Today's Day In Rock!

Taking Back Sunday Singer's Leg Crushed By Falling Tree
(TMZ) Taking Back Sunday singer Adam Lazzara is lucky to be alive -- after a tree literally FELL on top of him this weekend ... shattering his leg.
A rep for the band tells TMZ, Adam was at a recording studio in rural Michigan Saturday ... and he decided to step outside for a cigarette. It was real windy, and we're told a tree collapsed on the singer out of nowhere, trapping him underneath.

The rest of the band ran outside when they heard his calls for help -- but couldn't lift the tree off him ... so they called 911, and the local fire department came and sawed the tree to pieces.

Once freed, we're told Adam was rushed to the hospital -- where doctors put a cast on his broken leg. According to the rep, Adam's expected to be in the cast for the next 4-6 weeks. more on this story


The Osbournes Making New TV Show
(hennemusic) Ozzy Osbourne and family may be returning to television. Ozzy and his family star in a new stop-motion animation sitcom called "The F'n Osbournes," according to C21 Media.

Canada's Cuppa Coffee Studios is producing the series, which is currently seeking financing.

Jack Osbourne is executive producing the show with his mother Sharon and says the show will be "a radical and humorous new spin on our family". more on this story


Motley Crue's Vince Neil Opening Girls, Girls, Girls Strip Club
(hennemusic) It was only a matter of time... Motley Crue singer Vince Neil is getting into the strip club business – this time, as an owner.

The Las Vegas Sun reports Vince Neil's Girls, Girls, Girls will open in Sin City in about two weeks.

"It's something I always wanted to do," said Vince. "So it's like a dream come true. But this will be different and unique. It will be the first rock and roll strip joint. It was a business opportunity to become a partner that was too good to pass up." more on this story


Sammy Hagar Tributes Ronnie Montrose
(hennemusic) Sammy Hagar has offered his thoughts on the passing of former bandmate Ronnie Montrose, who died Saturday after a long battle with prostrate cancer.

Sammy posted the following message: "Ronnie Montrose gave me my first break as a songwriter, as a frontman, as a recording artist, as a touring artist, and for that I will always be grateful.

"I was looking forward to a reunion for my birthday bash in Cabo with Denny [Carnassi, drums], Bill [Church, bass] and Ronnie — one of the few bands from that era where all four original members were still able to do it. more on this story


The Cult Lineup Tour Dates With Ozzy, Guns N' Roses and Garbage
The Cult will be heading to Europe this summer for an extensive run of tour dates in support of their new album.

The tour plans include headline shows, festivals, special dates with Guns N' Roses, and main support on an Ozzy & Friends show.

The 14-date trek kicks off June 28 in Belgrade with The Cult as main support for Ozzy & Friends, then to Austria and Romania with Guns N' Roses, followed by a slew of headline club shows, and then wrapping up on July 19 in Portugal, sharing the stage with Garbage. more on this story


Motorhead Set For North American Mayhem With Slipknot and Slayer
As expected, Motorhead has been named as the mystery main stage act on the upcoming Mayhem tour.

Motorhead join the main stage lineup headed by Slipknot and Slayer. The second stage will be headlined by Anthrax supported by a rotation of The Devil Wears Prada, As I Lay Dying and Asking Alexandria, along with Whitechapel, High On Fire.

A third stage will feature Upon A Burning Body, I The Breather and one more act (to be announced). The tour kicks off on June 30th in California. more on this story


Nirvana's Teen Spirit Vocal Track An Online Hit
(Banana 101.5) A YouTube clip featuring late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain's isolated vocal track on 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' has become an Internet sensation over the past week, two years after it was posted on the popular video-sharing website.

The 1991 release of Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' was a watershed moment in the history of rock music. The meteoric rise of that one song ushered in an entire new wave of bands that saved the then flat-lining genre.

The massive single has been played millions of times and is still a staple at rock radio stations today, but fans are hearing the song in an entirely different way after an old YouTube clip got noticed by the interwebs last week. Read more and take a listen here.


Flogging Molly Spring Tour and Drunken Lullabies 10th Anniversary
Flogging Molly have extended their 2012 tour plans with the recent addition of a spring tour dates and they have announced a special 10th anniversary edition of Drunken Lullabies.

The trek includes their first-ever appearances at the Hangout Festival in Gulf Shores, AL and the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, TN.

2012 marks the 10th Anniversary of the release of Flogging Molly's celebrated sophomore album Drunken Lullabies. To commemorate the anniversary of the band's first Gold album, Flogging Molly will release a limited edition red vinyl 7-inch single for Record Store Day on April 21st more on this story


Deep Purple and Whitesnake Stars To Help Fans Learn To Play
We received some interesting news for fans of Deep Purple and Whitesnake in the UK. Here you go: Music for All is proud to announce their National Learn to Play Day, which offers free musical instrument lessons to the public on March 31st, 2012, will be supported by some of the UK's top rock stars.

With over 60 music shops participating nationwide, Music for All can confirm that drumming legend Ian Paice of Deep Purple will be calling into Drumwright in Reading to lend a hand. Elsewhere, Whitesnake's guitarist Doug Aldrich, Drummer Brian Tichy and bassist Michael Devin will be helping out at Sheehan's in Leicester.

Commenting on the day, Ian Paice said 'Being given the gift of being able to create music is an incredible thing and most people don't allow themselves this pleasure. That's a shame. Try it, you could just make your life a whole lot more fun'. There are lots of other events all over the country including a special piano extravaganza by Markson Piano's at Foyle's Book, Charing Cross Road, London. more on this story


Slash Band Lineup Change
(Gibson) Slash's solo band bassist Todd Kerns had some big news on his blog about a lineup change for the group:

"In the Conspirators, we have a new face in the fold. Our brother in arms of the past couple of years, Bobby Schneck [guitar], has moved on and I wish him all the best in the world. Bobby is an amazing guy, a great talent and a great friend.

"The newest Conspirator is none other than Frankie Sidoris. Look out! We got some young blood in the band. Gonna have to step up my game now! Frankie comes from Las Vegas' own THE CAB. Fitz and I jammed with a lot of people to find this kid and he's gonna be a monster. In the future when you're all clamouring about how wonderful Frankie is, remember it was us who found him!" more on this story




Godsmack, Five Finger Death Punch, P.O.D., Sevendust To Be ShipRocked
(AMM) Godsmack, Five Finger Death Punch, P.O.D., Sevendust, Filter, Fuel, Black Stone Cherry, Lit, Queensryche frontman Geoff Tate, Gilby Clarke (ex-Guns N' Roses) and In This Moment will all take part in the fourth annual ShipRocked music cruise.

ShipRocked 2012 embarks from Fort Lauderdale, FL November 27 and provides guests with four days and nights onboard the MSC Poesia while sailing the Caribbean. Ports of call include Key West, FL and Nassau, Bahamas (subject to change), with the cruise returning to Fort Lauderdale December 1. Additional bands will be announced in the coming weeks.

Godsmack's Shannon Larkin performed on ShipRocked 2011 with his band Another Animal and says, "The whole experience was very unique and very kick ass! I would recommend this highly to bands and fans alike. I made a ton of fond memories and hope to do it again!" more on this story


Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros Set New Album Release
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros have set a May 29th release date for their sophomore album which will be called "Here," and they have mapped out some tour plans as well. We were sent these details:

After an early session in Bogalusa, LA, the band has been putting the finishing touches on the album in Ojai, CA.

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros will make an appearance with members of Mumford & Sons and Old Crow Medicine Show at the 2012 South By Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival on Saturday, March 17th for the world premiere of Big Easy Express, the Emmett Malloy directed film that covered the bands' journey as they traveled in vintage railcars across the American Southwest over the course of a week, playing concerts at six unique outdoor locations along the route. The bands will join Big Easy Express director Emmett Malloy and film producers in a Q&A subsequently perform an exclusive live acoustic set. more on this story


Brain Jonestown Massacre Streaming New Song
Brian Jonestown Massacre have announced new North American tour dates and are giving fans a taste of their new album, Aufheben.

The new album is set to be released on May 1, 2012 but the band is currently streaming the new track "I Want to Hold Your Other Hand" here.

The band have announced the West Coast leg of their upcoming North American tour which will kick off on April 27th in Dallas. more on this story


The Polyphonic Spree Add New Tour Leg
The Polyphonic Spree have just added a third leg to their "You + Me" tour, including dates in the Midwest and East Coast in May.

This follows previously announced dates in late March and April on the West Coast for the 21-member Dallas band, which is touring for the first time in more than four years.

Two other Good Records Recordings artists will support the upcoming tour dates. New Fumes, the project of former Spree member and Flaming Lips collaborator Daniel Huffman, will support the March and April dates; and singer/songwriter Sweet Lee Morrow (a.k.a. Jesse Hester, another former member of the Spree) will support the May dates. more on this story


Lamb Of God Cancel Shows Due To Family Emergency
Bad news from the Lamb Of God camp as the band has been forced to cancel two shows this week.

The concerts were scheduled for March 7th in Auckland, New Zealand and March 9th in Anchorage, Alaska.

The band were forced to pull the plug due to a medical emergency regarding a family member, according a statement. The band intends to make up both shows during the Resolution tour cycle.


Revocation, Cannabis Corpse and Ramming Speed Tour
(CPR) Cannabis Corpse and Ramming Speed will be hitting the road with Revocation for a string of North American dates next month.

The tour kicks off in Allston, MA on April 19th, bounces up to Montreal, then rolls over and down through the Midwest and East Coast before ending up in Trenton, NJ on April 29th.

Cannabis Corpse will be touring in support of their 2011 album, Beneath Grow Lights Thou Shalt Rise. more on this story


Eric Johnson Crossing The Pond For Summer Tour
(Noble) Eric Johnson will launch his first ever UK tour at the Holmfirth Picturedrome on Friday 5th July.

The 5-date tour will showcase material from his current album "Up Close", and from his back catalogue.

Johnson has been hailed by Joe Bonamassa as "one of the greatest guitar players of all time" and now UK fans can see why in person. more on this story


Neuronspoiler Lineup Change
(Sub) Neuronspoiler have tapped Dave Shirman (Moana Sleazer, ex-Serpent Sins) to replace guitarist Stanley Long who left the group last month.

The group is currently writing new material and will be going into the studio in the summer to start recording the eagerly awaited full-length follow up to their 2010 E.P., "No One's Safe".

Neuronspoiler drummer Tim Barclay commented: "We're really excited that Dave has joined the band. He's a great fit, in personality and ethos as well as musically. We needed someone who really loved metal and who was going to be committed to trying to do something great on the stage and in the studio. When Dave first started playing our songs it was like he'd been playing them with us forever and it felt good. We're really looking forward to hearing what he brings to the sound when we head into the studio this year." more on this story


Matt Toka Maps Out Tour Plans
Matt Toka is hitting the road ahead of his forthcoming album with not one, but two North American tours.

The first is with Breathe Carolina and The Ready Set and will kick off in Columbia, MO on Mar 21st and end in Bloomington, IL on April 27th.

