Today's Day in Rock News !

Today's Day in Rock


Iron Maiden Drummer's Wife Arrested
(hennemusic) Rebecca McBrain, wife of Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain, was arrested and charged with battery on February 24th after she allegedly tried to stab a man in her home with a decorative lance, according to Boca News Now.
Police say the stabbing attempt failed, but Rebecca was successful in hitting the victim with logs that had been sitting in a firepit behind her home.

McBrain was booked into the Palm Beach County Jail released on $3,000 bond. Rebecca has pled not guilty in the incident; she is due in court on May 3. more on this story



Van Halen's David Lee Roth Laughs Off Rumor That's He's Gay
(Classic Rock) Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth has laughed off the suggestion that he married his male chef in a civil ceremony, and explained why he'll never get married.

And the singer says he's glad he split with Van Halen during the 1980s – because it made him a more interesting person.

Roth tells Buzzfeed.com: "I've lived alone my whole adult life. I've had girlfriends. I've had love affairs. Never longer than a year and a half.

"I'm the drunk who won the lottery – I'm going to be very difficult to convince of a lot of traditional things. I put off getting married when I found out: oh, you don't really have to!"

He returned to Van Halen in 2006 after leading a solo career, and was at the helm for last year's album A Different Kind Of Truth. "I wonder who I might have been had I stayed in the band," he reflects. "Not as interesting, not as involved. more on this story




Biffy Clyro Cancel Tour For Medical Reasons
Biffy Clyro have been forced to pull out of their remaining North American tour dates which included a performance at Coachella this weekend and return to the UK for medical reasons.

The band announced that Simon Neil has been struggling with a serious respiratory problem and has been advised by doctors that he would endanger his long term health if he continued the tour.

The band apologized for the cancelation and they hope to soon announce some new North American tour dates. They also said that their upcoming UK and European dates this Summer should go forward as planned.




Sebastian Bach Writing His Autobiography
(hennemusic) While promoting his new live DVD set, "ABachalypse Now," Sebastian Bach is sharing some details about another project: his autobiography.

"I'm working on it now and I have a big offer from a big book company," Bach tells Metal Shrine. "I'm pretty much the only rock and roller who doesn't have a book. I'm working on it now, actually."

Asked if he would reveal all the stories from his rock n' roll past, Sebastian explains, "Someone said that it's not proper to put people down in a book and I agree with that. Sometimes when I read books and the author is bitter and wants to put people down, it doesn't come across well in the book, to me. I want it to be a positive book. I don't want to rip people apart or put them down. I don't like that in books."

Bach also revealed that he is working on the project on his own. "When I first got the deal, they wanted me to use a co-writer and I thought that was bullsh*t," he says, "but at the same time, I had proved to them that I was capable of writing a book, so they said, 'OK, we'll give you a chance.' I wrote, like, 25 pages and they loved it. They loved my writing and they said, 'Yeah, Sebastian, you can write it all on your own!' That was extremely important to me and like a milestone. I said, 'I can? Wow!'" more on this story




Deep Purple Release DVD Preview Clip
(Classic Rock) Deep Purple have released a clip from the bonus DVD to be packaged with deluxe versions of upcoming album Now What?!

In the near five-minute video the band discuss how producer Bob Ezrin's attention to detail brought out the best in them, with frontman Ian Gillan claiming he was asked: "When you inhale, could you do it with more pathos?"

Keyboardist Don Airey says: "He's got a great idea of how music should resolve. It's something musicians never think about. He sees that you want to give people a bit of closure. He's great for that – he made us think, 'What's the point of this bit?' We'd close it down or throw it out." Check out the clip here.





Black Sabbath Add Second Hometown Show
(hennemusic) Black Sabbath have added a second homecoming concert to their "13" world tour after their first Birmingham show sold out quickly.

Following the sell out of the first hometown show, the band have announced a second date in the city, set for the NIA on December 22.

The metal legends will launch their 2013 tour this Saturday in Auckland, New Zealand. The shows are in support of the band's forthcoming new album, "13," which is due June 11. more on this story




3 Doors Down and Daughtry Team Up Again For Summer Tour
3 Doors Down will be hitting the road once again with Daughtry this summer when they launch a third leg of their North American coheadlining tour.

This new run will feature support from Halestorm and is set to begin on July 5 at the PNC Waterside Pavilion in Solomons. MD, and will wrap up on August 3rd in 3 Cleveland, OH.

3 Doors Down frontman Brad Arnold had this to say, "We are looking forward to great summer touring with our friends in Daughtry! Everyone had so much fun on the last two legs that we had to add a third and hit some new cities and some outdoor sunshine along the way. See you on the road!" more on this story





Lamb Of God Announce Summer Tour Plans
Lamb Of God will be heading across the pond this summer to launch a UK and European tour in support of their latest album, Resolution.

The summer tour will include stops at many of the late summer music festival on the continent as well as headlining dates between festival appearances.

The tour will kick off at the Resurrection Festival in Viveiro, Spain on August 1st and will conclude on August 18th in Paris.

The band will be launching a North American tour on May 16th in Asheville, NC. That trek will conclude on June 20th in Norfolk, VA.

In July the band will be hosting their Metal on the Mountain Retreat on July 15-19th at the Full Moon Resort in Big Indian, New York. more on this story





Judas Priest Release Epitaph DVD Trailer and Track Details
(Classic Rock) Judas Priest have released a new online video trailer, tracklisting and the release date for their Epitaph live DVD.

The 23-track show was recorded during what the band say is their last-ever large-scale world tour. It's their first time on the road with guitarist Richie Faulkner after KK Downing surprised fans by announcing his retirement.

In the clip below frontman Rob Halford explains why the show they recorded was special: "We were only going to play the songs that each one of us wanted to play," he says. "It's a great way to get a complete picture of what Judas Priest has been trying to do over almost 40 years of metal. It shows you the scope."

Meanwhile, the band are working on a new album. Halford recently said: "We've already got a strong cross-section of ideas, some of them complete, some of them in bits and pieces. It's shaping up to be quite intense in terms of the riffage and the strength of certain tracks." Check out the tracklist and trailer here.





InTheStudio Celebrates Rush's Rock Hall Induction
InTheStudio are celebrating Rush's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with a special they have posted on the website for the syndicated radio show.

The Rock Hall has famous snubbed the band for years. This year they were inducted after the Rock Hall decided to give fans a chance to vote for their favorites and Rush easily won the poll.

Guitarist Alex Lifeson and frontman Geddy Lee shares with host Redbeard their role as underdogs during their career. Lee said, "We couldn't get anything but a single deal, until we formed our own record label. So you think about that and you think about what its like today and it doesn't seem much different does it? So in one sense the more things change the more they stay the same."

Lifeson adds, "We've been outside of trends, we've been outside of the mainstream. I think if there ever was an Alternative band it's been us. For decades we've been alternative to just about anything that's going on." Check out the special here.





Metallica Plan Kirk's Crypt For Orion Fest
(hennemusic) Metallica have announced the return of Kirk's Crypt for the 2013 edition of their Orion Music + More festival, set for June 8 and 9 at Belle Isle in Detroit, MI.

Kirk's Crypt will return "with even more of your favorite, slightly chilling elements," writes the band. "The haunted house will be spookier than ever – where you'll get to see Kirk's personal horror collection of vintage horror movie posters, artwork from his favorite artists, vintage monster toys from the 50s, 60s and 70s, and a bunch of other fun stuff."

Fans will be able to check out Kirk's monster guitars, view some of the items featured in his book, "Too Much Horror Business," meet special guest horror movie icons, preview zombie movies, and hear Kirk talk about his monster habit on an interactive panel. Check out a video of last year's Crypt here.




Soundgarden Change Record Store Day Release Plans
(hennemusic) Soundgarden are sharing an update on their changed plans for Record Store Day 2013, which happens this Saturday, April 20.

The Seattle rockers are set to release a limited edition vinyl of the "King Animal" demos worldwide. Marking the first time these recordings have been available together, the songs will be pressed on 10" pink vinyl and the 6-song package will also include a free digital download card.

"Due to a manufacturing error," posted the group, "the limited edition vinyl of King Animal demos for Record Store Day will be pressed to pink vinyl in the US only.

"Our apologies to fans in all other territories, where the album will be available only on regular black vinyl." more on this story





Former Anvil Bassist Glenn Five Lashes Back At Robb Reiner
(Classic Rock) Former Anvil bassist Glenn Five has lashed back after drummer Robb Reiner compared his departure from the band to cancer surgery.

Five quit in 2012 after 15 years and later described Reiner and frontman Lips Hudlow as "grumpy old men" who made him feel expendable despite his long-term loyalty.

The drummer recently told Geeks Of Doom that Anvil were much happier with new member Sal Italiano, and said of the lineup change: "There was no real transition; we had cancer surgery and we were saved."

Now Five says: "What Mr Reiner doesn't realise is that he isn't insulting me – he's insulting the thousands of fans, hundreds of peers, and dozens of close friends of Anvil who, over the years, have told me they loved my contribution to the band.

"Shame that he has disrespected the fans and the band in such a manner just to save face with himself. Saying my departing was like the band had 'cancer surgery' just shows me how juvenile and idiotic he really is. I left – I wasn't removed." He has more to say.




Amon Amarth Releasing New Album in June
Amon Amarth have set North American and international release dates for their new studio album, Deceiver of the Gods, which features a guest appearance from Candlemass' Messiah Marcolin.

The new album is set to be released on June 25th in North America, on June 21st/24th in Europe and on June 26th in Japan.

The album was recorded at Backstage Studios in Derbyshire, UK, and produced, mixed and mastered by Andy Sneap (Opeth, Megadeth, Exodus, Arch Enemy, Killswitch Engage).

Comments vocalist Johan Hegg: "We feel very excited about this new album, and personally I feel that Deceiver of the Gods is the strongest album we've ever done. By far! I'm confident that all our fans will enjoy this punch-in-the-face-of-a-record!" more on this story




Robert Randolph & The Family Band Set New Album Release
Blues rockers Robert Randolph & The Family Band have set a July 16th North American release date for their new studio album, Lickety Split.

"This record has elements from all of our earlier records," Randolph explains. "There are cool songs with lots of guitar and we can see the growth of our band in the new recordings.

"With this record we got to reconnect with the originality and creativity that fans fell in love with from the very beginning. This is the music that we started out playing and now that we are back on a roll I'm sure we won't keep our fans waiting three years for the next album."

We were sent over these additional details: Randolph co-produced the 12-track album and co-wrote nine of the 12 songs. Randolph has reconnected with songwriting partners such as Drew Ramsey and Shannon Sanders, with whom he composed such Family Band hits as "Ain't Nothing Nothing Wrong With That" as well as Grammy Award winner Tommy Sims, perhaps best known for "Change The World". Any one familiar with Randolph's high energy live performances are familiar with his love for reinterpreting classic songs Family Band style. Lickety Split honors that tradition with enthusiastic interpretations of The Ohio Players' dance-groove "Love Rollercoaster" and The Rascals' (and Olympics') "Good Lovin'." Randolph recorded the album with his longtime bandmates and actual family members, The Family Band, including Marcus Randolph (drums), Danyel Morgan (bass, vocals), Brett Haas (guitar, keys) and Lenesha Randolph (vocals) along with special guests Trombone Shorty and Carlos Santana. The album was engineered by Eddie Kramer [Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin] and mixed by Jim Scott [Tedeschi Trucks]. more on this story





Geddy Lee Explains His Musical Inspirations
(hennemusic) Geddy Lee of Rush is sharing some of his musical inspirations on the eve of the band's induction into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame.

In a new Q&A with Billboard, Lee explains his original musical spark came from a rock classic. "The first song I heard that made me interested in music was 'Oh, Pretty Woman' by Roy Orbison," says the bassist. "It was the guitar intro, that riff, that I just really liked and kind of made me listen in a different way."

