Today's Day In Rock!

DevilDriver Member Hospitalized
DevilDriver bassist Aaron Patrick has reportedly been hospitalized with pneumonia and will be forced to sit out at least the first few shows on the Metal Alliance Tour, according to media reports.
Gun Shy Assassin reports that Patrick's former Bury Your Dead bandmate Chris Towning will be filling in for him on the dates.

The Metal Alliance Tour kicks off on Thursday in Austin and Devildriver is being supported by The Faceless, Dying Fetus, Job For A Cowboy, 3 Inches of Blood, Impending Doom, and Wretch. more on this story


Guns N' Roses Rock Hall Tweet Was Bogus
(hennemusic) There's been an interesting development in the story of Paul Shaffer, Guns N' Roses and the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame.

On Thursday, many music news sites (incl. hennemusic) reported a tweet by Rock Hall induction ceremony musical director Paul Shaffer that said GNR "will not be performing" at the April 14 event.

Shaffer has served as musical director and producer for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony since its inception in 1986. Now, a spokesperson for Shaffer says that, although the post came from his account, Paul did not send the tweet himself. "Please know this tweet did not come from Mr. Shaffer, as his Twitter account is in conjunction with his syndicated radio feature with our network, and all tweets are handled by one of our staff members. No one is exactly sure what will happen at the induction ceremony, and we apologize for the inadvertent tweet." more on this story


Cotton Mather Reunion Shows
Cotton Mather are reuniting for a series of home town shows this week in Austin, Texas.

The band will play the shows in celebration of the deluxe re-issue of the their influential 1997 album Kontiki, starting with a headlining spot at the yearly Art Disaster event at Beauty Bar on Tuesday, March 13th.

NME recently named Kontiki as #2 on it's list of "100 Great Albums You Never Heard," and NPR's "All Things Considered" will air a story today (Tuesday) all about the history of the influential album. more on this story


Dee Snider Changing His Tune For New Album
Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider will release his new solo album Dee Does Broadway on May 8th on Razor & Tie.

The album features Dee's take on several Broadway classics. The new album will coincide with the release of his first ever autobiography, Shut Up and Give Me The Mic (Gallery Books) on May 8th.

The label sent over these details: Dee Does Broadway features several special guest stars, including Broadway and television icon Bebe Neuwirth on the Damn Yankees song "Whatever Lola Wants," Broadway legend Patti LuPone on a West Side Story Medley "Tonight/Somewhere," pop icon Cyndi Lauper on Sweet Charity's "Big Spender," Clay Aiken of American Idol on the Guys and Dolls classic "Luck Be a Lady Tonight," the stars of the Broadway hit musical Priscilla Queen of the Desert (Will Swenson, Tony Sheldon, and Nick Adams) on South Pacific's "There Is Nothin' Like A Dame," Mark Wood of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra playing violin on the Phantom of the Opera ballad "Music Of The Night," as well a special rendition of "The Joint Is Jumpin" from Ain't Misbehavin' with Dee's oldest son, Jesse "Blaze" Snider. Songs are also featured from classic Broadway shows including Cabaret, Chicago, The Threepenny Opera, Anything Goes, and Sweeney Todd. more on this story


Van Halen Keep Surprising Fans
(hennemusic) The Van Halen tour continues to surprise long time fans with the addition of rare songs being switched in and out of the band's set.

Sunday night in Boston, Van Halen rocked "Hang 'Em High," from the band's 1982 album, "Diver Down."

Fan reports suggest the band actually soundchecked the track last week in Philadelphia, along with the 1979 classic, "Bottoms Up!" which has yet to make an appearance in the show. Check out video here.


The Day The Sex Pistol's Snubbed The Rock Hall of Fame
(Gibson) On this day in 2006, The Sex Pistols refused to attend their own induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Blondie, Herb Alpert, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Miles Davis and Black Sabbath were also inducted. Gibson takes a look back: It was another big music night at the annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Awards. The 21st annual induction ceremony took place at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.

First up was a show opening tribute to Wilson Pickett, featuring Solomon Burke, Leela James, Marc Broussard and the E Street Band's Clarence Clemons. Then it was time for the awards. Honorees in 2006 included Black Sabbath, Blondie, Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Sex Pistols and jazz legend Miles Davis, while A&M Records founders Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss were given Lifetime Achievement Awards.

Thirty years had passed since punk kicked down the doors of the rock and roll establishment, and both Blondie and The Sex Pistols rolled back the years for some punk attitude and awkward controversy.

The Blondie eruption was unexpected. When the band reformed in '99, Debbie Harry and Chris Stein did not include former members Frank Infante, Nigel Harrison and Gary Valentine. After their induction, Infante asked to join the current line up on stage. more on this story




Rush To Receive Lifetime Achievement Award
(hennemusic) Rush will be honored with The Ronnie James Dio Lifetime Achievement Award at the 4th annual Revolver Golden God Awards in April.

Prog-rock pioneers Rush, who will release their 19th studio album, "Clockwork Angels," in May, join a list of past honorees that includes Motley Crue, Lemmy Kilmister of MOTÖRHEAD and Ozzy Osbourne.

The award will be presented by Jack Black and Kyle Gass of Tenacious D, whose new record, "Rize of the Fenix," hits stores on May 15. more on this story


All Star Rolling Stones Tribute Concert
(Gibson) An all-star cast of music stars, past and present, will tip their caps to the musical legacy of The Rolling Stones in concert at New York City's Carnegie Hall. The show takes place on Tuesday, March 13th.

Jackson Browne, Taj Mahal, Ronnie Spector, members of TV on the Radio, Marianne Faithful, the Mountain Goats, Ian Hunter and many others will recreate every single track on the Stones' hits compilation Hot Rocks: 1964-1971.

It's mostly a mystery as to which artists will play which songs. A few have tipped their hands: Rosanne Cash hinted that she will sing "Gimme Shelter" with John Sebastian and Earle told Billboard that he's playing "Mother's Little Helper," because it's the first song he learned on guitar. more on this story




Pennywise Announce First Album With New Singer
(Gibson) Pennywise will release their 10th studio album, All or Nothing, on April 27 via Epitaph Records.

All or Nothing is the veteran punk band's first release with new singer Zoli Téglás (Ignite), who stepped in for already-booked live dates in 2009 when longtime vocalist Jim Lindberg was unable to make the shows due to documentary-making commitments. A few months later Lindberg announced his resignation and Téglás was brought on board permanently.

This writer spoke to guitarist Fletcher Dragge last week, who said the All or Nothing recording sessions were not without their dramas and arguments, but that things are far more amiable than they were when Lindberg was around. more on this story




Eddie Vedder Solo Tour
(hennemusic) Eddie Vedder has announced summer dates for a solo tour of Europe and the UK.

Supporting his "Ukelele Songs" release, the Pearl Jam frontman's first solo shows in the region make up a limited four-city run.

Dates kick off in Amsterdam on July 25th and wrap up with a performance at Sudoeste Festival in Portugal on August 3rd. more on this story


Lacuna Coil Tap Otherwise For Dark Legacy Tour
Otherwise are hitting the road with Lacuna Coil on their 2012 North American Dark Legacy Tour.

Otherwise has been confirmed as direct support for the tour, which will feature Lacuna Coil playing over two hours of material spanning their entire catalog.

Otherwise are currently wrapping up a month on the road with Pop Evil, and following the "Dark Legacy" tour will play a number of radio festivals including Rock On The Range, Carolina Rebellion and Welcome To Rockville. more on this story


Prince's Purple Rain Focus of New Book
Hal Leonard have set an April 10th release for John Kenneth Muir's new book 'Purple Rain: Music on Film'. The publisher sent over this background:

The opening scene of Oscar-winning Purple Rain marks the exact moment movie and music fans first encountered and likely fell in love with the inscrutable, ultimately unknowable Prince.

This low-budget film unexpectedly debuted at the number-one slot in the box office and went on to win multiple awards. Now, 25 years after this beginning of the "Purple Age of Prince" (as Tavis Smiley put it), Prince remains that same inscrutable Kid standing semi-obscured in the mist, and Purple Rain is still recognized prominently on critical top-ten lists. more on this story


Bruce Springsteen's Wrecking Ball Debuts At No 1 in UK
(hennemusic) Bruce Springsteen's new release, "Wrecking Ball," debuts at no. 1 on the UK album charts.

The Official Charts Company reports Springsteen secured his 9th UK #1 album with sales of 74,000 copies.

The Boss held off a new release by the Military Wives, who landed at #2 with 56,000 in sales. more on this story


Six Feet Under Summer Tour
Six Feet Under plan to return to Europe in August to play some exclusive festival gigs as well as selected club shows.

Six Feet Under will be embarking on the trek in support of their forthcoming album Undead, which is set to be released in May.

Dew-Scented are set to open for Six Feet Under on the tour which kicks off on August 12th in Berlin. more on this story


Malice To Deliver New Album in May
(Freeman) Malice have set a May 22nd North American release date for their new album "New Breed of Godz" which will be released worldwide by SPV / Steamhammer.

Original members Jay Reynolds (guitars), Mick Zane (guitars) and Mark Behn (bass) entered the Silver Cloud Studios in Los Angeles together with new singer James Rivera (Helstar) and new drummer Pete Holmes (Black N´Blue) to re-record 8 of their classics plus 4 new songs.

The producer was Joe Floyd (Warrior) who also was involved in producing records of Bruce Dickinson and Rob Halford. The album is scheduled for a May 22nd release in the US/Canada, a May 25th release in Germany and a May 28th release in Europe. more on this story


Rocklahoma Lineup Announced
Rocklahoma organizers have announced the full lineup for this year's festival which takes place over Memorial Day Weekend.

Rocklahoma will run from May 25-27 at "Catch the Fever" Festival Grounds in Pryor, OK. The Rocklahoma lineup is as follows:

Rob Zombie, Chickenfoot, Creed, Megadeth, Slash, Queensrÿche, Chevelle, Jackyl, Theory of a Deadman, Hellyeah, Puddle of Mudd, P.O.D., Volbeat, The Darkness, 10 Years, Cavo, Adelitas Way, Black Stone Cherry, Pop Evil, Trivium, Red, Redlight King, Art of Dying, Aranda, Janus, New Medicine, James Durbin, Eve to Adam, Falling In Reverse, Rival Sons, Anti Mortem, Gypsy Pistoleros, Lillian Axe, Wildstreet, Firstryke, Black Tora, Sunset Riot, The Glitter Boys, Fist of Rage, Switchblade, Scarlett, S.E.X. Department, Ragdoll, Down & Dirty, Hessler, Lynam, Diemonds, Ruff Justice, Soulicit, Rocker Lips, Mine Enemies Fall, Echo Vendetta, A Good Fight, Sweatin' Bullets, Through the Thorns, Absence of Ink, For the Broken, EchoFuzz, Shotgun Rebels, Stun, Dagger, Unwritten Rulz, Desi & Cody, David Castro Band, McCuin, We the Ghost, Tiranico, Baron Von Swagger, TwoFold, Aformatic, Delay the Day, and Jamco Industries.


