Attendees at the 149th Annual, Lehigh vs. LaFayette game, Bethlehem, PA 2013

Crafting Original Music, Spanning Three Decades.

Founding Members of The Progressive Shamanists on break in the Poconos.

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The Rapturous Swim Collection



The Progressive Shamanists, including Rob Prigge, Rob Kowtko and Greg Pichler, met at the studio in Tanglewood, Pennsylvania on the weekend, starting Friday, October 29, 1982. During that weekend the group recorded nine songs on the cassette tape recorder.

Both Rob Kowtko and Greg Pichler had recently graduated from Lehigh University. Kowtko earned Bachelor's of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Engineering College. Pichler earned a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the Arts and Sciences College.

Percussionist, Rob Prigge, was also attending Lehigh University at the time, but Prigge was in his second year, his sophomore year, of attendance. Prigge was also enrolled in the Arts and Science College.

During that weekend the group rehearsed and recorded nine songs on a cassette tape recorder.

Kowtko introduced three new, original songs to the group's repetoire, including Mirror Eyes, Song From The Double Chamber and the title track, Rapturous Swim. Kowtko had originally composed the song, Song From The Double Chamber, years prior to forming the group, The Phoenix. The name, The Phoenix, was the name the group billed themselves as until Greg Pichler and Keith Swanson perpetuated a name change in 1984.

Pichler introduced two new, original songs to the group's repetoire, including Charleen and the song, Those Words.

In addition to the three new, original songs, introduced by Kowtko and the two new, original songs introduced by Pichler, the group recorded fresh renditions of their respective, original material, including, the collaborative song, The Time Is Right // Grasshopper Boogie (GE Pichler), and Kowtko's song Fire In The Night.

The video includes still photo images of the members of the group over the course of the weekend, starting Friday, October 29, 1982.


Music Contributions

The following contributions were applied to the music video:

  • Rob Prigge: percussion
  • Rob Kowtko: keyboards
  • Greg Pichler: guitar, vocals

List of Tracks

The list of tracks from the albumthat resulted from the work over the weekend includes:

  1. 00:00:02 (Track 1) Break on Through (The Doors)
  2. 00:08:37 (Track 2) The Time Is Right // Grasshopper Boogie (Kowtko, Pichler, Prigge)
  3. 00:15:48 (Track 3) Mirror Eyes (R Kowtko)
  4. 00:23:14 (Track 4) Charleen (GE Pichler)
  5. 00:32:37 (Track 5) Those Words (GE Pichler)
  6. 00:40:21 (Track 6) Song From The Double Chamber (R Kowtko)
  7. 00:47:58 (Track 7) Rapturous Swim (R Kowtko)
  8. 00:57:01 (Track 8) I See You (Jim McGuinn, David Crosby)
  9. 01:04:15 (Track 9) Fire In The Night (R Kowtko)

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