Lee developed his music skills by learning songs by others before writing his own. "I can't remember the first song I learned to play on bass, but the first song I learned to play on guitar was 'For Your Love' by the Yardbirds," Geddy says. "That kind of was the beginning for me. I thought it was a great song and I loved the open chord progression at the beginning of that song…. and I remember trying to figure out 'Pretty Woman' the first time I got a guitar." more on this story





Singled Out: Wig Party's Mia
Today Vincent Ventriglia and Charles Kirby from Wig Party tells us about "Mia" from their brand new debut EP "Glass Girls". Here is the story:

Vincent Ventriglia: "Mia is a song that was written during a busy song writing session, in fact its not the only song from that session that found its way onto the Glass Girls EP. I have a room in my house that is my designated song writing room, where I can escape, away from the distractions of the world, like television, computers, cell phones. For me, song writing is a type of therapy, if I am going through anything in my personal life writing always helps me find the place where things start to make sense again. At the time I was going through a rough breakup,I had ended a relationship and I found myself in that room a lot. I wrote Mia with an acoustic guitar and it was one of those things were I found as fast as my hands would play through the chord changes I would also start to hum melodies and sing lyrics. I love to read or watch interviews in order to gain perspective from some of my favorite musicians and I recently saw some with guys like Greg Allman, Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Robert Hunter and Jerry Garcia, Mark Knopfler. When it comes to song writing they all break it down the same way, basically that the best songs come out so fast that your mind needs to catch up with what just happened, it leaves your head spinning. That's what happened with Mia, I quickly developed a strong verse and chorus, after that a bridge was worked out. I worked with Charlie to hash out the lyrics that were right, that's how we write most of our songs. I played it for some friends and had a strong reaction, that's when I knew it was a great song, it's the final testing ground before I bring it to the guys in Wig Party. From there it takes a life of its own and the final result can be heard in the recording and when we perform it out live."

Charles Kirby: "Vin and I have been writing music together for 6+ years, so we have developed a relationship with each other in that regard, based on what has been successful. We are always writing in some way, but the bulk of the writing happens in short stints. A lot of material comes pouring out at once over a week or two and we are left with the process of collecting it all and turning it into something that works. Mia was the product of one of these sessions. I remember when Vin came to me with a batch of new songs and Mia stood out in particular as something with a great sound and framework for lyrics. I know he was going through a tough breakup and he came to me with some lyric ideas based around his feelings. I remember the key for us to writing about a breakup was not wanting to be too "poor me" about it and also not wanting to be so direct in our approach to explaining the exact events of the relationship, "loosely based around" was the idea. However, at the same time we wanted to portray the craziness of it all, maybe if not for any other reason but to help Vin to move on. The hook "See ya Mia, I wouldn't want to be a friend to you know more" embodied this perfectly. Its catchy, expressive and describes that almost nagging, assertive breakup feeling. It's tricky writing about breakups, I know that almost every song ever is written about love, and probably half of those about love gone wrong, but it's still quite difficult to write about something gone wrong and do it right. You will never write something that everyone likes, some people will always find something wrong with it, but in the case of Mia, I think we got it right."

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and learn more about the album right here!




Airbourne Release Live It Up Video
Airbourne have released a new music video for their new single "Live It Up." The track is the first single released from their forthcoming album, Black Dog Barking which is set to be released on May 21st.

The band had this to say about the album, "A lot of thought and effort has gone into this record not only by the band, but by the production crew who worked countless hours, seven days a week, even through Christmas and New Year's Eve to achieve the best possible performances, backed by real undying tones.

"Now we're handing it over to you... so crank it up, crack a beer and stick some rock 'n' roll in your ear". You can check out the new video here.

The group is currently touring and will be joining Shinedown and Bush later this month for a run of North American shows in addition to their own shows. more on this story




Cradle of Filth's Dani Filth On Wikimetal This Week
The latest episode of the Wikimetal podcast features an exclusive interview with Cradle of Filth mastermind Dani Filth. They sent over these details:

During the interview, Dani spoke about the band's new album, The Manticore and Other Horrors, released in 2012, about the Metal scene in England in the 90's and what the Brazilian fans can expect from the concert on the 20th of April in São Paulo.

You can listen to the full episode of the podcast here or you can skip directly to the interview and listen to it here.





Kingdom Come's God Does Not Sing Our Song Video Released
Kingdom Come have released a brand new music video for the song "God Does Not Sing Our Song" and you can watch it on YouTube.

The song is the first single from their new studio album Outlie and the video was filmed and produced by Tim Aßmann and co-produced by Lenny Wolf. You can watch it here.

Outlier which will be released worldwide through Steamhammer/SPV. It will be released in Germany on April 26th, in Europe on April 29th and in the US/Canada on May 7th. more on this story




Soundgarden Members Unplug
(hennemusic) Soundgarden members Chris Cornell and Ben Shepherd unplugged recently for Phoenix radio station 98 KUPD.

In an April 15 live performance for station listeners at Pub Rock in Scottsdale, the pair delivered acoustic versions of Soundgarden classics like "Fell On Black Days," "Black Hole Sun" and "Blow Up The Outside World."

Soundgarden will resume their "King Animal" tour on May 3rd in Atlantic City, NJ. You can check out the unplugged performance

Today's Day in Rock News !

Today's Day in Rock


Classic Rock Star Charged With Sexual Assault of Minor Girl
Tim Bachman, who was a founding member of Bachman-Turner Overdrive, is on trial in British Columbia, Canada facing charges for sex assault, sexual interference of a person under 14 and sexual touching of a young person.
Bachman was charged in 2010 but a gag order was put in place to protect the identity of the victim, Stacy Bohun. Justice Neill Brown lifted the order on Wednesday after an application was made by a reporter with The Canadian Press.

Bohun told the judge that she didn't mind being publicly identified, according to the Calgary Herald. Bohun, now 24, was a foster child living in Bachman's home from 2000 to 2004 when the alleged abuse took place.

Bohun testified in B.C. Supreme Court that Bachman gave her breast enhancement pills when she was 11 years-old and that he touched her in intimate places during the next four years, but they never had sexual intercourse. She eventually ran away from Bachman's home when she was 14 years-old.

"I felt the relationship was very sick," Stacy Bohun, 24, said during her testimony. "He would get me to sit on his lap and kiss him," she added. "One time he tried to French kiss me ... It was just a lot of weird, inappropriate things."

Bachman's lawyer Jack Harris suggested during cross examination that due to drug use Bohun may have imagined or visualized a sexual relationship with Bachman, which she now believes are real memories. Read the Herald report for a lot more details.



Dinosaurs Could Be Final Alice In Chains Album
(Classic Rock) Alice In Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell insists he could "rest happily" if new album "The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here" turns out to be their last.

And drummer Sean Kinney won't be surprised if not everyone likes the work – saying that doesn't matter, as long as the band like it.

Speaking to Jack Osbourne for Fuse TV, Cantrell says: "We've obviously come through a lot since we started playing again. We've come a long way. We're just trying to feel out where we are and do what feels right."

Their aim, he says, is "just to see what we can get away with next." He continues: "I look at every record like it's your last. We know pretty well how final things can be. It's amazing we're making music after all the things we've been through. I can rest happily with this being the last record, if that's what it was." more on this story




Michael Anthony Reacts To David Lee Roth's Van Halen Reunion Talk
(Classic Rock) Former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony says he's "flattered" that frontman David Lee Roth wants him back in the band.

An original lineup reunion remains unlikely as Eddie Van Halen continues to move forward with his son Wolfgang playing bass. But Roth recently said he'd love to see Anthony back in the fold – not lease because his voice adds a great deal to the band's sound.

Now Anthony tells Howard Stern, via Blabbermouth: "It was flattering to hear Dave talk like that. He never used to talk like that when we were all playing together!

"But hey – I really don't know what to say to that. It was flattering that he said that. And, obviously, I'm the kind of guy that… water under the bridge. I don't hold any kind of grudges for anything, and you never know what will happen at any time." more on this story



Aerosmith Frontman Wants To Tour With AC/DC
(hennemusic) More than forty years after they started, Aerosmith still have some items left on their bucket list, including tours with Van Halen and AC/DC.

The Boston rockers will join headliners Van Halen as part of The Stone Music Festival in Sydney, Australia next Saturday, April 20.

"I'm really looking forward to it," guitarist Joe Perry tells Rolling Stone. "There's been talk about us co-headlining for years. But they're one of those bands that do a cycle then split, so it's been really hard."

"I would take a pay cut to play with AC/DC," says Steven Tyler. "It's one of my last things to do, go on tour with them. I don't really care about the money, and I don't care about some great review. It's more about the fans – it's always been about them." more on this story




Iron Maiden Add More Tour Dates
(hennemusic) Iron Maiden have announced a series of Latin American dates, and a Mexico City show, as part of the band's 2013 "Maiden England" world tour.

The metal legends will return to Mexico to headline at the Foro Sol Stadium in Mexico City on September 17. Following their Mexico City concert, Maiden heads to South America for shows in Argentina, Paraguay and Chile.

Maiden will make their first-ever appearance at the legendary River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina on September 27, followed by a show at the Jockey Club in Asuncion, Paraguay on September 29.

On October 2, Maiden will return to headline the Estadio Nacional, Santiago in Chile, where the Bluray/DVD of "En Vivo" was filmed in 2011. more on this story




Steve Howe Explains Exit From Asia
(Classic Rock) Steve Howe began thinking about leaving Asia months before he finally shocked fans with his announcement, he's revealed in a new interview.

The guitarist felt a calling to return to solo work, which he'll be doing for much of the year – so fans can look out for new music, a "unique" music retreat and at least two tours.

And he admits he was horrified when it was said that Yes had banned frontman Jon Davison from appearing with his own band Glass Hammer.

Howe – who's been replaced by Sam Coulson in Asia – tells Classic Rock's sister title Prog: "On the American tour they discovered that I wanted to stop doing the reunion.

"There was a fair amount of surprise inside the camp, but basically there wasn't any way they could change my mind because I'd made it up. I guess I got a calling to follow a different train of thought. I couldn't ignore that any longer." more on this story




Sierra Swan Recruits Billy Corgan To Produce New Album
Sierra Swan has began a Pledge Music campaign for the release of her new album and has recruited Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan to produce the album. Her camp sent over these details:

"The role of a producer is so important and as an artist you want it to happen organically so when Billy reacted so positively to the songs I had written, I realized, it's time and this is the person. Luckily, he felt the same way."

Sierra adds, "We have a wonderful connection in the confines of our friendship, through life, love, art, truth and of course, music. I trust his instincts and I know he trusts mine. There is a ton of respect forever present in our dynamic which keeps everything super real and honest."

Every fan that 'pledges' will receive a copy of the album and will receive exclusive content including updates and videos from Sierra and her band.

Sierra will also be offering premium promotions that will include self portraits, access to her and Billy in studio, a private concert with surprise guest artists, Skype chats, a private house show and more. You can check out the pledge page here.




Fall Out Boy To Throw Out First Pitch At L.A. Dodgers Game
(Radio.com) Fall Out Boy aren't strangers to the great American pastime known as baseball. They even have song called "Headslide First Into Cooperstown On A Bad Bet" that bassist and lyricist Pete Wentz told Rolling Stone was about the Pete Rose scandal.

After being musically benched for the last five years, Fall Out Boy are gunning for a home run with their upcoming album Save Rock and Roll, out April 16th on Island Def Jam. (You can stream it now, though.)

To celebrate release day, the band will be throwing the first pitch from the mound at Dodger Stadium before the Los Angeles team takes on the San Diego Padres. more on this story



Black Sabbath Share CSI Photos
(hennemusic) Black Sabbath are sharing some photos from the filming of their appearance on the upcoming season finale of the CBS series CSI: Crime Secene Investigation.