Madness Announce North American Tour Dates
Madness will bring their brand of British ska rock back to North America next month with the launch of a West Coast tour.

The West Coast dates also include the highly popular Coachella Music Festival in Indio, Calif. on April 13.

This tour marks the first time the band has toured in North America in more than five years. more on this story


The Bouncing Souls New Album Details
The Bouncing Souls will release their new studio album, Comet, on June 12th in both physical and digital formats.

Comet was produced by the legendary Bill Stevenson at the Blasting Room (Rise Against, Hot Water Music, Descendents) in Ft. Collins, CO.

The Bouncing Souls are prepping worldwide tour plans for 2012, including a hometown Bamboozle appearance on May 20 in Asbury Park, NJ, with fellow Jersey band Bon Jovi, as well as U.S. and European headline runs this summer more on this story


Between the Buried and Me Offshoot Trioscapes Set Release
(MBR) Trioscapes new album, Separate Realities, will be released on May 8th in North America and on May 7th in Europe.

Trioscapes started in the summer of 2011 when bassist Dan Briggs (Between the Buried and Me) contacted Walter Fancourt (tenor saxophone/flute) and Matt Lynch (drums) about working up a rendition of the Mahavishnu Orchestra classic "Celestial Terrestrial Commuters." The group also messed around with a few original ideas with the intent of playing a one-off live show.

However, after rehearsing the material and playing the show, the group decided the music was so demanding and fun to perform that there should be more of a future for the project. A few more songs were written near the end of the summer and a full length album was recorded the first week of October with Jamie King in Winston-Salem, NC. Trioscapes combines elements of 70s fusion with progressive rock, dark syncopated grooves, a flare for the psychedelic, and an unabashed love for both quirky Zappa-ish melodies and thunderous abrasive trade-off lines. more on this story


Michael Stanley Releases New Album
(Glass Onyon) 70s rocker Michael Stanley has released his new studio album 'The Hang' on ItsAboutMusic.com.

From the mid '70s to the mid '80s, the Michael Stanley Band enjoyed a strong and fiercely loyal following, touring with some of the superstar bands of that period including Bruce Springsteen, The Eagles, Foreigner and The Doobie Brothers.

With over 70 minutes of music, the latest CD from Michael Stanley features twelve new original compositions and covers of songs written by Dire Strait's Mark Knopfler and songwriter extraordinaire Patty Griffin. Once again the album was mixed by legendary Bill Szymczyk and features the talents of Michael's road band, The Resonators throughout. more on this story


Black Cobra Join Corrosion Of Conformity, Torche and Gaza Tour
Black Cobra will be hitting the North American road this June with Corrosion Of Conformity, Torche and Gaza.

The trek will begin June 1st in Charlotte, NC with 18 dates confirmed through June 23rd at press time.

This stateside trek will follow Black Cobra's scheduled European tour also supporting COC along with Zoroaster, which kicks off on April 4th and leading up to the band's performance at the annual Roadburn Festival in Tilburg, Holland. more on this story


Scissormen Walking and Talking the Blues Next Week
(Gibson) Nashville-based blues duo Scissormen have a reputation for bridging the oldest traditions of recorded blues and modernist sonic invention. A great example from their new CD+DVD set BIG SHOES: Walking and Talking the Blues – available on Tuesday, March 20 – is the original song "Tupelo."

BIG SHOES embraces a 90-minute feature film by the acclaimed roots music documentarian Robert Mugge, about the band and its leader Ted Drozdowski, who also writes for Gibson.com. The recording of "Tupelo" is from the 72-minute live concert CD that's part of the set, and the song is also performed on stage at the Key Palace Theater in Redkey, Indiana, in the film.

To achieve the song's unusual sound, Drozdowski started with a variation on open G tuning (D-G-D-G-B-D) with the two high strings both tuned to D to achieve a chorusing effect. He also employed a vintage '80s Digitech DDS-1000 digital delay and played .10 gauge strings with a steel pinky slide and employed all five bare fingers of his right hand for picking, using the nail of his index finger for downstrokes. more on this story




Singled Out: Dark Empire's A Plague in the Throne Room
Today Matt Moliti from Dark Empire tells us about the song "A Plague in the Throne Room" from their brand new album "From Refuge to Ruin". Here is the story:

Believe it or not, the main guitar theme for "Plague" started as a gentle acoustic guitar/piano interlude, with the melody played in the lower notes of the guitar part, and performed much slower as well, more like a ballad. It sounded nice, but then idea struck me "what would happen if I took this piano part, sped it up, and played it as a guitar lead?" The result was badass, and I instantly knew this was going to be the first track of the album.

Since it was to be the album opener, I decided for "Plague" to serve as a meeting ground between the familiar elements of our previous album, Humanity Dethroned, and the darker, more progressive elements that are found throughout the rest of FRTR. To that end, though, there are still some 70's progressive rock influences here, in some subtle and not so subtle ways. The use of mellotron choir in the chorus and violins in the bridge melody should be obvious, but a less apparent influence lies in that the bridge melody is found later on in the album, during the chorus of "Black Hearts Demise." This idea comes from Genesis, who would reprise melodies from the front of the album in songs at the end of the album to create a "bookend" feel. Speaking of the bridge, that is also the oldest riff on the album, dating back to around 2007.

Lyrically, the song lends itself to the concept of deterioration (in society, government, personal relationships, etc), which is the prevalent theme throughout FRTR. In this case, it speaks of the deterioration of government, and of the corruption within it. It's obvious that most people these days are dissatisfied with the way things are being run, and I wrote the lyrics to express that dissatisfaction in a way that people could relate regardless of where their personal beliefs lie.

Today's Day In Rock!

Van Halen Returned Thanks To Wolfgang
(hennemusic) Valerie Bertinelli may no longer be married to Eddie Van Halen, but she's still keeping her eyes on the band's current tour because their 20-year old son, Wolfgang, is currently handling bass duties on the trip.
This week, Bertinelli spoke with WRIF Detroit about the "A Different Kind Of Truth" tour, providing some insight for fans. When asked about the backlash over Wolfgang being on board instead of former VH bassist Michael Anthony, Valerie said, "I loved Mike, too. I thought he was a really nice guy. Still do. But the only way this tour is happening is because Eddie gets to play with his son Wolfie. Otherwise this tour wouldn't be going on. It really wouldn't."

"This brings joy to Ed," continued Bertinelli. "That's what he wants to do now — just have fun playing. As great as Mike is, this wouldn't be happening if Mike was still in the band. There would be no tour, there would be no album, there would be no nothing." more on this story


John Mayer Throat Issues Return Forcing Him To Cancel Tour
John Mayer has been forced to scrap his upcoming spring tour in support of his album Born And Raised and go on an "indefinite hiatus from live performing" after a recurrence of granuloma on his throat.

Mayer broke the bad news to fans in a blog post on Friday: "During rehearsal on Tuesday, it came to mind that I should see my throat doctor because something didn't feel/sound right. I went in for a visit on Wednesday and a scope of my vocal cords revealed that the granuloma has grown back where it had mostly healed. This is bad news. Because of this, I have no choice but to take an indefinite break from live performing. Though there will be a day when all of this will be behind me, it will sideline me for a longer period of time than I care to have you count down."

"I want to explain this a bit more in depth than I have in the past, because I know there's some confusion as to what this condition is; a granuloma forms and continues to snowball because it's in a spot where the vocal cords hit together and there's no way to really give it a chance to heal without a good stretch of time and some pretty intensive treatment. In short, it's one giant pain in the ass." more on this story


Def Leppard, Poison and Lita Ford Tour
Def Leppard tours have become a right of summer with the band teaming up with fellow hard rock hitmakers for the past several years and 2012 will be no different with Def Leppard once again teaming up with Poison for a summer trek with Lita Ford opening.

The first leg of the North American tour is set to kick off on June 20th in Salt Lake City and 18 dates have been announced which will wrap up on July 22 in Cadott, Wisconsin. Def Leppard is billing this as the first leg of the tour, so more dates are expected.

"We had such a good time going out with Poison in 2009 that we thought it only right to do it again," said Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott. more on this story


Duff Discusses Possibility of Guns N' Roses Rock Hall Jam
(hennemusic) Former Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan spoke to Rolling Stone about the March 20th release of the paperback edition of his autobiography "It's So Easy: and Other Lies," and the conversation turned to the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony next month in Cleveland.

As for GNR reuniting to perform, "I think it would be killer," begins Duff. "Do I hope to? That's a tricky question. It would be awesome. You have those day dreams like, "We'll go up and play 'Nightrain' and 'Brownstone' and throw down the microphone and drop off! That'll be killer!' But I doubt that'll happen."

"There's been no communication about anyone playing," he says. "There was probably a day in the mid-1990s where I would have tried to gather the troops, but I'm just not that guy anymore. It's too frustrating to change anyone else…I'm not even sure I'd want to change how anyone else sees a situation. But I'm going." What does he think about the Rock Hall?


American Idol Appearing on Aerosmith Album
(hennemusic) The Aerosmith/American Idol connection has moved to another level with a former contestant appearing on the band's forthcoming album.

Following her appearance on Thursday night's episode, last year's Idol runner-up Lauren Alaina revealed that she will be a guest on Aerosmith's new album, due for release later this spring.

On Friday, Alaina tweeted: "Yesterday: returned to idol & then went to the studio to record background vocals for the new Aerosmith record.



Homme And Reeder Vs Kyuss Lives!
Former members of Kyuss have been touring under the moniker of Kyuss Lives! but that group is now facing legal problems from their former bandmates who put out the following statement:

Kyuss members Scott Reeder and Joshua Homme have been forced to file a federal lawsuit against John Garcia and Brant Bjork a/k/a Kyuss Lives! The suit alleges trademark infringement and consumer fraud by Kyuss Lives!

Quote from Reeder and Homme: "It sucks. To think we went to a meeting in January solely to help them with their request to continue Kyuss Lives! With open arms, we made every attempt to help them continue Kyuss Lives! respectfully. Only to discover while they looked us in the eye, Kyuss Lives! management and band had filed federal documents in 2011 in an attempt to steal the name Kyuss. more on this story


Guns N' Roses Star Challenges Hulk Hogan
(hennemusic) Wrestler Hulk Hogan is taking on all challengers these days as he promotes his latest product endorsement.

