Today's Day in Rock News!

Today's Day in Rock

Today's report is being posted in two parts: an A.M. and a P.M. edition. Here are the stories for this morning and we will be back later today with more stories.


The Darkness Singer Falls Off Stage
(hennemusic) Justin Hawkins, lead singer of The Darkness, fell off the stage during the band's February 17 show in Stockholm, Sweden.

Video of the incident, which happened during the set's second song, "Black Shuck," has surfaced.

The Darkness are currently on the road for their 2013 Let Them Eat Cakes World Tour, in support of the reunited band's third studio album, "Hot Cakes." Check out video here.



Machine Head Lose Founding Member
Machine Head have begun work on their next album but they are short a member as they have announced cofounder Adam Duce has left the band.

The band didn't provide a reason for Duce's exit, but had this to say, "The split is amicable, and Machine Head would like to wish Adam the best with his current and future endeavors.

"The band will continue on for the time being as a three-piece and have begun the writing process for their follow-up to 2011's 'Unto The Locust'. A late 2013 release is projected."

Duce cofounded the band with Robb Flynn in 1991. Last year Duce gave an interview to the Dutch publication FaceCulture where he disclosed some dissatisfaction with the band and his level of involvement, according to this report.

"I had some issues with [the writing] process [for 'Unto The Locust']. I kind of took myself out of it until it was time to write my bass lines. I wrote a bunch of music, or riffs, that Robb [Flynn, guitar/vocals] didn't have any idea what to do with vocally, and so he didn't wanna use any of that. But more importantly, I wrote lyrics that meant a lot to me and I gave it to him. I've given him page after page after page of lyrics. And it usually comes back that way, [where] he'll use a verse or a part of it or whatever — 'I'm gonna take this part and put it down here.' . . . whatever works for the cadence. But I got kind of burned on putting my soul out on a piece of paper and giving it to him and when I see it next time, there's no remnants of what the original idea was. And I was just like, 'You know what, dude?! I'm not giving you any more f**king lyrics, because I'm f**king sick of looking at this, the way that it f**king turns out.' I said, 'I'll work on it with you at the same time, but I'm not giving you any more lyrics. I'm not giving you pages of lyrics.' He was f**king angry at me for a while, but you know… that's f**king what happens." more on this story




Led Zeppelin Top Queen and Black Sabbath As Most Influential
Led Zeppelin beat out Queen and Black Sabbath to be named the most influential rock band of all time by the listeners of Planet Rock.

The UK radio station polled fans for their picks during the first few weeks this month and Led Zeppelin reportedly received a fifth of all votes.

Queen came in second, followed the Godfathers of Heavy Metal Black Sabbath coming in third place.

Pink Floyd won a fourth place finish, while Deep Purple came in fifth. Jimi Hendrix landed in sixth followed by the Rolling Stones at 7th, The Who at 8th, AC/DC at 9th and David Bowie at 10th.

Surprisingly, the band considered by many to be the most influential of all time, The Beatles, didn't make the list.




Blink-182's Travis Barker Has Online Fight With Promoter
(Classic Rock) The promoter behind the Australian Soundwave touring festival blasted Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker at the weekend for taking a third of the band's appearance fee despite not taking part in the series of shows. But after Barker shouted him down on Twitter, he was forced to accept he'd got his facts wrong.

AJ Maddah was responding to a fan query on whether refunds would be available for fans who didn't want to see Blink playing with stand-in sticksman Brooks Wackerman, who was hired after Barker admitted he couldn't overcome his fear of flying in order to make the shows Down Under this week.

Mstarz reports that the promoter said: "I'm told we can't refund and there will be no discount on the $5m fee because Travis Barker insisted on being paid in full. What he has done is extortion – he thinks he's a f**king gangster."

The drummer, who has not boarded a plane since narrowly surviving a fatal crash in 2008, replied: "Where you getting your information from, man? None of this is true. This is all bullsh*t!" That was just the beginning.




Slayer's Kerry King Not Impressed With Today's Metal Bands
(Gibson) Thrash legends Slayer are still a big draw after 30 years, but in a new interview, Kerry King voiced his dissatisfaction with the current state of metal.

"It seems to me like it's just cruising along, status King says. "I'm yet to see anything new that's like a threat; not even a threat, like the next suitor to the throne.

"You've first got your Maiden, Sabbath and Priest and then you've got Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax, Testament and bands like that.

"After that, there's a lot of bands, but I don't think anybody's the chief, you know what I mean? People are making up good stuff; it's just nobody's… It's all kind of faceless. Nobody is saying, 'Notice me, this is where metal's gonna be'…" more on this story






Rob Zombie Reveals Album Details and Streams New Song
(hennemusic) Rob Zombie will release his new album, "Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor," on April 23 and the project's lead single, "Dead City Radio And The New Gods Of Super Town," is now available for fans to check out.

Zombie worked on the album with producer Bob Marlette; it's the first release on Rob's new label, Zodiac Swan, through T-Boy Records/UMe.

"I think for the first time this new album perfectly merges the old days of White Zombie with the future of what I am doing now," says Rob. "I think fans of both will agree that this is the perfect combo of both worlds." Stream the new song here.




Van Halen, Springsteen, Rush Among 2013 Top 40 Money Makers
(hennemusic) Van Halen and Rush have made Billboard magazine's "Music's Top 40 Money Makers 2013" list.

Bruce Springsteen landed in second spot with $33.4 million, followed by Roger Waters at $21.1 million. Van Halen came in at #4 at $20.1 million

Madonna topped the list with income of $34.5 million, thanks to her MDNA tour, the biggest of 2012. more on this story




Illness Sidelines Lynyrd Skynyrd Again
(hennemusic) Lynyrd Skynyrd postponed last Saturday's (February 23rd) show at Coushatta Casino Resort in Kinder, LA. as guitarist Gary Rossington continues to recover from an abdominal infection.

The band posted the news, writing, "Gary is doing well, but will be unable to perform this weekend while he recovers from his illness. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused the fans and promoters. Lynyrd Skynyrd looks forward to touring and performing in the near future."

Earlier this month, Rossington was hospitalized in Wyoming for the condition, which forced the band to cancel two live dates on their current tour in support of "Last Of A Dyin' Breed." more on this story




Metallica Play 18-Song Set At Soundwave Kick Off
(hennemusic) Metallica kicked off the opening night of Australia's Soundwave festival on Saturday in Brisbane and video from the set has gone online.

