received the award for “Best Musical Documentary.” It also was shown at the Doc’n Roll Festival in London, a British film festival that features movies about music.

calm before… the rising storm, a 30-minute documentary about Calm Before, the 1967 album by The Rising Storm, received the award for “Best Musical Documentary” at Festival Sayulita in Mexico. The movie had its premiere in August at the second annual Juke Box International Film Festival in Carson City, Nev., where it received first place in the short documentary film category. It also has been shown at the Santa Cruz Film Festival in California, where it received the “Best Short Documentary Award,” and at the Doc’n Roll Festival in London, a British film festival that features movies about music.

A 30-minute documentary about Calm Before, the 1967 album by The Rising Storm, will be shown at Festival Sayulita in Mexico that will be held January 30 to February 3. The movie, calm before… the rising storm, had its premiere in August at the second annual Juke Box International Film Festival in Carson City, Nev., where it received first place in the short documentary film category. It also has been shown at the Santa Cruz Film Festival in California, where it received the “Best Short Documentary Award,” and at the Doc’n Roll Festival in London.

calm before… the rising storm, a 30-minute documentary about Calm Before, the 1967 album by The Rising Storm, received the “Best Short Documentary Award” at the Santa Cruz Film Festival in California. The movie had its premiere in August at the second annual Juke Box International Film Festival in Carson City, Nev., where it also received first place in the short documentary film category. It will be shown in London in November at the Doc’n Roll Festival, a British film festival that features movies about music.

calm before… the rising storm, a 30-minute documentary on Calm Before, the 1967 album by The Rising Storm, will be shown in London in November at the Doc’n Roll Festival, a British film festival that focuses on movies about music. The movie had its premiere in August at the second annual Juke Box International Film Festival in Carson City, Nev., where it received first place in the short documentary film category. 

It’s been called “a meditation on creativity, luck, and the passage of time.” calm before… the rising storm, a 30-minute documentary on Calm Before, the 1967 album by The Rising Storm, will be shown October 6 at the Santa Cruz Film Festival in Santa Cruz, Calif. The movie had its premiere in August at the second annual Juke Box International Film Festival in Carson City, Nev., where it received first place in the short documentary film category. 

calm before … the rising storm, a 30-minute documentary about The Rising Storm and its 1967 album, Calm Before, received first place in the documentary short film category at the second annual Jukebox International Film Festival this week in Carson City, Nev., where the movie had its premier. The documentary features interviews with members and fans of the band, and music from the album, reissued this year by Sundazed Music. To learn more, click here.

Calm Before …The Rising Storm, a 30-minute documentary about The Rising Storm and its 1967 album, Calm Before, will have its premiere at the second annual Jukebox International Film Festival scheduled for August 23-24 in Carson City, Nev. The documentary features interviews with members and fans of the band, and music from the album, reissued this year by Sundazed Music. To learn more, click here.

“One of the best albums of 1967 was a prep school souvenir known only to a few hundred people in New England at the time…Unfettered by any commercial constraints or musical ambitions extending beyond the remaining months of the school year, the group created, with a complete lack of self-consciousness, a perfect distillation of their collective musical vision.” [From a June 2018 article in Ugly Things magazine about the Sundazed reissue of Calm Before by The Rising Storm. To read full article, click here: ugly things article.]

Calm Before, the 1967 album by The Rising Storm, was ranked by MSN (Microsoft News) among the 52 most valuable vinyl records. The most valuable, No. 52, was Yesterday and Today by The Beatles. Calm Before was ranked No. 30. To read more, click here.

“Frozen Laughter,” an original song from Calm Before, the 1967 album by The Rising Storm, is featured in Allure, a new movie featuring Evan Rachel Wood. Written by Tony Thompson, the band’s leader, lead singer and rhythm guitarist, and performed by the Storm, the song is featured in a key scene in the movie and during its final credits.

The director and producer of a 30-minute movie about Calm Before, the 1967 album by The Rising Storm, has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise money to support production costs. To see the short trailer for the campaign, click here.