Guns N' Roses guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal stepped up to appear in the latest webisode of "Challenge Hulk Hogan."

Bumblefoot challenges the wrestling legend to make up a song on the spot, and the Hulkster obliges. watch it here.


Bob Marley Is This Love Church Burns Down
(Gibson) The building in London where Bob Marley filmed the video for his 1978 single, "Is This Love," has been destroyed by fire. As reported by BBC News, 40 firefighters tackled the blaze at the Christ Apostolic Church in King's Cross Thursday night (March 8).

The fire started on the ground floor of the three-story building and spread quickly to the roof. The building was previously home to the Keskidee Center, thought to be the U.K.'s first cultural center for the black community.

Marley chose the center as the setting for the video, which featured a young Naomi Campbell, then just seven years old. The center closed in 1991 due to funding problems, and the building was subsequently purchased by the Christ Apostolic Church. more on this story




King's X Raising Medical Funds For Jerry Gaskill With Live Album
Sleaze Roxx Reports fans can get their hands on a new King's X live album while helping raise medical funs for the band's drummer Jerry Gaskill who remains in ICU, recovering slowly from a heart attack he suffered on February 25th.

As medical bills mount up, many King's X fans have asked how they can help. Now you can give Jerry $20 toward his uncovered medical expenses by going to www.molkenmusic.com or www.kingsxrocks.com and receive a free download of the new King's X live album 'Burning Down Boston'. 100% of all gifts collected go directly to Jerry Gaskill.

Recorded live in Boston on June 12, 1991 at The Channel, the digital album contains 14 tracks including "It's Love", "I'll Never Get Tired Of You", "Visions" and much more. more on this story


Unaired Aerosmith 60 Minutes Footage Posted Online
(hennemusic) 60 Minutes has offered up some bonus footage of Aerosmith that the producers weren't able to fit into the regular broadcast this weekend.

Among the exclusive web clips is a look at host Laura Logan's backstage tour with Steven Tyler, a lot of discussion with band members about group dynamics and personality issues, the group's history with drugs and self-implosion, and how they create new music in the studio.

The Boston band has teamed up with long time producer Jack Douglas for their first album of new material since 2001's "Just Push Play"; the project is expected to be released this spring. Check out the bonus footage here.


Slash Releases New Webisode
(hennemusic) Slash has issued the 6th webisode in his series about his forthcoming new album, "Apocalyptic Love." Slash's new album will be released on May 22; the first single, "You're A Lie," is out now.

This time out, the footage shows Slash and the band working with photographer Travis Shinn.

"He's an exceptional photographer," says Slash, "which is why I wanted to do this session with him." Watch it here.


Pearl Jam Recording Experimental Album
(Gibson) Pearl Jam's Stone Gossard says the band's new record is coming along well. The guitarist suggests that the forthcoming release is an experimental album.

"The most important thing is that we put something out that continues to expand our boundaries rather than trying to follow what we've done in the past," he told Rolling Stone. "I think it's a good time to hopefully continue to experiment, and continue to shake it up. So that people can go 'Wow, that's kind of weird for Pearl Jam,' and then 10 years later they can go, 'Oh, that's my favorite period.' Which is always kind of what happens. You try something and at first everybody doesn't necessarily understand it, and then you look back and you go, thank God we tried something new, because it really opened a door up for us to be able to do this and this and this beyond that."

Gossard added that he likes the imperfect feel of the tracks the band has recorded so far. "This record is refreshingly cool because it's just us in the studio screwing around, not taking it too seriously. I think that's one of the biggest problems in rock is people thinking too much, putting too much emphasis on getting things perfect or completely sorted out. Sometimes that sound of not having everything sorted out is kind of cool." more on this story




Steve Lukather Talks Tours With Satriani, Vai and Ringo
(Gibson) In two weeks, Steve Lukather will join Joe Satriani and Steve Vai for the first series of G3 dates in five years. In a wide-ranging interview with Music Radar, Lukather says he's honored by the chance to share the stage with two "genius-level players."

"I'm not like those guys," Lukather humbly asserts, although his fans would surely disagree. "Joe and Steve, they're killers. I sing and I play, I do whatever, but I don't do that level of guitar thing that they do. Thank goodness G3 isn't a competition. I would surely lose that fight if that were the case."

Lukather says he's similarly honored to have been asked to play with Ringo Starr on the All Starr Band tour, set to kick off on June 14. "He's my third Beatle," Lukather said. "I've played with both Paul and George. The Beatles were my arm-twist to life, so to come full circle like this is surreal. When I was a kid, thinking of just being near a Beatle was an unattainable dream." more on this story




The Raconteurs Live Blu-Ray and DVD Coming
Eagle Rock have set a June 19th DVD and Blu-Ray release of The Raconteurs' Live At Montreux 2008.

This is the first ever video release by The Raconteurs and features tracks from both their top 10 albums including the singles "Steady, As She Goes", "Many Shades Of Black", "Broken Boy Soldier", "Salute Your Solution" and more.

The Raconteurs were formed in 2005 by Jack White of The White Stripes, acclaimed solo artist Brendan Benson and drummer Patrick Keeler and bassist Jack Lawrence from The Greenhornes. Their debut album Broken Boy Soldiers charted at No.2 in the UK and follow up Consolers Of The Lonely went in at No.8. Both albums were also Top 10 in the USA. This performance from Montreux in 2008 was part of the tour in support of their second album. The setlist is split between songs from the two albums and includes covers of Terry Reid's "Rich Kid Blues" and the old Charley Jordan track "Keep It Clean". more on this story


Chris Robinson Brotherhood Set Album Release
Chris Robinson Brotherhood will release their debut album Big Moon Ritual, on June 5th and companion album The Magic Door will follow in September. A CRB tour will be announced shortly.

Here is the background: In 2011, after more than 20 years of intense gigging and recording, Chris Robinson set off to shape something new, a fresh rock mythology, a breathing kaleidoscopic thing stuffed with chooglin' soul, bedrock boogie and shuffling wisdom birthed in intimate clubs and amongst the tall trees of the Golden State and eventually taken nationwide as the Chris Robinson Brotherhood evolved.

What began as an experiment without expectations turned into a 118-show journey for Robinson (lead vocals, guitar), Neal Casal (guitar, vocals), Adam MacDougall (keys, vocals), George Sluppick (drums) and Mark Dutton (bass, vocals) that surprised these seasoned pros as music of unshakeable solidity and exuberant reach poured out of them, a New Cosmic California sound with tendrils reaching to the original Fillmore West, Topanga Canyon and outwards towards far horizons

RUSH AWARDED CANADA'S HIGHEST ARTISTIC PRIZE:

Rush awarded Canada's highest artistic prize, effectively putting the band on par with poets and concert pianists by John Semley March 6, 2012
Toronto prog-rock trio Rush may be something of an inside joke, treasured by Canadians with a taste for Geddy Lee's falsetto vocals, Alex Lifeson's noodly riffs, and Neil Peart's 11-minute drum solos, yet largely misunderstood abroad as being too nerdy or something. Indeed, fans have been lamenting Rush's notable absence in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame for years, as if Canada needed some dusty museum of rock history for validation. Who needs the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame when you can have a Governor General's Performing Arts Award?
Awarded to Canadians for distinguished work in the arts, the prestigious award—with recipients announced earlier today in Calgary—pitches Rush straight into the ranks of highest-order Canadian artists like Gordon Lightfoot, Oscar Peterson, Leonard Cohen, Christopher Plummer, and Cirque De Soleil. According to the CBC, this year's other winners include Indian-Canadian filmmaker Deepa Mehta, Newfoundland-born writer and comic Mary Walsh, and classical concert pianist Janina Fialkowska. Good for them, and good for all. But there's something especially terrific about a band that wrote a song called “By-Tor And The Snow Dog” being rewarded with a nation's highest artistic honour. And it comes with a free commemorative medallion! And $25,000 Canadian dollars! So cue up Grace Under Pressure and raise your star-child flags, Rusheteers. Today is your Bastille Day.
ArticleLink: www.avclub.com/toronto/articles/rush-awarded-canadas-highest-artistic-prize-effect,70437/

Today's Day In Rock!

No Guns N' Roses Hall of Fame Jam
(hennemusic) Paul Shaffer has some bad news for Guns N' Roses fans: the group will not be performing at their upcoming induction into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame next month in Cleveland.
Outside of his day job as bandleader for the David Letterman show, Shaffer has also been the musical director for the Hall Of Fame induction ceremony since its inception in 1986.

Paul spilled the GNR news when he was asked on Twitter if he had any idea how long the Rock Hall ceremony was going to be this year with so many inductees; "Guns N' Roses will not be performing, so not as long as you would think," was Shaffer's reply. more on this story


QOTSA's Oliveri Pleads Not Guilty In S.W.A.T. Team Standoff
(TMZ) Former Queens of the Stone Age bassist Nick Oliveri insists he wasn't packing heat OR drugs during a tense standoff with a S.W.A.T. team in L.A. last summer -- pleading "not guilty" yesterday to all five charges stemming from the incident.

TMZ broke the story ... Nick was arrested last July -- after a fight with his girlfriend escalated into a four-hour standoff with police. Oliveri was booked on felony domestic violence -- and after police searched his home, they say they found a fully-loaded rifle.

According to the charging docs, police also found cocaine and methamphetamines during the search. Oliveri was charged in August with two counts of possession of a controlled substance with a firearm, 2 counts of possession of a controlled substance, and one misdemeanor count of resisting, obstructing or delaying a peace officer.

A pre-trial date has been set for April 13th. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years behind bars. more on this story


Metallica Expand Orion Festival Plans
(hennemusic) Metallica has issued a preview/trailer for their upcoming Orion Music + More festival which has been expanded since the original announcement. The event is set for June 23 and 24 in Atlantic City, will feature Metallica headlining alongside more than 30 artists personally selected by the band.

As part of their 2012 tour, Metallica will play their classic "Black" album in its entirety on one of the nights for the first time ever in the U.S., and perform the "Ride The Lightning" album on the other night. Metallica bills the inaugural Orion Music + More as "more than just music, the festival will also feature a lifestyle element showcasing the band's individual interests - and allowing fans to interact directly with each of the band members."

"We've added the Damage Inc. stage which will headlined by our friends Suicidal Tendencies and Sepultura and will feature lots of cool, heavy, thrash and punk bands that many of you have not had a chance to experience yet including Torche, Red Fang, Kyng, Landmine Marathon, and more," announced Metallica in their latest festival update.

See who else has joined the lineup and check out the video here.


Former Van Halen Singer Praises New Album
(hennemusic) Two former Van Halen singers have been sharing their opinions on the band's new album, "A Different Kind Of Truth," with opposite results.

