Today's Day in Rock News !

Today's Day in Rock


Eric Clapton Suffers Back Injury
(Classic Rock) Eric Clapton has cancelled two concerts after suffering severe back pain. The iconic guitarist is receiving medical attention after being forced to call off shows in Vienna, Austria and Stuttgart, Germany this week.
It's not known whether he'll appear for the next scheduled gig in Oberhausen, Germany, on Friday. A statement says: "He is currently with specialists who will be able to better determine the course of treatment.

"He was looking forward to these concerts and regrets that he is not to be able to perform for the fans. He would like to apologise for any inconveniences these cancellations may cause and would like to thank the fans for their understanding." more on this story



Dillinger Escape Plan Injury Forces Tour Cancelation
The Dillinger Escape Plan have canceled their upcoming European tour plans after guitarist Ben Weinman suffered an injury to his right hand and wrist.

Weinman will be spending the month of June recovering from his injury and the band plans to still take part in this year's Summer Slaughter festival tour with Animals As Leaders, Periphery, Norma Jean, Cattle Decapitation, The Ocean, Revocation, Aeon, Rings of Saturn and Thy Art Is Murder.

"I'm heartbroken that we will miss these shows because we were all looking forward to them a great deal," Weinman said. "Obviously nobody likes being injured. I'm looking forward to performing on Summer Slaughter at full capacity and we will be back in Europe this fall on our headlining tour."

frontman Greg Puciato adds, "Leaving for tour knowing that we would be performing without all members on stage isn't something any of us are comfortable with. Ben is going to take the next month to heal and we'll be ready to demolish Summer Slaughter and return to Europe in the fall with all systems loaded and ready to go."

That will give him a little over a month to recover as the Summer Slaughter festival tour is set to kick off on July 19th in San Francisco, CA. more on this story




Black Sabbath Release End Of The Beginning Video and Stream Town Hall
(hennemusic) Black Sabbath's new album, "13", hit stores on Tuesday and the band celebrated the occasion with a live event broadcast which included the premiere of the video for their new single, "End Of The Beginning."

The clip was filmed when Sabbath made their guest appearance on the season finale of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation last month. The band were featured in the opening scene of the show as they rocked a small club with the new track.

Ozzy Osbourne had a short speaking role as he did a post-performance interview with a journalist who would play a role throughout the episode. Check out the video here.

Yesterday the band are participating in a live Town Hall event simultaneously from various parts of the globe: Ozzy Osbourne and Geezer Butler appeared from the live event at Angel Orensanz Foundation For Contemporary Art in New York City; Tony Iommi connected from Birmingham, England; and, "13" drummer Brad Wilk and Jack Osbourne (who directed the clips to launch the album) joined live face-to-face via Google+ Hangout from Los Angeles. Check out a stream here.





Metallica Won't Release New Album Until 2015?
MTV News caught up with Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett at last weekend's Orion Music + More festival in Detroit and learned that while the band is writing material for a new album, fans can not realistically expect it to be release until 2015.

"We do have a lot of musical ideas, we have something called 'the Riff Bank,' and the Riff Bank keeps getting bigger and bigger, still, to this day," Hammett said. "I'm writing stuff, Rob's writing stuff, James is writing stuff, Lars is writing stuff, continually expanding the Riff Bank.

"So, it doesn't look like we're going to be putting out an album any time soon this year, it would be an amazing stroke of luck and grace if our album came out next year.

But then he added "I think it's a more sober statement to say that the album will probably come out in 2015. That's a sober, realistic thing ... but we're psyched about it."

As for what he expects the new album to sound like, he said, "It's too early in the game to tell you it will sound like Death Magnetic. We have a lot of ideas but no actual finished songs, so it's hard for me to give you an accurate description. But we're looking forward to making it as heavy and as high-energy as possible, because that's what we want." Check out the MTV interview here.




Gary Clark Jr To Jam With The Rolling Stones
(hennemusic) The Rolling Stones will be joined by special guest Gary Clark Jr. tonight in Boston, the first of two shows in the city this week.

The concert marks the 14th stop on the Stones 18-date "50 & Counting" arena tour, which has seen the band play with a variety of guests, including John Fogerty, Tom Waits, Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood and Dave Grohl.

Clark Jr. previously teamed up with the Stones twice in December: at the first North American concert in Brooklyn, he played "I'm Going Down" with the band; Gary then played the same song – along with fellow guest John Mayer – as part of the group's live pay-per-view event from New Jersey. Check out video of that jam here.




