GRAHAM BONNET To Team Up With MARIO PARGA For CD/Download Single

July 16, 2008

British guitarist Mario Parga is teaming up with his old friend, singer Graham Bonnet (RAINBOW, ALCATRAZZ, IMPELLITERI, MSG) to record a special CD/download single. The song is called "American Angel" and is based on Mario's previously unreleased instrumental song of the same name. Mario said recently, "I've not worked with Graham since his album 'The Day I Went Mad' in 1998. We've always had a lot in common with music and we've been good friends for over twenty years. 'American Angel' is an instrumental song I wrote a couple of years ago for my wife Shawna, and I know that Graham's voice is perfect for the vocal version. Graham likes the song too, and I can't wait to hear him sing it."

The single will be released by MidnightCafé Music later in the year. A video for the song is also in the works.

Parga, born in Lytham, Lancashire, England on August 7, 1969, came into the spotlight during the late 1980s when he began appearing in numerous guitar and rock magazines such as Guitar Player, Metal Hammer, Kerrang!, Metal Forces and played a live guitar solo on MTV's "Metal Hammer" show.

During the early 1990s, Parga toured, played and recorded with numerous artists, most notably Cozy Powell and Graham Bonnet. In 1991, his debut guitar instrumental album "The Magician" was released by President Records. Following disillusionment with the music industry, Parga shied away from the scene until he re-emerged in Los Angeles in 1998, playing guitar on Graham Bonnet's "The Day I Went Mad".

Considered by many to be one of the greatest sweep arpeggio players of the guitar "shred" and neoclassical metal genres, Parga combines complex arpeggio patterns with rapid alternate picking, sweep-picking and string bending. He is also renowned for his emotive slower playing.

In 2000, Parga was approached by the guitar label Liquid Note Records and recorded his instrumental "Valse Diabolique" for their "The Alchemists" album. Two years later, he recorded his haunting ballad "Hourglass" for Lion Music's "Warmth in the Wilderness II", a tribute to fellow guitarist Jason Becker.

Early in 2007, Parga announced the creation of his own record label MidnightCafé Music (the name taken from his track "The Midnight Café" from "The Magician") and plans on releasing his future instrumental rock guitar music through it. His long-awaited new album "Entranced" was released on the label on April 14, 2007.

Mario Parga lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA with his wife Shawna and daughter Skye.

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