Now with Chickenfoot, Sammy Hagar has been slamming every aspect of the group's efforts to move forward without him, seemingly still reeling and angered over his 1996 and 2004 splits with the Van Halen brothers.

At the other end of the spectrum is Gary Cherone, of both Extreme and Hurtsmile, who recorded 1998's "Van Halen III" with the group and performed on tour with them. "This record, for me, it's the best thing since 'Fair Warning,'" Cherone tells the Boston Phoenix. "[First single] 'Tattoo' is the only misstep. You wait 28 years to hear Van Halen, and in the context of the record, it's not the best song by far. Off the top of my head, I'm thinkin' of 'China Town,' if that was the first thing you heard, or 'As Is,' or 'Honeybabysweetiedoll.' Any of those three? People would've been like, 'Are you f**ing kidding me?' " He has more to say here.


Pearl Jam Expanding Boundaries With New Album
(Banana 101.5) Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard gives an update on the band's currently in-the-works album, revealing that they're "not in a rush" to finish the disc right away and are instead focusing on breaking new musical ground.

"We've recorded some songs, and we're going to record and write some more. You never know, it might be that we're a song away or two, or it might be that we're going to record six or seven more songs. I think the main thing is that were not in a rush and there's no urgency to it.

"The most important thing is that we put something out that continues to expand our boundaries rather than trying to follow what we've done in the past. I think it's a good time to hopefully continue to experiment, and continue to shake it up." He has a lot more to say here.


Steven Tyler Takes Credit For Aerosmith Success on 60 Minutes
(hennemusic) Aerosmith will be featured on 60 Minutes this Sunday evening. The segment will include an interview CBS host Laura Logan conducted with the band in between shows in Bogota, Colombia, where she followed them on tour.

In a one-on-one session, sat down with singer Steven Tyler to let him know that his bandmates — Joe Perry, Tom Hamilton, Brad Whitford and Joey Kramer — told her that he was too much a perfectionist and could be cruel at times. "They're 100 per cent right," replied Tyler. "I've said many things to all those guys that I should never have said, that I didn't mean."

Asked for further comment, Steven added, "You know what? I'm going to be big-headed right now, okay? I think my perfectionism and my busting everyone's chops is what got this band to where it is today. In the end, I get a really good song and in the end, I get the hits. Yeah, I'm that good." Check out the preview clip here.


March Madness For The Black Keys
The Black Keys' new single, "Gold On the Ceiling," is being used as the musical backdrop for this year's NCAA March Madness tournament.

March Madness kicks off next week across the four networks of TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV.

Right now fans can check out a longform version of the The Black Keys's promotional spot that was done for the tournament right here.


Rolling Stones Celebrate 9 Million Facebook Fans
(Gibson) The Rolling Stones Facebook page has just passed the 9 million mark and guitarist Keith Richards has posted a picture of himself holding a card saying "9,000,000 Stones Fans."

The post thanks the fans, saying, "Thanks to everyone of you Facebookers who like the Rolling Stones. It's only rock and roll but we love you!"

Still no word on whether The Rolling Stones will celebrate the 50th anniversary of their getting together with a tour or a concert this year. more on this story




Korn's Jonathan Davis Becomes J Devil For Solo Release
(Banana 101.5) Korn frontman Jonathan Davis is currently working on his solo debut, which will be a foray into electronic music and be released under the name of his DJ alter ego "J Devil."

Korn injected their nu-metal sound with dubstep on their 2011 album 'The Path of Totality,' now singer Jonathan Davis will take one step further into the world of Electronic Dance Music.

Davis also explains that the EP isn't limited to just one specific genre of EDM, "It's all these different genres," he says. "I love electro, I love jungle, I love drum and bass, I love dubstep, so it's a mixup of all that stuff." more on this story


Counting Crows Giving Away Song From New Album
We were sent this info: Counting Crows will release of their first new album in over 4 years, Underwater Sunshine, on April 9th.

Underwater Sunshine is the first album on the band's own label and will be distributed by Cooking Vinyl. The band have asked fans to design the new album package.

Produced by Counting Crows and Shawn Dealey, Underwater Sunshine features a collection of songs, both familiar and obscure Interpreted by the band. Fans can download a free download of their New song "Mercy" on countingcrows.com/


Alter Bridge On Adele's Tail
(Randex) Preorders for Alter Bridge's Live At Wembley, the band's second live CD/DVD, hit no 2 in the Top 100 on the Blu Ray Music Videos & Concerts chart at Amazon.com, just beneath Adele.

For the seventh day in a row, Live At Wembley, with a street date of March 26, 2012, has been in the Top 10 of Amazon Bestsellers in the Blu Ray Music Videos & Concerts chart, ahead of video offerings from other music giants in the Top 10 such as Iron Maiden, Whitney Houston and Tony Bennett.

LIVE AT WEMBLEY, distributed in North America through EMI Label Services, includes every key Alter Bridge track from their three studio albums, including "Isolation," "Ghosts Of Days Gone By," "Wonderful Life," "Watch Over You," "Broken Wings," "Rise Today," "Open Your Eyes" and many more, and was captured in late November during the Fall 2011 European tour at the historic Wembley Arena. more on this story


Marduk Plan Summer Tour With 1349, Withered, and Weapon
Marduk will be heading back to North America this summer for a headlining run with 1349, Withered, and Weapon.

Marduk will be releasing their 12th studio album, Serpent Sermon , in early summer 2012.

The track-listing, artwork, and release date for the album will be revealed in the coming weeks. more on this story


Zakk Wylde Still Considered A Son By The Osbournes
(Gibson) It comes without saying that guitar icon Zakk Wylde is very tight with the Osbourne clan. In fact, Ozzy Osbourne's wife and manager, Sharon Osbourne, says the Osbournes are so fond of Wylde that he's "like our oldest son."

"When we first met Zakk, he was 18 years old," Sharon told Revolver TV at the debut Rock & Roll Roast earlier this year. "He was the most beautiful 18-year-old you've ever seen. He was just a fantastic kid. He is like our oldest son. That's what Zakk will always be. He's family."

Later, Sharon was asked why the Les Paul Bullseye player deserved to be honored as a "guitar god" by friendly contemporaries, such as Ozzy Osbourne, Chris Jericho, Anthrax's Scott Ian, Slipknot's Corey Taylor and more at the ceremony. "He's just got it," Sharon said. "He has that 'it' factor that makes you a star. You know, you can't define it, but he has this presence and he has this sound, as soon as he gets on that guitar, one note, you know who it is. And that's what makes guitar heroes – you know, that distinctive sound. And he has this strength that so few players today have, and that presence. And he's … nuts. [Laughs]" more on this story




Monkees' Michael Nesmith Remembers Davy Jones
(Gibson) In an exclusive interview with Rolling Stone, Michael Nesmith has been remembering Davy Jones and the Monkees experience.

In Nesmith's opinion, Jones and The Monkees were synonymous. "For me David was The Monkees," he said. "They were his band. We were his side men. He was the focal point of the romance, the lovely boy, innocent and approachable. Micky was his Bob Hope. In those two – like Hope and Crosby – was the heartbeat of the show."

Nesmith didn't feature in the last Monkees tour but the country-rock pioneer still plays concerts and has been busy developing a virtual world music project at his Videoranch website. more on this story




Gibson Guitar Launches Artist in Residency Program
(Gibson) Gibson Custom is starting an Artist in Residency program in Nashville. James A. Willis, the program's inaugural artist, has been profiled in American Art Collector, Art & Antiques and RefuelMagazine.com. Following his residency, he will remain an integral part of the program as chairman and help in the selection process of future artists.

"This program is dear to our heart and it wonderfully combines our love of music and art," said Henry Juszkiewicz, Chairman and CEO of Gibson Guitar. "We believe that having artists here will promote a great symbiotic relationship – and that they will inspire us and, hopefully, we will have the same impact on them."

Artists selected will receive housing in the Nashville area, studio space and a materials budget. Artists interested in participating in the program should e-mail samples of their work with a short essay as to why they should be considered to:customartistresident@gibson.com. more on this story




Holy Grail Hitting The Road With Dragonforce
Holy Grail will be playing support for DragonForce on a spring tour that kicks off at the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival on April 21.

In addition, the group, who just completed a successful tour of Australia, will play four shows at South By Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas next week as part of a short tour alongside Saviours.

While in Austin, HOLY GRAIL will play two showcases -- Prosthetic's official label showcase, as well as another presented by MetalSucks -- in addition to two prominent day parties. more on this story


Set It Off Team Up With Divided By Friday For Tour
Set It Off will be hitting the road this Spring for co-headlining North American tour with Divided By Friday.

Equal Vision sent over this additional info and dates: Set It Off has also announced new tour dates with Life On Repeat and Glass Cloud (ft. Jerry Roush, ex-Of Mice & Men/Sky Eats Airplane and Joshua Travis, The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza) following their appearances at SXSW.

All three bands will perform at the recently announced Equal Vision Records Showcase on Friday, March 16 at Lucky 13 (418 E 6th St, at Neches St). Co-headlining the showcase will be Say Anything and We Came As Romans. more on this story


The Day The Clash Hit The Top
(Gibson) On this day in 1991, "Should I Stay or Should I Go" gave The Clash their only U.K. no. 1 single after the track was used for a Levi's TV advertisement. The track was first released in 1982 from their Combat Rock album. Gibson takes a look back:

Although it's common for groundbreaking bands to gain more appreciation long after they've made their mark, it doesn't often happen that they have their biggest hit a few years after their breakup. But that's exactly what happened to The Clash on this day in 1991.

Part of the original first wave of British punk in the late '70s, The Clash progressed as artists and musicians at warp speed. Like a lot of punk acts, they quickly brought in reggae elements – but Joe Strummer, Mick Jones and Paul Simonon continued to explore other music styles from Jamaica, such as dub and ska. In a few short years, they had brought together a menagerie of musical styles (rockabilly, punk, folk, reggae, rock, R&B, dub, pop and even hip-hop), and expertly hopped between genres on albums such as 1979's London Calling and 1980's Sandinista!

Although the boys continued to push boundaries on 1982's Combat Rock, the record also included some of The Clash's most radio-friendly material. The heavy-handed "Should I Stay or Should I Go" and the danceable "Rock the Casbah" were each worldwide hits, especially the latter, which hit the Top 10 in the U.S. and Australia. Yet, in the long term, "Should I Stay or Should I Go" would end up becoming a signature song for the band and their only chart-topper.

"Should I Stay or Should I Go" was written by guitarist Mick Jones, who also sang lead vocals on the song (something he did from time to time on Clash recordings), moving frontman Joe Strummer to backing vocals. While many fans have assumed the song is about Jones impending split with The Clash (he was "dismissed" in 1983), the guitarist wrote the song about his troubled relationship with singer Ellen Foley, known for her work with Meat Loaf.