The band performed an 18-song set spanning their 30-year recording career, opening with 1983's "Hit The Lights."

The day-long event features 6 stages; among those joining Metallica on the main stage were Linkin Park, A Perfect Circle, Slayer, Stone Sour and Anthrax. Read more and check out video here.




Shadows Fall Cancel Testament and Ill Nino Tours
Shadows Fall have announced that they have pulled the plug on their upcoming coheadlining tour with Ill Nino in the UK as well as a European tour with Testament.

The band had this to say, "Due to a number of circumstances beyond our control, Shadows Fall has been forced to cancel our upcoming European tour with Testament and our co-headlining UK run with Ill Niño.

"We tried everything we could to make this tour happen and exhausted all options we could think of but unfortunately we were not able to work it out.

"We sincerely apologize to all the fans, promoters and bands involved. Everyone in Shadows Fall thank you for understanding and we plan on making it up to our European fans as soon as possible."





Aerosmith's Steven Tyler Admits He Spent Millions on Cocaine
(hennemusic) Aerosmith's Steven Tyler was a featured guest on Australia's 60 Minutes this past weekend where he estimated that he used over $5 million dollars of cocaine.

Tyler sat down with Liz Hayes to discuss a variety of topics, including his infamous drug habit back in the day, where rumors were he'd spent about $20 million on cocaine.

The singer was more frank about the real number. "Realistically, 5 or 6 (million), easy," said Tyler. "But it doesn't matter. You also could say I snorted half of Peru but, you know, it's what we did." more on this story




Steel Panther Recording New Album
(hennemusic) Steel Panther are currently in the studio working on a new album. Drummer Stix Zadinia has been keeping fans updated on the band's progress via Twitter.

"NEWSFLASH: Rhythm guitars are DONE for new record," he posted on Friday. "Bass begging tomorrow! This sh*t is gettin handled!!!!!"

"7 songs done on bass. Lexxi's Foxx is on fiyah!" was the news on Saturday. The new project is the follow-up to 2011's "Balls Out" release, which debuted at #40 on the Billboard 200 with opening week sales of 12,000 copies. more on this story





Singled Out: Esper Scout
Today Sarah Statham, frontwoman of up-and-coming UK rockers Esper Scout, tells us about their new single and video "Shed Some Light". They have been compared to a mix of Mars Volta, Oceansize and Warpaint. Here is the story:

So writing this at the point of releasing 'Shed Some Light' we've known each other for almost ten years, well three out of four of us. Meeting in Manchester, Rebecca, Kirsty and myself formed our first band in my parents' garage, beginning our musical lives slap-bang in the middle of a rock n' roll cliché, except ours had a drum riser fashioned from cunningly acquired builders materials. Lou found her way to our newly inhabited Leeds base (Hut 57) in 2010, reassuring us with cymbal, snare and kick hits that we chose wisely to move to the city.

Most of our songs have been brought to life in the Hut's basement and Shed Some Light was no exception. After noticing a move away from the catchier, more youthful sounding songs which we'd learnt our instruments playing, in a sense becoming more musically contemplative and progressive, there was a silent communication between us to again have something a bit more 'instant'. The 'uppers' in the live set, the dessert to the main course of what would become our 7 minute long 'Gaps in the Border Fence'. At practice one night I tuned my low 'E' string down to a 'C' and the song's main riff instantly found itself, followed by the chord progression and driving beat which we cultured together as a band. The two releases (Shed and Gaps) could be said to draw from alternate parts of our musical personality, both of which are equally important to us for different reasons. It's been part of our set for over a year and is the song which gets the loudest reaction live. Our decision to re-record and give the track a proper release owes a lot to requests from people at gigs.

Like many, for me lyric writing is compulsive and often lines bounce into my head as if I'd just walked into them (mostly when I least expect it). As such it's not something I try to give much scrupulous thought to beyond phrasing and the usual tidying-up of lines, through concern that it'll get shy and run off (which it bloomin' does!) When thinking about it 'Shed Some Light' deals with identity and perceptions; that old meta-narrative of 'is who you think you are the same as what is projected to other people and how far can you take it before you lose yourself entirely to the beast?' Putting it into context, the year prior to and months after writing the song were heavily consumed with this subject. Typically it was easier to identify in the people around me rather than myself, 'picture yourself the falsely accused' points fingers at the denial in people but inevitably the hand turns back on itself with 'I have got to try, to get out from the inside'.

The song is a highlight for us in the live set and a welcome reminder of the benefits of putting a mirror up to yourself every once in a while.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself with a free download and a stream of the video right here!




Whitesnake's David Coverdale Learned Old Snakes Can Learn New Tricks
(Classic Rock) David Coverdale has recalled how he embraced a more commercial form of rock music as he made Whitesnake's 1984 album Slide It In.

He experienced a eureka moment after A&R icon John Kalodner determined the order of tracks on the A side of the record.

And put together with advice gleaned from producers Keith Olsen and Mutt Lange, it charted a course for Coverdale's career over the decades to come.

The first time he heard the album played on radio, he was sharing a hire car with drummer Cozy Powell. "We were blown away," says the vocalist. "I said to Cozy, 'You can teach an old snake new tricks.' And that was the beginning of me embracing compression."

2013 TO BRING THREE MORE RELEASES FROM JEFF LYNNE AND ELO AS PART OF ELO'S 40th ANNIVERSARY:

Just as the third quarter of 2012 brought three exciting works from Jeff Lynne--his second solo album Long Wave, the freshly recorded Mr. Blue Sky–The Very Best Of Electric Light Orchestra and the illuminating documentary “Mr. Blue Sky: The Story of Jeff Lynne and ELO”--2013 will be marked by more treats from the creative force of ELO and one of rock's most iconic figures.
On April 19 in Europe (April 22 in the UK) and April 23 in North America, Frontiers Records will release three albums: Electric Light Orchestra Live and two reissues, ELO's Zoom (remastered and including a brand new track) and his debut solo album Armchair Theatre (also remastered, with two new brand new tracks). It's all part of the 40th Anniversary of ELO, who've sold 50 million-plus records worldwide. These releases will all feature new packaging and the LIVE CD will come in a special ecolbook edition.