Eric Singer KISS Tired Of Haters
(Classic Rock) KISS drummer Eric Singer has had enough of fans voicing negative opinions about the band's current incarnation. He insists the present lineup, featuring himself and guitarist Tommy Thayer alongside founders Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, cares as much about their legacy as the classic outfit which included Peter Criss and Ace Frehley.

Singer is enjoying his third stint with Kiss since first joining in 1991, and has appeared on the band's acclaimed recent albums Sonic Boom and Monster.

He tells Radio Nova: "The people that want to complain about 'I don't like this,' or 'I don't like that,' 'They should play this song,' or 'I only want the original band…' The bottom line is: this is how Kiss exists right now, in 2013. Be glad there's some version of Kiss and that we're out there touring.

"We have just as much passion and case just as much as the band ever did or ever could. That's what counts. If we didn't, we wouldn't be here. I mean, Gene and Paul don't need the money; they don't need to do this. They do it because they love doing it." more on this story





Bad Company Make Late Night TV Debut
(hennemusic) Bad Company made their US late night television debut on Monday night when they performed on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno. On hand to promote their 40th anniversary summer tour, the band played the title track to their self-titled 1973 debut album, "Bad Company."

The reunited band kick off their summer tour on June 15 in Rancho Mirage, CA. On June 20, Bad Company team up with Lynyrd Skynyrd in Auburn, WA for a series of co-headlining shows that run to July 27 in Bethel, NY.

Both bands celebrate significant 40th anniversaries in 2013, with Skynyrd having released their debut album on August 13, 1973 and Bad Company being formed that same year. Check out the Leno performance here.




Sigur Ros Streaming New Album and Announce New Tour Leg
Sigur Ros are giving fans an advance listen to their entire new album with an online stream and have also announced a North American tour that will take place this fall.

The band won't be releasing their new album, Kveikur, until next Tuesday ( June 18th) but they have teamed up with Amazon to provide fans will a full album stream that you can check out here..

The band doesn't only want fans to listen to the advance stream of Kveikur, have asked fans to share their reaction to it by posting photos, drawings, and more on their social media pages with the hashtag #kveikur detailing what they imagine in their heads while listening to the new album.

Bassist Georg Holm had this to say, "As a band we always write the music first and listen to it later to work out what it might be about. That's how we come up with the words, by approaching the music without preconceptions and seeking meaning that was hidden from us at the point of creation. The music tells us what it is about."

Sigur Ros have spent the past year on a global tour and have announced plans to launch the final leg of the campaign with a 20-date North American tour.

The new North American dates will kick off with the band's headline appearance at this year's Laneway Festival in Detroit on September. more on this story




Maps & Atlases' Dave Davison Shaves His Beard In New Video
Maps & Atlases have released a new music video for their latest singled, "Old Ash," which comes from the group's latest album Beware & Be Grateful.

The new video was directed by the band's drummer Christopher Hainey and was shot through a two-way mirror. The video features guitarist/vocalist Dave Davison shaving his beard for the first time in four years. Watch the video here.

The group will be hitting the road this summer for a series of North American dates that kicks off this weekend at the Bonnaroo Festival and concludes with an appearance at the Riot Fest in Chicago. more on this story




David Bowie Exhibition Headed To North America
(hennemusic) The David Bowie exhibition, "David Bowie Is," which is currently running at London's Victoria & Albert, will be headed to Toronto this September through November.

The Art Gallery Of Ontario (AGO) will host the event, which explores the creative processes of Bowie as a musical innovator and cultural icon across five decades.

On display will be more than 300 objects from Bowie's personal archive; among them are 60 stage-costumes including Ziggy Stardust bodysuits (1972) designed by Freddie Burretti, Kansai Yamamoto's flamboyant creations for the Aladdin Sane tour (1973) and the Union Jack coat designed by Bowie and Alexander McQueen for the Earthling album cover (1997).

Personal items such as handwritten set lists and lyrics, as well as some of Bowie's own sketches, musical scores and diary entries will also be shown. more on this story




The Darkness Plan Permission To Land 10th Anniversary Tour
(hennemusic) The Darkness will mark the 10th anniversary of their debut album, "Permission To Land", by performing the record in its entirety on a fall U.K. tour.

The band will also play a selection of hits, b-sides and album tracks during the shows, which begin November 13 in London; the 6-week trek wraps up December 16 in Norwich, UK.