The first is an image of the band on stage, where Sabbath will premiere "End Of The Beginning", the lead single from their forthcoming album "13."

The second is a photo of Ozzy Osbourne hanging out with actor Eric Roberts and actor/musician Billy Morrison (Billy Idol, Camp Freddy, Circus Diablo) during the taping of the episode. Check out the photos here.




Paramore Grows Up
(Radio.com) Many bands start young – rock'n'roll is not a profession for the elderly. Such is true for Paramore, which was founded before frontwoman Hayley Williams was even old enough to (legally) drive a car. So when one considers that it's now nine years later, it makes sense that the most striking thing about Paramore's new album is that it perfectly captures the sound of a band growing up and, after some struggles, finding itself.

Line after line of the self-titled release, out this week on Fueled By Ramen, tackles the themes of adulthood head-on – and why wouldn't it? After the last few years the Tennessee-based rockers have been through, the maturity is hard-earned, following the messy departure of the original band members, Zac and Josh Farro in 2010. The first words spoken on the record are literally, "Been through the ringer a couple times/Came out callous and cruel." Lead single "Now" is up next, which seems to surmise Millenials in one tight chorus: "If there's a future, we want it now." What follows is an impressive collection of fighting words for the early twenty-something; one could mentally compile a "20 best lines about growing up from Paramore" list without even blinking an eye. (One more for good measure: "I don't even know myself at all/I thought I would be happy by now," from "Last Hope.")

The personal growth exhibited within the album's lyrics would mean less if the whole thing were set against the pop-punk punch of Paramore's past. The guitars on those first three Paramore records just sound youthful, but the new album veers into proper alt-rock territory. There's still no shortage of fun-sounding songs (ukelele interludes, hello), but there's some heavy weight here, too, not to mention slight electronic experimentation.

Clearly, there's a lot here to delve into, so we sat down with the band to discuss it all on tape for an episode of Radio.com Essentials. On top of that, we tapped music experts – Entertainment Weekly's Leah Greenblatt, Rolling Stone's Simon Vozick-Levinson, Radio.com's own Courtney E. Smith and music writer/Aritzia Music Director Sarah Lewitinn (aka, Ultragrrrl) – to discuss where Paramore's been and where they're going. Watch here.




Municipal Waste, Corrosion of Conformity, Pig Destroyer For GWAR-B-Q
Gwar have announced the initial lineup for this summer's GWAR-B-Q which will be taking place on August 17th, 2013 at Hadad's Water Park in Richmond, VA.

The lineup will feature Municipal Waste, Corrosion of Conformity, Pig Destroyer, Cannabis Corpse, Loincloth, and Kung-Fu Dykes. The event will feature two stages and Gwar hint that more acts are to be announced.

"Once again we blow the horn of war and set into motion the gears that grind us towards the greatest GWAR-B-Q yet," said frontthing Oderus Urungus.

"We will not only be rockin' like Dokken... but we will shoving a wealth of GWAR products down your throat...not only our new GWAR-B-Q sauce, but our very own beer, Impaled Ale! Eat and drink yourself into a diabetic stupor, then puke it all up in the slam pit!"






Singled Out: A Criminal Risk
Today A Criminal Risk lead singer Tom Kunzman tells us about the band's new single "331" which is the debut from the new lineup of Tom, Chris Douglas and Tyler Moellmann. Here is the story:

I remember being in my room after a tour we did in January of 2012. We went through a drastic change in our band and I got so fed up trying to figure out what was happening and just lost all will to care anymore. The number 331 is symbolism for March 31st of 2012 which marked the last time I ever spoke to the person I wrote it about. The song inevitably became about numerous people by this point, and the number symbolizes thousands of different things to me now. Pretty bitter song lyrically, but that's the state of mind I was in at that point in time.

It was the first song I wrote since 'The Art of Dropping Names' that just flowed out of me. It's a song about not being able to help someone who simply doesn't want it, or someone who just doesn't really know what they want in general and you eventually just have enough and give up on trying entirely. The line "It won't be much longer till we hit 331 and that's fine with me" really gave me a sense of relief and the ability to just put the bullsh*t behind me and focus on the present. We're all really excited for the release cos we know that everyone has been in a similar situation with somebody they thought they knew and can definitely relate to it. I still get the same chills screaming the choruses on stage as I did when I was in my room writing it. It's just one of those songs that puts everything in perspective for me.

At times I still think about the situations that fueled my lyrics, but quickly just get over it and continue doing what I love to do without second guessing.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself here and buy the track at iTunes right here!




Coachella Goes Old School
(Radio.com) "It's my 1995 dream." That's what Entertainment Weekly Senior Editor Leah Greenblatt told Radio.com about the headliners for this year's Coachella. Indeed, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Blur and the Stone Roses all had albums and tours around that time, and all three bands are among the festival's marquee acts this year.

One of Coachella's other headliners, Phoenix, however, was a few years away from being formed at that point, and therefore bring the median age of Coachella headliners down a bit (as does Chili Pepper guitarist Josh Klinghoffer, who joined RHCP a few years back and was just 16 in '95). Still, you can't deny the '90s vibe in the dessert air.

We spoke to a number of industry insiders – including Spinner.com Editor Dan Reilly, music photographer Dana Distortion, NME correspondent Hazel Sheffield, writer and Aritzia Music Director Sarah Lewitinn, KROQ personalities Stryker, Kat Corbett and Nicole Alvarez, and Radio.com's own Jillian Mapes and Erik Parker – about this year's festival.

Will Blur play "Song 2″? Why don't the kids know who Stones Roses are? What makes the Chili Peppers such a go-to festival band? Is Coachella a big career moment for Phoenix? Watch the latest edition of Radio.com Inside Out video feature to get the skinny on Coachella 2013 here.




Alice In Chains Rock Jimmy Kimmel
(hennemusic) Alice In Chains performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Wednesday night as the band promotes its forthcoming album, "The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here."

Viewers at home saw the group play the project's second single, "Stone," but the Seattle rockers also delivered the lead track, "Hollow," and their classic, "Man in The Box."

Due May 28, "The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here" was recorded in Los Angeles with producer Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Deftones). Watch the Kimmel performance here.




Win A Trip To Las Vegas To See The Rolling Stones
(Radio.com) Rolling Stones fans had been waiting months for details about the band's touring plans in 2013, and last week, the wait ended. The band revealed that the second leg of the 50 And Counting Tour would start within the next few weeks, and there's no doubt that it's going to be one of the hottest tickets of 2013.

When announcing the outing, Mick Jagger explained what's to come: "It's a good show. Lots of the classic stuff everyone wants to hear…with a few little gems tucked in here and there.

"The stage is shaped like lips and goes off into the venue so I get to run around in the crowd. It's great fun to be able to get that close to the audience."

Want an up-close glimpse of the 50 and Counting Tour? Radio.com is giving you the chance to not only win a trip to see The Rolling Stones live in Las Vegas but to get an exclusive backstage tour. A winner and his/her guest will fly out to Vegas, stay at the MGM Grand and go home with Stones merch in their suitcase. more.




Roth Show Editor Discusses How David Lee Roth Launched the Series
(hennemusic) Last fall, Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth begin a series of online videos billed as The Roth Show. The episodes capture Roth at his rambling best, delivering monologues full of insight and humor based on his real life travels and experiences.

The Examiner caught up with Roth Show editor Shelly Toscano to discuss the creation and development of the series. "I was first hired by Dave to edit [his video entitled] "Scrapbook Chapter 1," explains Toscano.

"He likes the whole process of doing video work. He bought a Canon 5D and he loved it, but he needed an editor ... I got a call to go to Pasadena. I showed up at his house, we shook hands and got to work. We put together that first video and we had fun doing it."

"Dave and I had talked about it before the tour," she says. "We were going to work toward putting these videos together and have him talking. With the album and tour it got pushed aside, but it was something we were always going to do."

"After [the] tour, we got to The Roth Show. He sat down and started talking about tattoos and sarcasm. [Videographer] Mark [Rojas] filmed that, sent it to me and we put it together.

Today's Day in Rock News!

Today's Day in Rock


Sammy Hagar Open To Van Halen Reunion
Sammy Hagar doesn't appear to hold any grudges against Eddie Van Halen and is in fact open to reuniting with Van Halen under the right circumstances, which would he hints include Michael Anthony taking part.
Hagar was asked by Vegas Rocks what he would say to Van Halen if they met today. He responded, "Well, right now I'd say, 'Wow. Great. I've seen some pictures of you recently. You look like you're healthy and doing great.

"I'm really proud of you and I'd like to see you continue doing that. Here's my phone number. Call me up if you wanna hang and just have some fun and goof off.'"

"And whatever that led to," he continued, "I wouldn't say, 'Hey, let's get together and do it again,' because you would have to do that slow, because I would never do it again under the last circumstances. But I would do it again under different circumstances.

"So it'd be like that. And then I would also say, 'And also here's Mikey's [Michael Anthony] phone numbers with mine.'"

Check out the video interview to hear more including what he would do if he knew it was his last day on earth here.



Kid Rock Selling Summer Tour Tickets For $20
Kid Rock will be going old school for his upcoming North American summer tour by only charging fans $20 for tickets in all sections of the venues.

The tour is set to kick off on June 28th in Bristow, VA and will conclude on September 15th in Tampa, FL. The trek will feature rotating support from Kool & The Gang, ZZ Top, and Uncle Kracker.

Apart from the bargain price tickets, Kid Rock's camp says they will be "lowering prices on everything from parking to beer to merchandise for every show in every city." He will be offering $20 tour t-shirts as well.

"Everyone knows the economy is still hurting people across the country, but I didn't want that to be a reason why everyone couldn't get out and enjoy themselves on a summer night," says Kid Rock. "So we're going to throw the biggest and best party ever, with prices across the board that are reasonable and transparent. No hidden fees, no gimmicks.

"We're not sparing any expense on this tour, we're going over the top as always, but that doesn't mean we're going to ask the fans to pay more. If this works we're going to play to packed houses of fans who appreciate what we're doing. If it doesn't, might be a long summer. But someone has to go out there and fight these high prices and change things up, and I'm lucky enough that I can afford to take a pay cut. $20. Best night ever."

Fans will be able to purchase the all-in $20 tickets at participating Walmart and Live Nation box office locations where they will not pay any additional fees or parking charges, etc. In addition, Kid Rock will be reserving the first two rows for every show as free upgrades for lucky fans that will be selected at random. more on this story



Gene Simmons of KISS Plotting New TV Series
It appears that KISS star Gene Simmons may be returning to television where he will be hosting a hidden camera comedy series called "Busted."

Simmons teamed up with eOne (Entertainment One: The Walking Dead, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire) for the show which they are currently pitching.

The premise of the show is basically a rock star centered take off on the MTV's Punk'd theme where Simmons "goes on tour with some of the biggest bands in the world and gives audiences an all-access pass to backstage practical jokes," according to Deadline.

"When you're on tour, you get bored," Simmons told MIPBlog about the show in a new video interview. "And when you get bored, pranks happen", he teased, before telling one tale of a poor roadie who got his birthday cake laced with laxative. Watch the full interview here.



Former Metallica Star Jason Newsted Completes New Album
(Gibson) Jason Newsted (ex-Flotsam and Jetsam, Voivoid and, oh yeah, Metallica bassist) has completed recording his first full-length album with his new band, the sensibly titled Newsted.

The album will enter the mixing phase later this week, and release is targeted for some time later this year. The Newsted line-up includes drummer Jesus Mendez Jr, guitarist Jessie Farnsworth, and Staind guitarist Mike Mushok.

"It was obvious from the word go that Mike is one of us," Newsted says of Mushok'. "Professional, focused, happy and grateful to be able to make our beautiful noise together!"

