Blonde Vinyl Memorial | Veil of Ashes

Veil of Ashes was an alternative band influenced by The Doors and Gene Loves Jezebel. They were a local favorite in the San Francisco bay area, but never seemed to get much national attention. Their Blonde Vinyl release seems to be titled as a compilation, but the liner notes indicate that all songs were recorded in a short period right before the album's release. Some of the songs had appeared on an earlier demo.

Prayers For The World
Realty Records (1987)
Produced by Nelson DeMarco

Sean Doty - poet, guitar
Phil Meads - drums
Sterling - bass

Chuck Harris - Engineer

01)	I.C.U.	2:44	Doty / Sterling	also on The Young & The Reckless
02)	Only Love	3:16	Doty / Sterling	also on The Young & The Reckless and Nëgro
03)	Falling	3:56	Doty / Sterling	also on The Young & The Reckless
04)	I Know	3:27	Doty / Sterling	also on The Young & The Reckless

A special thanks to Lance Harris, who provided a copy of this cassette for me to add informationon this album.

Nëgro
Realty Records (TP0002 1987)
Produced by Nelson DeMarco and VOA

Sean Doty - guitar, poet, voice, piano
Sterling - bass
Phil Meads - drums, percussion

Nelson DiMarco - keyboards

01)	Tears on the Red	3:40	Doty / Sterling	also on The Young & The Reckless
02)	Hide Me	4:23	Doty / Sterling	re-recorded on Pain
03)	Liturgy	5:41	Doty / Sterling	also on The Young & The Reckless
04)	Let Me Die	3:20	Doty / Sterling	also on The Young & The Reckless
05)	Without Eyes	3:21	Doty / Sterling	re-recorded on Pain
06)	Blood & Fire	3:29	Doty / Sterling	also on The Young & The Reckless
07)	Only Love	3:55	Doty / Sterling	also on The Young & The Reckless
08)	Apology	3:19	Doty / Sterling	also on The Young & The Reckless

Pain
Graceland (CD09074 1989)
Produced by Gene Eugene

Sterling - bass
Phil Meads - drums
Sean Doty - vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, harmonica, poet
Lance Harris - keyboards, Hammond B-3, piano, lead electric & acoustic guitars

Gene Eugene - piano on "Come Unto Me"
Derri Daugherty - backing vocals on "Time Changes"
Steve Hindalong - backing vocals on "Time Changes"
Joseph Linn - percussion

01)	The Times They Are A Changin'	3:53	Bob Dylan
02)	And They Call It Love	3:50	Harris/ Meads/ Doty/ Sterling
03)	Without Eyes	3:22	Harris/ Meads/ Doty/ Sterling
04)	Corpse	4:36	Harris/ Meads/ Doty/ Sterling
05)	Suicide	3:27	Harris/ Meads/ Doty/ Sterling
06)	She	3:27	Harris/ Meads/ Doty/ Sterling
07)	Take My Hand	4:05	Harris/ Meads/ Doty/ Sterling
08)	Testimony	5:09	Harris/ Meads/ Doty/ Sterling
09)	The Cross Was His Own	3:31	(author unknown)
10)	Hide Me	4:23	Harris/ Meads/ Doty/ Sterling
11)	Come Unto Me	5:21	Harris/ Meads/ Doty/ Sterling

Other Information:
This album was intended to be the first part of a trilogy, the following albums to be called Passion and Promise.

The Young And Reckless: The Regression of Veil of Ashes
Blonde Vinyl Records (BVCD3372 1992)
Produced by Veil of Ashes, Nelson Di Marco, Shona Davidson, and John Dlugosh

Sterling - bass
Sean Doty - vocals, guitars
Phil Meads - drums. percussion
Lance Harris - guitars on "Passion Play"

Nelson DiMarco - keyboards

01)	Passion Play	4:34	Doty / Harris
02)	I.C.U.	2:37	Doty / Sterling	originally on Prayers For The World
03)	Tears On The Red	3:37	Doty / Sterling	originally on Negro
04)	Falling	3:14	Doty / Sterling	originally on Prayers For The World
05)	Liturgy	5:37	Doty / Sterling	originally on Negro
06)	Let Me Die	3:17	Doty / Sterling	originally on Negro
07)	Blood & Fire	3:22	Doty / Sterling	originally on Negro
08)	Only Love	3:52	Doty / Sterling	originally on Prayers For The World and Negro
09)	I Know	3:22	Doty / Sterling	originally on Prayers For The World
10)	Apology	3:16	Doty / Sterling	originally on Negro

Other Information:
This album contains one post-Pain song, as well as everything off of Prayers For The World and Nëgro that had not been re-recorded on Pain.