Then starting on June 16th in Salt Lake City, UT, Toka will join the entire Warped Tour, which will snake its way across the country and close in Portland, OR on Aug 5th. more on this story


Devin Townsend To Begin Recording New Album This Week
(Gibson) Devin Townsend will begin recording his new album Epicloud this week in Perth, Australia following the last date of the Soundwave festival.

In an interview with this writer for Beat magazine last month, Townsend elaborated that the album would in some ways be a reaction to the complexity of his previous effort, Deconstruction. "What it is a very awesome, epic hard rock record without that depth of metaphor, that overt complexity for complexity's sake," Townsend said. "It's a bunch of really cool songs that I really like listening to that go well with summer."

Formerly with extreme metal act Strapping Young Lad, Townsend's post SYL output has been much more optimistic in tone, even when retaining the heavy elements that made his previous band popular. "With Epicloud what I'm trying to achieve is that sort of beautiful glorious sense that certain elements of Infinity and Addicted! had, but mixed with some minor chords," Townsend said. "Because when those minor chords come in they don't affect me the way I thought they would. It used to be that if I chucked a minor chord in I thought it was going to have this gothic, black metal vibe to it, right? But really what it does is it just provides a release from relentless major chords!" more on this story




Remembering George Formby
(Gibson) On this day in 1961, George Harrison's favorite ukulele player, George Formby died. Gibson takes a look back: On this day in 1961, Britain lost a hero. Singer, comedian and ukulele player George Formby passed away. He was a national treasure with 150,000 attending his funeral.

The comedian from the north of England was Britain's top box office star in the '30s and '40s, making 19 movies. When he signed a contact with Columbia in 1941 he became the fifth highest-paid movie actor in the world ahead of superstars like Errol Flynn and Bing Crosby.

While Britain was at war, Formby kept spirits up and did his duty entertaining the troops. He flew to Africa to visit Field Marshal Montgomery and entertain the Eighth Army where he played to more than 10,000 British soldiers.

His wife Beryl worked in his variety act before becoming his manager, taking him around the world. In 1942, she arranged for George to play shows in South Africa. When he embraced a black girl who presented him and Beryl with chocolates, he was roundly cheered by the black audience, a move that brought an irate phone call form the National Party Leader, Daniel Francois Malan, who had the Formbys unceremoniously deported for disobeying the pre-apartheid color code. Beryl gave as good as she got, however, telling Malan, "Why don't you piss off you horrible little man?" more on this story




Singled Out: Mychildren Mybride's Dreamcatchers
Yesterday we told you about Mychildren Mybride's new "choose your own nightmare" interactive video for their song "Dreamcatchers," from their forthcoming self-titled album (Out Mar 13th). Today guitarist Robert Bloomfield tells us about the song! Here is the story:

"Dreamcatchers" was definitely one of the more promising sounding songs, especially when we demoed it. You have this intro that just pumps up and that builds into a super hooky breakdown, followed by one of the catchiest riffs on the record. Mathis, our drummer, brought a bunch of ideas to the table, the verse riff being one of them. I remember just sitting in the live room at the studio kind of just rotating a couple riffs in and out of the song and only settling on what we thought had the most energy. We were thinking of it from a potential fan's point of view. Basically, if it's not catchy enough the first time you hear it, then it wasn't good enough.

I personally love the flow of the song from start to finish. I feel like it has everything you need from a structural point of view as well as a listening point of view. The first verse just has this trifecta - catchy guitars, catchy lyrics and driving kick. After that first verse the pre chorus hits, with Matthew's new spin on vocals, and that's where we were like "Ok, well, this is going to be a single". It just built perfectly into this epic sounding chorus that has all these layered guitars. I actually remember as we found the chorus I had this sound in my head that eventually became the lead over it. I'm the type of musician that as soon as I hear a great rhythm I need to find the perfect lead for it right away or it'll bug me for hours. And for this lead I found this great EH pedal and it recreates the sound perfectly live.

Then we have the bridge that flashes back to the intro pump up. It set us up for this huge melodic ending. The rhythm has these chords that Hunter had been messing around with that give it descending notes within the chord. Again I had this sound in my head that translated to this really emotional sounding lead and it just ended up working out great. It was actually the very first lead that came to my mind when we demoed it. Funny that it actually made the record cause it's very rare that your very first riff to come out makes the cut! I feel like all the leads complement the ending so well. It truly feels like an ending to something, in this case a song. And when I can create a riff that translates emotionally, then I've done my ultimate goal.

ROCK N ROLL ALL-STARS TO TAKE ON SOUTH/CENTRAL AMERICA:

From: www.marshallofrock.com / "Gene Simmons (KISS), Joe Elliott (Def Leppard), Duff McKagan (Guns N' Roses/Velvet Revolver/Loaded), Glenn Hughes (Black Country Communion/Deep Purple/Trapeze/Black Sabbath), Sebastian Bach and many more will tour South and Central America this spring as the Rock 'N' Roll Allstars, an 11-piece supergroup. Watch the footage from the press conference was held at the Roxy Theater in West Hollywood on Thursday (Mar. 1) announcing all the details below.
Also part of the touring supergroup will be drummer Matt Sorum (Guns N' Roses/Velvet Revolver), Gilby Clarke (Guns N' Roses), Steve Stevens (Billy Idol/Vince Neil), Ed Roland (Collective Soul), Mike Inez (Alice In Chains) and Billy Duffy (the Cult).
Matt Sorum and promoter Gabe Reed are behind the concept for the tour and put it all together. “We thought it would be a really great idea to put together a band of some of our favorite musicians from the history of rock,” Reed said. “I think it's going to be exciting to go see the hits of Kiss, Guns N' Roses, Def Leppard, Billy Idol, the Cult and Alice In Chains. That's where the vibe came from.”
The tour kicks off April 19 in Asuncion, Paraguay and wraps up June 5 in Bogota, Colombia, with 10 dates total.
Tour Dates
Apr. 19 – Asuncion, Paraguay
Apr. 21 – Sao Luis, Brazil
Apr. 23 – Buenos Aires, Argentina
Apr. 25 – Santiago, Chile
Apr. 27 – Lima, Peru
Apr. 29 – Quito, Ecuador
May 1 – Guatemala City, Guatemala
May 3 – San Jose, Costa Rica
May 4 – Panama City, Panama
May 5 – Bogota, Colombia

Today's Day In Rock!

Ronnie Montrose Dies After Long Cancer Fight
(hennemusic) Legendary guitarist Ronnie Montrose died Saturday following a five-year battle with prostate cancer. He was 64 years old.
Ronnie's website has been updated with the following message: "A few months ago, we held a surprise party for Ronnie Montrose's 64th birthday. He gave an impromptu speech, and told us that after a long life, filled with joy and hardship, he didn't take any of our love for granted.

"He passed today. He'd battled cancer, and staved off old age for long enough. And true to form, he chose his own exit the way he chose his own life. We miss him already, but we're glad to have shared with him while we could." more on this story


Metallica Plan Special Record Store Day Release
Metallica plan to celebrate Record Store Day this year with the release of their Beyond Magnetic EP on silver vinyl.

Record Store Day this year takes place on Saturday, April 21, 2012. Fans can purchase the vinyl at indie record retailers and at www.metallica.com.

The Tallica-camp sent over these details: Originally released via all digital retailers on December 13th and on CD worldwide on January 30th, the EP features four tracks recorded during the sessions for 2008's 2x-platinum Death Magnetic, the band's fifth consecutive No. 1 album. more on this story


Don't Expect Freddie Mercury From Adam Lambert and Queen
(Gibson) The remaining members of Queen, Brian May (guitar) and Roger Taylor (drums), recruiting Adam Lambert has already upset some fans.

Speaking to the NME about Queen's show, promoter Galbraith said that while he could understand people's reservations about the idea, he thought the band's back catalog was so strong it wouldn't matter.

"If people are looking for a Freddie Mercury show, then they aren't going to get it, but I think the Queen songs are huge, I think they fit perfectly with the Knebworth environment… I think it'll be one of the best performances we've seen from a headliner, it's the only show in the world they're doing. It's a huge coup for us." more on this story




Whitesnake Announce Touring Hiatus
(hennemusic) Whitesnake fans won't see their heros on the road this year as the band have announced plans to take the year off the road. They have posted a news update for fans:

Whitesnake have announced the band will be on hiatus from touring throughout 2012 after completing their successful "Forevermore World Tour."

At this time, the band plan to spend 2012 in the studio, mixing live recordings made during the 2011 tour.

There are also plans to edit & mix a live in-concert DVD from the trek. Other 'Snake related projects are also in the works, including new material, though there are no definite plans to record a full studio album at this time. more on this story


Taproot New Song Premiere
(Banana 101.5) Taproot's new concept album 'The Episodes' hits stores and digital outlets on April 10th but you can hear the first single now!

Taproot actual began work on the "complexly developed concept album" 'The Episodes' over six years ago.

"Having written the story for this album before the music, this record sounds more like a soundtrack than a typical album," says bassist Phil Liscomb of the new album. "With the songs flowing together and taking you on a journey." The evolution of the band's sound is evident on the first single 'No Surrender,' which has a more progressive feel and even features a speak-and-spell.

Taproot's will perform songs from 'The Episodes' during the official CD release party at The Machine Shop on April 10th. Check out the premiere of the first single "No Surrender" here.


Karma to Burn Drop Off Tour
Karma to Burn have pulled the plug on their current tour plan until mid-month for unspecified personal reasons.

A statement posted on the band's site credited to "admin" reads as follows: "Sorry to announce that all of the KTB shows from March 1-18 have been canceled.

"We just need some time to get my mind, body and spirit correct. We know some people will be pissed, but sometimes you just gotta take care of yourself. more on this story


Rob Zombie Plans New Album
(Banana 101.5) Rob Zombie has announced that production on his upcoming film 'The Lords of Salem' is coming to a close and that he plans to enter the studio to begin work on a new album in June.

Rob Zombie's dance card for 2012 is filling up rather quickly — after spending the last several months plugging away at his new witchcraft horror flick 'The Lords of Salem,' Zombie will hit the road for a co-headlining tour with Megadeth in May — but those aren't his only plans.

"As production on THE LORDS OF SALEM ends it is time for music," he revealed on his website. "We will be packing up the band and moving to remote location to record. No distractions, just music." more on this story


Slash's Solo Band Records 360 Degree Web Video
(Gibson) Slash releases his second solo album, Apocalyptic Love, on May 22. Band bassist Todd Kerns has now written on his blog: "A few weeks back we finished recording the new Slash album that has since been titled Apocalyptic Love after the lead-off track, which is earth-shattering!

"We finished up recording at Barefoot Recording with [producer] Eric Valentine and the very next day we were shooting an in the studio performance for Mativision. We performed all 13 songs from Apocalyptic Love for the Mativision cameras.

"The cool thing is that while watching it on your computer, you'll be able to select what you wanna look at and switch around 360 degrees all over the place. It is totally mind-blowing. Crazy. I have no idea what format that's coming out in, but it is to be part of some fancy release of the album. more on this story




New Aaron Lewis Solo Song Goes Online
(hennemusic) A new solo track from Staind frontman Aaron Lewis has surfaced. "Anywhere But Here" will be included on Lewis' full-length solo album, due for release in June.

