Thanks from ProgDay 2026!

(September 14, 2026)

ProgDay would like to extend heartfelt thanks to our wonderful audience and incredible bands for making the 31st edition of ProgDay the kind of experience that we look forward to having every year. Seeing familiar faces and hanging with old friends, seeing new faces and making new friends, and sitting in the open air listening to great live music all combines to create the unique weekend we call ProgDay.

Special credit goes to our ProgDay attendees for their crafting of the experience. There are few festivals where the audience is so directly responsible for the physical environment and vibe of the event. The city of tents, the decorated shelters, the community gatherings, and uncounted other little flourishes create a ProgDay culture that has emerged and developed over the years as attendees have made the festival their own.

The musicians on stage were universally impressed by the open ears and musical consideration of the attendees. ProgDay is a rare event where the listeners are not only open to hearing new and unknown music, but have come to expect it and embrace it. This is not lost on the performers. This is not the first year where I have heard bands that have played all over the country express that the ProgDay audience is the best audience.

To those who are longtime attendees, thank you for continuing your pilgrimage to the festival. It couldn’t happen without you. To those who were first-timers at the event, we hope you had fun, liked some of the music, made new friends, and enjoyed the overall ambiance of ProgDay. If you did, we hope the experience was good enough that you will hang with us again next year.

A big shout out to the sound and stage crews. As with the audience, all the bands commented on how great the crew was to work with and how they facilitated the ease, vibe and quality of the production.

Huge thanks to those who generously donated their time as volunteers to make sure that the festival ran smoothly. You are an important part of ProgDay. Whether you helped with parking, the trash, working the ticket booth, or any of the many other things that have to be addressed over the weekend, your effort and time is invaluable and appreciated.

We need to acknowledge and thank those who made monetary donations to the festival. Recently our operating expenses have greatly increased. Being a modest event with a modest budget, there is no way to overstate the significance of the donations we receive from people who want to see the festival continue. Once again we were blown away by the generosity.

Thanks also to everyone who contributed items and bought tickets to this year’s ProgDay raffle. Instigated and coordinated by Ray Loboda, this year our raffle was to benefit Stanley Whitaker, a long-time friend of and performer at ProgDay, who has been dealing with health issues. Starting with one prize, the raffle ultimately expanded and raised over $2000.

The supportive and generous audience, the attentive and conscientious crew, the superlative musicians, the open-air environment, the joy and kindness exhibited on the field: it all transforms the field at Storybook Farm into a temporary haven of great music, festival fellowship and good times.

Thanks to everyone for their participation and we hope to see you all again next year.

(photo by Michael Inman)

Last Two Bands for ProgDay 2026!

(August 6, 2026)

PKT

The genre-defying chemistry of PKT features legendary Welsh fretless bassist Percy Jones (Brand X, Brian Eno, Phil Collins), sonic guitarist Tim Motzer (David Sylvian, Jake Liebezeit, David Torn), and drummer Kenny Grohowski (John Zorn, Secret Chiefs 3, Imperial Triumphant). The band was distilled from PAKT when Alex Skolnick’s intensifying schedule with Testament pre-empted touring and Jones suggested an alternate path. The result is PKT. Improvisational at heart, with big chunks of composition intertwined, PKT searches to illuminate and uncover new musical territories and pathways, moving beyond yesterday’s electric jazz, ambient, prog, and electronic sound worlds into a new language.

Sonus Umbra

The band was founded in Mexico in the early 1990s under the name Radio Silence before relocating to the United States and adopting the name SONUS UMBRA. Led by bassist and composer Luis Nasser, the music is dark, symphonic progressive rock, mixing elements of progressive folk, symphonic rock, hard rock and heavy prog. With influences ranging from Rush and Jethro Tull to King Crimson and Pink Floyd, the band's sound remains distinctly its own. Since their first performance at ProgDay in 2017, the band has released two more albums, and will be featuring material from their new album to be released in October.

Weekend & Patron Passes Now On Sale!

(July 20, 2026)

Advance sales of ProgDay 2026 Weekend Passes and Patron Passes have begun. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit the TICKETS page.

Next Band for ProgDay 2026!