Veil of Ashes ep
Realty Records (1991)

Sean Doty - vocals, guitar
Sterling - bass, vocals
Jeremy Hawley - drums
Scott Anderson - guitars

01)	I Hope I Left You Smiling	Doty / Sterling	re-recorded on Mr. Sunshine
02)	20 Loves (One With a Promise)	Doty	re-recorded on Mr. Sunshine
03)	Pimps and Preachers	Doty / Sterling	re-recorded on Mr. Sunshine
04)	Bed of Roses	Doty	re-recorded on Mr. Sunshine
05)	Stygian Shore (unplugged)	Doty	re-recorded on Mr. Sunshine

This ep was released before the band changed names to Veil. The song list above is the first one I have. Another version lists three songs: "Marilyn's Right To Twinkle," "I Hope I Left You Smiling," and "Bed of Roses".

Sean Doty and Sterling Shortened their band name to Veil after their Blonde Vinyl release. The recruited some new members and released an album in 1992.

Sean Doty formed a band named Unveiled and released an independent CD called "Youth Music" in 2000.

Mr. Sunshine
Eden Records (FLD9791 1992)
Produced by Veil and Masaki Lui

Sean Doty - vocals, guitars
Mike Jackson - drums, vocals
Rich Medina - keyboards
Brendan Merithew - guitars, vocals
Sterling - bass, vocals

Masaki Lui - violin
Scott Anderson - additional guitars on tracks 3, 8, 11, 12, and 13
Jeremy Hawley - Drums on track 13

01)	Marilyn's Right To Twinkle	3:02	Doty
02)	Good Times	3:38	Doty / Sterling
03)	The Hunger	4:35	Doty / Sterling
04)	Mr. Sunshine	4:12	Doty / Sterling
05)	A Cry For Help	5:06	Jackson
06)	Pimps And Preachers	3:55	Doty / Sterling
07)	20 Loves (One With Promise)	4:13	Doty
08)	This Love	2:27	Cake / Sterling
09)	Norwegian Wood	3:44	John Lennon / Paul McCartney
10)	Queen For A Day	5:08	Doty / Medina
11)	Bed Of Roses	3:14	Doty
12)	Stygian Shore	4:24	Doty
13)	I Hope I Left You Smiling	3:21	Doty / Sterling
14)	Three Years Old	6:42	Merithew

Veil of Ashes Official FaceBook Page

Hey . . .go ahead and add some MP3's . . . I say so . . . and I wrote them!! haha . . . Hiya MikeSean Doty

Comment posted by sean doty on Tuesday, January 01, 2008 at 02:42 PM

actually,the recordings for the young and restless were the exact same recordings we used for negro (pronounced with a long a sound, spanish for black) and yes this the sterling from veil. i'm being interviewed by for jerry wilson's book right now "god's not dead and neither are we" i'm always surprised to see still interested in us after 20 years. good luck and god bless.p.s. add some mp3's i wrote them too......ha,ha

Comment posted by sterling on Sunday, April 13, 2008 at 08:01 AM

Thanks for that information - I look forward to reading that book. I was wondering if those were the same recordings - I'll have to change the info. I would love to put up some mp3s - but need to get on a better hosting service. You two ever thought of doing a MySpace tribute site? That could be a cool idea.

Comment posted by Knotthead Matt on Thursday, April 24, 2008 at 01:08 PM

I guess I'm the first fan to write on this post. Hi guys! Loved everything growing up as a kid, gave me great music to listen to. I was inspired all the way.

Comment posted by Will Lewis on Tuesday, September 02, 2008 at 10:54 AM

I have really great memories of being in high school and listening to your music. Pain was one of my first CDs. I've also got Negro on cassette. I got a job working at a Christian radio station in the early '90's and will never forget hearing from the program manager that we were no longer allowed to play your music because they felt the song "Queen for a Day" was praising a homosexual. I didn't get a copy Mr. Sunshine when it first came out and it disappeared from the shelves (never to return) shortly after that. I did manage to grab the MP3's in the early Napster days. I absolutely loved the song "Three Years Old."My son turns one tomorrow. I've been humming "Three Years Old" all day...