Mushok said he loved Newsted's Metal EP, and jumped at the chance to be involved in the band while Staind were on break. "It was perfect timing," Mushok said. "All I could say was 'Hell yeah! I'm totally down for this!'"

The Metal EP sold over 6,000 copies in the USA in its first week of release in January, landing at #62 on the Billboard 200 chart. more on this story






Fleetwood Mac Releasing New EP
(Radio.com) Fleetwood Mac kicked off their 50-stop North American tour in Columbus, Ohio, last week by delivering a mix of their biggest hits, a few unexpected gems from their decades-spanning career… and an announcement of a forthcoming EP.

Though it had been three years since Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie took the stage together, they played as if no time had passed since their last tour.

Buckingham proved why he's still one of the most revered guitarists in recent decades as he wailed through their catalog, often while fans in the front row ran their hands along his guitar in almost prayer-like devotion.

Nicks, donning her trademark black outfits and shawls (which came and went in quick on-stage changes), proved why she's a cultural icon. Sometimes with a tambourine in hand, others while tugging at the black straps hanging from her mic stand, and just a few times while spinning in her trademark circles, she sang flawlessly.

The first surprise in the set list came early on: Four songs in, they did a brand new song, "Sad Angel." Buckingham noted that it is on their new EP, which would be out "in a few days." Nicks later referred to the EP, calling it their "little baby record." more on this story



Iron Maiden and Megadeth Plan American Tour and One-Off Festival
Iron Maiden will be launching a North American mini-tour with support from Megadeth this September which will include a new heavy metal festival in Southern California.

The seven-date tour will kick off with the band's very first concert in Raleigh, NC on September 3rd and will conclude with The Battle Of San Bernardino on Friday the 13th that will also feature Anthrax, Testament, Overkill and Sabaton at the San Manuel Amphitheater (formerly the Blockbuster/Glen Helen Pavilion) in San Bernardino, CA.

After the U.S. dates the band will be heading to Brazil to once again headline the Rock In Rio Festival. 70,000 tickets to the September 22nd event sold out within hours.

Frontman Bruce Dickinson had this to say, "As Maiden fans know, we're going back to Brazil to headline Rock In Rio again, so we thought that on our way down south we should certainly stop off and do a few more shows in the U.S. We especially wanted to try and play some more cities we've not visited for a while, so we're really excited about seeing our fans again in places we've not been to in over a decade, and in some cases even longer! We hope they will remember us!

"We can't wait to launch the Battle of San Bernardino for our Southern California fans! It really will be a day to remember for south Cal Metal fans. Friday 13, 13 too! Double Trouble!!

"We'll be bringing with us the same full production we had on the Maiden England Tour in North America last year so fans can expect to see the huge lightshow, stage set, various incarnations of Eddie, plenty of pyro and all kinds of other exciting stuff."
Steve Harris adds, "We know how popular the History of Maiden Tours are with fans of all ages and we love visiting cities we haven't been to in many years as it gives us a chance to play to new audiences. We had a huge amount of fun with the set list for this Maiden England Tour when we opened in North America last year as we got to play songs we had not played in a very long time like 'Seventh Son,' 'The Prisoner' and 'Afraid To Shoot Strangers,' as well as fan favourites like 'The Trooper,' 'Aces High,' 'The Clairvoyant,' 'The Number Of The Beast,' 'Wasted Years' and 'Run To The Hills.' That opening leg of the tour was so enjoyable for the whole band, we're really looking forward to coming back to see our fans again and a lot of new faces too! " more on this story




Fall Out Boy Streaming Full 'Save Rock and Roll' Album Online
(Radio.com) As it's become almost expected in the increasingly digital-driven music industry, Fall Out Boy has posted an online stream of each of their fifth album, Save Rock and Roll, one week ahead of the album's official release date of April 16.

Tracks from the new album were posted individually on FOB's official SoundCloud account. They confirm collaborators like Courtney Love on "Rat A Tat" and Detroit rapper Big Sean on "The Mighty Fall."

The title track even features none less than Sir Elton John. Talk about an epic comeback – no surprise considering this is Fall Out Boy's first album of new material since 2008′s Folie Á Deux.

"Rock and roll to me represents an attitude," bassist Pete Wentz said in an exclusive interview with Chicago radio station B96. "It represents something inside you. That's why we got into playing music. That's why I wanted to be in the band.

"So you can take it as an ironic thing or you can take it the way it is. We just wanted to do something that was fun and dangerous for us. We didn't need to do the band again, we wanted to do it because it was fun." more on this story




Ozzy Osbourne Promises Mindblowing New Black Sabbath Album
(Gibson) Ozzy Osbourne says forthcoming Black Sabbath album 13 is "mindblowing" and "the album we should have made after Sabbath Bloody Sabbath."

Speaking to Australia's Triple M radio station, Ozzy stated about Sabbath's June-released CD: "The album is mindblowing... I'm so over the moon about the way the album turned out.

"We wrote 16 songs, and I put it on my CD player, expecting me to be unhappy with the end result, but this big grin came on my face and my hair on the back on my neck [stood up]… It's better than my wildest dreams; it's so good."

Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler are joined by RATM drummer Brad Wilk on the album. Songs include "End of the Beginning," "God is Dead" and "Epic."

Osbourne was full of praise for producer Rick Rubin. "I'd run into him from time to time over the years, and he goes, 'Any chance of Sabbath reforming? If you do, I would love to produce the album,'" Ozzy said. "And he did such a great job on the album. I know if you're a Sabbath fan, you will not be disappointed. It's so Sabbath-y, it's scary. It's the album we should have made after [1973's] Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.

"It's very, very heavy… I'm so excited about it." more on this story






Kataklysm's Max Duhamel Taking Break From Band To Battle Demons
Kataklysm drummer Max Duhamel has announced that he won't be taking part in the recording of the band's forthcoming album, "Waiting for the End to Come," so he can focus on fighting his alcohol addiction.

Duhamel issued a brutally honest message for fans that explains why he is taking some time off. He writes, "Hello everyone, it is with an a extremely heavy heart that I announce today that I will not be performing on the new Kataklysm album, I have been struggling with many personal issues the last year but lately, the main one has been alcohol, it's been affecting my body in a very negative way to the point that when I came home after the Ex Deo tour we just did, I tried to stop drinking for few days and it's been very hard without having any withdrawal symptoms, I've also lost a lot of weight as some of noticed recently and I'm not in good shape."

"I've heard the new material my brothers have written and its truely incredible stuff, it's really some of the best music the band has ever done but It's going to be a very demanding album and my state of mind and body is not ready to confront this big task right now, I need to clean my body and my mind and come back focused to Kataklysm and I don't know how long this will take ..., the guys have reached out to help in anyway they can which I can't thank them enough .. I'm truely blessed to have them as a family, so as I start my road to recovery I send this message to all of you and thank you for all the support.

"It's time to take my life in my hands and take responsibility, I will not be attending the Juno Awards ceremony in two weeks for Ex Deo nominations but I will close my contract with the shows in May that are left, ExtremeFest, Beastival in Germany and Metalfest Czech Rep. will be my last shows until I'm ready again to come back in full form, you guys deserve the best of me...see you later."





Rob Zombie To Headline Sturgis
Sturgis just got heavier with the addition of Rob Zombie as a headliner of the Sturgis Buffalo Chip during hard rock night on August 7th.

Zombie will be headlining that night of the music festival taking place during the Sturgis motorcycle rally. Mastodon and Machine Head were previously announced for that night's concert.

"Rob Zombie is a living icon with so many highly acclaimed accomplishments behind him we have no doubt he'll make an impact fans will remember for years to come, " says Rod Woodruff, owner of the Sturgis Buffalo Chip. "Fans are absolutely thrilled to have Rob Zombie join the Chip's festival lineup this year."

The 32nd annual Sturgis Buffalo Chip motorcycle and music festival takes place August 2-11, 2013 during the annual Sturgis motorcycle rally.

In addition to the hard rock night lineup, the festival also feature performances from Kid Rock, Toby Keith, ZZ Top, Halestorm, Brantley Gilbert, Queensrÿche and Sublime with Rome.





Bigelf Recruit Mike Portnoy For New Album
Bigelf are back! The band have recruited former Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy to play on their forthcoming album and have inked a new record deal with InsideOut Music who will be releasing the album later this year.

It appears that rumors of the bands demise were premature. Damon Fox explains why the group fell under the radar and their return:

"Finally! Bigelf lands on a planet whose atmosphere is synonymous with progressive rock and heavy metal. One of my all-time favourite quotes is, 'Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid...' I'm ecstatic that InsideOut/Century Media and Mike Portnoy have joined 'forces' with Bigelf.

"First, I want to elaborate on what has been happening 'inside' the band since 2010, there have been numerous rumours on the internet that I fired everyone in Bigelf, this is completely untrue.

"After the juggernaut of 'Cheat The Gallows' came to a halt, the business and personal infrastructure of Bigelf imploded and an unexpected hiatus occurred leaving the band in complete disarray. A myriad of personal, financial and domestic matters had enveloped myself as well as certain members of the group. There also comes a time when deep down inside it just doesn't feel right anymore, and one has to face the music that the end is near. Transparency no longer exists and with that, clarity and perspective are lost. I'm speaking for myself now but clearly this was a mutual feeling and I believe it was obvious amongst the band. Subsequently, Ace Mark decided to move on and left Bigelf in the summer of 2011, and a request by the remaining members for a dissolution of business followed. To put it simply, we went our separate ways without malice.

"I had been keeping in close touch with Mike Portnoy after his very public and difficult departure from Dream Theater. At this time, my musical future seemed quite bleak and I was very vocal to Mike about not being able to sustain the band any longer on my own. He implored me to carry on and to not let Bigelf slip away, his encouragement and enthusiasm meant the world to me. Recognizing that I needed some new allies, I asked him if he would help fight the good fight and lend his extraordinary drum majesty to the new Bigelf record and he readily agreed. Also...sharing a passion for all things rock & roll, my good friend Duffy Snowhill climbed aboard the Viking ship for another round of thundering bass guitar and for that too I am grateful. more on this story





Guns N' Roses For Tots
Twinkle Twinkle Little Rock Star have set an April 30th release date for latest rock for tots release, "Lullaby Versions Of Guns N' Roses."

The album will feature lullaby renditions of Guns N' Roses hits which focuses mainly on music from the original "Appetite for Destruction" and the "Use Your Illusion I & II" lineups and albums.

The album includes child friendly versions of "Welcome To The Jungle," "Sweet Child O' Mine," " November Rain," "Paradise City," "Don't Cry," and more. more on this story




Rolling Stones Confirm Second Hyde Park Concert
(hennemusic) As expected, The Rolling Stones have officially announced a second concert at London's Hyde Park, set for Saturday, July 13.

The Stones' first Hyde Park show on Saturday, July 6 sold out within minutes of going on sale last week. Tickets for the July 13 date go on sale 9am this Friday, April 12.

Support for the July 13 show features Jake Bugg, Tom Odell and The 1975. Both concerts are part of the band's "50 & Counting" tour. more on this story





Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder Gives QOTSA More Cowbell
(Banana 101.5) Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder once again joined Queens of the Stone Age for their cowbell-driven hit 'Little Sister,' this time at the Chilean outing of Lollapalooza.

This isn't the first time it happened. Both Queens of the Stone Age and Pearl Jam played Alpine Valley, Wisconsin for PJ20. A multitude of guests joined PJ on stage throughout the weekend, of whom Joshua Homme was one.

Vedder returned the favor the following day, joining QOTSA on lead cowbell for 'Little Sister.' Watch the Lollapalooza Brazil performance here.





Rush's Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson To Added 'Lighted Stage' Screening
(hennemusic) Ahead of Rush's induction into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in Los Angeles on April 18, band members Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson will attend a screening in the city of the documentary, "Beyond The Lighted Stage."