Strummer might have been forced into the background on this tune, but he added an interesting touch – singing in Spanish. "On the spur of the moment I said 'I'm going to do the backing vocals in Spanish,'" he remembered later. "We needed a translator so Eddie Garcia, the tape operator, called his mother in Brooklyn Heights and read her the lyrics over the phone and she translated them. But Eddie and his mum are Ecuadorian, so it's Ecuadorian Spanish that me and Joe Ely are singing on the backing vocals."

With its distinctive riff, indecisive lyrics and Spanish backing vocals, "Should I Stay or Should I Go" did very well in the U.K. (where it rose to #17) and the U.S. (where it became The Clash's second charting single). It's easy to understand why it became a concert staple during the band's tours to support Combat Rock

Today's Day In Rock!

Hagar Rips Into Van Halen Again
(hennemusic) Sammy Hagar has been making a habit of slamming the new Van Halen album, something the Red Rocker did for months before the record was even out.
Now that he's heard some of it, Sammy still thinks the band missed the mark. "I don't listen to much new music unless I hear a new song on the radio, and the last bands that did that to me were the Black Keys and Kings of Leon," Hagar tells the Boston Phoenix. "When I heard 'Tattoo,' that single — and I saw the video because everybody kept sending it to me like, 'My god, have you seen this?' . . . 'Oh my god, you must be laughing your ass off!'— it wasn't a song that made me run out and buy their record. And so I haven't heard it. I haven't downloaded it, I haven't done anything."

Hagar didn't discuss why he's had a change of plans on this in recent months: he told Rolling Stone last fall, "I'll be the first guy waiting in line at the record store, if I could find one anymore. I'll be really curious [to hear the new VH]." Read that here and more


Aerosmith May Debut New Song on American Idol
(hennemusic) While promoting his work on the current Experience Hendrix tour, Aerosmith guitarist Brad Whitford is sharing his excitement about the band's new music, along with some interesting details.

"I think people are going to see a lot of Aerosmith later in the year," Whitford told The Times News. "We've got a new song that's gonna be used in a major motion picture this summer, so that's probably the first new music fans will get to hear. We may even debut it on American Idol in May."

"We're definitely planning on touring the U.S. later in the summer," continued Brad. "As for the new CD, the music is done — we're just waiting to get some of the vocals added in." more on this story


Limp Bizkit Making Metal Album?
(Banana 101.5) In a recent conversation about the future of the Limp Bizkit, outspoken frontman Fred Durst revealed some huge expectations for their next release.

Fred Durst recently told Billboard that the follow-up to the 2011 album 'Gold Cobra' will be the "heaviest, most crazy metal record of all time." The statement may stand in stark contrast to the fact that the band signed with a rap label last week, but as he further explained:

"That will service our core and counter balance these big, fat, ginormous hip-rock songs we're going to do [with Cash Money]. We're gonna give out some mayhem and madness…to those people who really lean that way with us." more on this story


Metallica Moving Forward With 3D Movie
Metallica are making progress on their upcoming Metallica 3D feature film and selected Nimrod Antal to direct and Charlotte Huggins to produce the project.

Their camp sent over these details: The film will be a marriage of narrative and concert and will star the five members of Metallica: James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, Robert Trujillo, and the fans. It will begin shooting this August and will be released in the summer of 2013.

"I've been a fan of Nimróds since his first Hungarian film, Kontroll, showed up at Cannes in 2004 and blew everybody away, said Metallica's Lars Ulrich. "I've watched with excitement his career in Hollywood blossom over the last few years. Within five minutes of meeting him I was addicted to his enthusiasm, his take on the creative process and his "thinking outside of the box" personality. Let's get on with it!!!" more on this story


Nickelback Add New Leg To North American Tour
Nickelback have added a new summer leg to their upcoming North American tour which kicks off next month.

With nine newly announced shows Nickelback will stop in 49 cities—including the just-added shows in Hershey, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Saratoga Springs, Darien Center, Charlotte, Virginia Beach and Raleigh.

Nickelback was recently nominated for four Juno Awards in their native Canada, including Group of the Year, Album of the Year for Here And Now, Single of the Year for "When We Stand Together" and the Juno Fan Choice Award. The band will perform on CTV's broadcast of THE 2012 JUNO AWARDS on Sunday, April 1st. more on this story


Jon Anderson Offered To Return to Yes
(Rock News Desk) Jon Anderson offered to return to Yes after they sacked his replacement last month and he's lambasted the prog rock outfit he co-founded for letting fans down in favour of the pursuit of money, adding they're not interested in making new music.

Yes sacked Anderson in 2008 and he maintains they did it because he was too ill to tour. Tribute artist Benoit David took his place – but in February he revealed he'd been dismissed without being told, also because he was ill.

"I've told them that since I an healthy again that I would get back with them," Anderson tells the Dallas Observer. "I told them that i wanted to create new music, but they don't want to do that. They just want to go on the road and make money. They don't care for the integrity of the band.

"I feel they have let a lot of fans down – they're just in it for the money." more on this story


Ace Frehley For Tattoo & Horror Festival
(Gibson) Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley is to be the guest of honor at the Full Moon Tattoo & Horror Festival, set to take place April 6-8 at the Nashville Convention Center in Tennessee.

The 11th annual event is a three-day convention featuring celebrity appearances – including Norman Reedus from The Walking Dead series – tattoo artists, plus comic and movie vendors.

Frehley is also working on yet another memoir. He recently told IHeartGuitar, "I've started working on a new album, I'm writing a new book… there are a lot of good things on the horizon. At this point, I think [the next book is] just going to be an extension of [Ace's 2011 memoir] 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.'" more on this story




Sammy Hagar Announces 2012 Birthday Shows
(hennemusic) Sammy Hagar has announced the dates for his annual series of birthday shows in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

The Cabo Wabo Cantina will be rocking to celebrate Sammy's 65th birthday this fall, with shows on October 7th, 9th, 11th and 13th.

Hagar reports that tickets will be handled similar to last year and further details will be announced as the dates get closer. more on this story


Rush's Clockwork Angels Release Date Leaked
(hennemusic) Amazon has posted a May 29th release date for "Clockwork Angels," the forthcoming new album by Rush.

The band's 20th studio effort is also set for a May 23rd release in Japan, according to online music retail sites in that country.

Rush drummer Neil Peart recently shared some insight into the sessions for the new project. "In recent years I have been working deliberately to become more improvisational on the drums, and these sessions were an opportunity to attempt that approach in the studio," wrote Peart. "I played through each song just a few times on my own, checking out patterns and fills that might work, then called in Booujzhe [aka producer Nick Raskulinecz]. He stood in the room with me, facing my drums, with a music stand and a single drumstick—he was my conductor, and I was his orchestra. (I later replaced that stick with a real baton.)" more on this story


Melvins Van With Kurt Cobain's KISS Drawings Up For Grabs
(Gibson) An old tour van used by sludge rockers The Melvins, and featuring a KISS drawing by Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, is being auctioned on eBay.

The "Melvan," a 1972 Dodge Sportsman Royal Van, was used by alt-rock cult act The Melvins and has appeared in many books on Cobain and Nirvana, as it features a pen drawing of KISS on the side done by Kurt. The seller claims, "the KISS Mural on the side was hand drawn by Kurt Cobain using Sharpie markers shoplifted from the Thriftway grocery store in Montesano, Washington."

The van also features the Black Flag logo on the side (stencilled by the current owner, "Ben") and "NOTALENT" and "MEAN MACHINE" spray-painted on the body.

The seller claims that passengers have included Cobain and Krist Novoselic of Nirvana; Buzz Osborne, Dale Crover and Matt Lukin of The Melvins; and Greg Hokanson, drummer for Kurt's first band Fecal Matter. He also claims that the original registration expired in April 1994, the month Cobain died. more on this story




Original Bad Company Lineup Playing Summer Music Festivals
The original line-up of Bad Company have announced their first appearances on the European continent since 1975.

The band, Paul Rodgers, Mick Ralphs, and Simon Kirke, will hit the road for a short run of European festival dates for this summer.

Commencing on June 9, the ensemble will take the stage at the Sweden Rock Festival in Solvesborg. Additional appearances will include five German Rock The Nation Festival performances in Berlin (6/11), Stuttgart (6/12), Augsburg (6/14), Trier (6/15) and Monchengladbach / Cologne (6/16). more on this story


Mastodon Planning Two Record Store Day Releases
(Banana 101.5) Mastodon will appear on two different record store day releases, both of them being split vinyls. The first will have the Georgia metal band covering a song by Canadian indie-rock vocalist Feist, while the other side contains her returning the favor.

The same setup is true of the second split vinyl, where Mastodon will trade 'Black Tongue' to The Flaming Lips in exchange for 'Spoonful Weighs a Ton.'

A Flaming Lips YouTube channel recently posted a brief preview of what is identified in the clip as Mastodon's take on 'Spoonful Weighs a Ton.' There is a brief echo of vocals at the top of the video which do sound legitimate but there is not enough to authenticate the sample — guess we'll find out in April. Have a listen here.


Classic Van Halen In The Studio
(hennemusic) While the modern version of Van Halen is currently on the road supporting their new album, "A Different Kind Of Truth," syndicated radio series In The Studio is taking a look at the band's classic era on this week's program.

"In The Studio: The Stories Behind History's Greatest Rock Bands" examines the early best of Van Halen. With the recent release of a new record - which debuted at # 2 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart - the radio series felt it was a good time to take a look back at the original David Lee Roth-led era.

Along with Michael Anthony and Roth, brothers Eddie and Alex Van Halen also discuss the band's opposing forces inside and outside of the band during those early years. more on this story


An Evening With Primus Tour
Primus will be hitting the road this spring for An evening with Primus, with each show featuring two full sets.

The tour is in support of their latest album, Green Naugahyde, and kicks off on May 3rd in Columbia, MO, and wraps up on June 24th in Modesto, CA.

In conjunction with the tour, ATO Records will release a limited edition 10" single, with live versions of "Jilly's On Smack" and "Eyes of the Squirrel." The vinyl, which will be wrapped in a green naugahyde sleeve, will be available at independent record stores in late April. more on this story


Jon Stewart Interviews Bruce Springsteen For Magazine
(hennemusic) The next issue of Rolling Stone magazine will feature a Bruce Springsteen interview conducted by Jon Stewart.

"It's not at all surreal," Stewart tells Rolling Stone with heavy sarcasm, referring to his friendship with the legendary rocker. "It's very hard to reconcile sitting and fishing in a little pond in New Jersey with a guy that you spent many years hitchhiking the New Jersey I-95 corridor to see in Philadelphia back in the day. The only band I think I've seen more than Bruce Springsteen is the Springsteen tribute band Backstreets. I try not to let him know how pathetic I truly am."