The project is the follow-up to Aaron's acclaimed 2011 country EP, "Town Line," which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Country Albums chart and #7 on The Billboard 200 chart.

Lewis recently received two Academy Of Country Music nominations for his debut country single, "Country Boy." Have a listen to the new song here.


Rolling Stones Celebrating 50th Anniversary With Book Release
(hennemusic) The Rolling Stones have announced the summer release of a book to mark their 50th Anniversary this year.

"The Rolling Stones: 50" will be published on the July 12, 2012 – a half century after the day of their first show, at London's Marquee Club.

In the past 50 years, the Stones have performed live in front of more people than any band…ever. They've had No.1 singles and albums in every country that has a popular music chart and have helped define popular culture. more on this story


How Kool and the Gang Landed Van Halen Tour
(hennemusic) Kool & The Gang have been opening shows for Van Halen on their current tour, and the thought of the unlikely pairing of the 70s pop-funk icons with the kings of 70s high-energy hard rock took a little getting used to, according to KATG co-founder Robert "Kool" Bell.

It turns out, Bell says, the pairing was David Lee Roth's idea. "He [Roth] saw our show in London last year for the big Glastonbury Festival and as they were putting together the Van Halen reunion tour, he went back to his camp and said, 'Hey, man, I'd like to have Kool & The Gang open up for us,' " Bell tells The Morning Call.

"They kind of felt it was a little strange in the beginning, but David kind of said, 'Hey, I think it'll work because in the '80s, Van Halen was sort of like the rock party band and Kool & The Gang was the pop funk party band. He said [Van Halen's] audience is 60 percent ladies – and of course, with 'Ladies Night,' we wrote a song for them. So it all came together." more on this story


Jack White Goes Solo on Saturday Night Live
(hennemusic) Jack White rocked Saturday Night Live this weekend as he introduces the start of his solo career. White's first album, "Blunderbuss," is due April 24.

On SNL, hosted by Lindsey Lohan, Jack performed two tracks: the album's first single, "Love Interruption," and a new rocker, "Sixteen Saltines."

White begins his first solo headline shows with a date in Chattanooga, TN on March 10. Check out video of his performances here.


Mychildren Mybride Give Fans Interactive Nightmare
Mychildren Mybride have released their "Dreamcatchers" Interactive Nightmare - an interactive experience that will allow fans to unlock elements of the song "Dreamcatchers."

The immersive experience finds fans waking up in a mysterious room and needing to escape. Following perilous paths, the decisions fans make will either move them along to the next step of the adventure or lead to their death.

Upon dying, fans will be treated to a segment of "Dreamcatchers", meaning that the only way to unlock each segment of the song is to explore the myriad choices that the adventure presents. Upon successful completion, fans will be prompted to restart the adventure in order to unlock new music.

"With the release of 'Dreamcatchers' we really wanted to try something new and different, something that would make our fans conspire together and act as a community," frontman Matthew Hasting excitedly explains. "So please, throughout Facebook, YouTube and Twitter work together to figure out the challenge that lies ahead. Choose your fate wisely and listen closely to everything you see. You will soon hear the final song before our album is released."




Springsteen and Fallon Take On LMFAO Hit
(hennemusic) Jimmy Fallon and Bruce Springsteen have teamed up again for another cover.

As Neil Young and a 1980s-era Bruce, the pair performed an acoustic version of LMFAO's hit, "Sexy And I Know It," on Friday's Late Night program.

Fallon has been hosting a Springsteen tribute week, which featured appearances by Kenny Chesney, John Legend and Elvis Costello. Check it out here.


Elvis Costello Added To Robert Johnson Centennial Celebration
(Gibson) Elvis Costello has been added to the bill of The Robert Johnson at 100 centennial celebration at New York's Apollo Theatre on March 6.

He joins The Roots, Macy Gray, Chuck D, Living Colour, Shemekia Copeland, Bettye LaVette, Taj Mahal, Keb' Mo', Todd Rundgren, and many more including The Rev. Steven Johnson, grandson of Robert Johnson.

Directed by Joe Morton, the night will be lead by Musical Director Steve Jordan and special guest Jeffrey Wright. Produced by Steve Berkowitz, Michael Dorf, Joe Morton and Patricia Watt in association with The Blues Foundation and Legacy Recordings, proceeds from the concert will go to The Blues Foundation and The Robert Johnson Foundation to provide funding for the building of The Blues Hall of Fame in Memphis. more on this story




Engelbert Humperdinck For Eurovision
(Gibson) Sixties crooner Engelbert Humperdinck, whose "Release Me" kept The Beatles off the no 1 spot in 1967, will represent the United Kingdom at this year's Eurovision Song Contest.

Humperdinck, 75, said, "I am so thrilled to have been asked by the BBC to represent the U.K. at Eurovision 2012!...without hesitation I happily accepted."

Katie Taylor, head of entertainment and events for the BBC, said: "Not since the '70s have we had such an established international musical legend represent the nation.

"We couldn't be more delighted. Engelbert's experience leaves us in no doubt that he will be able to deliver a standout performance in front of 120 million viewers worldwide." more on this story




Fozzy Added To Download Lineup
Fozzy have announced that they will be taking part in Download 2012, which be held June 8-10 in the United Kingdom.

Fozzy will be performing Saturday, June 9 , as part of a lineup headlined by Metallica playing their black album in its entirety.

They are currently recording their Century Media Records debut, which is scheduled for a worldwide release this summer. The band will release their first single from the new album in May. more on this story


More Slash and Betty White Zoo Videos Surface
(hennemusic) The Los Angeles Zoo is sharing more of their new series of commercials featuring Slash and Betty White.

The new ads are to promote the March 8 launch of the zoo's new attraction, called THE LAIR.

LAIR stands for Living Amphibians, Invertebrates, and Reptiles. THE LAIR will feature "60 species of weird, rare and endangered amphibians, invertebrates and reptiles."

Whitesnake Plan To Spend 2012 Mixing Live Recordings

March 1, 2012



Whitesnake have announced that the band will be on hiatus from touring throughout 2012 after completing their successful 'Forevermore World Tour'.

At this time the band plan to spend 2012 in the studio, mixing live recordings made during the 2011 tour. There are also plans to edit and mix a live in-concert DVD from the tour.

Other 'Snake related projects are also in the works, including new material, though there are no definite plans to record a full studio album at this time.

Some of the band members will be keeping busy with other musical projects throughout 2012, and Whitesnake.com will try to provide information related to their activities, as well as the individual member's websites.

The commercial and critical success continues with their 'Forevermore' album which is still gathering accolades and awards from around the world.

Stay in touch with Whitesnake.com for any, and all, up to date news and information Whitesnake related. And remember you can ask frontman David Coverdale questions on his message board (theBBS). See You There!

Today's Day In Rock!

Metallica Find Freedom On New Album
(Gibson) Now that Lulu has come and gone, Metallica fans are wondering when they'll be hearing from the metal legends next. Drummer Lars Ulrich recently provided an update to Spin magazine.

"We're free and clear of our record contract. The world's our oyster," Ulrich said. "We can basically do whatever we want. And we're going to start figuring that out."

Indeed, the creative process is in the very early stages. "We're still throwing ideas around," Ulrich said. "We work in stages. Some people will write a song from beginning to end in one go. We don't do that. We'll develop, like, 10 ideas and do a couple cycles. We'll do a verse, chorus and maybe an intro, and then we'll leave them and go develop 10 other ideas. So it's a little early yet because we haven't gone back yet and started tweaking anything. Right now we're throwing ideas at the canvas and picking out great riffs." more on this story




Hear Unreleased Pantera Song
(Banana 101.5) Pantera recently announced that their only unreleased song would be included as part of the 'Vulgar Display of Power' 20th anniversary reissue and now fans get a sneak peek at the track 'Piss.'

Vinnie Paul previously explained the story behind the Pantera oddity:"The reissue has a song called 'Piss,' which I had forgotten about it. Some parts of it were taken for other songs, and at the time, it was the only song that did not make the record. In Pantera, we never had songs that didn't make the record. If we were going to write 11 songs, then we'd write 11 quality songs. Some bands write 40 songs and then hope they have nine good ones in the bunch. That sucks. Why not concentrate on writing 9 great ones and forget the 31 others? Anyway, this song, at the time, didn't feel right to go on the record, so we put it on the shelf. When I started digging through archives, we were happy with it. It is the only undiscovered complete Pantera track there ever was and it will be part of the package. It should be cool to hear the first new thing from the band since 2000."

The lost 'Vulgar Display of Power' track rounds out the deluxe edition package which also comes with a DVD showcasing ultra rare footage of the band's 1992 Monsters of Rock performance in Italy. Have a listen here.


Van Halen Surprise Fans With Another Rare Song
(hennemusic) Van Halen earned rave reviews for their first night at New York's Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, and the band brought it again on Thursday.

Van Halen switched up the setlist a bit, opening with their 1981 classic "Unchained," marking the first time this tour that the show hasn't opened with their Kinks' cover of "You Really Got Me."

With some rare, classic album cuts making random appearances during the first half dozen shows so far, Van Halen did it again for night 2 in NYC, dusting off the "Diver Down" track "The Full Bug." Check out video here.


Monkees Tribute Davy Jones
(Gibson) Friends, bandmates and fellow musicians continue to pay tribute to The Monkees' Davy Jones, who died Wed (February 29) of a heart attack in his hometown of Indiantown, Florida.

In a statement, Monkees singer/drummer Micky Dolenz said, "The time we worked together and had together is something I'll never forget. He was the brother I never had and this leaves a gigantic hole in my heart."

Monkees bassist Peter Tork added, "It is with great sadness that I reflect on the sudden passing of my long-time friend and fellow-adventurer, David Jones. His talent will be much missed; his gifts will be with us always. Adios to the Manchester Cowboy."

Guitarist Michael Nesmith said simply that Jones' "spirit and soul live well in my heart among all the lovely people." more on this story




New Rush Album in May
(hennemusic) Good news for Rush fans: not only is the band's new album, "Clockwork Angels," on the horizon, it now has at least one release date confirmed.

Two music sites - Amazon.co.jp and HMV.co.jp have announced a May 23rd release date for the album in Japan.

No word, yet, on release info from other territories; consider that these are from music retail sites and not officially from the band themselves, so while it's a promising sign that things are in motion, we'll await further news to confirm more details. more on this story


Staind Deliver Eyes Wide Open Video
(hennemusic) Staind have offered up a new video for their track, "Eyes Wide Open," from the band's 2011 self-titled album.

Staind are currently playing a series of Soundwave Festival shows in Australia; they'll return to the States for the MASSCHAOS 2012 tour with Godsmack and Halestorm, which starts April 13 in Augusta, GA.

Earlier this year, the three bands held a contest for fans to create the name for the tour and, following a fan vote of the Top 5 suggestions, MASSCHAOS was the winner. Check out the video here.