The screening will also be attended by the film's directors Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen ("Metal: A Headbanger's Journey," "Iron Maiden: Flight 666").

The screening will be followed by a question-and-answer session with the Rush members; the evening is hosted by veteran DJ Jim Ladd at The ArcLight Cinema in Los Angeles on Tuesday, April 16th at 7pm. Check out the trailer.





Alter Bridge, Shinedown and Halestorm Tour
Alter Bridge have announced that they will be launching fall tours of the UK and Europe. Halestorm is set to join them on both treks and Shinedown will be part of the UK leg.

The UK tour will kick off on October 16th in Nottingham and will include stops in Birmingham, London, Cardiff, Glasgow and Manchester.

The European tour will begin on October 24th in Paris and will conclude on November 16th in Lisbon. "Thrilled to be returning to the UK with Shinedown and Halestorm later this year," said Alter Bridge frontman Myles Kennedy. "I'm looking forward to reconnecting with the part of the world that embraced Alter Bridge from the start."

"We are truly honoured to be playing with Alter Bridge in the UK this year," adds Shinedown's Brent Smith. "We are such big fans of the band, and admire them greatly. Rock'n'roll is a way of life for all of us in Shinedown, and we are so excited to be apart of such an amazing tour."

"I'm so excited to be sharing the stage with our friends in Shinedown and Alter Bridge," notes Halestorm singer Lzzy Hale. "I'm so lucky to be the 'little sis of rock' on this tour. All of these men have been so influential to my life, and are tremendous performers. Anyone attending one of these shows better be prepared to leave the building barefoot, because the lot of us are gonna rock your socks off." more on this story





John Fogerty Added To Tim McGraw's TV Special Lineup
John Fogerty has been added to the lineup for the ACM Presents: Tim McGraw's Superstar Summer Night Special all-star concert.

The concert will be filmed on Monday, April 8, 2013 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and CBS will air the special on Sunday, May 19 at 9:00-11:00 PM on CBS-TV.

A couple weeks later on May 28th, Fogerty will release his new album "Wrote A Song For Everyone," which features his collaborations with other noted musicians recreating 12 classic songs from his career as a solo artist and with Creedence Clearwater Revival.

His camp sent over these additional details: The album was mixed by Bob Clearmountain and was recorded in Los Angeles and Nashville except for "Proud Mary" which was recorded in New Orleans with Allen Toussaint and the Rebirth Brass Band.

Fogerty recorded "Fortunate Son" with Foo Fighters at their 606 studio using "the" legendary Neve recording console featured in Dave Grohl's documentary Sound City.




Black Star Riders Guitarist Explains Why They Are No Longer Thin Lizzy
(hennemusic) Black Star Riders guitarist Scott Gorham explains in a new interview why the band decided to change their name after touring for the past three years as Thin Lizzy.

"There was a definite reason for that," guitarist Scott Gorham tells Bloodstock Radio's Michelle Livings. "The writing process took about a year to get 18 songs down. About four months into the whole writing process, I kept thinking about it, 'do I feel comfortable recording an album under the name Thin Lizzy and Phil Lynott is not there?'

"And I just found myself feeling increasingly 'no I don't feel comfortable with that idea.' I brought this up to Brian Downey, the drummer, and I said 'what do you think?' He said 'I feel exactly the same way, probably even longer than you have.' So, let's talk to the rest of the guys."

"Went to [vocalist] Ricky [Warwick] and [guitarist] Damon [Johnson] and the others…unbeknownst to all of us, we were all thinking the same thing but nobody wanted to be that first guy to bring the subject up. At that point, we knew that the only way we were going to be able to carry on and record these songs and put them out as an album was we had to stop Thin Lizzy. We had to create a new band, a new personality." Watch the interview here.




The Black Crowes and Tedeschi Trucks Band Summer Tour
The Black Crowes and Tedeschi Trucks Band will be teaming up this summer to launch a North American co-headlining tour.

The tour will feature support from The London Souls and is set to kick off on July 19th at The Woods Amphitheatre at Fontanel in Nashville.

The trek will focus on the East Coast and Midwest markets and include stops in Alpharetta, GA- Charlotte and Raleigh, NC- Columbus, OH- Gilford, NH- Boston- Canadaigua, NY- Pittsburgh- Holmdel, NJ- Wantagh, NY- Philadelphia, PA- Indianapolis, IN- Chicago, IL- Rochester Hills, MI. more on this story





Queens of the Stone Age Streaming New Song Online
(Banana 101.5) Queens of the Stone Age debuted 'My God is the Sun,' which we now know is the first single from their upcoming album '…Like Clockwork,' during Lollapalooza Brazil. Now the band has pushed the studio version of the track to YouTube.

We've been waiting almost 6 years for new music from QOTSA and that day has finally arrived! The first single from their upcoming sixth studio album has just dropped on the internet and showcases the desert/robot rock proprietors at their finest.

Blending just the proper amount of melody, groove and their signature brand of weird — Queens of the Stone Age are back… and they brought Dave Grohl with them to play drums.

'My God is the Sun' marks the first song unveiled from '…Like Clockwork,' and was released just in time to keep us occupied until the album hits stores June 4th.

Today's Day in Rock News!

Today's Day in Rock


Rolling Stones Expand 50 and Counting Tour
The Rolling Stones have expanded their tour plans. A few days after announcing dates for their 50 and Counting Tour, the Rolling Stones have announced additional dates and their frontman hints that more may be on the way.
"Normally when you announce a tour like this, you announce part of it, you leave it to be, you see what happens, you might do a date here and another date there. You don't want to be completely hand fast, so you do leave some dates in between," Mick Jagger said in an interview last week according to AP. "So we'll see what happens."

Apparently they didn't have to wait long, as the band added three North American dates to the trek already and are rumored to be adding a second date at London's Hyde Park after the 65,000 tickets for the announced show sold out in minutes.

The newly announced North American dates include two more shows at Chicago's United Center on May 31 and June 3 as well as a second concert at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto that will take place on June 6.

A UK tabloid is reporting that "a spokesman for the band confirmed they would add a second Hyde Park date, expected to be just one or two days after the first performance."

The band had additional good news for fans; they will be selling a block of tickets for under a $100. They announced that they will be offering "over a 1,000 tickets at $85 (including service charges). Some will be among the best seats in the house in the Tongue Pit, with others spread around the arena. Tickets will be sold as a pair. You will find out your seat location when you pick them up the night of the show. Other tickets range from $150- $600 (plus service charges)." more on this story




Andy Johns (Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Van Halen) Dead at 61
Legendary producer and engineer Andy Johns has died at the age of 61 after being hospitalized last week. Johns worked on landmark albums including Led Zeppelin's IV, Physical Graffiti, House of the Holy, and the Rolling Stones 'Exile On Main Street,' 'Goats Head Soup' and 'Sticky Fingers.'

Andy was younger brother of producer Glyn Johns and got his start as a tape operator at Olympic Studios, where he was able to work with Jethro Tull, Humble Pie, and Rod Stewart.

Johns would later go on to work on albums from Ozzy Osbourne, Van Halen, Glenn Hughes, The Steve Miller Band, Creed, Cinderella, Godsmack, Bon Jovi, Frehley's Comet, Gary Moore, McAuley-Schenker Group and more

The cause of death has not been reported but Billboard.biz reports that former L.A. Guns guitarist Stacy Blades confirmed that Johns had died. Blades had been working on a project with Johns until he was hospitalized last week.

You can read Billboard's eulogy for a more in-depth look at John's career here.




Former AC/DC Member Dies
(Classic Rock) Former AC/DC and Rose Tattoo bassist Neil Smith has died after a battle with cancer. He was 60. His family say in a statement:

"Neil is now in peace. There is not a person out there who has met him and not felt like their lives were better for the experience.

"He was a loving and devoted father, a loyal friend and all round generous person. He was larger than life, and his passing will be felt.

"Thanks to all his friends for their support and love, especially during the final stages of his life." More rock news.




Black Sabbath Announce Tour
Black Sabbath have announced plans to hit the road this fall in support of their forthcoming reunion album, 13, their first with Ozzy Osbourne since 1978.

The new album features original vocalist Ozzy along with guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and will be released in June. Original drummer Bill Ward did not participate due to a contract dispute.

The band will be launching a tour of the UK and Europe on November 20th in Helsinki. The tour will include stops in Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Germany, France, Italy and the Czech Republic.

The UK leg is set to kick off on December 10th at the O2 Arena in London and will feature stops in Belfast, Sheffield, Glasgow, Manchester and Birmingham. more on this story




Bon Jovi: Did Richie Sambora Jump Or Was He Pushed?
(Classic Rock) The status of Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora remains unconfirmed after he dropped off the band's world tour at short notice last week.

TMZ suggests it's the result of a long-running contractual dispute between Sambora and mainman Jon Bon Jovi, while the New York Post claims the singer's wife forced the move because the guitarist refused to clean up his act, saying he didn't believe in rehab. Both reports cite "sources close to the band."

Meanwhile, Sambora himself has simply stated via Twitter: "Thank you everyone for your concern. I'm well, but had to stay in LA to take care of a personal matter. Love you all and see you very soon." more on this story





Paul McCartney Adds More North American Tour Dates
Paul McCartney is releasing dates for "Out There" tour in drabs and just announced two additional dates for the spring tour of North America.

The new stops include his return to the BOK Center in Tulsa, OK for his first show at the venue since he played the venue's 1st anniversary show in August 2009.

McCartney will also be returning to the site of the Beatles very first U.S. concert when he plays FedExField in Washington D.C. on July 12th.

He had previously announced shows in Austin, TX at the Frank Erwin Center and in Boston, MA at Fenway Park. more on this story




Foo Fighters' Taylor Hawkins Playing Iggy Pop in CBGB Movie
(Gibson) With Foo Fighters recently on hiatus, drummer Taylor Hawkins has had time on his hands. He used the break in FF's schedule to shoot a film role as Iggy Pop for an upcoming movie about the historic New York punk club CBGB.

The film will take a look at many key figures in the club's history, from the musicians who played there like the Ramones, Blondie, Patti Smith and others, to the club's owner, Hilly Kristal, who is portrayed by actor Alan Rickman in the movie.

The first look of Hawkins as Pop, which was released by Rolling Stone, can be seen here. Hawkins poses with Malin Åkerman, who will portray Blondie's Debbie Harry in the movie. No release date has been set for the movie as of yet, but the CBGB film is expected to arrive sometime in 2013.

Hawkins' respite from Foo Fighters was a short: he's recently played with Dave Grohl's Sound City band, and Foo Fighters are already writing the band's next album. See the photo here.





Tom Araya Assures Fans That Jeff Hanneman Is Still Part of Slayer
(Classic Rock) Tom Araya insists Jeff Hanneman is still very much a member of Slayer and hopes the absent guitarist is working on new music.

The frontman suggests that speculation over stand-in Gary Holt joining full-time has been fuelled by the thrash giants' internal communication problems.

Slayer's Kerry King recently said he'd be "okay" if Holt replaced spider-bite victim Hanneman on a permanent basis. Earlier this week Holt himself said he'd never consider the move if it meant he'd have to quit his own band Exodus.

The issue has been made more complex with the absence of drummer Dave Lombardo over a contractual dispute. Asked if the thrash giants find themselves in a "then there were two" situation, Araya tells Andrew Haug: "It's not really two – Jeff isn't in the picture but he's part of the picture. It's taking him a lot longer than he even thought, I think. He can play, he can work out material, but it's surprising him that it's taking as long as it is to get back.

"Even though no one's seen him, Jeff's still part of the band." He goes on to talk about the new album and Jeff's involvement




Hate Member Dies In His Sleep
Slawomir "Mortifer" Kusterka, the bassist for the Polish death metal band Hate, died in his sleep following the band's concert in Germany this weekend.