Electric Light Orchestra Live hasn't been issued as an album until now. Taken from a 2001 performance for a PBS television special in Los Angeles at CBS Television City, the music was released as a DVD that year. The new hits-packed CD offers fans four tracks that weren't on the DVD ("Secret Messages,” “Sweet Talkin' Woman,” “Twilight,” and “Confusion”) as well as two new, unreleased studio tracks, “Out of Luck” (recorded in 2010) and “Cold Feet” (recorded in 1992). Although the singularly accomplished British singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer has always preferred the creative experience of the recording studio, he is a compelling performer who's always figured out ways to bring his distinctive widescreen musical universe to life onstage when he needed to.

ELO's Zoom--unavailable for over 10 years--has been remastered and features a brand new track, "One Day" (recorded in 2004) as an added bonus, along with a live version of “Turn To Stone” from 2001's Zoom special on PBS. At the time of its original release in 2001, Lynne hadn't issued an ELO album since 1986's Balance of Power. He called upon notable friends for a little help, enlisting contributions from longtime ELO member Richard Tandy as well as good friends George Harrison and Ringo Starr. The result is an album rich in that distinct ELO sound--classic Lynne melodies and songwriting, foot-stomping rock anthems and sweet, sexy strings.

Lynne's first solo album, 1990's Armchair Theatre, is a melting pot of different styles and influences featuring unexpected collaborations with Lynne's heroes and close friends, including Tom Petty, Richard Tandy and George Harrison. This reissue, unavailable for the last decade, includes two previously unreleased bonus tracks, “Borderline” and “Forecast” (both recorded in 1989). Interestingly, the album also features a few notable covers--“Don't Let Go,” “Stormy Weather” and “September Song”--that demonstrated Lynne's flair for covers two decades before the release of 2012's acclaimed Long Wave. Suitably, the core of the album is Lynne himself, though he also left room for the contributions of a few friends and fellow travelers. Harrison contributed guitars and vocals on a number of tracks. Petty co-wrote “Blown Away,” a gorgeously romantic ballad. Longtime ELO band member Richard Tandy also contributed on keyboards and other instruments. Armchair Theatre captures the musical genius of Jeff Lynne when--perhaps more than ever before--the world was his stage.

Outside of the success of ELO, Lynne has led a remarkable career producing and collaborating with many of the greatest musical artists of all time. They include a number of Lynne's all-time heroes like Roy Orbison, Del Shannon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and remarkably, even the Beatles themselves, as well as contemporaries like Tom Petty and Joe Walsh, whose new album Analog Man Lynne recently produced some tracks for. Together with Harrison, Orbison, Petty and Bob Dylan, Lynne was, of course, a member of the Grammy award-winning Traveling Wilburys--a super group like no other. “I've been in love with music since I was probably just five years old,” says LYNNE. "I was mad for music then--and I still am today."

Track listings:
Electric Light Orchestra Live: Evil Woman, Showdown, Secret Messages, Livin' Thing, Sweet Talkin' Woman, Mr. Blue Sky, Can't Get It Out Of My Head, Twilight, Confusion, Don't Bring Me Down, Roll Over Beethoven, Out of Luck (Bonus), Cold Feet (Bonus)
Zoom: Alright, Moment in Paradise, State of Mind, Just for Love, Stranger on a Quiet Street, In My Own Time, Easy Money, It Really Doesn't Matter, Ordinary Dream, A Long Time Gone, Melting in the Sun, All She Wanted, Lonesome Lullaby, One Day (Bonus), Turn to Stone (Live From CBS Television City) (Bonus)
Armchair Theatre: Every Little Thing, Don't Let Go, Lift Me Up, Nobody Home, September Song, Now You're Gone, Don't Say Goodbye, What Would It Take, Stormy Weather, Blown Away, Save Me Now, Borderline (Bonus), Forecast (Bonus)
WebLinks: www.elo.biz / www.frontiers.it.

Today's Day in Rock News!

Today's Day in Rock


Metallica Never Asked Military Not To Use Their Music
Metallica have denied the claims of an anonymous Navy Seal that said the band asked the U.S. Navy to stop using their music in interrogations.
The band took to their website to "Clear the Air" about the claims and told fans the following: "There has been a lot of talk recently about us asking the military not to use our music to 'soften people up before interrogation.'

"We NEVER commented to the military either way on this matter. Any statements that have been made otherwise are not correct."

Frontman James Hetfield was asked by Germany-language TV network 3SAT in 2008 about the band's music being used at Guantanamo Bay and he said, "Part of me is proud because they chose Metallica."

"And then part of me is kind of bummed about it that people worry about us being attached to some political statement because of that.

"We've got nothing to do with this and we're trying to be as apolitical as possible, 'cause I think politics and music, at least for us, don't mix."



Def Leppard Guitarist Dabbling In Dubstep
Def Leppard are getting ready to launching their Viva Hysteria residency at The Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Las Vegas next month and antiMusic's Morley Seaver spoke with guitarist Phil Collen about it and other topics.

When asked if he had any plans following the residency, Phil said that he will be recording some new music with his other band Manraze and that the music will be very different from their previous work.

"Just recording really. I'm constantly writing and we have a Manraze thing on the go as well. Yeah, I'm really looking forward to that. It's just three or four songs but I can't wait," Phil said. "One of them is a very soulful version of an old song and it's a real vocal thing. It's very different to what we've done before. One's actually almost like dubstep and the other sounds like The Police meets Def Leppard. Again, I'm very excited about that.

"And as Def Leppard, we're going to be doing some writing when we're altogether at Vegas. I mean, it's probably going to be 2014 before anything comes out but the Manraze record should be out this year."

As for the upcoming residency, Phil told Morley, "it's going to be pretty unique. We've never done this before. You do all these tours and you become a road dog. You do all this stuff for years and years and years but we've never done a residency so we're really looking forward to doing this.

"It's very different from what we've done before. Again, we're up to the challenge. Actually though, I think it will be a lot easier than touring. So it will be an interesting thing to see how it works out. " Read the full interview here.



Jack Russell Still Struggles With Great White Club Fire
(Classic Rock) Former Great White singer Jack Russell says the Station nightclub fire, which took place 10 years ago today, left him shattered.

But despite pleas from victims of the 2003 disaster which killed 100 people including guitarist Ty Longley, Russell stops short of making a public apology or accepting any responsibility.

He played a controversial benefit show on February 7, which he admits was a disappointment after only 30 people attended, raising just $180 for a charity run by Longley's son.