(July 16, 2026)

Refestramus

A Chicago-based progressive project led by drummer and songwriter Derek Ferguson, REFESTRAMUS (re-fes-TRA-mus) crafts a sound that sits at the intersection of classic American pomp rock (Styx, Kansas, Starcastle) and the adventurous spirit of British prog (Van der Graaf Generator, Porcupine Tree). Named after a word Ferguson's mother coined to mean "rearrange," REFESTRAMUS lives up to its moniker. The music is a restless recombination of classic prog ambition, cinematic lyrical storytelling, Slavic and Latin folk traditions, and modern hard rock energy. The band’s lighthearted and varied approach presents its storytelling through heavy riffs, intricate arrangements, and soulful grooves, all blended with melodic rock and pomp, to create music that Prog Magazine has praised for its “high-brow concepts and bizarre comedic turns…a home-cooked slice of melody-rich prog.”

Fifth Band for ProgDay 2026!

(June 27, 2026)

Consider The Source

With a reputation for a sound that defies easy categorization, CONSIDER THE SOURCE’s “Sci-Fi Middle Eastern Fusion” is a blend of progressive rock, improvisatory jazz, and influences from Indian and Middle Eastern music, delivered with a psychedelic touch. This unique fusion comes from members' personal studies; Gabriel Marin studied in India, and John Ferrara has studied South Indian rhythm. While incorporating ancient traditions, the band's execution is fiercely modern and futuristic. At one moment, you're floating through atmospheric passages with delicate, vocal-like melodies. The next, you're slammed by heavy, riff-driven assaults. This is all powered by technical virtuosity and their distinctive, cutting-edge instruments. The band's 2024 album, The Stare (produced by David Prater, known for his work with Dream Theater), highlights a heavier metal influence while maintaining their signature improvisational and cultural elements. If you missed them at ProgDay 2012, now is your opportunity to catch up.

Next Band for ProgDay 2026!

(June 22, 2026)

Isolation Tank Ensemble

During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, ISOLATION TANK ENSEMBLE created a self-imposed "COVID bubble" that allowed members to rehearse intensively and develop a distinctive collaborative chemistry and eclectic musical direction. What emerged is self-described by the band as "trash prog,” highlighting the band’s heavy aggressive approach to progressive music. The instrumental ensemble is known for crafting big, thematic songs that are rich with layered sonic textures. Their sound is an adventurous fusion of progressive metal, noise rock, jazz, and even Balkan music, that creates a dynamic and unpredictable listening experience, delivered with a collective disregard of genre boundaries.

First Three Bands for ProgDay 2026!

(May 22, 2026)

Discipline

Hailing from Detroit, Michigan, DISCIPLINE has been an important element of the American progressive rock scene since their formation in 1987. Led by the distinctive vision of singer/songwriter Matthew Parmenter, DISCIPLINE has built a dedicated global following anchored by their 1997 masterpiece, Unfolded Like Staircase. Known for their intense literary lyrics, dramatic compositions, and emotionally charged performances, DISCIPLINE’s signature sound returns to Storybook Farm for their first appearance in 10 years.

French TV

Blending the aggressive precision of Rock in Opposition (RIO), the quirky melodicism of Canterbury, the raw energy of fusion, and the unpredictable timing of cartoon soundtracks, FRENCH TV offers a singular listening experience. The music is a tightrope walk between highbrow complexity and irreverent fun that can be simultaneously hilarious and highly challenging, making it one of America’s most original prog rock outfits. It is also one of the longest lived, having created 16 albums, with multiple tours of Europe and the US, and performances at many major festivals. Founded in 1983, 40 years later FRENCH TV are still here and better than ever!

Bruteus

Creating instrumental rock that draws from 1970s hard rock, psychedelic music, and contemporary progressive structures, BRUTEUS’s music is built around guitar-led compositions. Rather than a conventional rhythm section foundation, bass and drums contribute equally to the arrangements. The trio's approach prioritizes composed material over extended improvisation with music moving through multiple sections, tempo changes, metric shifts, and variations in dynamics. Sometimes heavy and distorted, other times intimate and atmospheric, BRUTEUS has developed a sound rooted in instrumental composition, dynamic shifts, and trio-based interplay.

ProgDay 2026 News Coming Soon!

(May 7, 2026)

This is just a quick post to confirm that ProgDay 2026 will be happening on Labor Day weekend, Saturday and Sunday, September 5 and 6, at Storybook Farm in Chapel Hill, NC. The first band announcements will be coming soon. Until then, the lineup and info for ProgDay 2025 will remain on the ProgDay website. Stay tuned…

(photo by Michael Inman)