"Permission To Land" hit #1 on the U.K. charts and went on to sell 1.5 million copies in the UK; the success propelled the group to three BRIT Awards in 2004 - Best Group, Best Rock Group and Best Album – while also snagging two 2004 Kerrang! Awards for Best Live Act and Best British Band. more on this story





TeamRock Radio To Launch With Iron Maiden Classic
(Classic Rock) TeamRock Radio will launch officially on Sunday, June 16 at 11.58pm. As that unconventional time indicates, the first song to be played on the station will be Iron Maiden's 2 Minutes To Midnight.

TeamRock Radio's launch will be the culmination of the Download festival, which starts on June 14 with Slipknot, Iron Maiden and Rammstein as headliners.

Once the festival ends, TeamRock Radio will make its official debut. Directly after spinning the Maiden classic the station will broadcast The Best Of Download 2013, a retrospective show telling the story of this year's festival.

In the lead-up to Download, TeamRock Radio will be sponsoring the Heavy Metal Truants – a 161-mile bicycle ride leaving Alexandra Palace on June 12 and arriving at the festival at midday on the 14th. This charity event will raise money for children's charities, Nordoff Robbins, Teenage Cancer Trust and Childline.

TeamRock Radio has released a 30-second commercial advertising its forthcoming launch. It will be broadcast on the big screens at Download this weekend – and you can get a sneak peek here.



Mastodon, BMRC, Suicidal Tendencies For Free Concert Series
Converse will be launching a free concert series later this month to celebrate what they consider are five genres of music that represent San Francisco and its residents.

The shows will be held at Slim's in San Francisco over a period of five nights beginning on June 23rd and continuing until the final show takes place on June 27th.

Among the bands tapped to appear at these free shows are Mastodon, Suicidal Tendencies, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Hot Chip, Deltron 3030 and more.

Converse will be giving tickets away to fans that submit a request online here before June 18th. They will notify the winners via email the procedure for retrieving the tickets. Lineup info.




Stephen Stills and Kenny Wayne Shepherd Supergroup Set Release
(Gibson) The Rides, a new all-star blues rock supergroup featuring guitarist Stephen Stills (Buffalo Springfield, CSN, CSN&Y), guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd and keyboardist Barry Goldberg (Electric Flag) release their debut album Can't Get Enough on Monday August 26 via Provogue Records.

The album, which was produced by Jerry Harrison (Talking Heads), includes co-written originals as well as covers of classics by Muddy Waters, Elmore James, Neil Young and — this might come as a bit of a surprise — Iggy and the Stooges. It was inspired by the now classic 1968 album Super Session, which featured Stills on guitar on one side and the late Mike Bloomfield on the other.

Stills says The Rides is the blues band of his dreams. What was initially a collaboration between Stills and Goldberg really kicked into high gear when Shepherd became involved.

"The Rides are a perfect mix of generations, where three musicians who love and play the blues collide and create music that goes beyond all our other individual life experiences and career achievement," Shepherd says. "Stephen and I have rock backgrounds as well, but the blues is the fabric that holds this all together."

The Rides will embark on a world tour beginning in September, with dates in the UK planned for November. more on this story






The Sword Announce North American Tour and New Beer
The Sword have announced North American summer tour in support of their latest album, Apocrypha, and they will be launching their next beer brand this summer.

The 25-date North American trek is set to kick off on July 25th in Dallas TX at Granada and will be concluding on August 23rd in Baton Rouge LA at Spanish Moon.

The group also announced that they have teamed up with Real Ale Brewing Company out Texas to launch their latest branded beer, which they are calling "Iron Swan."

"Iron Swan" will be the group's second branded beer, following the launch of their "Winters Wolves" last fall. The band will be officially launching "Iron Swan" in late July when their tour kicks off with a string of shows in Texas, according to the announcement.

Real Ale Brewing Company had the following description of the new beer, "Our newest canned offering is a tribute to the song that first introduced us to a packaging hall favorite, The Sword. Iron Swan pours a deep copper color and has an enticing intro of fruit and caramel with subtle hints of earth and spice. This medium bodied ale showcases the fruitiness of our house ale strain, along with the rich toffee flavors of English crystal malt. Added complexity is provided by generous amounts of English hops. Iron Swan finishes slightly dry with a mild spiciness that beckons another can. Fire up your turntable and audition Iron Swan yourself." more on this story




Beach Boys Box Set To Include 60 Previously Unreleased Songs
Capitol/UMe will be wrapping up their Beach Boys 50th Anniversary celebration with the release of a massive 6-CD box set collection that will include more than 60 previously unreleased tracks.

The new set will be entitled "Made In California" and is set to be released on August 27th in North American and on August 26th in other markets across the globe.