The pair have sat down before to chat on Stewart's The Daily Show, but the magazine session allowed them the benefit an extended conversation. The two men get the space to speak at length about Springsteen's new album, "Wrecking Ball." more on this story


Meat Loaf To Appear on Leno and PBS
Meat Loaf will performing of his new song "The Giving Tree" live on the "Tonight Show With Jay Leno" on March 14th.

The performance coincides with the March 13 release of the new Hell In A Handbasket Cd (Sony/Legacy). Meat Loaf will also sit down that week for an interview on PBS' "Tavis Smiley Show" (airdate TBA).

"Hell In A Handbasket is the most personal record I've ever made," said MEAT LOAF. "It's really the first record I've ever put out about how I feel about life and how I feel about what's going on at the moment." The album, produced by Paul Crook, is an expression of life's metaphors, driven by excellent musicianship, and of course, the passionate vocals of Meat Loaf. "Making this album was a great experience," said Meat Loaf, "and I hope my fans enjoy hearing it as much as I did making it." more on this story


Job For A Cowboy Heading Out On Metal Alliance Tour With Devildriver
Job For A Cowboy are hitting the road next week for this year's Metal Alliance Tour of North America.

The live rituals will commence on March 15 in Austin, Texas as part of South By Southwest 2012 and consume 35 more cities through April 21.

The band will be joined by headliners Devildriver, The Faceless, Dying Fetus, 3 Inches Of Blood, Impending Doom and Wretched. more on this story


Neil Young Journeys Launches in Late June
(hennemusic) Last year, Neil Young hooked up with director Jonathan Demme to capture the music icon on the road.

The result is "Neil Young Journeys," a new film set for release June 29. Young drove a 1956 Crown Victoria from his idyllic hometown of Omemee, Ontario to downtown Toronto's iconic Massey Hall, where he played the last two nights of his solo world tour.

Demme was on hand to capture the journey and both shows, highlighting new songs from the album "Le Noise" (2010), produced by Daniel Lanois, mixed with classics like "Ohio" and "I Believe in You" and previously unreleased songs "Leia" and "You Never Call." more on this story


L.A. Guns Shoot Three Music Videos for Hollywood Forever
(SPR) L.A. Guns spent a few days in Los Angeles shooting three videos to support their forthcoming album Hollywood Forever, and are releasing a video for the song "You Better Not Love Me" online next week.

With videographer Jack Foster behind the lens, the band shot indoor scenes at the Circus Disco in Hollywood. With an LED logo in the background, the band meshed theatrics with its expected rock energy on the big stage.

Later, additional scenes were shot in L.A.'s colorful Little Mexico and the landmark Hollywood Forever cemetery. Videos for "Requiem (Hollywood Forever)," and "Aranga Nigre" were also shot. more on this story


Tonight Alive Cancel Tour Over Medical Issues
Tonight Alive have canceled their upcoming North America tour with Go Radio and SXSW appearances due to having to attend to serious unspecified medical issues.

We were sent these details: The band are extremely disappointed, but would like to assure fans that they will still be performing at Vans Warped Tour this summer as scheduled. Go Radio will proceed as scheduled with their headlining U.S. tour with This Providence, Tyler Carter and Simple As Surgery.

As a thank you to fans who've shown their support for the band, Tonight Alive are giving away three acoustic tracks, "Breaking & Entering," "Let It Land" and "What Are You So Scared Of?," which can be downloaded here.


Sammy Hagar Remembers Ronnie Montrose
(Gibson) Guitarist/singer Ronnie Montrose passed away on March 4, and colleagues have been paying tribute. Sammy Hagar got his break as lead singer for (the band) Montrose. In a heartfelt interview with Rolling Stone, Hagar says…

"For me Ronnie's passing is the end of an era. Ronnie Montrose gave me my first break as a songwriter, as a front man, as a recording artist and as a touring artist, and for that I will always be grateful. The first Montrose album was the first album I ever recorded and it still stands as one of the best recordings I have ever been a part of. I wrote songs with him, but it was his trip.

"He's the guy that got me to sing with him. I had no experience whatsoever; I just wrote the first four songs in my life, which were 'Bad Motor Scooter,' 'Make It Last,' 'One Thing on My Mind,' and 'I Don't Want It,' played them for Ronnie upon first meeting, shook my hand, and said, 'Let's start a band.' I went from zero to a hundred…"

Hagar adds, "What I learned from Ronnie Montrose, I still utilize today when I step on a stage. I try to keep the energy up and the entertainment high." Lita Ford pays tribute here.




Singled Out: Judge Smith's Orfeas
Today Judge Smith, who was part of UK '70s prog band Van der Graaf Generator, tells us about the song "Orfeas" from his new solo album "Wolfman George". Here is the story:

'Orfeas' is a Songstory, that's to say it's intended to tell a coherent story with music, in this case the a retelling of the ancient myth of Orpheus, the magical musician who travels to the Land of the Dead in search of the lost Eurydice. In my version, he is a guitar hero instrumentalist, and this track is an extract from one of his stage shows. John Ellis (Vibrators, Stranglers, Peter Hammill's 'K' Group) is the star guitarist, and his band features, among others, David Jackson (Van der Graaf Generator) Saxophone, and Gigi Cavalli Cocchi (Ligabue, C.S.I.) Drums. The music I wrote for them features guitar and sax playing harmony melody lines, and their numbers showcase Orfeas' killer solos.

My 'Orfeas' Songstory also features 70's New Wave pop-star Lene Lovich as Eurydice, and uses several entirely different types of music to carry the narrative. Death Metal, Modern Classical music for string quartet, classic Trance and Flamenco guitar all feature, as well as the instrumental Guitar Rock of the 'George Orfeas Band', and almost every one of the seventeen musicians involved is a long-time friend and collaborator of mine. As far as I know, no one else is making work quite like this.

AN EARLIER KIND OF VAN HALEN REVEALED 'INTHESTUDIO':

Dallas, TX - March 6, 2012. North American syndicated rock radio show InTheStudio: The Stories Behind History's Greatest Rock Bands examines the early best of Van Halen. With the recent release of A Different Kind of Truth, debuting at # 2 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart, the first full album with David Lee Roth in 27 years and the first without bassist Michael Anthony, it seemed a fitting time to take a look back at a simpler time in the band's multi-platinum and complex career. Former member Michael Anthony describes to show host Redbeard the head space the band was in during much of those early years.
“We weren't really thinking about the money at the time. I think we were having so much fun doing what we were doing and being as new to it... As long as I had a roof over my head, I didn't care. They (Warner Bros.) were letting us record and go out and play our music and that was all we cared about.”
Yet by 1982, Van Halen had become a series of contradictions, and here in 2012 are equaled only by Pink Floyd as the longest-running soap opera in rock. Original members Eddie and Alex Van Halen, David Lee Roth and Michael Anthony dish on the opposing forces inside and outside of the band during those years. InTheStudio is syndicated on over 50 radio stations throughout North America. The Van Halen/ InTheStudio program will air the week of March 5th. To find out where to hear this show or to stream it online, visit: www.inthestudio.net/this-week-in-the-studio/van-halen-2. Direct Link to InTheStudio affiliate station list www.inthestudio.net/radiostations.

Today's Day In Pop

Tila Tequila Was Hospitalized For Reported Suicide Attempt
(TMZ) Tila Tequila was rushed to the hospital last week ... after her roommate called 911 and said the reality star was hellbent on doing herself in ... TMZ has learned.
Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... emergency responders came to the home at 1:30 AM on Wednesday ... and Tila was taken by ambulance to St. Joseph's hospital in Burbank, CA.

We're told the roommate told cops Tila had "tried to kill herself all week." Sources say Tila was in and out of consciousness in the house ... and officials decided she needed psychiatric help, stat.

Tila was released ... but the drama didn't end there. Monday night, Tila's manager had a sneaking suspicion something was terribly wrong, so she called 911.

Cops went to Tila's home to do a welfare check, but Tila refused to open the door. Tila then called 911 to find out why officers were at her home ... and explained she couldn't answer the door because she was in a wheelchair.

Cops eventually left the home -- and we're told Tila is currently resting. more on this story


Norah Jones Delivers Happy Pills
Norah Jones has released "Happy Pills," the first single from her new album, Little Broken Hearts, which was produced by Danger Mouse and set for release on May 1st.

"Happy Pills" surprised Jones and Burton from the moment they wrote it. "We both were like "Oh my God, this is awesome" at first and then went away and listened over the weekend, explains Jones.

"We didn't know if it fit on the record. But I couldn't stop singing it, and neither could Brian. Eventually we decided it was too much fun, it had to be there." Check out the lyric video here.


Madonna Previews I'm Addicted
(popmusiclife) Her new record is only three weeks away, but Madonna is sharing a preview of a new song from her forthcoming album, "MDNA."

"I'm Addicted" is a high-energy dance track that includes a chant of the album's title.

Madonna sings "I need to dance / It feels like a drug / I can't get enough / And it fits like a glove / I'm addicted to your love."

Have a listen here.


Garth Brooks To Be Inducted Into Country Music Hall of Fame
(Gibson) Garth Brooks, the most successful country music artist in recent times will be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame this year. The other inductees in 2012 are Connie Smith and Hargus "Pig" Robbins.

Brooks will be inducted in the Modern Era Artist category, while Smith will be inducted in the Veterans Era Artist category. Robbins will be inducted in the Recording and/or Touring Musician Active Prior to 1980 category, which is awarded every third year in a rotation with the Non-Performer and Songwriter categories.

"I am astounded and honored to be in the Country Music Hall of Fame," Brooks said. "At the same time, I can't help but feel guilty going in when there are so many deserving artists that came before me who are yet to be inducted." more on this story




X Factor's Chris Rene To Perform on Ellen
Epic Records have set the release of "Young Homie," the first single from X Factor's Chris Rene's forthcoming debut album.

Chris will release his first single on iTunes and perform on the Ellen DeGeneres Show on March 14th.

Produced by JR Rotem, the new studio version of "Young Homie" is a new take on the original song penned by Chris and performed on The X Factor. more on this story


Oprah Previews Interview With Whitney Houston's Daughter Bobbi Kristina
(popmusiclife) This Sunday, March 11, Oprah sits down with Whitney Houston's daughter, Bobbi Kristina, and members of the family for their first interview since the pop singer's passing. A preview of the interview has gone online.

Bobbi shares personal memories of her mom and how she would like her to be remembered. The family also addresses the rumors and speculation surrounding Houston's death.