"It's been almost 10 years and no matter what I say it's never going to make anybody feel any better about it, and sometimes it might make them feel worse, so I really would rather not say too much," Russell tells the Boston Globe.

"After the Station I was really down, was taking anything I could take," he told the paper. "I would just sit for hours and cry." A victim of the fire had some strong words in the article




Allman Brothers Band Reveal 2013 Peach Music Festival Details
The Allman Brothers Band had so much fun launching their Peach Music Festival that they decided to bring it back for another year.

This year the band will be holding the festival from August 15 to August 18 at the Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain and Sno Mountain Ski Area & Water Park in Scranton, PA.

The Allman Brothers Band will be performing during two nights of the festival and the lineup will also include sets from Bob Weir & RatDog (performing 2 nights), The Black Crowes, Grace Potter and The Nocturnals, Jaimoe's Jasssz Band with additional artists to be announced soon.

"The first Peach Festival was as great of a success as we could have asked for," said the band in a statement. "The overwhelming response from both the audience and artists to continue has exceeded our expectations.

"We are very excited that Bob Weir & RatDog have decided to join us this year in Scranton along with many other talented musicians. Year two will be even better than the inaugural Peach Music Festival, we cannot wait to play Scranton again."




Charlie Benante Will Miss Another Anthrax Tour
(Classic Rock) Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante has been forced to sit out the band's upcoming tour of Australia, with "personal issues" preventing him from leaving home.

He'll be replaced again by Jon Dette, ex of Testament and Slayer, currently with Animetal USA. He manned the drumkit for Anthrax's European tour with Motorhead last year after Benante bowed out for similar reasons.

Guitarist Scott Ian reports: "Charlie is dealing with personal issues right now and can't leave. He's really bummer about not being able to head down there." more on this story




Jack White Will Be 2013 Record Store Day Ambassador
Record Store Day organizers have selected musician and record company owner Jack White as their 2013 Ambassador.

This year's Record Store Day will be taking place on April 20th with independent record stories across America selling special edition releases for the event.

Organizers have released a quote and video from White. The quote begins, "Years ago someone told me that 1,200 high school kids were given a survey. A question was posed to them: Have you ever been to a stand-alone record shop? The number of kids that answered "yes" was... zero.

"Zero? How could that be possible? Then I got realistic and thought to myself, "Can you blame them?" How can record shops (or any shop for that matter) compete with Netflix, TiVo, video games that take months to complete, cable, texting, the Internet, etc. etc? Getting out of your chair at home to experience something in the real world has started to become a rare occurrence, and to a lot of people, an unnecessary one. Why go to a bookstore and get a real book? You can just download it. Why talk to other human beings, discuss different authors, writing styles and influences? Just click your mouse. Well here's what they'll someday learn if they have a soul; there's no romance in a mouse click. There's no beauty in sitting for hours playing video games (anyone proud of that stop reading now and post your opinion in the nearest forum). The screen of an iPhone is convenient, but it's no comparison to a 70mm showing of a film in a gorgeous theater. The Internet is two-dimensional…helpful and entertaining, but no replacement for face-to-face interaction with a human being. But we all know all of that, right? Well, do we? Maybe we know all that, but so what?" Let's wake each other up.




Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr Pay Tribute To Tony Sheridan
(Gibson) Both Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr have paid tribute to Tony Sheridan, with whom the Beatles worked in Hamburg in the early '60s.

Sheridan died on Saturday, aged 72. The group's first commercial recordings were as Tony Sheridan's backing band.

McCartney posted on his website: "Tony was a good guy who we knew and worked with from the early days in Hamburg. We regularly watched his late night performances and admired his style. He will be missed."

Ringo Starr used Twitter to write: "Just say goodbye to Tony Sheridan just he died. I had a great month 1960/61 playing with him was great." more on this story






Slash Tells Czech TV He Doesn't Think Randy Blythe Is Guilty
Slash was recently asked in a TV interview in the Czech Republic about his thoughts about the manslaughter trial of Lamb of God singer Randy Blythe.

"I know as much as I've been told from everybody I know in that camp. It's a strange unique situation," Slash told Be in TV. "I think that when he first came over here and put up his bail and they never let him out and they kept paying and they kept paying and paying and paying and they never let him out, I said, 'What the f— is going on there.'

"I mean, that's a whole different type of law to me, where it's just different. And so finally they let him out and now it's actually going to trial."

Slash also addressed if he thought that Blythe was guilty of a crime, "I really don't think he, in any way, shape or form, is guilty. So they're gonna let this thing run its course I suppose. And because the judicial system here is so different that he was able to stay in jail here so long, who knows what the verdict is gonna end up being?! It's hard to say." You can watch the full interview here.




David Bowie Plans Record Store Day Releases
(Classic Rock) David Bowie will release The Stars (Are Out Tonight) as the second single from surprise comeback album The Next Day.

It's available on February 26 as a digital download. A limited-edition seven-inch vinyl edition will be on sale for Record Store Day on April 20, with the album's lead single Where Are We Now? on the B-side.

Two other seven-inch discs are also planned for Record Store Day: a Drive-In Saturday picture disc and the Bowie 1965! EP. More rock news.




Slayer Want To Keep Gary Holt On Until Jeff Hanneman Recovers
(Classic Rock) Slayer guitarist Kerry King doesn't want his band to operate a revolving-door policy over the continued absence of Jeff Hanneman, who's still recovering from a near-fatal spider bite sustained in 2011.

Exodus axeman Gary Holt has stood in for him, and King wants it to stay that way. He say: "I don't want it to be a carousel, where if Gary can't do it we get somebody else, and if he can't do it we get somebody else again.

"We told Gary when our schedule is and said, 'Please keep it open.' We don't know when Jeff's going to be able to play guitar. Jeff's a wait-and-see thing." More rock news.




Glenn Danzig Adds New Leg To Danzig 25th Anniversary Tour
Glenn Danzig has announced another leg of his upcoming Danzig 25th anniversary tour with a three date stop in the UK.

Last week Danzig announced that this special tour will not only feature a Danzig set but it will also feature a special Misfits set with former Misfits star Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein, which will mark the first time the two have performed together on stage.

The previously announced North American leg will be taking place in April and will followed up with the UK leg which will take place in June and includes dates in Manchester, Wolverhampton and London. more on this story




Dark Tranquillity Lose A Member
Dark Tranquillity announced that bassist Daniel Antonsson has left the group. Both the band and Antonsson have addressed fans about the change.