"Made In California" will include over seven and a half hours of music and is packaged in a high school annual-inspired hardbound book with personal recollections from the band's members, replicated classic artwork and memorabilia, photos from the band's archive, and handwritten yearbook-style inscriptions from Beach Boys Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston, and David Marks.

Capitol/UMe sent over these details as well as the full tracklisting: Made In California's memorabilia includes Brian Wilson's 1959 high school essay titled "My Philosophy," which is reproduced in the collection's book in its original handwritten form (the original is currently on display in The GRAMMY Museum's yearlong Beach Boys exhibit celebrating the band's 50-year career). In the essay, Wilson expresses his wish for a satisfying life, writing, "I don't want to settle for a mediocre life, but make a name for myself in my life's work, which I hope will be music."

"This box set captures the evolution of a dream which started with a family singing Everly Brothers songs around a piano, to creating the harmonies that fans would carry in their hearts for a lifetime," said Mike Love. "Seeing these photos and rediscovering some of this music, I'm reminded of the immense love I feel for Brian, Dennis, Carl, Bruce, Al, and David. I'm still floored that our stories continue to inspire new generations to catch a wave and ride it is long as it lasts."

Made In California's previously unreleased and long sought-after recordings include "Goin' To The Beach," "California Feelin'," "Soul Searchin'," "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling," and "You're Still A Mystery," among others. The set also debuts 17 unreleased live recordings, including "Runaway" (1965), "Friends" and "Little Bird" (1968), "Wild Honey" (1972), "It's About Time" (1973), "Wonderful" and "Vegetables" from The Beach Boys' legendary 1993 acoustic tour, and a 1995 rendition of "Sail On, Sailor" featuring a soulful lead vocal by the late Carl Wilson. The greatly missed talents of Carl and Dennis Wilson are also celebrated with rare and previously unreleased recordings including Dennis' "(Wouldn't It Be Nice To) Live Again," "Barnyard Blues" and "My Love Lives On," Carl's lead vocals on "Da Doo Ron Ron" and "Soul Searchin'," and Carl's shared lead with Bruce and Brian on "California Feelin'."

The set also features a special 'From The Vaults' disc of rarities selected by the band and the producers with longtime Beach Boys fans in mind. Among the disc's highlights are a cappella mixes of standout vocal recordings for songs including "This Whole World" and "Slip On Through," alternate versions of "Don't Worry Baby" and other Beach Boys classics, session highlights and instrumental tracks, plus newly-discovered BBC Radio live recordings from 1964 of "Wendy," "When I Grow Up (To Be A Man)," and "Hushabye." more including full tracklisting.




Gibson Guitar Announce New Company Name
(Gibson) The Gibson name is about more than just guitars. The Gibson brand is about leading innovations in music and sound into the next century. To represent Gibson's growing selection of products and evolving lifestyle orientation, today, Gibson Guitar Corp. has become Gibson Brands.

"Of course, the Gibson Guitar Corp. remains a vital, and crucially important, division of Gibson Brands," Gibson Brands Chairman and CEO Henry Juszkiewicz said in an official statement. "But with the recent acquisitions of TEAC, the Stanton Group, KRK, and Cerwin-Vega!, as well as a major investment in Onkyo, Gibson now encompasses the entire music and sound chain—from the first chord played by a songwriter on a Gibson guitar, until the music reaches the consumer through Onkyo's premium high-fidelity systems."

Gibson Brands has dominant market share positions in multiple business segments, including the number one dollar market share in electric guitars and pro audio studio monitors, and enjoys an ever-expanding global presence.

"Gibson guitars have always represented a fusion of technology, art, innovation, and craftsmanship, resulting in a premium range of musical instruments," Juszkiewicz stated. "Gibson Brands will continue to carry that ethos into all our products. Most importantly, we've never forgotten that Gibson Brands are about bringing the joy of music and sound to a world hungry for a positive quality of life." more on this story







Halestorm Release Lyric Video For New Single Featuring Slash
Halestorm have released their latest single, "Here's To Us," to radio and have also released a new lyric video for the song which features Guns N' Roses legend Slash.

The song comes from the group's sophomore album, "The Strange Case Of..." which was released in April pf 2012. You can watch the new lyric video here.

Halestorm will be kicking off their summer tour on June 29th in Green River, Wy at Stratton Myer's Park. The band have announced dates that last through November 29the where they will be performing at Terminal 5 in New York City. more on this story





Heaven & Earth Release Live Performance Video
Classic heavy rockers Heaven & Earth have released a new live performance video for their song "House of Blues" and will be releasing a new official video soon.