Calm Before, the spine-tingling 1967 album by The Rising Storm, is a delightful smorgasboard of colours and sounds, primal rock ‘n’ roll, haunting pop melancholia, and atmospheric, at times proto-psychedelic-tinged, beat….Justifiably hailed as one of the period’s most significant recordings. It now has been reissued by Sundazed. Fans of the Storm also can look forward to a new film documentary. [For full review from It’s Psychedelic Baby magazine, click here.]

BBA Jug Band, January 1965. Front row, from left: Tom Scheft, Bob Cohan, Tony Thompson. Second row: Todd Cohen (2nd from left), Richard Weinberg (2nd from right). Top row: Charlie Rockwell (right)

What began as a jug band in a prep-school dorm in the 1960s led to a rock band that produced an album in 1967 that has gained worldwide recognition, a cult following, a reissue of the album, and a documentary set for release this year. [To read more, click here.]

“Hardcore fans of unknown 60s psych and garage all search for that taste of magic once committed to rare grooves of vinyl, a glimpse into an era when any rock combo with a few fans could get enough studio time to immortalize a set of their wildest sounds, and with Calm Before.., you get the full dosage.” [From Audiophile promotion of Sundazed reissue of Calm Before by The Rising Storm. Calm Before is available on vinyl and CD from Sundazed Music, and on Apple Music.]

“Fans of unknown ’60s psych are always searching for a rare glimpse into an era when any rock combo with a few fans could score enough studio time to immortalize a set of primitives sounds. They’ll get their fix with the Rising Storm’s Calm Before… . This band of six young gents from Massachusetts only pressed 500 LPs in 1967, just as they were graduating prep school. To this day, the album remains one of the most prized garage rock artifacts of all time (a copy sold for $6,500 in 2012).” [From Pandora review of Sundazed reissue of Calm Before by The Rising Storm. Calm Before is available on vinyl and CD from Sundazed Music, and on Apple Music.]

The Rising Storm, 1967. Clockwise from left: Bob Cohan, Charlie Rockwell, Todd Cohen, Richard Weinberg, Tony Thompson, Tom Scheft

“What makes the record so great is how seamlessly this super young band – who were still in high school when they made it– manages to so seamlessly blend raucous garage rock, raw psych, and some surprisingly delicate melodies all in the same set, rivaling far more famous standard bearers of those genres, even though Rising Storm were doing it for fun and were still seniors in high school.” [From Dusty Groove review of Sundazed reissue of Calm Before by The Rising Storm.  To read more, click here. Calm Before is available on vinyl and CD from Sundazed Music, and on Apple Music.]

The Rising Storm, 1967: Clockwise, from right: Todd Cohen, Tom Scheft, Bob Cohan, Richard Weinberg, Charlie Rockwell, Tony Thompson

“Calm Before commits such unhip-in-’67 crimes as loading up on the soul and blues covers that no longer cut the mustard in the year of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band … This group of high school kids effortlessly transform warhorses like ‘In the Midnight Hour’ and ‘Big Boss Man’ into their own creations … The group surely makes its most halting music when handling its own compositions. [From Psychobabble review of Sundazed reissue of Calm Before by The Rising Storm.  To read more, click here. Calm Before is available on vinyl and CD from Sundazed Music, and on Apple Music.]

“Impeccable taste…tight harmonies….top-notch instrumentation…This mid 1960s album by a bunch of upper class northeastern schoolboys is better than you might think. Ace covers and surprisingly sturdy original tunes.” [From a review by Bill Kopp for Schoolkids Records’ Blurt. To read more, click here. Calm Before is available on vinyl and CD from Sundazed Music, and on Apple Music.]

The Rising Storm, 1967. From left: Richard Weinberg, Todd Cohen, Tony Thompson, Tom Scheft (standing), Charlie Rockwell (seated), Bob Cohan

“One of the true ’60s garage band artefacts … Critically acclaimed … A moody classic … Not bad for a vanity pressing made by a bunch of 17-year-old prep school boys … Fifty years on, The Rising Storm’s naivety, spontaneity and unique haunting melodies define ‘The New England Sound.’ Calm Before is an unpolished yet ambitious curio that has deservedly become a major collectible and a cult classic — one that has led to band reunions and even a forthcoming movie.” [From February 2018 article in Shindig! magazine. To read full article, click here: Shindig 2018]

Rising Storm playing at Andover dance, 1967. From left: Todd Cohen, Richard Weinberg, Tom Scheft, Tony Thompson, Charlie Rockwell (Bob Cohan not shown)

“A sacred text among New England garage rock collectors, and it’s not hard to see why … tight and confident … a potent stock of youthful energy … the band’s originals are the real high points … moody atmospheric numbers that walk a graceful line between folk-rock and psychedelic … ” [From review by Apple Music. To read more, click here.]