Tenacious D Rises Again
(Banana 101.5) The comedic folk-metal duo Tenacious D, which is comprised of Jack Black and Kyle Gass, will return with 'Rize of the Fenix,' the follow-up to 'The Pick of Destiny,' on May 15th.

After their film 'The Pick of Destiny' tanked at the box office, many believed that it would be the end of Tenacious D. Jack Black pokes fun at that very assumption on the title track to their new album:

"When the pick of destiny was released it was a bomb / And all the critics said that the D was done / The sun had set and the chapter had closed / But one thing no one thought about / Was the D would rise again / Just like the phoenix." more on this story


Iron Maiden Preview New Tour
(hennemusic) A new TV commercial for Iron Maiden's upcoming North American tour has surfaced.

The Maiden England World Tour hits the U.S. and Canada, opening in Charlotte, NC on June 21, and finishing in Houston, TX, on Aug 18.

The trip will be followed by further dates around the world in 2013. The 2012 show will closely mirror, in terms of production and content, the original 1988 concert video of the same name, shot on the "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son Tour." Check out the commercial here.


Ginger Baker Film Coming
(hennemusic) There's a new film about Cream drummer Ginger Baker on the horizon. "Beware Of Mr. Baker" is the work of writer/producer Jay Bulger, who spent three months living with the rock legend in South Africa where Ginger has spent the previous decade living in seclusion.

The visit resulted in a piece, "In Search of Ginger Baker" - the article and the numerous hours of interviews Jay captured on film became the premise for the documentary, and in the spring of 2010, Jay returned to South Africa with a small crew to finish making the film.

Baker's legendary status as drummer for Cream and Blind Faith is backed up on film by stories from his ex-wives, children, and many of the greatest living musicians that worked with Ginger, including Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Charlie Watts, Mickey Hart, Carlos Santana, Max Weinberg, Chad Smith, Femi Kuti, Neal Peart, Simon Kirke, Marky Ramone and many more. Read more and check out a preview here.


Black Keys Star Asks How Is Rock Dead?
(Gibson) Echoing Mark Twain's famous quote, The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach contends that reports of rock and roll's imminent death are greatly exaggerated. In an interview with WGRD, the Black Keys frontman refuted the notion that authentic groups of the sort that sprang up during the grunge-era are nowhere to be found.

"I think that it's so lame of an argument, it seems so stupid," Auerbach said. "It's like the press needs something to talk about. Being 16 years old and getting an electric guitar is never going to get old. There's always going to be kids making music. There's always going to be kids in bands." He then added: "Everything is cyclical. It'll come back around and be popular. The Foo Fighters are like the biggest band in the world. They play stadiums. How is rock dead?"

Auerbach refrained from citing the Black Keys as an example, but he did point out that the acclaimed duo distills rock music to its no-frills essence. "We just do our thing, man," he said. "People come to see a rock and roll show. They come to see The Black Keys. We're not going to be like Cirque du Soleil on stage. It's just us playing music." more on this story




Bush Unplugged
(hennemusic) Bush are currently on the road with Staind in Australia, and are also playing dates on the Soundwave Festival. The UK rockers are promoting their latest album, "The Sea Of Memories."

Next month, Bush join Nickelback and Seether for a full North American tour; things kick off April 10 in Moline and run through the end of June.

While in Sydney, Bush stopped by Triple M radio to perform a 6-song unplugged set for a group of contest winners; the event was filmed for Triple M's Garage Sessions. Check it out


Lennon and McCartney Liverpool Houses Protected By Govt
(Gibson) John Lennon and Paul McCartney's Liverpool homes have been give special "listed" status by the British government.

The Liverpool Echo reports that Heritage and Tourism Minister John Penrose made the announcement about giving a the Grade II listing honor to 20 Forthlin Road (Macca's home) and 251 Menlove Avenue (Lennon's house) while visiting the home Lennon shared with his Aunt Mimi.

John Penrose said: "It's almost impossible to overestimate the significance the Beatles had – and continue to have – on western life and culture since they first came together in the early 1960s.

"These houses, unremarkable from the outside, have been painstakingly preserved and restored so visitors today can get a real sense of how life must have been for the group as they were starting up. more on this story




Elvis Costello Rocks Classics For Bruce Springsteen Week
(hennemusic) Elvis Costello joined Late Night with Jimmy Fallon's tribute week to Bruce Springsteen on Thursday.

Elvis and The Roots performed "Brilliant Disguise" from 1987's "Tunnel Of Love," as well as ""Fire," a song Bruce wrote in 1977 but didn't release himself until his 1986 live compilation "Live/1975-85." Both Robert Gordon and The Pointer Sisters recorded the song in 1978.

It's all Springsteen to close out the week on Friday: Bruce is the sole guest on the show and he and the E Street Band will perform, as they did to kick off Fallon's tribute on Monday. Check out video here


John 5 Praises New Rob Zombie Flick
(Banana 101.5) Rob Zombie will return this year with an original film centering on witchcraft called 'The Lords of Salem.' Being that he is scoring the film, Zombie's guitarist John 5 has seen some of the footage and says it looks "incredible."

Rob Zombie is currently in post production on his new film 'The Lords of Salem,' his first non-remake, non-sequel, live-action feature since his directorial debut 'House of 1000 Corpses.'

After months of filming, the project is in post-production and while it is expected this year — a trailer has yet to be released. more on this story


Slash's Typical Day
(hennemusic) Slash is currently spending some time in Australia. On Sunday, the guitarist joined his touring singer, Myles Kennedy, and his band Alter Bridge, at the Soundwave Festival in Sydney.

Slash was on hand Monday morning at Triple M radio in Sydney to launch his new single, "You're A Lie"; it's the first song from his sophomore album, "Apocalyptic Love," due May 22.

The Triple M crew asked Slash to run down a typical morning when he's at home in Los Angeles. "We have alternating days when we take the kids to school," explains Slash, "and we have a car pool…so I do car pool – if I can get away with it – only once a week. The school doesn't want to see me down there. I've carried a grudge against school since I was a kid and they can feel it." Check out video here.


The Beatles First Hard Day's Night
(Gibson) On this day in 1964, The Beatles began filming what would become their first feature film, A Hard Day's Night, at Marylebone train station in London. Gibson takes a look back: With Beatlemania running rampant in both Britain and America and spreading rapidly to other countries, The Beatles were riding high in early 1964. Having scored a couple of #1 albums and an armload of #1 singles, the Fab Four had properly conquered the music world and were set to make their mark in another medium. On this day in 1964, The Beatles began filming A Hard Day's Night.

Although John, Paul, George and Ringo had become huge pop stars, the movie didn't have a lavish budget. Shot in black-and-white, A Hard Day's Night was made for the relatively small sum of £200,000 (around $500,000). Both the writer and the director of the film had been selected because The Beatles had been fans of their previous work. Director Richard Lester had made The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film with Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers – each of whom the boys loved. Meanwhile, writer Alun Owen had proven he could pen his share of Liverpudlian dialog in his play No Trams to Lime Street.

To get a sense for how Lennon, McCartney and the guys talked to each other and to outsiders, Owen spent a few days with The Beatles as they sprinted through their busy schedule. He described the experience as "a train and a room and a car and a room and a room and a room," a line that would make it into the screenplay. McCartney would later praise Owen's work: "Alun hung around with us and was careful to try and put words in our mouths that he might've heard us speak, so I thought he did a very good script."

With the screenplay complete, The Beatles reported to Twickenham Studios and Paddington Station on March 2 to begin the filming process. Although the movie wasn't shot exactly in order of how the scenes occur, the shooting schedule followed the general events of the film – something than Lennon later noted. "Normally in pictures, you do things back to front, like the end, you make a film of that on one day and then the next day you do the beginning," John said. "But in this one, we almost did it in sequence."

At Paddington, the boys boarded a train at 6:43 p.m. and continued to shoot some of the scenes that take place early in the movie while it was traveling. McCartney remembered it being a whirlwind introduction to moviemaking.

"So it was very exciting, we got on a train … one day, and so the train took off and we were in a film," Paul said. "And there were these little girls, schoolgirls in gym slips who were actually models, and we were of course, quite fascinated with them."






Singled Out: Breaching Vista's Nervous
Today Breaching Vista frontman John Maksym tells us about the song "Nervous" from their latest album "Vera City". Here is the story:

Nervous is about my own personal struggle to find and regain my confidence after a rather disheartening experience in a previous band. Line up changes within that band took me right out of my comfort zone but I went along with it for the sake of keeping the original line up together and as an effort to keep our friendship in tact. After some touring and then some time off, we regrouped to head into the studio. Our bassist-turned-lead-singer had gotten together with our guitarist to write all of the new material. I was completely left out of the writing process, which again was something I had always been a part of. The last straw was being told that I wasn't needed in the studio either. I lost my interest in the bands future and walked out. It was tough to walk away from something that I was so passionate about, and something I had invested so much of my life towards, but the part that hurt the most was having my best friends completely cut off my involvement.

So while the song may seem to come across as a confused relationship, it's really just me confronting the memories that tore down my confidence and reminding myself that while I lost some motivation, drive, and time in my pursuit of a music career, I'm now in a position where I can pick up where I left off. Nervous focuses on one of those cynically rearranged takes on the catchphrase "Two steps forward, One step back." My version is a cautious "One step forward, Two steps back" because I'm nervous about whether or not I can do this on my own. The song was originally written as a solo acoustic song back in 2006 when I finally decided to pull up my socks and start playing live again after half of a year of sitting around being bummed out. My Breaching Vista band mates really liked the song, and we spent about 2-3 years trying out various full band arrangements before settling on the Vera City album version.

Today's Day In Rock!

The Monkees Davy Jones Dead at 66
(TMZ) Davy Jones, the lead singer of The Monkees, died Wednesday morning of a heart attack. He was 66.
An official from the medical examiner's office for Martin County, Florida confirmed with TMZ they received a call from Martin Memorial Hospital informing them that Jones had passed away.

Jones joined The Monkees in 1965 ... along with Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork ... and together they churned out a bunch of hits including, "Daydream Believer," "Last Train to Clarksville" and "I'm a Believer."

The group was initially cast by TV producers who wanted to create a scripted series about an actual rock n' roll band.

Davy's last performance was on February 19th in Oklahoma -- the night before, he performed at BB King in NYC ... and he looked totally fine.

Jones is survived by his wife Jessica and 4 daughters from previous marriages. more on this story


Led Zeppelin Reunion Raised $41 Million
(hennemusic) The effects of the 2007 Led Zeppelin reunion are still being felt, almost five years after one of rock's biggest events took place.

The Daily Mail reports funds raised by Zeppelin's 02 Arena show in December 2007 have been donated to Oxford University.

The £26 million ($41.6 million US) donation, made by Mica Ertegun, widow of Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun, is understood to be one of the largest in Oxford's 900-year history.

It will be used to set up the Mica and Ahmet Ertegun Graduate Scholarship Programme in the Humanities. more on this story


Guns N' Roses Plot Take Over
Guns N' Roses are returning to where it all began to wrap-up their current run of intimate club shows.

The band announced that they will be taking over Los Angeles in March with a three-date club run.