The "House of Blues" performance was captured during the band's new album release show at the Fonda Theater in Hollywood on June 6th. You can watch the video here.

The party was the for the release of the group's new studio album, Dig. The band is lead by former Sweet guitarist Stuart Smith and features vocalist Joe Retta, drummer Richie Onori, bassist Chuck Wright and keyboard Ed Roth.

The band will be releasing a traditional music video for the song "I Don't Know What Love Is" in the coming weeks.




How the Allman Brothers Band Launched Southern Rock
(Gibson) Gregg Allman once famously pointed out that the phrase "southern rock" contained a redundancy - after all, rock and roll was born in the American South.

"You may as well say 'rock rock'," Allman noted. True, perhaps, but there's no denying that at the turn of the '70s a new type of rock and roll emerged – one rooted in a smoldering blend of blues, jazz, country and R&B, and often served up by way of extended improvisations. Indisputably, the first group to bring all those elements together, and infuse them with earthy southern traditions, was the Allman Brothers Band.

Ironically, had it not been for the tragic death of soul legend Otis Redding, in 1967, the Allmans might never have come together. In the wake of Redding's passing, his manager, Phil Walden, turned his attention away from R&B and toward rock and roll – albeit rock with a distinctly southern vibe. With an advance of $70,000 from Atlantic Records, Walden set up the Atlantic subsidiary, Capricorn Records, and set out on a talent search.

One of the first musicians to catch his attention was Duane Allman, at the time a little-known guitarist doing session work at Muscle Shoals Studios. Upon hearing Allman's guitar work on Wilson Pickett's version of "Hey Jude," Walden become determined to sign him and build a band around him. After some personnel shuffling, the Allman Brothers Band was formed in 1969.

"Duane did some early recordings that didn't result in the formation of the Allman Brothers Band," Walden recalled, in 1998. "Later we used some of those cuts on the Duane Allman Anthology album. Things went forward, but even after the band came together we still didn't have a singer. Gregg was on the West coast and he didn't join the band for several weeks, or maybe even for a couple of months. When he did come in he sounded great, of course, but even after Gregg got there, if the Allman Brothers played an hour set, probably 40 minutes of it would be instrumental. For a lot of people the vocals were afterthoughts, to break up all that music. I thought they sounded spectacular."

Settling into a lineup of Duane, Gregg, Dickey Betts, Berry Oakley, Butch Trucks and Jaimoe Johanson, the Allmans first performed mostly in northern Florida and South Georgia. Their first show outside the south occurred in Boston, where they opened for the Velvet Underground. The northern music press was baffled not only by the band's newfangled music, but also by their shabby wardrobe.

"Most of the press didn't understand what the band was trying to do, musically," Walden pointed out. "Most of those press guys, at the time, were into bands like The Who or other English groups. The comments I heard that night were things like, 'You know, you ought to dress up those guys a bit.' I remember Duane made one of his classic remarks, which was, 'If you want to go to a fashion show, I suggest you go to the garment district. But if you want to hear rock and roll music, you shouldn't be too concerned about what we're wearing.'"

According to Walden, the Allman Brothers Band's self-titled first album sold only about 33,000 copies, with its follow-up doing moderately better. Still, the band's relentless tour schedule, which often included free shows, earned them a devoted following. Within a year the Allman Brothers became one of rock's most exciting live acts. Tangible proof of their on-stage power came in 1971, when they released their live double album tour-de-force, At Fillmore East. Culled from four spectacular shows at the famous New York City venue, the set forged a template for what southern rock would be, going forward. more.






Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry Tour Sea Shepherd
(hennemusic) Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry teamed up with Sea Shepherd Australia when the band was on tour in the country recently in support of their latest album, "Music From Another Dimension."

Tyler and Perry were treated to an in-depth tour of three of Sea Shepherd's ships – the Sam Simon, Bob Barker and Steve Irwin – currently docked in the organization's new ships operations base in Williamstown, Melbourne, Australia.

"Oceans and water is uncharted territory for human beings, they don't even know the beauty underneath there with a mask and a snorkel, I mean, very few do, it's certainly getting fished to death," said Tyler.

"The waters in Lake Sunapee, way up in New England are now depleted, the frogs are going, honey bees are going. I was just fortunate enough to just buy a house in Maui and the reefs out in front of my house, I live on Ahihi Bay, which is a fish sanctuary, and the reefs are going away. It's a very delicate ecosystem, you know, once a little bit goes awry, it all does, it's all connected."

"I always heard about Malibu and all the movie stars that live out there and I found out you've got to get a tetanus shot if you go swimming in it," added Perry