The band told fans: "At night 5th/6th April near a German town of Munchberg, our friend, best comrade and longtime bass player unexpectedly passed away.

After the show in Stuttgart last night he went to sleep and never woke up. We found him lifeless early in the morning and immediately called an ambulance. He was reanimated, but to no avail.

"Results of Slawek's autopsy should be known soon. In this situation, we decided to cancel the remaining shows and return home. We gave detailed testimonies to the German police.

"We are shocked and shattered by his sudden, unexpected death. We mourn together with Slawek's family and friends." more on this story




David Bowie In The Running For Time Magazine's Influential People List
(Gibson) Time magazine is famous for publishing its annual Time 100 issue, which pays homage to a variety of luminaries from different industries that the magazine names "the most influential people in the world." Now, the magazine is letting readers vote on who they think should make this year's top 100, and when it comes to musicians, David Bowie is among the candidates.

Bowie is really the only rocker in the running, as the rest of the nominees from the music industry include Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z, Frank Ocean, PSY and Sharon Jones.

Celebrities outside of the music world up for the honors include Pope Francis, Aung San Suu Kyi, Ben Affleck, LeBron James, Serena Williams, Jimmy Kimmel, George Lucas, Quentin Tarantino, Jon Hamm and Paula Deen, among others. Voting runs through April 12, and the top 100 will be announced on April 18. more on this story






Anthrax Frontman Sings National Anthem At Bulls Game
(hennemusic) Anthrax frontman Joey Belladonna was on hand to sing the U.S. national anthem at the Chicago Bulls vs. Orlando Magic game on Friday at the United Center in Chicago.

Anthrax are currently on the road headlining the Metal Alliance tour, along with Exodus, High On Fire, Municipal Waste and Holy Grail.

The band recently released an eight-track EP, "Anthems," which pays tribute to the classic songs by some of Anthrax's favorite bands from the 1970s.

On the project, Anthrax cover tracks by AC/DC, Cheap Trick, Rush, Thin Lizzy, Boston and Journey.

Video of Belladonna's performance can be seen here.




Deep Purple Explain Canceled Concert
(Classic Rock) Deep Purple have explained why they cancelled their concert in Nepal last month. They say promoter Richard Coram of Talent Brokers failed to pay the agreed fee at the agreed time.

Frontman Ian Gillan says: "I want to assure everyone that our management and agency bent over backwards to make this work. But every promise from the promoter was broken.

"We are truly miserable that we couldn't get there and would love to come over at the first opportunity."

In other news, Classic Rock has announced a limited-edition hardback version of the magazine featuring Deep Purple. Details here.





Everybody In Skid Row Has A Beef With Sebastian Bach?
(Classic Rock) Skid Row bassist Rachel Bolan says it's not true that a fallout between he and Sebastian Bach is preventing a classic lineup reunion.

Bach last year said that only one member of Skid Row was refusing to let a reunion take place. But Bolan says: "We just choose to ignore his comments because it really doesn't matter."

Bolan insists that both Snake Sabo and Scotti Hill both have their own reasons for not wanting to work with Bach again.

"I'd really rather not talk about him – but I can say I think everybody has a beef with him, honestly," Bolan tells Legendary Rock Interviews. "I know what it's like from this side, Snake, Scotti and myself; and I know all of our feelings towards that." more on this story




Judas Priest To Appear on Rockline
(hennemusic) Judas Priest will promote the launch of their new live DVD, "Epitaph," with an appearance on the US nationally-syndicated radio show Rockline with host Bob Coburn.

Priest are scheduled to be the special guests on the May 15th episode of Rockline, which starts at 8:30pm PT/11:30pm ET. More info here

"Epitaph" will be released on May 28th and was recorded at London's HMV Hammersmith Apollo on May 26th, 2012, which was the closing date of the band's Epitaph World Tour, a trek they billed as their last "large scale" world tour. more on this story




Mike Tramp Rules Out White Lion Reunion
(Classic Rock) Mike Tramp has ruled out working with White Lion again for two reasons - he doesn't think founding guitarist Vito Bratta will get involved, and he doesn't want to sing like he once did.

The singer – whose last outing with the hard rock band was 2008′s Return Of The Pride – is currently promoting his solo album Cobblestone Street, released on May 8. He accepts it's a departure from what fans might expect – but believes they'll have to get used to it.

Tramp tells Rock Meeting: "The thing that's been difficult is you have to answer a question that Vito should be answering. And the answer is 'no.' He's not going to get back up on stage.

"I didn't want to do White Lion after the band broke up. The sound of White Lion represents who Mike Tramp was at that time." more on this story




Metallica Attaching Vert Ramp To Damage Inc Stage at Orion Fest
(hennemusic) Metallica continue to roll out more details for the 2013 edition of their Orion Music + More festival, set for June 8 and 9 at Belle Isle in Detroit, MI.

"We're bringing the Vans Vert Ramp to Detroit and attaching the Damage Inc. stage to it this year at Orion Music and More," posted the band.

"Watch riders tear up the 30-foot wide Vert Ramp while live band (and very special guests) perform during demos!" more on this story





Singled Out: Meeting Of Important People
Today Josh Verbanets from Meeting Of Important People tells us about their new single "Keep Your Eyes On Me" from their brand new album "My Ears are Having a Heart Attack", which is being released this week. Here is the story:

""In Meeting of Important People, I write a lot of "character songs" that are supposed to be sung from the point of view of someone else, not necessarily my own voice or perspective. KEEP YOUR EYES ON ME is our new single, and fits into this category:

I had the idea to do a dance song, you know-- one that orders people to GET UP AND SHAKE IT or GET OUT ON THE DANCE FLOOR, but in a way that it could sound equally like someone having fun or instead like someone's insecure girlfriend/boyfriend ordering them around. It always seemed to me that most of the point of dancing in public is to get people to look at you anyways, so I wrote the lyrics from the perspective of someone being bossy at the club, ordering everybody around them to give them attention-- or they're leaving.

The kick drum was recorded as a loop, which just repeats throughout the song to give it that dance feel, and the rest of the drums were played "live"... we ended up with kind of a demented island-sounding song, which I think is perfect for the lyrics. When we perform this song live, we do a big breakdown and try to get everybody to clap and sing along right before the final chorus, sounds like some excellent arena-rock.""

Today's Day in Rock News!

Today's Day in Rock


KISS Star Paul Stanley Deaf In One Ear
KISS legend Paul Stanley revealed in an article for CNN that he was born "virtually deaf" in his right ear. CNN has republished the article, which was original published in 2011, to coincide with the band's upcoming world tour as they celebrate their 40th anniversary.
Stanley told CNN, "I was born with a Level 3 Microtia, which is a congenital deformity of the cartilage of the outer ear, and occurs in approximately 1 out of every 8,000 to 10,000 births.

"There is no ear canal and no direct path to the inner workings of the ear. Except for bone conduction, I'm virtually deaf on my right side, as there is no access for sound to enter.

"I've had an implanted hearing aid for years now. This is a device that is usually given to children at an early age or to adults who have lost their hearing due to a medical condition. This has been an ongoing adjustment for me as my brain has never processed sound coming in from my right side.

"In the beginning, it was incredibly taxing and extremely confusing. It would be like you are suddenly developing an eye in the back of your head. That said, it has settled in quite a bit and I have to say, it has enhanced my day-to-day activities.

"People often ask if my hearing problem has had any impact on my career. It's sometimes hard for people to understand that you don't miss what you've never had. When blind people speak about seeing or colors, it's very personal to them." Read the rest of what he had to say here.




Motley Crue Plan Another Residency
(hennemusic) Motley Crue are returning to Las Vegas for a second residency in Sin City and will announce the news today according to a friend of the band.

Crue pal Robin Leach of VegasDeluxe.com tweeted the news on Monday evening, writing, "Motley Crue returns for Hard Rock residency Sept 18 Oct 6. Look for trashed hotle room theme and a dangerous set whole new production."

Leach later added, "#MotleyCrue show will be confirmed tomorrow with tickets on sale this Friday. Not April 1 joke but still exclusive."

In February of 2012, the Crue became the first hard rock band to sign a short-term residency in Las Vegas, playing a series of shows at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. more on this story




Bob Ezrin Tried To Make Pink Floyd Rap
(Classic Rock) Producer Bob Ezrin tried to introduce rap music to Pink Floyd album A Momentary Lapse Of Reason, he's admitted.

But David Gilmour hated the idea and vetoed it, meaning the band's 1987 record – their first without Roger Waters – was recorded without elements of the then cutting-edge pop movement.

Ezrin tells ZME Music: "I became fascinated with rap – I'm an early adopter. I brought some in when we were doing A Momentary Lapse Of Reason. I brought some to David Gilmour, going, 'Boy, I think this stuff with a rock beat would be awesome.'

"He said, 'Oh my God, that would be terrible!' He couldn't believe it. He hated the idea."

Meanwhile, the producer has also admitted he refused his first invitation to work on Deep Purple's new album, Now What?! – and only changed his mind after he saw the band live. more on this story




The Dillinger Escape Plan Stream New Album Preview
The Dillinger Escape Plan are giving fans an advance listen to their new album over a month before the album is officially released.

The band posted a new video online that preview every track on the new album, One Of Us Is The Killer. The album is set for release on May 14th. You can check out the preview here.

And as a fan commented on the video page, with a new album that means the band will be hitting the road with a new tour to promote the effort.

The band will be launching their North American tour on April 22nd, ahead of the album release. The tour will also feature sets from The Faceless and Royal Thunder. more on this story





Nine Inch Nails, Mumford & Son, the Cure Lead Lollapalooza Lineup
(Radio.com) The line-up for this year's Lollapalooza music festival has officially been announced, featuring headliners Nine Inch Nails, Mumford & Son, the Killers and the Cure, making their first-ever appearance at the fest.

"The first time I ran into Robert Smith of The Cure was 1997 in New York City," said Perry Farrell, lead singer of Jane's Addiction and the festival's founder, in a press release. "We were both going into the same club; and it was Halloween. I was dressed as myself and so was he. I am so happy the Cure have finally arrived at Lolla in Chicago."

The announcement was made more than a week ahead of the original release date of April 9 after the line-up was leaked when a poster revealing the acts hit the internet late last week.

This year's line-up is packed with heavy-hitters and fan favorites, including Queens of the Stone Age, Kendrick Lamar, Phoenix, the Postal Service and Vampire Weekend.

Check out the complete Lollapalooza 2013 line-up here.




Geoff Tate's Queensryche Lose Producer
(Classic Rock) Geoff Tate's Queensryche album Frequency Unknown has hit another stumbling block as Billy Sherwood has bowed out of remixing the record.

He made the announcement days after he was supposed to have started work on the project, explaining that he doesn't have time for it.

Sherwood was hired by Tate's record label after fans complained about the quality of the original mix as heard in preview clips. They confirmed Frequency Unknown would be released as planned next month, then Sherwood's version would appear at a later date.

But the bassist and producer has said: "I'm in the middle of many projects, both studio productions and live stuff – Prog Collective 2, Steve Miller tribute, William Shatner solo record, starting a Doors tribute soon, playing live in a few days with Eddie Jobson in Mexico.

"I also just got an interesting offer to play bass with a prog icon for a few gigs in June. I will announce who when it gets closer." more on this story




Skid Row Releasing their First New Material in Seven Years
(Classic Rock) Skid Row will release their first new material in seven years when their EP United World Rebellion Chapter One is launched on April 15.

It's the first in a series of planned EP releases, of which bassist Rachel Bolan says: "When we put the band back together, we needed to reintroduce Skid Row as relevant without relying too much on past success.