It's been 22 years since they last visited the Hollywood Palladium, where they have set their first stop on the LA run on March 9. GN'R will make their first appearances two LA music landmarks, The Wiltern on March 11, and House of Blues Sunset Strip on March 12. more on this story


Scorpions Final American Tour
(hennemusic) The Scorpions have announced new dates for their farewell tour. The German rockers have announced a summer tour of North America, starting June 8 in Reno and running through July 12 in Washington, DC.

At this point, "The Final Sting" World Tour is set to wrap up October 13 in Munich.

In addition to the group's farewell trek, The Scorps are also supporting their latest album, "Comeblack," a collection of classic rock covers and rerecorded band hits. more on this story


Memorial For 30th Anniversary of Randy Rhoads' Death
(The Metal Den) The sister of late Ozzy Osbourne lead guitarist Randy Rhoads, Kathy Rhoads D'Argenzio, has issued a statement to fans in concern with the upcoming memorial for the 30th anniversary of his death:

"Dear Randy Rhoads fans, As we quickly approach the 30th anniversary, I wanted to send a special THANK YOU to all of you for your continued support and love for my brother Randy.

"The upcoming anniversary is a clear reminder of how quickly time passes and I hope all of you will come join us in celebrating my brother's life. I know that for a lot of people coming to California isn't possible but, I hope that you'll remember my brother in your own special way. For all local fans or people making the trip to California, my family and I will be available to spend time with you" more on this story


Phish Plan Summer Tour
Phish will return to the road this June when they launch their 2012 summer tour of North America.

The tour will kick off with a two-night stand at DCU Center in Worcester, MA (June 7 & 8) and a headlining performance at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, which will be held in Manchester, TN June 7-10.

The run will include three consecutive dates - June 15, 16 & 17 - at Atlantic City's 142-acre Bader Field, which was formerly the site of the first U.S. municipal airport for both seaplanes and land-based planes. Centrally located on the Eastern seaboard, Atlantic City offers a wide range of attractions and amenities, including gaming, fine dining, spas, pristine beaches and the city's historic boardwalk. more on this story


Meat Loaf Too Sick For Loose Women
(Gibson) Meat Loaf was due to appear on British daytime TV show Loose Women, but pulled out with an undisclosed illness.

He had been seen on the program fooling around with a banana, but when it came time for his segment, the host Andrea McLean said: "A little bit of sad news – I'm afraid Meat Loaf has taken unwell so he's unable to join us for the end of the show."

Meat Loaf collapsed during a couple of concerts last year. We wish him a speedy recovery. more on this story




Sorum Wants To See Adler Jam With Guns N' Roses at Rock Hall
(hennemusic) April 14 can't come fast enough for Guns N' Roses fans, as the band's original lineup reunites for their induction into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame.

Various GNR members have been speaking about the upcoming event and, at the end of the day, there's still no consensus about what is actually going to go down. Drummer Matt Sorum is the latest to chat about the occasion during an interview with KOMP 92.3 Las Vegas.

"People keep asking me about the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, and I'm really like the last guy to ask," says Matt. "I was the guy that joined Guns N' Roses and I was lucky to get the gig. And I was sort of there to be of service to the rest of the band. And the band is Axl Rose, Slash, Duff McKagan and Izzy Stradlin. Yeah, was I in the band? Sure. But when it comes down to making the decisions, I was the last guy to hear about it. So when people ask me [about Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame], I go, 'To be honest with you, I really don't know what's gonna happen.' I just don't know. Will I be there and be available for whatever happens? Yeah."

"And at the same time," Sorum continued, "I would like to see [original GNR drummer] Steven Adler up there." He has a lot more to say here.


Hole's Erlandson Releasing Book About Kurt Cobain's Suicide
(Gibson) When Kurt Cobain ended his life nearly 20 years ago, the tragedy caused a tsunami of devastation and change. From those close to Cobain – like wife Courtney Love – to casual fans of the grunge-rock musician's music, the heartbreak was felt across the globe.

Eric Erlandson, the guitarist who co-founded the grunge band Hole with Love, has penned a book looking back on Cobain's suicide and the period of emotional chaos and heartache that resulted from it. The book – which promises to pack 52 chapters of Erlandson's experiences and musings – will arrive in April via Akashic Books, the same month that commemorates the 18th anniversary of Cobain's passing.

Speaking with the New York Times, Erlandson explained that Letters to Kurt has been in the works for years, but he was only recently able to really articulate what he was trying to express in it. "It just wasn't feeling right to write a memoir-style book and this one just came out of me a couple years ago," he said. "It felt like the right way to go, but at the same time, I had a lot of hesitation. At some point it just started to click and I started to honor it."

Erlandson hasn't told Love about the new book. "Up until September of last year, October, she was asking me to play with her," he said. "But I felt like there was no transformation in our relationship at all. So that kind of worked its way into the book. I never mentioned to her that I had written the book, and I'm sure she's heard of it now." more on this story




John Legend Dancing in The Dark For Springsteen Week
(hennemusic) John Legend was featured on night three of Jimmy Fallon's tribute week to Bruce Springsteen.

Fallon is dedicating a week of shows Bruce to mark the March 6 release of his new album, "Wrecking Ball."

Night 3 of Springsteen week saw Legend perform a subdued, jazzy piano version of Springsteen's 1984 hit, "Dancing in The Dark," the first single from Bruce's "Born In The USA" album. Check out video of the performance here.


Another Classic Concert Coming From Rolling Stones Archives
(hennemusic) The Rolling Stones have a new offering from their archives: a 1981 concert from Hampton, Virginia.

The December 18, 1981 show was not only Keith Richards' 38th birthday, but also the final date on the band's North American tour in support of "Tattoo You."

The Hampton show was one of the first ever pay-per-view events on television. As the latest addition to the Stones Archive, the concert has been remastered by Bob Clearmountain. Read more and check out video here.


New Smashing Pumpkins To Be A 'Full Online Experience'
(Gibson) Smashing Pumpkins main man Billy Corgan is no stranger to dramatic, unorthodox ways to get his music out, and Corgan is reminding fans of that fact this week with an announcement that he will use next week's South by Southwest as a catalyst to announce the group's latest album, Oceania. Moreover, Corgan says the new album will be a "full online experience."

"Our aim is to turn the 'social' into a new way to experience an album," Corgan told Mashable. "By taking the medium one step further we will create an experience with Oceania online and off-line that transcends the single and the single mentality in all ways."

Corgan says he'll drop details about his vision for the album, as well as the official release date, at a session moderated by Altimeter Group Principal Brian Solis. The Pumpkins, he asserted, hope to "[bring] back the album experience through fan engagement in a whole new way with Oceania." He also said that the group are, "Working closely with Superfans as gatekeepers to help interaction on a fan-to fan level by promoting their Smashing Pumpkins related blogs and enlisting their help in maintaining a few official Smashing Pumpkins social media sites." more on this story




Gavin DeGraw Talks Working With Butch Walker
(Gibson) When Gavin DeGraw set out to record his latest album, 2011's "Sweeter," Butch Walker was high on his list of dream guys to tap for production duties. While Walker – with his credits with Weezer and Panic! At the Disco – might not seem like a likely fit for DeGraw's pop-rock, singer-songwriter fare, DeGraw insists that the two actually have a ton in common when it comes to music.

"He and I are a lot more similar, musically, than people would think; just the types of music we're into and the way we hear things," DeGraw exclusively told Gibson.com. "I thought he did an incredible job on this album. I had some songs I had written that I felt strongly about, and he selected which ones would best represent what we were doing and could do with the album.

"I think some of my proudest moments on the album are the things we were doing in his studio in Santa Monica, California. It was a great vibe. Butch is a fantastic musician, and he kicks it." more on this story




The Black Keys' Auerbach Worked on New Dr John Album
(Gibson) The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach is keeping his schedule pretty tight these days. For one, he recently dropped a new disc with the Black Keys: the chart-topping, garage punk set known as El Camino. In addition, he and Keys bandmate Patrick Carney are traveling the U.S., playing arenas in support of the release this spring.

But, somehow, Auerbach still finds time for some kooky collaborations, and a shining example of that is his recent venture with New Orleans icon Dr. John – a.k.a. Mac Rebennack – to record Dr. John's latest album, Locked Down.

"Watching him come up with parts was just so awesome. Mac is fearless," Auerbach told Rolling Stone of the collection of songs, which he produced. "Like that Farfisa solo on 'Revolution' – that's a first-take solo. He just goes for it, man. He told me he hadn't played a Farfisa organ since 1969 when he was with Doug Sahm, and he killed it." more on this story




Hank3 Plans Free Show
(Sub) Hank3's Attention Deficit Domination and 3 Bar Ranch will be playing a FREE show at NYC's Gramercy Theatre as part of the launch of Metal Wreckage Night on St Paddy's Day (Saturday, March 17th.)

To get into the show, you must RSVP on Eventbrite at www.metalwreckage.eventbrite.com. Entrance to the show is not guaranteed, and will be granted first-come, first-serve to all who RSVP and show up on Saturday, March 17th. The show will also be streamed live worldwide - details to follow.

Hank3 is on tour throughout March in support of his four albums that were released in September 2011, a double country record and two metal albums. The Metal Wreckage Night Hank3 show on March 17th will be the ONLY night on Hank3's tour where he will be playing an exclusive night of metal. more on this story


Keith Richards Posts Video Message To Fans
(hennemusic) Keith Richards has posted a new video message to fans. The Stones guitar legend recounts his events from last weekend while heading home on a private plane.

Keith kicked things off Friday night at New York's Apollo Theater, where he joined Eric Clapton and other music greats for the "Howlin For Hubert: A Concert to Benefit the Jazz Foundation of America" event. The evening was a tribute to guitarist Hubert Sumlin, who played in Howlin' Wolf's band for decades and passed away on December 4th due to heart failure.

From there, it was off to another cool event for one of Keith's own icons…"It's Sunday and I just got back from Boston to honor Chuck Berry," explains Keef. "Chuck's my man. I just had a great afternoon with him; he got an award for literary excellence – I've always said he's Shakespeare with a guitar around his neck. He finally got his due today. I had a great time with him." Watch the video here.


The Birth of Squeeze
(Gibson) On this day in 1974, Chris Difford placed an advertisement in a shop window: "Lyricist seeks musician for co-writing." Glen Tillbrook answered the ad. The pair went on to form Squeeze. Gibson takes a look back:

The smoky pubs in South London were a fertile breeding ground for new, young bands in the mid-'70s. And if The Kinks put North London on the map in the '60s, then those south of the river got their turn with Squeeze, 10 years later.

Nobody had caught the flavor of working class South London like Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook, writers who quickly would be hailed as the new Lennon and McCartney when the hits started making radio a much better place. Squeeze, in turn, developed into one of the U.K.'s most respected and cherished bands of the past 30 years. But if Tilbrook hadn't stopped to read a few ads in the window of his local tobacconist on this day in 1973, Squeeze may never have existed.