Calm Before, the 1967 album by The Rising Storm, is a touchstone of a distinct time and its music. It also is a testament to that music’s timelessness: Fifty years after it was made, the album still resonates. Its 12 tracks — haunting ballads about heartbreak, upbeat dance tunes, and explosive rockers — all capture the spirit of the mid-’60s, and the innocence, longing, restlessness and sheer exuberance of adolescence. [In January 2018, Sundazed Music reissued Calm Before on vinyl and in CD format. It also is available on Apple Music. To read more, click here.]

The Rising Storm, Phillips Academy yearbook, 1967. Clockwise from left: Todd Cohen, Tom Scheft, Bob Cohan, Richard Weinberg, Charlie Rockwell, Tony Thompson

“The Rising Storm grew out of an impromptu jug band of Andover sophomores, soon teaching each other the guitar licks they taught themselves … it was the Rising Storm’s handful of dreamlike, sensitive-boy originals, largely inspired by the fantastical West Coast band Love, that set the group apart … On [January 12] the specialty label Sundazed reissues ‘Calm Before,’ the Rising Storm’s self-financed, ultra-rare debut album, recorded during the bandmates’ senior year at Andover.” [From feature story in The Boston Globe, 01.10.18. To read full article, click here.]

The Rising Storm, 1967. Clockwise from left: Bob Cohan, Charlie Rockwell, Todd Cohen, Richard Weinberg, Tony Thompson, Tom Scheft

Sundazed Music on January 12 will re-issue Calm Before, the 1967 album by The Rising Storm, on vinyl and in CD format. Sundazed has produced a short video promoting the reissue of the album. To watch it, click here.

In January 2018, Sundazed Music will reissue Calm Before, the 1967 album by The Rising Storm that Sundazed calls “one of the rarest rock & roll records ever made.” To read more, click here.

Rising Storm playing at Andover dance, 1967. From left: Todd Cohen, Richard Weinberg, Tom Scheft, Tony Thompson, Charlie Rockwell (Bob Cohan not shown)

“Thanks to vintage record collectors, the Rising Storm, a band that recorded its first album 50 years ago, is reliving a dream that began in prep school.” ” [From article in The New York Times. To read full article, click here.]

The Rising Storm. From left: Bob Cohan, Todd Cohen, Tom Scheft, Tony Thompson, Richard Weinberg, Charlie Rockwell

“The official line is it’s ‘a sentimental journey through folk pop, DIT, new wave and micro presses 1961 to 1991’ but it seems like so much more now. It’s a compilation really like no other and is sure to get you hooked from the get go…It’s a selection of lost music which now sounds so relevant. It’s a collection of songs which bands would kill for. It’s simply amazing.” [The compilation includes “Frozen Laughter” from Calm Before, the 1967 album by The Rising Storm. To read more, click here.]

“This heartfelt compilation is a true labor of love…culled from rare private and vanity pressings spanning 30 years. Despite this large window of time, Sky Girl is masterfully sequenced, and eclecticism works in its favor rather than detracting from its delights.” [The compilation includes “Frozen Laughter” from Calm Before, the 1967 album by The Rising Storm. To read more, click here.]

The Rising Storm, 1967. From left: Charlie Rockwell, Richard Weinberg, Tom Scheft, Tony Thompson, Todd Cohen, Bob Cohan

“If you have an original copy of this record, you ought to encase it in 15 sheets of mylar and lock it up in the safe, as garage rock hounds are probably sniffing you down as you read this…Typically, impossibly rare albums tend to get seriously over-hyped, but not so in this case. Collectors don’t go nuts over this one because it’s so rare, it’s because it’s so good!” [To read more, click here.]

