Emerald Web was an American musical duo, made up of the husband-wife team of Bob Stohl and Kat Epple. Founded in 1978 and active through the 1980s, Stohl and Epple were pioneers in New Age, ambient, and electronic music.

History

In the early 1970s, Bob Stolh and Kat Epple met at a

jam session A jam session is a relatively informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp over tunes, drones, songs, and chord progressions. To "jam" is to improvise music without exte ...

at the University of Florida. They relocated to Connecticut and established Emerald Web in 1978. Both Stohl and Epple had trained as keyboardists and flute players before learning how to program, patch, and play synthesizers to incorporate into their music. After purchasing an Electronic Music Labs SynKey 2001, the duo began to provide feedback and consultations to the synth manufacturer. The albums ''Dragon Wings and Wizard Tales'' (1979) and ''Whispered Visions'' (1980) were both produced in Connecticut. In 1980, the couple relocated to San Francisco to be closer to the growing New Age music scene and set up their own home recording studio in the hills above Berkeley. They also established their own record label, Stargate Records, to release their music on cassette tape. In the 1980s, Emerald Web gained a growing audience and were often featured on the influential New Age radio program ''

Hearts of Space ''Hearts of Space'' is an American weekly syndicated public radio show featuring music of a contemplative nature"When you listen to space and ambient music you are connecting with a tradition of contemplative sound experience whose roots are an ...

''. Due in part to their friendship with scientists, the duo performed at non-traditional music venues such as the California Academy of Sciences, Morrison Planetarium, and Chabot Astronomical Observatory. In 1990, the duo relocated to Fort Myers, Florida. The partnership ended with Stohl's accidental death by drowning in March 1990, at the age of 35.

Musical style and influence

Emerald Web composed and recorded music in the New Age and electronic genres. They were known for innovative synthesizer orchestration and created a unique blend of "electronic space music" made by using synthesizers, sequencers, and acoustic instruments. Both Epple and Stohl were also flautists; their flute-dominated music achieved a distinctive sound among New Age artists. Stohl was also noted for his musicianship on the Lyricon, a woodwind/synthesizer hybrid. Their recordings featured electronic instruments such as the

Minimoog The Minimoog is an analog synthesizer first manufactured by Moog Music between 1970 and 1981. Designed as a more affordable, portable version of the modular Moog synthesizer, it was the first synthesizer sold in retail stores. It was first popul ...

, an Oberheim sequencer, and the ARP 2600. Many of their records were composed and recorded in their own home studio using a 4-track reel-to-reel and released on Stargate Records, their own home label. Thematically, their work was influenced by hard science and technology (including astronomy and early computing) as well as science fiction and fantasy. In addition to recording their music and performing in concert, Emerald Web composed many television soundtracks, including National Geographic, PBS Nova, CNN,

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, NASA, and Carl Sagan's documentary films. They won several

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

s. They also composed music for a wide range of other applications, from films to planetarium shows. They received a

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

nomination in 1986 for their album ''Catspaw''.

Kat Epple solo career

Epple continued to compose and record under her own name as a solo artist and with the ensemble White Crow (1997). She also played flute and other instruments on Devin Townsend's records ''

Ghost A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...

Z² ''Z²'' (short for ''Ziltoid 2''; pronounced " zed squared" or alternatively "zee two") is a double album by Canadian musician Devin Townsend and his musical project Devin Townsend Project, released on October 27, 2014. It consists of two albu ...

Casualties of Cool ''Casualties of Cool'' is the debut album of Canadian country rock duo Casualties of Cool, consisting of Canadian musicians Devin Townsend and Ché Aimee Dorval, released on May 14, 2014. It is a musical departure from any of Townsend's previous ...

, The Puzzle and Snuggles''. On her own and as part of Emerald Web, Epple has won eight Emmys and ten Addy Awards for work in composing music for television.

Discography

* 1979 - ''Dragon Wings and Wizard Tales'' * 1980 - ''Whispered Visions'' * 1980 - ''Sound Trek'' * 1981 - ''Valley of the Birds'' * 1982 - ''Aqua Regia'' * 1983 - ''Love Unfolding'', with Jay Scott Neale * 1983 - ''Nocturne'' * 1984 - ''Lights of the Ivory Plains'' * 1986 - ''Traces of Time'' * 1986 - ''Catspaw'' * 1988 - ''Dreamspun'' * 1990 - ''Manatee Dreams of Neptune'' * 2013 - ''Sanctus Spiritus'' * 2013 - ''Garden of Mirrors'' * 2013 - ''The Stargate Tapes: 1979-1983'' * 2014 - ''Whispered Visions (re-release)'' * 2019 - ''Sound Trek (remastered)'' * 2020 - ''Valley of the Birds (remastered)''

References

External links