Tilbrook recalled that historic day to U.K. newspaper The Independent: "I wasn't going to answer the ad, but my girlfriend prodded me into it. So I called the number and this rather gruff person answered and said: 'Meet me at the Three Tuns in Blackheath village at six o'clock. I'll be carrying a copy of the Evening Standard under my arm.' I went along and there was this guy with long hair, a multi-colored lurex coat and a copy of the Evening Standard under his arm. Why he didn't just tell me about the coat, I don't know. It would probably have been a bit easier to spot."

The two prototype musicians were cut from very different cloth. Tilbrook was an easy-going hippie type with a natural flair for guitar while Difford was more blue collar in style and prepared to embellish his tobacconist ad with promises of (non-existent) imminent tours and recording contracts. more on this story




Singled Out: Centric Jones' Save Me
Today Tobe London of prog duo Centric Jones tells us about the song "Save Me" from their brand new album "The Antikythera Method," which comes out March 6th. Here is the story:

"A lot of what inspires our music comes from our shared love for science fiction. It seems to get woven into everything we do musically, visually and conceptually.

One great example on this record is track 9 'Save Me'. I'm not sure what came first, the song or the imagery. The idea behind it is one I came up with that puts Centric Jones as a Galactic touring band in the distant future. We travel around in our ship "Antikythera" and play enormous concerts on alien worlds. I imagined that the ship would land on some far away planet and then fold open to become this killer stage set up. This "galactic rock-stars" theme tied in also while I was working with Thierry Guilleminot on the art and layout for the CD package.

'Save Me' is also a great example of how Chris Fournier and I right music together. I came up with the intro feel and progression in 9/4. Chris came in and layered textures, bass and lead guitar over that. Chris then wrote the middle section and outro and tied it all together. Once we had the arrangement down and most of the parts I went in and played all the drum parts over that."

Today's Day In Rock!

Axl Rose Explains Guns N' Roses Riot Sparking Cancelation
(hennemusic) During Monday night's Guns N' Roses show at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia, Axl Rose took a few moments to explain why he failed to show up for a GNR gig in the city in December of 2002, resulting in a riot which sent five people to the hospital.
"I already got sued for about, everything I own by f**kin' corporate radio and s**t," began Axl. "Now we're back on tour…I have to shut up. I did cancel the first show, at about six in the morning. My manager told me he canceled it and then didn't. And then Clear Channel wanted us to f**k up, because they wanted to end the tour. 'Cause they had some s**t going on in Florida or something… I don't know… a whole bunch of bulls**t. But I got really sick; it had nothing to do with fur coats and basketball games, you know. I love Philly. I came to visit here a few times and I really liked it. So I said, 'OK we're gonna risk it, what if we can throw in a show in Philly?' So it's good to be here with you people. I want to apologize for my part of that. You know, so… I'm not saying I'm innocent."

According to Philadelphia news stations, the 2002 incident included an opening act at the First Union Center that performed for two hours before the show was called off, reportedly "due to health issues." more on this story


Mustaine Talks Metallica and Megadeth Supergroup Hopes
Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine spoke with Minneapolis' 93X about his hoped for supergroup with Megadeth bassist David Ellefson and Metallica's James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich.

Dave explained that is was just wishful thinking, "Yeah, that was just me talking. I don't think [James and Lars are] interested in doing that. It would be cool, and I've mentioned it to them before. I just think that they're so busy that they don't have time to do something like that. My wife and James' wife are friends, and they talk a lot. From what I know, too, there's a lot of work that those guys do, and they're gone a lot, and they tour a lot, so for them to take on a project like that, I think it would have to really be a labor of love.

"Of course, David and I would do it, 'cause I think it would be great to play with them again. When I went up there and did the 30th anniversary thing, I thought it was really cool. Megadeth is doing really fine right now. I'm not in the place to be asking for favors from anybody. I like who I am right now, I'm satisfied with where my career's at. But don't kid yourself, if we got together and played, I imagine it would be really cool. It wouldn't be anything like Megadeth, of course, and it wouldn't be anything like Metallica. But we'll see what happens. Maybe with enough people asking them, they'll buckle." Check out the full interview


Van Halen's Roth Slams Today's Current Bands
(hennemusic) This week, Van Halen play two nights at Madison Square Garden, and the New York Post caught up with David Lee Roth for an update on the band's tour in support of "A Different Kind Of Truth."

"We're doing a lot of tunes that don't usually get out of the deck and Edward is more lucid now than any time in my memory," explains Roth. "I'm his biggest fan. I still remember the first time I saw him playing in a backyard party in Pasadena in high school. He was great then and he's great now. We've come full circle."

Roth was asked how the pop world changed since VH started in the 70s. "These days, I see too much cheerleading and not enough stagecraft, and what I'm seeing isn't worth cheering for," replies Roth. "The questions I want to ask most of my colleagues are: Can you even do the whole song from beginning to end? Can you do it onstage like you did it in the studio? Do you float like a butterfly or sting like a pre-recorded bee?" more on this story


Buffalo Springfield Reunion Tour in Doubt
(Gibson) Given their less than harmonious history, last year's Buffalo Springfield reunion was some feat. The shows went well, all members (Neil Young, Stephen Stills and Richie Furay) had a good time and a full tour was scheduled for last fall. That was then delayed to 2012, and now the reunion dates look in doubt.

Furay told WBAI-FM in New York: "Your guess is as good as mine. I doubt in 2012 that there will be, but I'm never gonna say never. Listen, the reunion that we did last year came out of nowhere, it was nowhere on my radar. When I got the call from Neil I was really surprised. Then when we got together and we did the Bridge School Concert it was so much fun, that we decided, 'Let's go on, let's do a few more shows.'

"I think everybody had it planned in their mind, 'cause I was actually told. 'We're doing this 30 day tour,' and you know, Neil is just fickle, and even though it boils down to all three of us making a decision, without the three of us, really there can't be anything that would even resemble a Buffalo Springfield. I gotta say that we probably lost a little bit of our momentum; that isn't to say it couldn't be picked up again, but I certainly don't see anything happening this year." more on this story




Ace Frehley Plans New Album and Book
(hennemusic) Former KISS guitarist Ace Frehley is busy these days with a few projects including a new album and a new book.

"I've started working on a new album, I'm writing a new book… there are a lot of good things on the horizon," Frehley tells I Heart Guitar. "At this point I think it's just going to be an extension of [his 2011 book] 'No Regrets.' There's so much I left out because of the deadline, but after talking with so many different people I've got so many stories that have eluded me over the years. And there just wasn't enough room to put them into 'No Regrets,' and I was past the deadline as it was. But I think I'm going to come out with something in the effect of like a 'No Regrets II.'"

"But I also have the idea to put out a guitar book with all my guitar effects, tricks, recording techniques," adds Ace. "I've learned a lot of tricks from working with a lot of great producers over the years, and I think I should write a book about it!" more on this story


Slash Teams Up With Betty White For Zoo
(hennemusic) Slash has had a long association with the Los Angeles Zoo, and he's now filmed a new commercial for it with Betty White.

The new ad is to promote the March 8 launch of the zoo's new attraction, called The Lair, which will feature "60 species of weird, rare and endangered amphibians, invertebrates and reptiles."

Renowned animal lover White has long helped raise funds and awareness for the zoo, while also serving as a C-Chair on the board of trustees for the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association (GLAZA). Check out the commercial here.


Motorhead's Lemmy Loses His Voice
One of the most recognizable voices in hard rock Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead has been silenced.

The band announced yesterday that LEmmy lost his voice, forcing the group to cancel their appearance at last night's Gigantour stop in Denver.

The band said of the cancelation, "Lemmy has lost his voice and has decided to give it the night off. Things should be OK for the last 3 shows of the tour. more on this story


Steven Tyler Back in the Saddle With Aerosmith
(hennemusic) Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler was a guest on Jimmy Kimmel's show Monday night. Tyler was on hand to talk about his experience at Elton John's Oscar's viewing party, plug his American Idol gig, and the upcoming Aerosmith record.

"February, March, April, May is Idol," began Tyler, "June 15th to 18th we hit the road." As for keeping up his band duties in relation to Idol, Steven says it's a non-issue, "they [the band] were bummed that I didn't tell them [he was doing the show] first." As for getting past that, he says "I think so; it brought up Aerosmith's sales 270%. I mean, Idol's the biggest show on TV."

"Everyone's getting along," adds the singer about the band. "No secret: I had a lot of foot operations, I was back on drugs, again. We did a tour with ZZ Top – I fell off the stage because of that, and the guys were angry with me, and rightfully so. But I'm back and I'm on fire." Check out the interview here.


Daughtry Returning to American Idol and Add Tour Dates
Daughtry will play their new single "Outta My Head" during the March 15 episode of American Idol.

The song is the third single off of the band's third album, Break The Spell, and the follow-up to the album's singles "Crawling Back To You" and "Renegade."

Daughtry is also announcing a second round of dates for thier "Break The Spell 2012 Tour," which kicks off March 20 in Buffalo, NY and continues through May 1st in New York, NY. Shortly after, the band will begin the second leg of its intimate theater tour, starting on May 10 in Indianapolis, IN and wrapping on June 13 in Austin, TX. more on this story


Kenny Chesney Rocks Springsteen on Fallon
(hennemusic) Bruce Springsteen week on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon continued Tuesday with musical guest Kenny Chesney.

Fallon is dedicating a series of programs to The Boss to mark the March 6 release of his new album, "Wrecking Ball."

Night 2 of Springsteen week saw Chesney perform Springsteen's 1985 hit, "I'm On Fire," from Bruce's "Born In The USA" album. Check it out here.


Coheed And Cambria To Rock Small Theaters
Evil Ink Comics tells us that Coheed And Cambria will be heading South this spring, performing in small theaters, in cities where they have either never played, or not played in many years.

Cities such as Chattanooga, TN, Gainesville, FL and Lexington, KY will be anchored by Hangout Festival in Gulf Shores, AL and The Beale Street Music Festival in Memphis, TN.

The band plans to use the run to break in Josh Eppard, their original drummer (who played on their first three studio albums), who will be behind the kit for the first time since his departure in 2006. The band will test out new material from their forthcoming 6th studio album, due out this Summer. Support will be Moving Mountains and Pianos Become the Teeth. more on this story


Fastway Releasing First New Album In 20 Years
MVD have set an April 10th release date for the first new Fastway album in over 20 years, Eat Dog, Eat.

They sent over these details: After the shows of 2007, Fast Eddie Clarke (ex-Motorhead) and Toby Jepson (ex-Little Angels) began casually working on ideas and over time managed to gather enough for a full blown record. Toby took on the role of producer and also played bass and sang all the main vocals. Eddie and Toby were joined on the drums by Matt Eldridge whom has long been Toby's drummer of choice.

The record was created at Chapel Studios with Ewan Davies as the engineer and mixer. Toby says: "We have collaborated closely on all aspects of the recording, specifically wanting to create a performance based, un-apologetically raw album that was song driven and above all made with passion. This we did, eschewing multi layered, heavily edited recording in favour of the simple 'warts and all' dynamics. I think the results are real. We hope you do to." more on this story


Hank III Releasing Long Gone Daddy in April
Curb Records have set an April 17th release date for the new Hank III Project 'Long Gone Daddy.' Here is what they had to say about it:

"Tidy" is not a word often associated with the against-the-grain work of Hank III, but it's a fitting way to describe the way "Long Gone Daddy" packages up a full-bodied sampling of his career, style and influences.
Due April 17 on Curb Records, this 10-song collection could have been titled "Long Gone Granddaddy" for the shuffling country blues flavor of not just the Hank Williams covers but of much of the batch.