"The decision has been growing for a while, and the main reason is that Daniel wanted to focus on his own musical projects as well as working more in his recording studio," The band said. "Being first and foremost a guitarist, he felt that the playing bass in a full-time band didn't allow him much time for his main instrument and true passion. With this in mind, he chose to follow his heart and step aside at this point instead of committing to another album and an intense touring cycle that would leave little room for other activities.

"We thank Daniel for his years in the band - filled with great shows and amazing memories and experiences in all corners of the world - and wish him all the best with his future musical career."

Daniel Antonsson had this to say, "I want to thank the guys in Dark Tranquillity and the amazing D.T. fans around the world for the last four years of touring around the globe! It´s been awesome! more on this story




Phil Anselmo Addresses Rift With Pantera's Vinnie Paul
Former Pantera frontman Phil Anselmo opened up about the continued rift between him and his old bandmate Vinnie Paul Abbott in a new interview with Revolver Magazine.

"I feel bad for Vince," Anselmo said in the interview according to a Blabbermouth excert). "People should pity the guy. I wasn't there when Dimebag [Darrell] was murdered, but he sure as f— was. That's his flesh and blood, murdered right in front of him. It's a shame that Vince never reached out to [bassist] Rex [Brown] and I. I think the healing process would have been beneficial to him, instead of his knee-jerk reaction to fear and his therapy through tit bars and whiskey."

Anselmo also believes that he and Dimebag would have mended their relationship if the famed guitarist hadn't been murdered. "We would have made amends. I would like to think he would be proud of me for pulling myself out of the muck, the abyss," Anselmo said.

"I just choose to remember the positive things. He was almost like the perfect counterpoint to me. We may have clashed to a certain extent, but we would always find a happy medium. It was a vital relationship that I miss greatly." more on this story





Rush Nominated For Two Juno Awards
(hennemusic) Rush have been nominated for two 2013 Juno Awards (The Canadian equivalent to the Grammy Awards.)

The rock veterans are up for Group Of The Year, and Rock Album of The Year for "Clockwork Angels", which will see them compete against projects by The Tragically Hip, Billy Talent, The Sheepdogs and Big Wreck.

Hosted by Michael Buble, the 2013 Juno Awards will take place at Regina's Brandt Centre and air live on Sunday, April 21st on CTV. more on this story




Abigail Williams Post Open Call For New Drummer
Abigail Williams have put out an open call for a new drummer after Alan Cassidy left the group to perform with The Black Dahlia Murder.

Last week the band took to their Facebook page to announce they wee looking for Cassidy's replacement. They wrote, "As some of you know our good buddy Alan Cassidy has been playing with The Black Dahlia Murder and though we are very happy for him this sadly puts Abigail Williams on the market for a new drummer.

"Before anyone even says anything he did not bail on us for a bigger band as some have in the past. I actually personally put the a good word in for him so we hold no animosity towards his decision whatsoever especially since it was made during a period when we were unsure about the future of AW. more.




Stevie Nicks Documentary Set For Screening At SXSW
(Radio.com) Stevie Nicks chronicles the recording of her 2011 solo album, In Your Dreams, in the documentary, also called In Your Dreams. Former Eurythmics legend, Dave Stewart produced the album at her home-studio, and also directed the documentary.

The film will screen at Austin, Texas' South by Southwest Interactive, Film, and Music Festival Thursday, March 4.

The film details her writing and recording process and her recollections of her career struggles and triumphs. Nicks and Stewart's collaboration is seen through the lens of writings by Edgar Allan Poe paired with lyricism and short stories from Nicks' past. more on this story




David Bowie Documentary To Be Broadcast on TV
(hennemusic) A new feature length film "David Bowie - Five Years" is set to be broadcast on BBC Two in May.

The film focuses on five critical years of Bowie's career (1971, 1975, 1977, 1980 and 1983) and will also include coverage of where he is at today with his latest album, "The Next Day."

"This is a project that has been in development for more than a decade, in fact since Bowie and I worked together in 2001 on a film for the BBC Omnibus strand," says director Francis Whately.

"This year, 2013, is shaping up to be the year of David Bowie, and now is the perfect moment for this feature length film devoted to this extraordinary artist." more on this story




Saxon Is Not Spinal Tap
(Classic Rock) Biff Byford says Saxon have no strong connection to Spinal Tap, despite having taken actor Harry Shearer on tour with them before he played the role of Derek Smalls.

Celebrated 1984 rockumentary-if-you-will This Is Spinal Tap pokes fun at the rock'n'roll lifestyle through documenting the career of its titular fictional band. And although Byford admits they shared anecdotes with Shearer, he says it doesn't follow that Spinal Tap are based on Saxon.

"All of the Spinal Tap stuff really came from our former bass player, who made those connections and talked about it and all of that," The singer tells Noisecreep.

"We definitely told some stories to Harry, and that perhaps made it in some form into the film. But there's not that big a connection between that sort of band and us.

"I love This Is Spinal Tap but that's not really the music we make. I don't feel as close a connection as some people make it out to be." more on this story




Houndmouth Announce Their First American Headline Tour
Houndmouth announced that they will be hitting the road next month to launch their first national headlining tour.

The trek will kick off on March 7th in Little Rock, AR and will conclude on April 18th in Chicago, IL.

The band will be making a stop at this year's SXSW festival in Austin, TX including a performance at Paste's official showcase.

The group is also confirmed to play two dates with the Alabama Shakes and Michael Kiwanuka in March, and the Newport Folk Festival in July. more on this story




Lynette Skynyrd Playing Free Three Set Show
The female Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute band Lynette Skynyrd sent over word that they will be playing a free all ages show this Friday that will feature three different sets.

They will be kicking things off with a performance of their entire upcoming debut album, "Hot As A Fox In A Forest Fire," followed by a set of Lynyrd Skynyrd classics.

The night will be topped off with a late night set which will be the debut performance of "Acoustic Lynette."

The show is set to take place at Viva Cantina in Burbank, Ca starting at 9 pm. The venue is located at 900 W Riverside Dr, Burbank, CA 91506. Band's website.





Motley Crue Excited About Touring Australia With KISS
(hennemusic) Motley Crue's Nikki Sixx has posted an update for fans about the band's preparation for their upcoming tour of Australia with KISS.