"We sunk our heart and soul into it, letting people know we weren't doing it for lack of nothing better to do." He adds: " I like the idea of a steady flow of new music, as opposed to releasing a full-length album then riding it for the next two years." More rock news.




Paul McCartney Jams With Rolling Stones' Ron Wood
(Gibson) Paul McCartney joined Rolling Stones' Ron Wood at the Ambassador Theatre in London during a concert staged by McCartney's son, James.

Wood accompanied the younger McCartney on guitar throughout the set, while at one point James' famous Dad surprised everyone by leaping onstage to play piano during one song.

After wrapping up his performance cameo, Sir Paul rejoined the audience, which included his daughters, Stella and Mary, and his wife, Nancy.

In other McCartney news, the former Beatle recently announced that a live version of "Maybe I'm Amazed" – originally circulated as a radio promo single in 1976 – will be released on 12-inch vinyl for Record Store Day on April 20. more on this story






ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons To Record With The Moving Sidewalks
(Radio.com) Over the weekend, ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons revisited his youth by reuniting with his pre-ZZ band, The Moving Sidewalks, for their first concert in 44 years at New York's B.B. King's.

The band has one more show scheduled for April 28 at the Austin Psych Fest, but their story won't end there thanks to one of their more famous fans, fashion designer John Varvatos.

Gibbons told Radio.com that Varvatos (who posted a photo from Saturday night's show on his Facebook page) convinced him to hit the studio with his former band.

"After speaking with John," he said, 'You know a couple of shows, that's okay, but they're going to evaporate.' I said, 'What are you recommending?' He said, 'You know what I'm recommending! Get in the studio!' So, in the not-too-distant future, we've made arrangements to take some of the re-arranged originals and cover those, and we're in the process of maintaining the momentum by writing new material."

The shows are to promote the band's recently released The Complete Moving Sidewalks and Gibbons says he was surprised by the continued interest in the band. But even more importantly, he was surprised that the chemistry was still there. more on this story




Local H Resuming Tour As Singer Recovers From Brutal Attack
Local H will be returning to the road after they were forced to cancel a series of dates because frontman Scott Lucas suffered vocal cord damage in a vicious attack in Russia in February.

The band will kick off the reinstated tour this Thursday, April 4th, at The Waiting Room in Omaha, NE. The band also plans to reschedule the canceled dates.

Lucas told fans about the brutal attack in the following Facebook post: "Here's what happened: A month ago, after a date in Moscow, I was assaulted and robbed. The attacker came up from behind and put me in a chokehold until I passed out. When I came to, I was in a stairwell with all of my pockets empty. No phone, no wallet, no cash, and (worst of all) no passport. Nothing. Even my hat and glasses were gone. It wasn't until I found someone to ask for help that I realized something else was gone - my voice. When I opened my mouth to ask that person to call me a taxi, nothing but a scratchy croak would come out. I touched my throat and could feel that more damage had been done than I initially thought. A purple bruise began to form. I was having trouble swallowing. Russia...........

"When I got back to the states, I just figured that resting my voice and taking it easy would allow everything to return to normal. I'd lost my voice before and I knew the drill : shut the f**k up (basically). But it soon became apparent that this time my voice wasn't going to just heal itself and I had to see someone. The folks at MusiCares hooked me up with a voice doctor who found that one of my vocal cords had been damaged." more on this story




Eddie Van Halen Explains Why He Went Hip-Hop
Eddie Van Halen surprised fans when he revealed that he had collaborated with LL Cool J on two tracks on the veteran rapper's new album, Authentic, which will be released on April 30th.

Now the legendary rock guitarist has spoken out about the collaboration and what inspired him to team up with LL Cool J. His camp says that Eddie didn't know what to think of the invitation at first but once he met LL the two hit it off instantly and he agreed to do it.

"The thought of me playing guitar to hip hop was definitely left of center, but I was intrigued and I agreed to meet and listen to what he had," says Eddie. "I was not only inspired by the songs I heard, but LL's enthusiasm, his down to earth personality, the freedom he gave me to co-create and his willingness to, for the very first time, sing the chorus on 'We're The Greatest'. It was like a breath of fresh air that I needed as an artist and an individual."

Eddie adds, "the diversity of the songs on this album and the other artists he has collaborated with is outstanding, appealing to multiple genres of music and maybe even creating a few of our own. I feel blessed to not only have had the opportunity to work with LL but also to call him a great friend." more on this story




Led Zeppelin: Sound and Fury Set For Release
(hennemusic) "Led Zeppelin: Sound and Fury", a new digital book by noted Zeppelin photographer Neal Preston, will be published on April 15.

The in-depth, illustrated digital coffee-table book is created and designed especially for iBooks, providing an unprecedented and comprehensive glimpse into the world of Led Zeppelin through the lens of the famed photographer.

Blending images, interviews, and information to allow readers inside access into some of the greatest moments in rock history, "Sound and Fury" features hundreds of photos of the band from throughout their career (including over 100 that have never been seen before), audio introductions, written pieces, hi-definition video interviews, ephemera, commentary from contemporary artists, technical camera info, band discography, and more.

"Sound And Fury" includes a written introduction by Stevie Nicks. More details.




New Beatles Auction Record Set
(Classic Rock) A signed copy of the Beatles' Sgt Pepper Lonely Hearts Club Band's album has been sold at auction for $290,000, breaking a previous record.

The item, believed to have been autographed by the Fab Four soon after its released in 1967, was estimated to have been worth just $30,000.

The previous record for the band's memorabilia was $150,000 for a signed copy of 1964 release Meet The Beatles. More rock news.





AC/DC Legend Bon Scott Named 2nd Greatest Australian Singer
(hennemusic) AC/DC legend Bon Scott has been named the second greatest Australian singer of all-time in a new survey of Aussie singers.

The Daily Telegraph reports Scott landed at No. 2 behind pop singer John Farnham on the list, which was compiled after a survey of Aussie singers.

"Bon's combination of cheek, wit and balls made everything he did unforgettable," said Dave Faulkner of the Hoodoo Gurus. "He was also a brilliant songwriter. Do I really need to say any more about the genius of Bon Scott? We were very lucky to have him."

Scott was AC/DC's vocalist from 1974 until his death in 1980. He recorded six albums with the band – from 1975's "High Voltage" to 1979's "Highway To Hell." Who else made the list?




Yes Expand Tour Plans
(hennemusic) Progressive Rock legends Yes have added more dates to their 2013 tour due to overwhelming demand.

The newly added dates start May 19th with 6 shows in Brazil and one each in Chile and Argentina. The new North American dates launch July 6th in Paso Robles, CA and wrap up August 14th in Rosemont, IL.

The tour marks the first time since 1973 that Yes - bassist Chris Squire, guitarist Steve Howe, drummer Alan White, keyboardist Geoff Downes and singer Jon Davison - have performed an album onstage in its entirety.

The current trek sees the band performing 1971's "The Yes Album", 1972's "Close To The Edge" and 1977's "Going For The One" from beginning to end. more on this story




Rush Look Back At Rock History
(hennemusic) Rolling Stone have released video of Rush's Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson taking a recent tour of their offices as the two rock legends look back at other rock legends.

The clip shows the pair spending time at the "cover wall," highlighting and discussing various artists as they review the collection from the magazine's 46-year history.

Lee and Lifeson reminisce about seeing Led Zeppelin in Toronto in 1969 and meeting them many years later, drummer Neil Peart's audition for the band, seeing The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, and, where they were and what they were doing the day John Lennon was murdered.

Rush return to action this month with a full calendar of events, including their April 18th induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame at the Nokia Theater L.A. Live. more on this story





Def Leppard Aim To Surprise In Vegas
(Classic Rock) Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott has admitted the band have their work cut out trying to surprise fans during their Las Vegas residency.

The band is midway through a series of shows at the Hard Rock Hotel And Casino, where they're performing classic album Hysteria in full. And Elliott accepts that means most people think they know what they're going to get during the evening.

In the video, showing scenes from Def Lep's final rehearsal, he tells Fuse: "Once we start Hysteria everyone knows what they're going to get. So we have to make a conscious effort, knowing they don't know what they're going to get for the first half of the show.

"With eleven performances we can do literally eleven different sets. We're going deep – the first album, which we don't visit too often; a couple of tracks from High And Dry which haven't been played in years, or have never been played." Watch the video and read more here.




John Lydon Looking Forward to Chinese Prison
(Classic Rock) John Lydon is surprised that Chinese authorities approved his PiL tour after demanding to read every lyric he's ever written.

"They have either incredible good taste or they have no idea what I'm going on about," he says. "I can't wait to find out."

"I hope their prison food is better than elsewhere. I've been in jails all around the world. I'm due an update." More rock news.




Krokus Mistaken For Beatles Songwriters
(Classic Rock) Krokus bassist and producer Chris Von Rohr has been inundated with congratulation for having written Beatles classic Help, because the band covered it on their new album Dirty Dynamite.

"A lot of people don't know that song," he reports. "They come to me and tell me, 'Wow, great new Krokus ballad here,' and I have to tell them that that's unfortunately not written by us.

"Not everybody young knows Help. And it's good to tell the young people: 'Hey, listen to the Beatles stuff – they wrote the best songs in the world, ever.'" More rock news.




Anthrax's Benante Not Bothered By Not Cashing In On Innovation
(Classic Rock) Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante isn't upset that he's given credit for a number of heavy music innovations, but doesn't make the money.

He says: "There have been many times when I've been namechecked and people will say, 'He's the guy who started that.' But it doesn't bother me that others might have reaped the financial rewards for the seeds I was responsible for sowing. It happens to a lot of people in this business.

"You can always be on the cusp of something great, but just be a bit too early with it. The SOD thing was very influential – it showed hardcore bands that you can play what you want to play and make money doing it.

"It definitely helped a lot of those hardcore bands to reach a certain level of success and popularity. The blast beat on the SOD. song Milk had a big impact on rock drumming." More rock news.





Singled Out: Deap Vally
Today Lindsey Troy from Deap Vally tells us about the song "Lies" from their debut EP, "Get Deap," which is set to be released next week on April 9th. Here is the story:

Julie got a me delay pedal for Christmas a couple years ago. I locked myself in our rehearsal space for a few hours and played around with my new toy. I came up with the guitar riff for the chorus during those few hours.

I was seething from a romance that had recently crashed and burned. I was in my car on my way to band practice a few days later and I started to come up with the lyrics. I showed the idea to Julie when we got the our rehearsal space and she dug it, so we jammed it out and finished the song together. We had most of the song fleshed out and were just jamming on the music when Julie grabbed the mic and in a smoky Diana Ross speaking voice says "I thought we agreed / you wouldn't have the need to spread your seed / but it's a fact / you broke your contract". It was on.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and watch the video here learn more about the group right here!




Tesla Guitarist Frank Hannon Releases New Video
(Classic Rock) Tesla guitarist Frank Hannon has released a new music video for his track The Hills Of California, and you can watch the video online.

It's taken from his solo album Gypsy Highway, which was released in 2010. He says of the work: "The storytelling style of songwriting has always been fascinating to me.

"Singing is a whole another world for me – it took me a long time to find my voice as a lead singer and feel comfortable exposing my soul that way.

"I wrote, sang and played all the instruments and it is definitely an acoustic-type album that shares a lot of my roots and life experiences from the heart." Watch the video here.




James Bond Inspired One of David Lee Roth's Bad Habits
(hennemusic) David Lee Roth has posted a new episode of The Roth Show. This time out, the Van Halen frontman discusses his personal history with alcohol and cigarettes; the singer reveals he took up smoking after seeing Sean Connery as James Bond in "Goldfinger."

Roth has been visible lately doing press interviews to promote the few Van Halen concert dates on the 2013 calendar.

First up for the band is an April 20 gig at The Stone Music Festival in Synday, Australia, marking VH's first visit to the country with Roth.