Grandpa's contributions, title track "I'm A Long Gone Daddy" and "Neath A Cold Gray Tomb of Stone," are complemented by fiddle and steel-drenched songs written by generations he influenced, including Merle Haggard ("The Bottle Let Me Down"), Johnny Cash ("Wreck of the Old 97") and Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson ("Good Hearted Woman"). more on this story


Jimi Hendrix's Death Ranked Most Untimely
(Gibson) A list on Ranker.com suggests that of all the rock stars who have passed away, Jimi Hendrix's death was the most untimely. The website, which showcases lists created and voted on by visitors, has published a list that ranks "Rock Stars Whose Deaths Were The Most Untimely."

The folks who created the list are careful to point out that this isn't a list of the greatest dead musicians, but stars who could have continued to create a wealth of great new music had they not died. Hence, Hendrix, Kurt Cobain and Janis Joplin (who all died young, at 27) currently are in the Top 10, while Elvis Presley (who died at age 42) is placed closer to #30.

Artists on the list (which includes 46 people) include Buddy Holly, Keith Moon, Duane Allman, Otis Redding, Bob Marley, John Lennon, Randy Rhoads, Gram Parsons, Sam Cooke, Ian Curtis, Amy Winehouse and Bon Scott. more on this story




Noel Gallagher Names His Price To Judge X Factor
(Gibson) Talking about future plans to Britain's RadioTimes.com, Noel Gallagher again talked about his offer from Simon Cowell to be a judge on The X Factor.

He said, "I reckon it would have to be a million pounds after tax. If he puts a million pounds in my bank, I'm in."

But, in case Cowell should think of revisiting the deal, Gallagher admitted he wasn't entirely serious.

"I say that tongue-in-cheek," he said. "I hope he doesn't put a million pounds in my bank account because I don't really want to do it." more on this story




Children Collide Lose A Member
Crucial Music sent over word that Children Collide have parted ways with drummer Ryan Caesar after recently completed their third album 'Monument'.

Recorded at Melbourne's Red Door Sounds with Paul 'Woody' Annison, the album will be released on April 20.

Caesar has played with the band since early 2007, the fourth drummer since Children Collide's inception in 2004. more on this story


Johnny Rotten Wants Cake Fight With Queen for Sex Pistols Anniversary?
(Gibson) John Lydon, back in fine form with new Public Image Ltd music, has spoken out about his old band the Sex Pistols to Britain's NME.com.

It's been 35 years since the punk band stunned the nation with their single "God Save The Queen," that came out at the same time as the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977.

When NME asked if he'd like to talk to Her Majesty about the controversy, the irreverent Lydon replied: "Oh yes, but I well know what I'd do. I'd have a cake fight." more on this story




Rare KISS and Prong Auction To Help C.C. Banana
Rock & roll comic C.C. Banana has recently in the process of recording a solo album (in commemoration of his 10th anniversary) when his family was struck by severe financial hardship, brought on by the sudden decline of an ailing family member. As a result, he is now on the verge of losing the house he has lived in since birth.

In effort to save the family home, SplitScreen Entertainment is organizing a series of auctions on behalf of C.C. Banana, including autographed items from his rock & roll friends and heroes. This week's spotlight auctions include a Schecter guitar signed by the members of Prong and the exceedingly rare Kiss remote control van.

The guitar is a Schecter Diamond Series Omen-6 in Walnut Satin and is signed by Prong frontman Tommy Victor, as well as the entire "Power of the Damager" era lineup. It was won by C.C. Banana during the 2007 Eddie Trunk Halloween Bash at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York City, which featured a return to the stage by founding Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley after a 6-year absence. C.C. Banana won the guitar by entering the annual costume contest dressed as "Ace Peeley, the Psycho Citrus." A prized trophy of his collection, C.C. is now parting with the guitar in the face of his current emergency. more on this story


F*** The Facts Crossing The Pond
F*** The Facts are heading over to Europe for headlining tour in support of their latest album, Die Miserable.

Guitarist Topon Dos commented on the upcoming run: "It's been a couple of years since we've last been to Europe, so we're excited not only to finally get back over there, but to also have the opportunity to play some countries like Finland and Hungary for the first time. We've been ripping through a bunch of songs from our new album Die Miserable recently, so you can expect to hear a lot of newer tunes. See you soon!"

Additionally, the band was recently nominated for Canada's 2012 Juno Awards in the Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year category and Sirius XM's Indies Metal Artist/Group of the Year category. more on this story


Couple Name Baby After Guitar
(Gibson) A Gibson guitar enthusiast in Waukesha, Wisconsin (birthplace of Les Paul) loves the historic guitar brand so much that he's named his new baby Gibson.

Mike Weber told the Waukesha Freeman newspaper, "I was talking to some co-workers about baby names before we even started trying for a baby and someone suggested Gibson – I loved it."

In the evenings Weber would play his Gibson Les Paul in front of his wife Crystal's stomach during the pregnancy and on the anticipated day of delivery, February 7, Mike put on his Gibson Les Paul shirt, especially for the occasion. Little Gibson Weber, a boy, was born the next day. He said: "I wore the shirt for a full 30 hours. It was a little funky, but it was worth it."

Today's Day In Rock!

Foreigner Guitarist Undergoes Urgent Heart Surgery
(Gibson) Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones is recovering after urgent heart surgery last week, according to the New York Post.
Jones is reported to have checked into the Mount Sinai Heart Institute in Miami Beach, Florida, according to New York Post gossip column Page Six. Page Six says that after the surgery, Jones was treated in an intensive care ward but was moved out of the specialist unit on Thursday night. Page Six quotes a source as saying "The surgery was more urgent because Mick had needed it for some time."

Last year Jones missed several Foreigner shows, forcing the band to play with no original members. Jones sparked fears for his health in 2011, after he fell sick and missed several gigs, including a massive concert with Journey in Los Angeles in October. A representative for the star refused to confirm the nature of his illness at the time more on this story




King's X Star Suffers Heart Attack
King's X have been forced to put their tour plans on hold after drummer Jerry Gaskill suffered a heart attack on February 25th.

A message was posted on frontman Dug Pinnick's Facebook on Sunday that read "Jerry had a heart attack last night. He was operated on and is in stable condition at the hospital. Were all waiting for more info. I will keep you posted."

A few hours later Pinnick updated fans with this, "Julie said Jerry woke up pulling chords out, she says hes fiesty! That's a good sign! Thanks everyone for prayers and good vibes, it can only get better now." more on this story


Aerosmith Are Back According To Steven Tyler
(Gibson) Aerosmith frontman and American Idol judge Steven Tyler said that his band's new album is coming along. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer told Rolling Stone, "We've been in the studio for the last month."

Tyler spoke with enthusiasm of Aerosmith's reteaming with producer Jack Douglas, who was behind the boards for many of the band's '70s classics, including Toys in the Attic.

"We're gonna have a vintage sound, 'cause we're going to tape and a lot of good things like that," Tyler said. "We're keeping tracks lean, not a lot of overdubs, and like I said, we're using Jack to his fullest. So you're gonna hear some stuff where you might think Aerosmith's back."

The singer also said that fans should be preparing to catch Aerosmith out on the road: "June 18th it starts. So spread the word." more on this story




Slash Delivers New Song
(hennemusic) The new Slash single, "You're A Lie," debuted at radio on Monday. It's the first track from the guitar icon's sophomore solo effort, "Apocalyptic Love," due May 22.

"Totally positive buzz about the song, cheers for the support," posted Slash on Monday. "Looking forward to getting the whole record out & hitting the road!"

Slash is currently in Australia, where he joined singer Myles Kennedy and his band Alter Bridge on Sunday at the Soundwave Festival in Sydney. Listen to the new song here.


Kid Rock Orchestra
Kid Rock is not someone you would normally associated with a symphony orchestra but Rock is known to take the stage for a good cause that is exactly what he will be doing on May 12th. Atlantic sent over these details:

Kid Rock is teaming up with Leonard Slatkin - "America's Music Director" - and the men and women of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra who will take the stage of Detroit's Fox Theatre for a one-night only fundraising concert to raise critical funds for the orchestra.

The idea was originally conceived by Kid Rock and Rock Ventures Founder Dan Gilbert to help save the DSO. "As a musician, and of course a Detroiter, I am proud to be supporting this longstanding cultural institution," said Kid Rock. "And while I know these ticket prices are more than what my fans are used to paying, I am confident that whatever happens when we put the Twisted Brown Trucker Band, a 80 piece orchestra, and 'Bawitdaba' together will be well worth the price of admission." more on this story


Muse Going Big With New Album Sound
(Gibson) Muse are currently in the studio recording their sixth album, and like all Muse albums, this one appears to be even more bombastic and supercharged than its predecessors.

Over the weekend the band announced via Twitter that it was working with both a horn section and a string section on the new material. On Saturday they posted a photo from the studio with the message: "The amazing brass from last night. More horns today," following it up with, "Just done some more horns with some legendary players." The next day they added, "Now some strings. This album is coming along nicely. Bring on autumn."

Muse is collaborating with arranger, composer and conductor (and father of Beck) David Campbell, who was responsible for the orchestrations on "Unforgiven III" from Metallica's Death Magnetic album, as well as work on These Days by Bon Jovi, Fallen by Evanescence and Minutes to Midnight with Linkin Park. Campbell also conducted the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and wrote the arrangements for KISS Symphony: Alive IV. more on this story




A Night of Heavy Drinking Helped Cause Gary Moore's Death
(hennemusic) Test results have been released that confirm former Thin Lizzy guitarist Gary Moore died last February from a heart attack following a night of heavy drinking.

The Telegraph reports Moore drank enough alcohol to put himself nearly five times over the drink-drive limit. The musician suffered a heart attack brought on by the massive amount of booze he knocked back at the start of a sunshine holiday, the studies showed.

Moore had 380mg of alcohol per decilitre of blood in his system, more than 30mg the amount associated with fatalities, and just short of the 416mg Amy Winehouse had in her body when she died surrounded by three empty vodka bottles. more on this story


Guns N' Roses Expand Tour Plans
(hennemusic) Guns N' Roses plan to following their current North American "Up Close And Personal" tour of intimate venues with a spring UK tour.

NME reports the band will play seven shows across the UK as part of a full European tour.

The dates begin at Nottingham's Capital FM Arena on May 19 and run until May 31 when the rockers will headline London's O2 Arena. more on this story


Bruce Springsteen Rocks Late Night TV
(hennemusic) Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band kicked off night 1 of Springsteen week on Jimmy Fallon Monday night.

Fallon is dedicating a week of programs to the New Jersey rocker to mark the March 6 release of his new album, "Wrecking Ball."