"We got into a rehearsal room this weekend to blow the dust off a bunch of songs before we head to Australia next week. I gotta say considering we haven't played together since last year when we ended the KISS-CRUE co headline tour, it sounded pretty damn tight.....:) "

"This is the longest and biggest tour we have done to date in Australia," he added, "and it's gonna be a f**king blast, for sure... more on this story




The Who's Simon Townshend Sees It All Coming Together
(Radio.com) Simon Townshend played the Super Bowl and the Olympics and his surname is one of rock's most famous, but he's just now feeling like it's all coming together for him.

"There is a definite difference between an artist and a musician, and I've always seen myself as an artist," Townshend tells Radio.com while on the road with The Who for the Quadrophenia & More tour. "I'm all about the artistic thing, writing songs and the emotional side of it. But I have worked very hard for the last five or six years, looking at my musical ability a bit more and studying guitar a bit harder. Everything has spear-headed to this moment in time where I'm now getting the chance to sing lead vocals on one song and play some guitar solos with the Who – and I'm actually able to do it and feel comfortable and confident."

Simon says that after nearly two decades of touring with Roger Daltrey solo and The Who, he's "earned his stripes" with the band. His challenge now is balancing his role as rhythm guitarist in The Who with his solo career, in which he's feeling quite inspired these days. Maybe it's the technology that's allowed Townshend to record rough takes of song ideas while on the road, but he says he has another solo album coming out this year to follow up his first solo album in 10 years, late 2012′s Looking Out Looking In. more on this story




University Actually Conducts Scientific Study of Mosh Pits
(Radio.com) Despite concert-goer's best efforts to incite chaos, four scientists at Cornell University have released a mathematical study that finds seemingly disorderly mosh pits to be quite predictable.

Titled Collective Motion of Moshers at Heavy Metal Concerts, the study analyzes both the disorganized mosh pit (where participants run into each other from all directions) and the relatively organized circle pit (think swirling toilet bowl) or the wal.

The scientists from Cornell's Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics and Department of Physics poured over internet video and studied the participants as "self-propelled agents that experience dissipative collisions." The researchers turned the video into statistical data.

They asked why does a mosh pit that appears to be out of balance actually show characteristics of an otherwise predictable system?

The answer points to "flocking," the social phenomenon that describes the collective motion of a large number of self-propelled entities (birds, fish, humans). In other words, without direction from a central leader, the group of individuals unknowingly choose to follow a set of rules. Read more as you ponder why tuition is so high.



Journey's Neal Schon Discusses His Signature Guitars
(hennemusic) Journey's Neal Schon was at the recent NAMM (National Association Of Music Merchants) show to promote his new line of PRS signature guitars.

Schon sat down with David "Gus" Griesinger of BackstageAxxess.com to talk about the new gear. Neal developed two distinct signature models: the NS-14 and NS-15.

"The new NS-14 and NS-15 PRS guitars are on the cutting edge of now," said Schon. "I love everything about them. I had the pleasure in helping in the creation of these beauties and I love the weight, sound, and ultimate playability. These are among the best guitars I've ever played. Check 'em out."

Today's Day in Rock News !

Today's Day in Rock


Travis Barker Skipping Blink-182 Tour Over Fear Of Flying
(Classic Rock) Blink 182′s Travis Barker has given his bandmates permission to tour Australia without him after failing to overcome his fear of flying.
They'll now play nine shows Down Under, kicking off on Wednesday, with Brooks Wackerman of Bad Religion and Tenacious D fame behind the drumkit.

Barker was nearly killed in a 2008 plane crash that took the lives of four people including his friends Chris Baker and Che Still. Fellow passenger Adam Goldstein, known as DJ AM, was the only other survivor, but died of a drugs overdose the following year.

"I still haven't gotten over the horrific events that took place the last time I flew when my plane crashed and four people were killed, two being my best friends." he said. "I gave the band my blessing to take another drummer if they still wanted to do the tour without me." more on this story




Original Heart Lineup Reuniting For Rock Hall?
Original Heart guitarist Roger Fisher told fans via his Facebook page that the original lineup of Heart will be reuniting for the upcoming Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

While there has been no official word out of the Heart camp (e.g. Ann and Nancy Wilson), Examiner reports that Fisher told fans on Facebook on Saturday, "I haven't seen anyone announce it yet: THE ORIGINAL HEART LINEUP WILL PLAY AT THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME INDUCTION CEREMONY."

It appears that the posting has since been removed from the page. The Rock Hall induction ceremony is set to take place on April 18 at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles with Chris Cornell of Soundgarden inducting Heart. Read the Examiner report here.



Fleetwood Mac Will Be Releasing New Music
Fleetwood Mac will not only be playing new music on their upcoming North American tour, they plan to release new music as well.

Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks spoke with Fox News about plans to record a new album and they say that it is up to the fans reactions to the new songs they already have done.

"We're gonna go out and put a few of these things out on stage… and we'll make them available online, and we'll see if it takes on a life," Lindsay said.

Stevie said, "Lindsey and I spent four days together at his house working on three songs and it was great," she said, "We had the best time." Ultimately, she says reaction to the new material may influence a decision about further recording.

"If the public loves this — if they love these three songs and we get back from them that they want more — then maybe we'll do more," Nicks said.

"If they just sort of like it and enjoy it, and it's not a big deal, then we'll have had a great time doing these three songs and maybe we'll just make music for ourselves." Watch the interview here.




Rush Announce Summer Tour
(hennemusic) Rush have announced a series of summer tour dates for North America as a second leg to their Clockwork Angels Tour.

The tour will visit an additional 15 cities from June to August; the second leg will begin in Hershey on June 21st and wraps up on August 4th in Kansas City.

Rush will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame on April 18 in Los Angeles. Following the Induction ceremony, Rush kick off their Clockwork Angels North American Tour 2013 on April 23rd in Austin, TX and will visit Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando, Nashville, Raleigh, Virginia Beach, Baltimore, Uncasville, and Atlantic City this spring. more on this story




Dave Matthews Band Reveal Summer Tour Details
The news that Dave Matthews Band fans have been waiting for has arrived, the band has announce the details for their 2013 summer tour.

The tour is set to kick off on May 17th in Woodlands, TX and will conclude on September 8th in Mountain View, CA.

Prior to the tour, the Dave Matthews Band will play a trio of dates in the South that includes a headlining performance at the 2013 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on April 28.