Comment posted by Steve Warner on Saturday, February 07, 2009 at 11:11 AM

Hey there...it's Lance Harris! I joined Veil of Ashes in late 1987. I actually got the audition from John Dlugosh - a long time friend of Veil. I loved their music and felt honored to join an established band. They had already released 2 independent recordings and were looking to sign a recording deal. I had the privilege of playing with them for 3 1/2 years before departing in 1991. Sean and I co-wrote only 2 songs together..."She" from "Pain" and "Passion Play" from the "Young

Comment posted by Lance Harris on Tuesday, March 03, 2009 at 09:48 AM

I picked up "Pain" on audio cassette at a Christian bookstore in 1991 for $3. I wore out that tape by playing it over and over. I bought the CD in 2001 from radrockers.com. I still have the album and I still listen to it frequently. Musicially and lyrically and vocally it is a great album from start to finish. It's not one of those albums were you like a couple of tracks here and there; it's a piece of artwork that is designed to be enjoyed in one sitting to really appreciate the brilliance of it.

Comment posted by Joseph Bertrand on Thursday, April 09, 2009 at 08:53 PM

hey, it's me again...a year later. amazed to see lance harris's comment there. any way i live in las vegas now (my home town) and work in the pharmacy industry now. i haven't done anything musically for 10 years. last thing i did was with dave kuening from the killers about a year before he and brandon started that band. before that i did a few goth bands i.e. "they, rahne.." and sat in other bands. thanx everyone for your continued love. oh, i found the original masters for "negro" in some boxes i had in storage. YEA!!

Comment posted by sterling on Friday, May 29, 2009 at 05:22 AM

Sterling,I was in Vegas this week. Give me a call so we can catch up. Been trying to get in touch with you over the years. Look me up.Best!

Comment posted by John Dlugosh on Friday, May 29, 2009 at 03:35 PM

hey, it's me again. just to let everyone know that the interviews i did for jerry wilson weren't able to make it by the deadline for his book. however, i do believe that sean got stuff in there...go find it and read it. mazeltov!!!!!!!!

Comment posted by sterling on Sunday, July 19, 2009 at 08:17 AM

Sterling, it's good to know you're out there. I've reconnected with Sean and Shona on Facebook. Hope you're doing well. I missed you guys a lot in the 90s. Chalk up my falling off the face of the earth to a weird girlfriend and poor choices...Lloyd, roadie and hanger-on (remember Pepperdine and Chicago?)

Comment posted by Lloyd Woodall on Sunday, August 09, 2009 at 09:27 PM

Dear Lloyd,ya gotta love the weird girlfriends

Comment posted by sterling on Thursday, September 24, 2009 at 06:37 AM

I have all these albums...to bad they are no longer working on music.

Comment posted by Pookumz on Saturday, September 26, 2009 at 02:48 PM

If anyone can add details to the "Prayers For The World" demo (songs, cover, etc), please let me know.

Comment posted by Knotthead Matt on Saturday, September 26, 2009 at 02:48 PM

"Prayers for the World"....I don't have any copies but,the cover art was done by me by using an old using an old 18oo's drawing of the virgin Mary with my own hand drawn oval w/flowers frame around it.I was kinda copying a style that was being done by 4AD records out of England...the company that brought us Cocteau Twins, Throwing Muses, Wofgang Press and Dead Can Dance...both "Prayers for the World" and "Negro" were titled by me also. After I purchased a data base of over 500 coolege radio stations thrue out the U.S. and Canada, I sent them to every station and were actually being charted #1 in some Mid-Western statons.

Comment posted by Sterling on Tuesday, November 24, 2009 at 10:24 AM

Come on over to the new Facebook site entitled simply "Veil of Ashes". We'd love to see you there!

Comment posted by Sean Doty on Sunday, February 21, 2010 at 08:27 PM

I have some items from "Prayers for the World". My brother King, who ran the soundboard with John Dlugosh for our shows, gave me all of his note books from his time working with Veil. I was amazed at how detailed they are...he did a lot of work for Veil that was behind the scenes. If you'd like, contact me, and I'd be happy to get you whatever I have. I do have several copies of the "Prayers" demo as well.

Comment posted by Lance Harris on Monday, March 08, 2010 at 04:38 PM

hey there's my brother^^(Richard)

Comment posted by Cynder on Monday, March 08, 2010 at 04:38 PM