Bruce & the band rocked two tracks: the first single, "We Take Care Of Our Own," and the album's title song. Springsteen and company will perform again on Friday's show. Check out video of the appearance here.


Chicago and The Doobie Brothers Tour
Chicago and The Doobie Brothers are teaming up for a North American coheadlining tour this summer.

The 21 date tour will kick off on July 11th in Tuscon, AZ at the Anselmo Valencia Amphitheatre with confirmed dates through August 24th at the Toyota Pavilion in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Each band will perform individual sets and then both Chicago and The Doobie Brothers will join together for a grand finale encore, playing each other's songs at the end of each of the shows, according to the announcement from Chicago. more on this story


Melvins and Mr. Bungle Stars Team Up for Melvins Lite
Melvins Lite, a new incarnation of The Melvins that finds founders Buzz Osborne and Dale Crover partnering with Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle, Tomahawk) for a 10-song released titled Freak Puke that will be release on June 5th by Ipecac Recordings.

"The Melvins have a long history of mixing up our line-ups and I think that's what has kept us relevant for so long," explains Osborne. "Consider the Freak Puke record the fifth side of the four-sided Melvins' triangle."

Dunn is known as one of rock and jazz's top bass players, performing on both a traditional and upright bass in a wide range of bands and as a freelance musician. He is currently recording the new Tomahawk album, is a member of Fantômas and was the bassist for Mr. Bungle. more on this story


Joe Satriani Hitting The Big Screen This Week
Joe Satriani's new live-concert film, Satchurated: Live in Montreal is set to hit movie theatres for a one night event on March 1st.

Satriani will be talking more about the film when he makes an appearance this Wednesday February 29th on Rockline, the nationally syndicated radio broadcast, and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Thursday March 1st when Chickenfoot plays live on the show, according to Mad Ink.

Satchurated was filmed live during Satriani's "The Wormhole Tour", supporting his studio album Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards at the Metropolis in Montreal, Canada. The December 12, 2010 concert was filmed by Grammy and Emmy award-winning concert filmmakers Pierre and Francois Lamoureux. more on this story


Change of Plans for Lamb Of God
Lamb Of God have canceled their upcoming appearance in Curitiba, Brazil with Hatebreed and Lacuna Coil on April 1st due to irreversible logistics problems.

Their camp sent this out about further changes: Lamb Of God's appearance in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which was originally going to happen on April 3rd, had to be moved to April 2nd, which ended up affecting the band's travel schedule in a very unfavorable manner and forced us to cancel their second show in Brazil.

We would like to offer our apologies to the fans in the Southern part of Brazil and look forward to seeing them at the Lamb Of God / Hatebreed / Lacuna Coil show in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on March 31st. Tickets will be refunded at point of purchase. more on this story


Lynyrd Skynyrd and Paul Rodgers For Motorcycle Festival
Lynyrd Skynyrd and Paul Rodgers are set to rock the final night of the Thrills in the Irish Hills Bike Festival.

The event is set to be held July 12-14, in Southern Michigan's Irish Hills and both bands will perform at Jackson County Fairgrounds on Saturday, July 14th.

This is the first year that the event is being held and organizers says it "pairs a motorcyclist's passion with our bold commitment to provide exceptional value on products, services, and entertainment." More info here.


Van Halen Frontman David Lee Roth Explains The Dog
(hennemusic) Some of the first Van Halen videos and images posted in advance of the release of "A Different Kind Of Truth" featured David Lee Roth and his sheepdog.

According to Roth, these have caught the interest of fans, so he's recorded a new clip to fill in the back story. "A lot of folks have emailed us and accosted me on the street about the dog world videos," explains Roth. "These are my sheepdogs - this is Mike. We're going to the Nationals – we got invited to the Nationals last time but we didn't quite make it; we were making the Van Halen record."

The video features all kinds of herding dog moves as Mike and another dog, Ben, follow Roth's instructions while herding sheep and cattle, respectively. Watch the clip here.


Puddle of Mudd Lead Rockapalooza Lineup
The full lineup for the 5th annual Rockapalooza festival has been announced, for the event that takes place in June 23rdat the Jackson County Fairgrounds in Jackson, MI .

The main stage features headliners Puddle of Mudd, and opening acts Saliva, Rehab, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, and Emphatic.

The second stage includes Wayne Static, Woe Is Me, Riven (formerly Motograter), Rotation, Sore Eyes, and Ghosts of August. more on this story


The B-52's Anniversary Show Coming to DVD and Blu-Ray
(Kayos) The B-52's returned to celebrate in the town where it all began, Athens, Georgia, in February of last year.

Now this concert will be available as the band's first-ever live DVD and Blu-ray, when With The Wild Crowd - Live In Athens, GA is released via Eagle Rock Entertainment on March 20, 2012.

With The Wild Crowd! was recorded in the B-52s' hometown at a show that commemorated the band's 34th anniversary of their first-ever live show on Valentine's Day 1977. Wig-wearing, boa-draped, glitter-covered fans came from near and far to celebrate this historic event as the band delivered a sizzling set that turned Athens' Classic Center into a cosmic dance hall. more on this story


Blues Legend Louisiana Red Dead at 79
(MPM) Tom Ruf, president of Ruf Records, issued the following statement upon hearing of the death over the weekend of legendary bluesman Louisiana Red, who passed away February 25 at a hospital in Germany after a few days in a coma brought on by a thyroid imbalance. He was 79 years old.

"I am very sad about my friend Red leaving us. He was the very first blues artist I got to meet in person and the first blues concert I ever promoted when I was 19. Louisiana Red was one of the last giants in blues that constantly and spontaneously spoke his mind with a new line, a new melody every day. On stage, as well as off stage, he was a permanent spring of pure blues and a very generous man. My thoughts are with his lovely wife Dora, who kept him together the last 30 years, as well as his children and family. If you are a lucky person who owns a record of this blues giant, this is a good time to play it and appreciate the man we just lost."

Louisiana Red's last two CD releases on Ruf Records were Back to the Black Bayou, in 2009, and Memphis Mojo, released September, 2011. Both CDs showcased Louisiana Red in a classic blues atmosphere, backed by producer Little Victor's hand picked band, along with such special guests as Kim Wilson and Bob Corritore on harmonica and Dave Maxwell on piano. Memphis Mojo was recorded in Memphis right after Red was awarded for his achievements as "Acoustic Artist of the Year" at the Blues Music Awards in May, 2010. more on this story


La Dispute Spring Tour
(BH) La Dispute have announced 40+ tour dates for their upcoming Spring tour of North America.

The tour begins on March 24 in Minneapolis, MI, heading to the West Coast for shows in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle and Portland, before heading back east to the East Coast including shows in Philadelphia and Bowery Ballroom in New York.

The tour will feature support by Balance & Compusure, All Get Out, and Sainthood Reps. La Dispute is touring to support their sophomore album, Wildlife, released on No Sleep Records last October, which debuted at 135 on the Billboard Top 200. more on this story


The Day Led Zeppelin Became The Nobs
(Gibson) On this day in 1970, Led Zeppelin played a gig in Copenhagen as The Nobs after Eva Von Zeppelin, a relative of the airship designer, threatened to sue if the family name was used in Denmark. Gibson takes a look back: By February of 1970, Led Zeppelin had released their first two albums and had become one of the big names in rock and roll. But the legendary band didn't use their name when they played a show in Denmark on this day in 1970. For the first, and only time, Led Zeppelin were billed as The Nobs.

The name change stemmed from an incident from when the group played Copenhagen the year before. Eva von Zeppelin, a descendant of Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin (creator of the famous aircraft), was unhappy that a rock band was becoming famous off of her family's name. She even tried to prevent Led Zeppelin from recording a performance for Danish television, saying that the band sounded like a bunch of "shrieking monkeys." The attempt didn't work and the boys performed for the TV Byen cameras, as planned.

But Jimmy Page and company weren't upset with Frau von Zeppelin, and invited her to have tea with the band after the taping, just to prove to her that they were a bunch of decent guys. By all accounts, the meeting went very well and everyone got along very well. Unfortunately, things went south quickly as von Zeppelin was leaving.

"We invited her backstage to meet us, to see how we were nice young lads," Page told Melody Maker. "We calmed her down but on leaving the studio, she saw our LP cover of an airship in flames and she exploded! I had to run and hide. She just blew her top."

After seeing the cover of the band's debut album, with the famous image of the Hindenburg, von Zeppelin's hostility to the group instantly returned and even grew worse than before. When Led Zeppelin announced plans to perform in Copenhagen in 1970, she threatened to sue the band if they continued to use their name. Although manager Peter Grant was rarely one to back down, in the face of the lawsuit, he encouraged the band to play under a pseudonym for their Denmark appearance. more on this story




Holy Moses 30th Anniversary Release To Feature New Songs
(Freeman) Holy Moses' "30th Anniversary-- In The Power Of Now" will be released through SPV/Steamhammer in Germany on April 20th, in Europe on April 23rd and in the USA/Canada in early May as a digipak with an extensive booklet featuring liner notes, rare photos and much more.

In 2011 Sabina Classen and her Holy Moses men secretly locked themselves into the Absurd Studio in Hamburg, Germany to start the recordings for the "30th Anniversary - In The Power Of Now" double album.

The new drummer Gerd Lücking (GiftDwarf / ex-Rebellion) took care of the drum tracks on the new record. The album will have new versions of 20 of the most important songs of the 30 years of Holy Moses history plus 2 brand new songs. more on this story


Singled Out: Venrez's Karma
Today Venrez tells us about the song "Karma" from the band's brand new album "Sell The Lie," which is hitting stories today. Here is the story:

Well there was some serious stimulation behind my writing the lyrics to "Karma". The song was originally titled "Stench", because of the powerful feelings I had when I wrote the song.

I had developed a new friendship over the past 3 years with someone whom I truly liked very much and trusted implicitly. He had some issues with his business partner and they severed their relationship. I had an extra business office in my and happily offered this till they could find a new location. This was a few months before the end of 2009.

This person was observing everything I and my staff did (I also work as a Hollywood movie producer, my latest film bringing Elmore Leonard's Freaky Deaky to the big screen) and came to the conclusion that he wanted in and in bad. They seduced most of my staff behind my back and ultimately I was really thrown for a loop. When I returned to my offices after the New Year holiday the first week of 2010, I came in and many of my staff had come in like thieves in the night and cleared out their desks as well as taking client files.

I was facing having to rebuild my business and fast. I remember sitting at my desk in my office with my head in my hands simply shocked and in pretty bad dismay. But I knew that he would fail. You can steal the goose that lays golden eggs from the owner, but that does not mean the goose will lay golden eggs for you.

I survived and rebuilt my film production company and this person failed and went under 9 months later. So, when I was writing lyrics for the album "Sell The Lie", getting words on paper about this experience was something I needed to do. It would be a combination of cathartic, self-purging of the negative feelings I had towards this person along with the lesson and/or message I wanted to send in the lyrics to the song.

So, even though "Karma" was written with the inspiration of a personal experience and aimed towards that one person who had harmed me, I believe the song sends a message that so many can relate to. What goes around truly does come around.