Also included in the program are Whitney's sister-in-law, Patricia Houston and her brother, Gary Houston. Watch the preview here.


James Morrison Plans North American Tour
James Morrison has mapped out plans for his first North America headlining tour in support of his latest album The Awakening.

The tour kicks off on April 29th at the Neptune Theatre in Seattle and hits a number of major US cities including Los Angeles, Nashville, Philadelphia, New York, and Washington DC, before wrapping on May 19th at the Royale in Boston.

The Awakening is Morrison's third full-length studio and debuted at #1 in the UK where it spent two weeks and has since been certified platinum. The album has sold more then 1 million copies worldwide and has produced several hits including "I Won't Let You Go," the first US single. more on this story


Davy Jones Funeral Plans Still Not Settled
(TMZ) Davy Jones' body will be cremated ... family sources tell TMZ. We're told there will be a memorial service for the singer in Florida, though the date is TBA.

TMZ broke the story ... Davy died last week from an apparent heart attack, which the singer suffered at a ranch near his Florida home, where he was visiting his horses.

Davy has not been cremated yet, and the family is still discussing what to do with his ashes. Funeral plans for the singer are also still up in the air. more on this story


Erick Morillo, Harry Romero and Jose Nunez Form Dance Supergroup
Dance music stars Erick Morillo, Harry "Choo Choo" Romero and Jose Nunez have teamed up to form the super group Sympho Nympho.

The band has a massive Miami Music Week in store with a brand new Subliminal Records compilation The Beginning and exclusive live performance at Subliminal Session at Amnesia on Tuesday, March 20.

Together under the Sympho Nympho guise they create intense drama with their use of delays, frequency and reverbs to build climactic tensions and nerve tingling crescendos.
Well respected, chart-topping vocalists have travelled from all over the globe to join forces; each sharing the same vision of returning groove based beats to the popular masses. more on this story


An Evening With Tommy Roe Dates Announced
(Glass Onyon) '60s music legend and pop pioneer Tommy Roe will also be performing several select dates in the US and Canada in support of his new album.

A bona fide international star, Tommy Roe wrote and recorded 6 "Top 10" hits between 1962-69, more than any other solo American artist. To his credits he has 11 US Top 40 hits, 6 Top 10s, 4 Certified Gold singles, and 2 #1 Hits. He is a member of the Hit Parade Hall of Fame, The Georgia Music Hall of Fame, and the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. On September 2, 2012 Tommy Roe will be inducted into the Iowa Rock 'n' Roll Music Association (IRRMA) Hall of Fame.

"I will most likely call the new CD 'Devils Soul Pile', after a song I have written and included in the line up," explains Tommy. "The song is a departure from my normal and expected style, and one that tells the story of dysfunctional families, and the effect it has on our youth and our neighborhoods. Lyrically, this song is a bit serious, and was inspired by the everyday news of violence in our neighborhoods and cities. But a song that ends in hope." Other new songs include "LA I Belong To You", "It's For You I'm Me" and "Water Underneath My Burning Bridge" as well as a re-recorded version of "Kick Me Charlie" from Tommy's 1965's 'Sweet Pea' album. more on this story


Justin Bieber Did Not Bid on Ashton Kutcher Home
(TMZ) Justin Bieber is still on the hunt for an L.A. home, but he definitely has NOT put an offer on the $10+ million home Ashton Kutcher is currently renting.

Zillow.com and the Daily Mail are reporting Justin's buying the Ashton house. Not true. TMZ broke the story ... Justin was looking at the Ashton home as well as 2 homes in Calabasas -- a suburb of L.A. but he hasn't made an offer on anything yet.

In fact, Justin's people tell us the Ashton house isn't even the frontrunner. Justin has now looked at 3 homes in Calabasas and he's looked at 2 of them more than once, but he's still not prepared to make an offer on anything and is continuing to look.

Two other points ... We're told Ashton is saying he wants to buy the house he's currently renting.

As for Justin, he's going on tour soon, so unless he finds the house he really wants ... he may rent for a while. more on this story


Wells Fargo Going After Dallas Cowboys Player For $2 Million
(TMZ) Dallas Cowboys linebacker Keith Brooking -- a 13-year NFL vet who signed a 3-year $6 million contract in 2009 -- has been sued in federal court in Georgia ... where he allegedly took out 2 separate loans in 2008 which totaled $1,996,224.73.

But according to the suit, Brooking "realized he would not be able to meet his obligations" to Wells Fargo ... and secretly embarked on a "systematic effort to hinder, delay and defraud" the bank.

WF claims Brooking began to hide all of his substantial assets, including property in Georgia, Florida and South Carolina ... so the bank couldn't go after his homes to satisfy the debt.

According to the lawsuit, the plan was simple ... Brooking simply transferred the deeds out of his name to various "insiders, affiliates and relatives."

The bank is asking the judge to clear a legal path so it can go after Keith's property.

But a rep for Brooking tells TMZ "There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever to support Wells Fargo's allegations that Keith transferred any properties ... to fraudulently conceal assets."

The rep adds, "These allegations are completely unfounded and Keith is and will continue to defend himself vigorously against these allegations." more on this story


The Hudson Branch To Deliver Mixed Media Songbook in April
The Hudson Branch have announced plans to release "World Kid" as a digital album and as a mixed media physical songbook on April 24th.

Recorded with John McEntire (Broken Social Scene, Tortoise) and produced by Neil Strauch (Andrew Bird, Iron & Wine, Anathallo), "World Kid" retains the nuanced complexity of the band's debut album "Tightrope Walker" but sees The Hudson Branch (Cobey Bienert, Corey Bienert, Matt Boll, Jake Boll, Enoch Kim) embracing new territory. In addition to traditional instruments (guitar, bass, drums, piano), ukuleles, programmed beats, tambourines, shakers, glockenspiels, marimbas, a Wurlitzer, an organ, Casio synths, violins combine to create "World Kid's" unique sonic texture.

Science plays a lead role on the album with songs inspired by neural recognition patterns ("Memories"), charged particle analogies ("Muons"), and the album's debut single "The Periodic Table of Elegance" offering up an elemental breakdown of unrequited love (She says we don't have chemistry / It's "how've you been Hydrogen" / while Helium gets high for fun / Preposterously Phosphorus leaves / And Oxygen feels used again). more on this story


Kimbra To Deliver US Debut This Spring
Warner Bros. Records have set a May 22, 2012 release date for the U.S. version of Kimbra's debut album Vows.

Vows features several brand new songs in addition to tracks from the platinum-certified Australian edition of the album.

Released in Australia in August 2011, Vows has earned Kimbra a "one to watch" rave from Rolling Stone Australia, won her the ARIA (Australian Grammy) for Best Female Artist and spawned three hit singles. These tracks, "Good Intent," "Cameo Lover," and "Settle Down," are also included on the US edition of Vows. Kimbra recorded additional tracks for the release in Los Angeles, CA with such producers and songwriters as Mike Elizondo and Greg Kurstin. more on this story


WWE Star Kia Stevens' Baby Was Stillborn
(TMZ) WWE star Kia Stevens did not deliver a healthy baby boy on December 31st, despite what she told friends. Kia tells TMZ the child tragically died before she was able to give birth.

Kia tells us she is still devastated over the loss ... and initially lied to friends about the child being "healthy" because she was incredibly emotional and was afraid to tell the public the truth after announcing her pregnancy on live TV.

Kia says she's finally coming to grips with everything ... and wants to help other women in her situation.

"I am planning to start a foundation for women that have experienced the same thing" ... Kia says ... adding, "It's a bigger club than people think."

Kia tells us she's already organizing several events to raise awareness ... and will have information about her foundation available on her Twitter page in the near future. more on this story


Tyrone Wells Singled Out Week: Freedom
Tyrone Wells released his new album, "Where We Meet," this week and to celebrate we asked him to tell us about some of his favorite songs from the release. Today he tells us about the track "Freedom":

Sometimes the best thing to do is to let go. Let go of my inhibitions. Let go of my pre-conceived notion. Let go of whatever holds me back. Let go of my money. This song was fun to write. I was listening to Simon & Garfunkel and digging the light hearted vibe of a lot of their stuff. I tried to capture some of that "feel-good thing" that they do so well. The result was this song. I knew I did something right when I started playing it out, because crowds would always really connect to it.

There's a lyric in the song that says "when you let it go, it'll come right back to you". The idea behind it is simple. We shouldn't hold on too tightly, especially if it's apparent that we should let something go. When we open up our hands and don't try to control everything, I think good things happen. The very thing we had to let go of, often will come back to us, sometimes in an awesome way that we least expect.

Today's Day In Rock!

Red Hot Chili Peppers' Frusciante Skipping Rock Hall Induction
While most people are focused on speculation about what might happen with the original lineup of Guns N' Roses at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction ceremony, we now learn that a famed former member of another band that is being inducted this year will not be attending.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers' drummer Chad Smith tells Billboard.com that former members Jack Irons and Cliff Martinez will be attending the induction ceremony, but former guitarist John Frusciante will not be there.

"[Frusciante] didn't feel comfortable coming, which we totally respect," Smith told Billboard.com . "We asked him... He said, 'I'm just not really comfortable with that, but good luck and thanks for inviting me.' It was all good. He's the kind of guy, I think, that once he's finished with something he's just on to the next phase of his life. The Chili Peppers are not really on his radar right now." And could it be that they are already working on a new album?


New KISS Movie Moving Forward
It looks another KISS inspired movie is heading to the silver screen. And like the band's last big screen adventure, "Detroit Rock City," the new film will be based in Michigan.

KISS Online reports: "Cadillac High," a feature film based on the KISS's 1975 celebratory tour to the city of Cadillac, has received conditional approval for incentives to shoot the movie in Michigan.

In 1974, the Cadillac High School Vikings, playing KISS albums in the locker room before and after games, won seven straight games and wound up conference co-champs. Word spread to the band, who visited Cadillac the next year for the most raucous Homecoming weekend on record. Read more at KISS Online


Monkees Considering Davy Jones Memorial Concert
(Gibson) Micky Dolenz has said that there could be a Monkees memorial concert for Davy Jones but he doubts the band can continue without the "Manchester Cowboy."

The Monkees drummer told Billboard.com: "We've had a sort of unspoken, I guess, agreement over the years that if it's just two of us getting together we never called it the Monkees... I can see us getting together to do a memorial concert, of course, but right now I can't imagine anything else happening without the Manchester Cowboy."

Dolenz also said that he, Peter Tork and Michael Nesmith would probably not attend Jones's funeral out of respect for Jones's family. He said, "My understanding is they want to avoid a media circus and... the family wants to keep it very, very low-key and very, very private.