The band will be touring in support of their latest album, Away From The World. more on this story




David Bowie Releasing New Song Next Week?
(Gibson) He hasn't come out and said it, exactly, but it looks very, very likely that David Bowie's next single will be "The Stars (Are Out Tonight)" and that it will be released on February 26.

The official David Bowie Facebook page updated over the weekend to show an image of a vaguely Bowie-like character (that also looks like something out of a Tool video), with '02:26:13' posted above it. You don't have to be a World War II codebreaker to put two and 26 and 13 together and come out with 'next week.'

The track will be the second to be released from Bowie's forthcoming surprise album, The Next Day, which is due in March. It's Bowie's first album of new material in over a decade, and by all accounts it appears it will feature many of Bowie's more recent band members, including Earl Slick, Gail Ann Dorsey and Gerry Leonard. more on this story






Overkill Tour Plans Sidelined By Frontman's Pneumonia
Overkill have been forced to cancel tour dates after frontman Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth was diagnosed with walking pneumonia.

The band had this to say, "We are terribly sorry that we had to cancel our performance last night, but let's put the rumors to rest, before speculation runs rampant.

"Blitz was diagnosed with what is called 'walking pneumonia', and was medically advised to not perform due to it potentially getting worse if he did. When the health risk is no longer an issue, he'll be ready to kick ass once again."





Voivod Cancel Live Dates For Medical Reasons
Voivod have been forced to postpone their upcoming live plans so frontman Snake (Denis Belanger) can recover from a medical procedure.

Snake has undergone a procedure to treat Diverticulitis, which the U.S. National Library of Medicine lists as "small, bulging sacs or pouches of the inner lining of the intestine (diverticulosis) that become inflamed or infected. Most often, these pouches are in the large intestine (colon)."

The band had this to say, "Voivod has had to postpone any shows for the immediate future as Snake needs four-six weeks rest due to a procedure for diverticulitis, a common digestive disease.

"This affects the MS Benefit in Ottawa and the SXSW shows, this should not affect the Santiago, Chile MetalFest appearance in April More tour news to be announced shortly."




Dillinger Escape Plan Releasing New Album in May
The Dillinger Escape Plan announced on Monday that they plan to release their new studio album, "One of Us is the Killer" in May.

"One of Us is the Killer" was recorded in Southern California with longtime producer Steve Evetts (Glassjaw, The Cure, Suicide Silence), with additional production at guitarist/co-founder Ben Weinman's studio.

The album is set to be mastered by Tom Baker (Deftones, Nine Inch Nails, Beastie Boys).

The band has also announced a series of live appearances including an appearance at the New England Metal & Hardcore Festival and the - Golden Gods Awards w/ Metallica, Anthrax, etc more on this story





Scorpions Explain Download Festival Offer Rejection
(Classic Rock) The Scorpions rejected an offer to play the Download festival this summer. Talking to Classic Rock, guitarist Rudolf Schenker explained the band's decision as being down to two reasons.

"We were asked to play on the first day (June 14), when Slipknot will headline. The problem was that we would have been on the second stage, not the main one. This would have meant us not having the chance to bring over a full stage set, and that isn't something we were prepared to consider. We'd be cheating the fans, and feel we are worth a bit more than being anywhere other the main stage.

"There was also a financial problem, because what we would have been paid wasn't very good at all. So we reluctantly turned it down."

The band recently finished their final world tour. It lasted three years, but didn't include a single UK show. And nobody it appears is more disappointed than the band. more on this story





KISS, Motley Crue and Korn Lead Rock Fest Lineup
KISS, Motley Crue and Korn have been announced as the headliners of this year's Chippewa Valley Rock Fest in Wisconsin.

The 20th annual music festival is set to take place on July 18,19,20,21st at the Festival Grounds in Cadott, WI.

The headliner for the opening night has yet to be announced but the lineup also includes Seether, Halestorm, The Offspring, All That Remains, Megadeth, Stone Sour, Hellyeah, Whitesnake, Skillet and more. See the lineup details here.




Enslaved Trapped By Blizzard
Enslaved had some bad news for fans planning to see them tonight (February 19th) in Toronto, the band have been trapped by a blizzard and had to pull the plug on the show.

Guitarist Ivar Bjørnson told fans yesterday "simply can't believe it; we're trapped in a blizzard at the US/CAN border near Winnipeg. We've been here for a full day now - meaning there is no chance of making tomorrow's show at The Opera House in Toronto; even if the weather should turn around dramatically during the next few hours.

"We're completely devastated as we sit on the bus waiting it out. We can't believe we'll miss what was for sure going to be one of the very highlights of this tour."

No word at press time if they will have to cancel any of the other three remaining dates of their Winter Rite tour with Pallbearer, Royal Thunder and Ancient Vvisdom more on this story





Ba Ba Booey and Jon Hein's New Vh1 Classic Show Premieres This Week
VH1 Classic sent over the details for one of their new shows, For What It's Worth, which is set to premiere on Thursday (February 21) at 10pm.

The show is co-hosted by Gary Dell'Abate, also known as "Ba Ba Booey" of the Howard Stern Show, and Jon Hein (who famously coined the phrase "Jump the Shark"). The network sent over the following:

Armed with an insanely impressive knowledge of music and television history, Gary and Jon attempt to put a price on what many consider the most invaluable memorabilia in pop culture, including Jack White's personal vinyl collection and a celebrity hair lock vault (seriously).

Blow the dust off your old vinyl because VH1 Classic is digging through pop culture collectibles with hosts Gary Dell'Abate and Jon Hein, to find out what they're really worth in the new series, "For What It's Worth." Premiering Thursday, February 21st at 10 PM on VH1 Classic, "For What It's Worth" will explore the intricate world of music and pop culture memorabilia, and the mind of "The Collector." more on this story




Cult Of Luna Plan Limited Edition Vinyl Release
Cult Of Luna have set a March 26, 2013 US release date for a limited edition vinyl version of their album, Vertikal.

The U.S. version gatefold LP will be limited to only 1,000 copies and will be foil-numbered and priced significantly lower than the currently available import vinyl.

Vertikal was originally released digitally and on CD through Density Records on January 29, 2012.

The band have a number of European tour dates coming that include dates later this month and in March, April and May more on this story





Journey Celebrate 35th Anniversary of Infinity In The Studio
(hennemusic) Journey mark the 35th Anniversary of their 1978 release, "Infinity," on the latest edition of In The Studio.