The Rising Storm, 1967, photo shoot for cover of Calm Before. Clockwise from left: Bob Cohan, Charlie Rockwell, Todd Cohen, Richard Weinberg, Tony Thompson, Tom Scheft

“This long-time collectors item was recorded by a group of six guys while they were attending Phillips Academy over here on the east coast, right up in Andover, Massachusetts…the band can pummel along with fuzz-induced teenaged snarl and also play some beautiful, mellow, folk-type acoustic ballads.” [To read more, click here.]

The Rising Storm, Andover dance, 1966. From left: Tony Thompson, Tom Scheft (rear), Richard Weinberg, Bob Cohan. (Not shown: Charlie Rockwell, Todd Cohen)

“One tries to imagine what kind of garage the boys of the Rising Storm played in. Padded, flowered, wood-paneled? With crochet rugs? Smoking hookahs? They have a slightly hippie look, these six, on the cover of the album Calm Before, their sole contribution to the era (1967), which became an obscure classic among the original editions avidly sought by collectors.” [To read more, click here.]

“It’s that ineffable sense of longing, loss and melancholy that gives every song on Sky Girl its haunted pall. Lyrical allusions suggest the intangible, be they dreams, ghosts, or the loss of love.” [The compilation includes “Frozen Laughter” from Calm Before, the 1967 album by The Rising Storm. To read more, click here.]

Rising Storm playing at Andover dance, 1967. From left: Todd Cohen, Richard Weinberg, Tom Scheft, Tony Thompson, Charlie Rockwell (Bob Cohan not shown)

“…one of the most enjoyable and compelling albums of the era…’I’m Coming Home’ is a tough, garagey rocker…’She Loved Me’ has a moodier sound bolstered by plaintive harmonies, fuzz guitar, a shimmying tambourine, and an all-time  favorite organ solo.” To read more, click here.]

Cover of new vinyl ’45 from Penniman Records of ‘I’m Coming Home’ and ‘She Loved Me’ — two originals on Calm Before, the vinyl album recorded in 1967 by The Rising Storm.

“‘I’m Coming Home’ is a strident blast of hard-edged garage-beat/punk with aural attitude worthy of a nod to the Stones, Yardbirds…’She Loved Me’ is one of the all-time most perfect examples of New England’s supremely moody mid-60s teen scene style. Irresistible!“ [To read more, click here.]

Back cover of new vinyl ’45 from Penniman Records of ‘I’m Coming Home’ and ‘She Loved Me’ — two originals on Calm Before, the vinyl album recorded in 1967 by The Rising Storm.

“Calm Before is a timeless masterpiece that contains five dazzling originals, a number of obscure covers that could be easily mistaken for Rising Storm compositions, and a few rock standards that are performed in a new and compelling way. The release of this 45 has been timed to honor the 50th anniversary of the 1965 inception of the band. It contains two of the most powerful original numbers on the album, ‘I’m Coming Home’ and ‘She Loved Me.'” [To read more, click here.]

The Rising Storm, 1967. Clockwise from left: Todd Cohen, Tom Scheft, Bob Cohan, Richard Weinberg, Charlie Rockwell, Tony Thompson

The Rising Storm is a rock band that has been making music for 50 years. Our 1967 album, Calm Before, is considered “one of the rarest and most respected garage band albums.” The Washington Post dubbed us “the most famous utterly obscure rock band in America.” And we were featured in a chapter in the 1998 book, Unknown Legends of Rock ‘n’ Roll. [To read more, click here.]

The Rising Storm, Boston, 1992. From left: Todd Cohen, Tom Scheft, Bob Cohan, Charlie Rockwell, Richard Weinberg, Tony Thompson

“The Rising Storm are the best. Perhaps it’s because they dared to record originals at a time when most bands relied on cover versions of well-known songs. Perhaps it was the chemistry of the six band members. Certainly it was the times. Maybe it was all of these things, possibly none. All that really matters is that The Rising Storm left us a brilliant LP that continues to be cherished.” [To read more, click here.]

The Rising Storm, Maine, 2016. From left: Bob Cohan, Tom Scheft, Charlie Rockwell, Tony Thompson, Richard Weinberg, Todd Cohen

The Rising Storm got our musical start at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass. In 1965, we began playing together in a jug band that enlisted every student in our sophomore dorm. The six of us soon banned together to form The Remnants, later rechristened The Rising Storm. [To read more, click here.]