Van Halen then play three concerts in Japan in June, and they have a single US show set for July 20 at the Rock USA festival in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Watch the episode here.




Vanderhoof's Metal Church On Wikimetal
The latest episode of the Wikimetal podcast features an exclusive interview with Metal Church guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof. They sent over these details:

Vanderhoof, the guitar player and founding member of Metal Church, spoke with the podcast about the group's history as well as all the band's break-ups.

Kurdt also talked about Metal Church's next album and the show they're doing in São Paulo, on the Live N' Louder festival.

You can listen to the full episode here or you can listen to the interview portion here.




Vampire Weekend Celebrate Easter With Steve Buscemi
(Radio.com) Vampire Weekend spent this weekend with revered character actor Steve Buscemi to take part in this year's New York City Easter Parade.

Buscemi and the band marched in the parade bearing a colorful Easter-themed banner, handing out chocolate Easter eggs to the crowd, according to Pitchfork. The Boardwalk Empire star even used a bullhorn for an impromptu rendition of the band's most recent single, "Diane Young."

Vampire Weekend also took to their Instagram account to post a picture of Buscemi holding up a copy of the New York Post's feature story regarding the band's recent controversy regarding the burning of two Saab 900 series cars for the "Diane Young" lyric video, much to the chagrin of enthusiasts of the new-defunct automaker.

The band preempted the collaboration with a tweet last week, stating that member Chris Baio "has been working on a family tree for months and just discovered he is a distant cousin of actor Steve Buscemi." more on this story





Looking Back At Nirvana's Kurt Cobain 19 Years After His Death
(Gibson) Kurt Cobain, the legendary frontman of '90s grunge band Nirvana, took his own life in his Seattle-area home 19 years ago this Friday (April 5). He was just 27.

On this anniversary week, we recall the impact he had on popular music via some choice quotes: On being a "Sub Pop" band before signing to DGC for Nevermind, as told to Dirt in 1990.

"Well, when someone walks up to me and says, 'You're my favorite Sub Pop band,' I think -- geez, we're you're favorite out of five bands? What about the rest of the country? I don't know. It just scares me. I wonder whether they like us because we're a Sub Pop band or because we're ourselves."

On being called an "alternative" or "underground" band via Recalling Memories of Kurt Cobain in 1991: "What's alternative? What's counterculture? What's cool? Who knows? Who cares? If chasing cool is important to you, you're an idiot! What can you say about people who wait to be told what to like, what to do and how to do it? It's like apathy in action… Look at the mediocrity and blatantly unacceptable stuff we do to each other and the planet. Look at what we accept in our lives by just saying it's out of our control, we can't do anything about it, and it's not our fault. I'm not into ambition or salesmanship, we're not some new trend. We never meant or tried to be cool, or be a "buzz" band. It never even entered our minds."

On the difference between Bleach and Nevermind, as told to Kerrang! magazine (via NirvanaClub.com) in 1991: "I think we've been focusing on dynamics a lot more on this record [Nevermind]. With the Bleach album, everything was just straight ahead and simple, and it becomes boring to play that kind of music all the time so we decided to break things down without songs. I mean, we showed signs of doing that on Bleach, but I think we're way more focused now with both of the elements of soft and pretty and hard and aggressive."

On MTV thinking Nirvana is a metal band, as told to Guitar World in 1992: "That's fine; let them be fooled! I don't have anything against Headbanger's Ball, but it's strange to see our faces on MTV."

Today's Day in Rock News!

Today's Day in Rock

We have a shorter report than normal today due to the Easter holiday.


Rolling Stones Tease Big Tour Announcement?
(hennemusic) The Rolling Stones spent the weekend teasing what could possibly be the impending announcement of their rumored spring North American tour.

Under the heading #StartMeUpWednesday, the band released an image of the theme on a billboard in San Francisco, as well as a photo of song lyrics displayed on a message screen on a train platform in Chicago.

As part of the teaser campaign, the Stones also posted a video on Sunday that featured lyrics from 10 songs projected on the side of an anonymous building.

Pollstar recently reported that the Stones had confirmed AEG Live as the promoter for an 18-date arena tour of North American starting in early May, with official news to be released in early April. See the video and billboard here.



Willie Nelson May Appear On New Megadeth Album
(hennemusic) Could Willie Nelson end up playing on the new Megadeth album? Dave Mustaine ran into the country legend in Austin, TX., Thursday night and posted a photo of the two.

"Willie Nelson is in the restaurant I am eating at," tweeted the guitarist. "I just met him! How cool is this???" Dave is in the city doing some house-hunting.

Later, Mustaine re-posted the image, writing, "I'm talking to Willie about a guest appearance on 'The Blackest Crow'" … a track from the forthcoming album, "Super Collider." Check out the photo here.




Paramore Premiering New Album Over Four Nights This Week
(Radio.com) Paramore is returning to the music scene in a big way this spring, with the band releasing its first album in four years on April 9. But the Tennessee rockers' self-titled fourth album won't just drop via CD and download - Paramore will premiere the new songs with a very unique online presentation.

"Starting Monday (April 1), we're going to be premiering our album over four nights, on Paramore.net," frontwoman Hayley Williams said in a video announcement on YouTube.

"Each night, for four nights, we're going to show you one side of the album. So, for instance, Monday night we're going to show you side A. Tuesday night, we'll show you side B, and then so on and so on."

"There's four sides, so four nights," added guitarist Taylor York during the brief video announcement, revealing that the vinyl version of the release will be a double-album affair. more on this story




Robert Plant and Johnny Rotten In Forthcoming Film
(hennemusic) Robert Plant, Johnny Rotten and Patti Smith are set to appear in a new film by director Terrence Malick. Ryan Gosling spoke to Indiewire about the film, which follows two intersecting love triangles within the music scene in Austin, Texas.

Plant lives in Austin with Patty Griffin. It is expected that Robert's role will be a cameo of some sort, but no further details are available at this time regarding his participation or a proposed release schedule.

Indiewire asked which Malick film he was going to appear in – two pictures were shot last summer. "I'm in the music one," said Gosling. "[Michael] Fassbender, Val Kilmer, Patti Smith, Robert Plant, Johnny Rotten, the Black Lips, just I mean every day was unlike anything."

Gosling also explained how the approach to the film also took an interesting turn from the conventional. Read about that here.




Metallica Star Jams With Anthrax
(hennemusic) Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett joined Anthrax at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco Thursday to perform the AC/DC classic "TNT."

Hammett's appearance on the tune follows Slash's guest spot with the band in Hollywood this past Wednesday to jam the same song.

The song is featured on Anthrax's newly-released EP of covers called "Anthems." In addition to the AC/DC classic, "Anthems'" also features Rush's "Anthem", Thin Lizzy's 'Jailbreak', Boston's 'Smokin', 'Big Eyes' by Cheap Trick, Journey's 'Keep On Runnin', as well as the album version and a special remix of Anthrax's "Crawl", from the band's 2011 album, "Worship Music."

Anthrax are currently on the road headlining the Metal Alliance tour, along with Exodus, High On Fire, Municipal Waste and Holy Grail. Check out video of the jam here.




Iron Maiden Legend Clive Burr Laid To Rest
(hennemusic) A funeral service for former Iron Maiden drummer Clive Burr was held on Monday, March 25 at the City Of London Crematorium in London, England.

Burr died on March 12 in his sleep at his home at the age of 56 after suffering from multiple sclerosis for many years.

Burr joined Maiden in 1979 and performed on the band's first three albums: "Iron Maiden" (1980), "Killers" (1981) and "The Number Of The Beast" (1982). Prior to that, he was a member of Samson.

At the time of his passing, Maiden founder and bassist Steve Harris commented, "This is terribly sad news. Clive was a very old friend of all of us. He was a wonderful person and an amazing drummer who made a valuable contribution to Maiden in the early days when we were starting out. This is a sad day for everyone in the band and those around him and our thoughts and condolences are with his partner Mimi and family at this time." more on this story




Bon Jovi Provide Theme Song For TV Series
(Gibson) Bon Jovi fans who tune into the Discovery Channel's upcoming seven-part "North America" series are in for a surprise, as the group's track "Army of One" has been selected to be the theme music for the show.

"Bon Jovi's 'Army of One' captures the daring, wild spirit of Discovery's upcoming landmark television event that presents our homeland as an extreme world all within one continent," said Eileen O'Neill, group president of Discovery Channel and TLC, in an official statement.

"Army of One" appears on Bon Jovi's latest full-length, What About Now. The series, which actor Tom Selleck will narrate, premieres on the Discovery Channel at 9 p.m. ET/PT on May 19. more on this story






Famed Music Venue In Danger
(Classic Rock) The future of Hammersmith Apollo as a live music venue is under threat from a property developer who wants to turn it into a giant furniture warehouse.

Sheik Farhi Erl Pitts, who made his riches building and furnishing skyscrapers in Dubai, has tabled a £75 million bid for the iconic West London venue, which is owned jointly by AEG Live and Eventim.

"I have great affection for the Hammersmith Apollo – or Odeon, as I prefer to call it," said Farhi Erl Pitts. "As a rock fan myself I have seen many great gigs there, including Kiss in 1976. But with the live music scene in the doldrums, I believe the Apollo's days in its current guise are numbered."

Talking about his plans to convert the Apollo into a giant furniture warehouse, Farhi Erl Pitts said: "This part of West London is currently undergoing massive redevelopment and regeneration, with many new houses and apartments being built. I feel there will be great future demand in Hammersmith and its environs for furniture of all shapes and sizes.

"But I will do my best to preserve some of this great building's rock'n'roll identity," he vowed. "Our bed department, for example, will be called No Sleep Til Hammersmith. I will also sub-let part of our floorspace to World Of Leather, and get my good friend Rob Halford to attend the grand opening. Plus any band who recorded a live album there will be able to claim a free three-piece suite." more on this story




Megadeth Plan Another Gigantour
(hennemusic) Megadeth have nailed down the lineup for this year's Gigantour. "[I] finalized the bands for Gigantour 2013 and have to admit, I am hella impressed!!," posted Dave Mustaine. "Details coming soon."

Mustaine personally selects the artists for the festival, which Megadeth first founded in 2005. Gigantour made its return last year for the first time since 2008 with a bill that included Motorhead, Volbeat and Lacuna Coil.

Megadeth recently completed recording their forthcoming album, "Super Collider," which will be released on June 4. more on this story




6-Year-Old Drummer Takes On Van Halen Classic
(hennemusic) A new video that's sure to go viral features a 6-year-old drummer rocking Van Halen's 1984 classic, "Hot For Teacher."

Known as Avery Drummer, Avery Molek is a Washington, PA-based musician who can be seen nailing Alex Van Halen's drum parts on the tune.

In addition to doing covers, Avery has played 15 shows all at the age of 5. Six shows were solo 1-hour concerts & 9 shows were playing in 4 different live bands spanning in 4 states. Most notable were The Hard Rock Cafe, The Illinois State Fair & Sturgis Fest "Bike Week" in Michigan.

Avery has posted videos of himself performing classic tracks by KISS, Motley Crue, Jimi Hendrix and Guns N' Roses. Check out the Van Halen jam here.




Sebastian Bach Premieres 18 and Life Video From New DVD
(Classic Rock) Sebastian Bach has premiered a video for 18 And Life, taken from the ex-Skid Row frontman's new live package ABachalypse Now.

The ABachalypse Now Ultimate CD/DVD Edition comprises two CDs and a DVD, and includes footage from last year's GrasPop Festival in Belgium, Hellfest in France and the Nokia show from Los Angeles, as well as bonus music videos.

If you don't want the full-on the bumper fandango, ABachalypse Now is also available as a standalone DVD, with a running time of approximately 160 minutes. Both are available via Frontiers.