"You can imagine as soon as one or two or any of us were to show up, it would very quickly be degraded into something that I don't think his immediate family would want to deal with. So I'm kind of respecting their wishes, whatever their wishes may be." more on this story




Spineshank Set Reunion Album Release
The recently reunited Spineshank have signed worldwide deal with Century Media Records for the release of their new album, Anger Denial Acceptance, that will be released in North America on June 19 and in Europe on June 18.

"We're very excited to be on a great label like Century Media," comments guitarist Mike Sarkysian. "Aside from being the premier label for rock and metal, the seem to really understand our vision and are as excited as we are about taking Spineshank to a whole new level!"

Anger Denial Acceptance will be the band's fourth album and follow up to their 2003 release, Self-Destructive Pattern . "This is by far the proudest I have ever been of any Spineshank record," says Sarkysian. "Anger Denial Acceptance is the darkest and the most honest this band has ever been."


Rush Win Homeland Honor
(hennemusic) Rush have been honored once again in their homeland. CBC reports Rush are among the winners of a Governor General's Performing Arts Award, it was announced Tuesday in Calgary.

Each artist honored receives a cash award of $25,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts and a commemorative medallion struck by the Royal Canadian Mint.

Rush are one of rock's most influential bands with remarkable longevity and a track record that includes selling more than 40 million albums since 1974. more on this story


Radiohead Set Rocktober Dates
(Gibson) Radiohead have announced three October concerts in the U.K., which will mark the first time they've played in their home country since 2008.

The gigs will be in Manchester and London and go on sale through Ticketmaster.co.uk on Friday, March 9.

Radiohead will play the Manchester Arena on October 6 and perform for two nights at the London O2 Arena on October 8 and 9.

The band are currently on tour in the United States. more on this story




Neil Young Film Headed To Theaters
(Gibson) The latest collaboration between rock legend Neil Young and famed director Jonathan Demme has a release date. Neil Young Journeys will hit theaters starting June 29, via Sony Pictures Classics, according to Ultimate Classic Rock.

Following on the heels of Neil Young: Heart of Gold (2006) and Neil Young Trunk Show (2009), Journeys was filmed toward the end of Young's 2011 solo tour. In the movie, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer travels from his hometown of Omemee, Ontario, Canada to Toronto, where he's booked to play two shows at Massey Hall. During the trek, Young "reminisces about childhood friends and talks about how the surroundings have changed over the decades while rolling toward Toronto in a 1956 Ford Crown Victoria," according to the Los Angeles Times.

Although fans can check out Heart of Gold on DVD, Trunk Show has yet to be released for home audiences – a situation that Demme said he's hoping to remedy. more on this story




Blur Didn't Know They Bumped Adele
(Gibson) Alex James, bassist with Blur, has told the BBC that the band had no idea about Adele's acceptance speech being cut short at the recent Brit Awards.

Adele, who won the British Album of the Year award, had her acceptance speech interrupted by host James Corden so that Blur could begin their live set. ITV, which broadcast the event, and the Brit Awards have since apologized.

NME.com reports that Alex James told the BBC Breakfast program that the band were unaware of what was happening on stage. James said: "That's live telly. I don't think it overshadowed anything. We were up there backstage and didn't know what was happening until afterwards. I think Adele is amazing and has a fantastic career in front of her." more on this story




Van Halen Rock More Rarities As Tour Hits Philly
(hennemusic) Van Halen rocked Philadelphia Monday night, the band's 8th stop on their "A Different Kind Of Truth" tour.

Since night two in New York, the group has been opening the show with their 1981 classic, "Unchained," moving former opener "You Really Got Me" to later in the set.

VH continue to rock four tracks from their new album, including the new single, "She's The Woman." The "Diver Down" rarity "The Full Bug" was a part of the set, one of the deep album cuts that VH continue to rotate in and out of the set; fans were also treated to the "Fair Warning" gem, "Hear About It Later."

Some quality footage from Philly has surfaced… Check it out here


Slash Apocalyptic Love Album Details
(hennemusic) Slash has issued some more details on his forthcoming solo release, "Apocalyptic Love," due May 22.

The guitarist has unveiled the song listing for the project: 13 tracks, including the new single, "You're A Lie."

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

Slash will preview the new music for fans when he kicks off a brief US tour in May. more on this story


Alice Cooper, Slash, Joe Perry, Jimmy Page For Online Auction
Charitybuzz is holding the John Varvatos Stuart House Online Auction featuring Alice Cooper, Slash, Green Day, Joe Perry, Jimmy Page and more.

Every year, John Varvatos overtakes Melrose and Robertson streets to bring LA an incredible party to benefit Stuart House, an organization dedicated to serving and protecting childhood sexual abuse victims. This year, the award-winning menswear designer and rock aficionado is partnering with online charity auction house Charitybuzz.com to expand their charitable reach, bringing the event's coveted auction items to an international audience.

Metal legend and golf monster Alice Cooper tops the auction with a package to hit the links with him in Phoenix, AZ. Cooper has donated the chance for a lucky winner and guest to join him for golf... as long as they have less than a 20 handicap! Bidding on the experience, valued at $4000, is open here

In addition to being called the world's most "beloved heavy metal entertainer" by The Rolling Stone Guide, Cooper is an avid golfer with a published memoir entitled Alice Cooper, Golf Monster: A Rock 'n' Roller's 12 Steps to Becoming a Golf Addict. more on this story


Corrosion Of Conformity Map Out More Tour Dates
Corrosion Of Conformity have announced a new tour leg this June which will take them to the West Coast and Canada.

The trek will hit 17 cities beginning June 1 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The band will be joined by Torche, Black Cobra and Gaza.

Corrosion Of Conformity will be touring in support of their new self-titled album which was released last week via Candlelight Records. more on this story


Jon Anderson and Marco Sabiu Deliver New Single
(Glass Onyon) "Limitless Lives" is the new single co-written and performed by legendary YES vocalist/songwriter Jon Anderson and Italian composer/conductor, international producer and arranger Marco Sabiu, has been released digitally.

The song is also available on Marco Sabiu's most recent album 'Audio Ergo Sum', which was presented on February 18, 2012 on live TV before an audience of 12 million; the album has consequently reached iTunes Italy Top 10.

Anderson is currently in the midst of a successful US solo tour, had this to say about his musical collaboration with Marco Sabiu: "A good friend of mine, musician Alessandro de Rosa put Marco Sabiu and I in touch with each other just last month. I was instantly connected to Marco's music; he sent me the music track and within moments I had sang the song and lyric and sent back to him. Marco loved my singing, so we talked about releasing the song on his new album. I love his 'Limitless' theme for the song, as I wrote the lyric I realized we have so much to learn in this life, and we are truly Limitless human beings" more on this story


A Sound Of Thunder Plot North American Tour
A Sound Of Thunder have announced North American tour dates in support of their upcoming album, Out the of the Darkness

The trek includes a special CD release show, an MS Benefit concert, and appearances with Sabaton and Virgin Steele.

Vocalist and frontwoman Nina Osegueda commented on the upcoming tour: "The guys and I are excited to finally bring our mayhem around the US! We're sharing the bill with great bands in every city, and are honored to be playing with acts like Sabaton, Virgin Steel, Brocas Helm, and Skull Fist along the way. We promise to play at full blast and full intensity every night...the only challenge will be playing with hangovers and sore necks!" more on this story


Nachtmystium Heading South
Nachtmystium have announced their activities next week surrounding their trek to Austin, TX for the annual South By South West music festival.

In addition to playing the official Metal Sucks Showcase on March 15, the band will be playing a handful of dates leading up to and surrounding the show.

Nachtmystium announced last week that they've entered Engine Studios in Chicago, IL to begin working on their third release for Century Media Records, Silencing Machine. more on this story


Edward Rogers Delivers Porcelain Video
Edward Rogers delivers a new music video as he announced that his fourth solo album, Porcelain, will be released in the UK and Europe on 4/2/2012 via Bucketfull of Brains.

Porcelain, which was released last November in the US via Zip Records, is comprised of eleven tracks that were written and recorded within an 18-month period. "The title of the album," explains Rogers, "directly reflects the emotions represented in the songs and my mood during the writing process – rage, love, broken friendships, good days, bad days…fun days."

In conjunction with the upcoming release, Rogers released a video for "Porcelain." Rogers explains the track in his own words: "I once met a very young, very sick girl who was put in foster care because her family couldn't afford to take care of her. I couldn't get her off my mind. She made me think of the fact that life is so delicate, so vulnerable and breakable... like porcelain. That young girl and the challenges she was going to face was the inspiration for 'Porcelain.'" You can see the vintage video for the track here


Electric Earth Plan New Album and Whitesnake Tribute
Electric Earth are keeping busy these days with work on a new album, an upcoming show with Hammerfall and recording a track for an upcoming Whitesnake tribute album. They sent over this update:

Electric Earth is hard at work writing songs for their fourth album, which they plan to record later this year. It will be the follow up to their critical acclaimed "Touching The Void" CD.

The song "Free Fall" from that album was later remixed by famous producer Beau Hill (Ratt, Alice Cooper, Gary Moore, Twisted Sister, Europe etc) and released as an exclusive digital single. more on this story


The Day The Beastie Boys Made History
(Gibson) On this day in 1987, The Beastie Boys became the first rap inspired act to have a no. 1 album in the U.S. with their debut Licensed To Ill. Gibson takes a look back:

Back in 1979, future Beastie Boys Adam Yauch and Michael Diamond, along with friends John Berry and Kate Schellenbach, decided to start a band in their hometown of Brooklyn, New York. It was Berry, the band's original guitarist, who suggested the name "Beastie Boys," which was inspired by a phrase he'd read in the book, The Fog, which was the novelization of John Carpenter's famous 1980 film of the same name. With Yauch on bass, Schellenbach on drums, Berry on guitar and Diamond handling the vocals, the Beastie Boys made their live debut at Berry's house during a party celebrating Yauch's 17th birthday.

In 1982, the Beastie Boys were filmed by Philip Pucci playing a gig at the Preston Drama Dance Department Theater at Bard College. That night's opening act was a band called The Young and the Useless, featuring future Beastie, guitarist Adam Horovitz. A one-minute clip from the resulting short concert film, titled Beastie, was included on the Capitol Records home video Skills to Pay the Bills, which eventually sold more than 500,000 units and earned a gold sales award from the Recording Industry Association of America.

This exposure helped the Beasties land opening slots for more established bands, including Bad Brains, Dead Kennedys and Reagan Youth, at happening venues around New York City, including CBGBs and Max's Kansas City. Later in '82, the Beasties went into the 171A studios to record their 7" EP titled Pollywog Stew, followed by Berry leaving the band and being replaced by Horovitz (Berry went on to form the bands Thwig, Big Fat Love and Bourbon Deluxe.)