The band's fourth album introduced new vocalist Steve Perry to the Journey lineup, who shared vocal duties with former lead singer and keyboardist Gregg Rolie on songs like "Feeling That Way" and "Anytime."

"Journey already had a lead singer," emphasizes Perry. "I wasn't brought in to replace anyone."

"Infinity" is generally viewed as the album that helped propel Journey towards the mainstream, with Perry ready to take the reigns as the band's frontman. more on this story




Joe Bonamassa Launches Blues Masters
Joe Bonamassa has officially launching the Guitar Center's Blues Masters contest for aspiring blues artists.

Bonamassa will choose 10 musicians from the online submissions to fly to Los Angeles and perform with his band.

Based on these performances, one winner will be named, earning a Grand Prize package including an opening slot at Joe Bonamassa's headlining show in Los Angeles this fall, $10,000 cash, tons of gear and more.

Hear what Joe Bonamassa has to say about the program here.





Almost 50 Bands Added To Download Festival
(Classic Rock) Download festival organisers have added 49 bands to the bill for the 2013 event at Donington Park on June 14-16.

Along with Papa Roach, who leaked the news of their appearance last month, the stack of new names includes Europe, Skin, Uriah Heep and Newsted.

Europe will return to make up for their cancelled set last year after heavy rain meant their gear arrived on time but the band didn't. Frontman Joey Tempest said at the time: "The flight was two-hour delayed from Sweden so the guys were very late. Then we hit traffic on the way here. It was very close but in the end we had to postpone. We didn't want to go on and play one or two songs – we wanted to play a good set."

They'll join headliners Iron Maiden, Rammstein and Slipknot at the hallowed Leicestershire location for the 11th edition of the event that replaced Monsters Of Rock in 2003. Check out the lineup





Trail of Dead Go Around The World In Lost Songs Video
...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead have released a new music video for the title track to their latest album, Lost Songs.

The video collage shows the band's 2012 tour around the world-- in 125 seconds, there's footage of the band in three continents and nearly 20 countries. Watch it here.

If you prefer to see the band in person and live in the UK or Europe, you are in luck as the band are currently touring across the UK with The Cribs and will he launching their own UK and European tour in March with support from Ribozyme. more on this story




Rare TV Interview With Deep Purple's John Lord Streaming Online
BraveWords are streaming a video from a rare 1969 Canadian TV interview with the late Deep Purple legend Jon Lord.

The interview aired in April 1969 and features Lord discussing music and culture in Britain versus North America.

Deep Purple was touring in support of the The Book Of Taliesyn (released October 1968) on some dates supporting CREAM.

Deep Purple had already achieved moderate success on their 1968 debut album Shades of Deep Purple. Watch it here.





Iron Maiden's Eddie Appears At Rio Carnival
(hennemusic) Iron Maiden mascot Eddie attended Carnival last week, the world-famous festival held in Rio De Janeiro before Lent every year and considered the biggest carnival in the world with two million people per day on the streets.

Although Carnival (Carnaval in Portuguese) is celebrated in towns and villages throughout Brazil and other Catholic countries, Rio de Janeiro has long been regarded as the Carnival Capital of the World. The Rio Carnaval is not only the biggest Carnival, it has also a benchmark against which every other carnival is compared and one of the most interesting artistic events on the Globe.

Rio Carnival is a wild four-day celebration, 40 days before Easter. It officially starts on Saturday and finishes on Fat Tuesday with the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday after which one is supposed to abstain from all bodily pleasures. Carnival with all its excesses, celebrated as a profane event, can be considered an act of farewell to the pleasures of the flesh. It usually happens in February, the hottest month in the Southern Hemisphere, when the Rio summer is at its peak.

Today's Day in Rock News!

Today's Day in Rock


Robert Plant Open To Led Zeppelin Reunion Next Year?
(hennemusic) Robert Plant was featured on Sunday night's episode of Australia's "60 Minutes" and was grilled about Led Zeppelin doing more reunion shows and Plant had a surprising answer.
Plant sat down with reporter Tara Brown to discuss a variety of topics, including his roots, Led Zeppelin's formation and legendary history, including the 2007 reunion show that was released as "Celebration Day."

"We just wanted to play and see what it was like and be good once," said Plant. "Because we'd been bad so many times in the interim since John passed away; it was time to be good … and we were."

Fans continue to clamor for more Zeppelin live shows, with Plant taking most of the heat for the lack of forward movement on the project.

"You know, the two other guys (Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones) are both Capricorns and they keep schtum (quiet); they don't say a word," maintains Robert. "But they are quite contained in their own worlds and they just leave it to me to do this (interviews)."

Brown: "…to be the bad guy"

Plant: "I'm not the bad guy."

Brown: "Well you are for all those Led Zeppelin fans who'd love you to say 'yes, we're reforming.'"

Plant: "Well, then you need to speak to the Capricorns ... 'cause I've got nothing to do in 2014." Watch the segment here.




2012 Guns N' Roses Concert To Be Broadcast on TV
(hennemusic) A June 2012 performance at London, England's O2 Arena by Guns N' Roses will be broadcast on VH1 Classic on March 9 as part of a 5-hour GNR special on the station.

The night will kick off at 8:00 p.m. with a one-hour, all-GNR video block hosted by "That Metal Show"'s Eddie Trunk, followed by the London concert and a rebroadcast of the Axl Rose "That Metal Show" episode.

The big-screen premiere of GNR's 2012 performance at O2 Arena was scheduled for last October at select theaters in Europe but was "postponed" by the band's management. A trailer of the concert can be viewed here.




Beatles Collaborator Tony Sheridan Dies
(Classic Rock) Tony Sheridan, early Beatles collaborator and said to be the first person to play electric guitar on TV, has died aged 72.

The fledgling Fab Four played their first recording sessions as Sheridan's backing band and their appearance on his 1961 single My Bonnie – billed as the Beat Brothers – led to Brian Epstein's offer to manage them.

Original Beatles drummer Pete Best has paid tribute, saying: "My friend Tony passed away this morning. Great guy and great memories. I will miss you." More rock news.




Van Halen and Billy Joel To Co-headline Music Festival
(hennemusic) Van Halen and Billy Joel will co-headline the inaugural Stone Music Festival at Sydney's ANZ Stadium over the April 20 and 21 weekend.

According to the Daily Telegraph, the festival will see co-headliners Billy Joel and VH joined by Kings Of Chaos, Richie Ramone, Lifehouse and Illumination Road also confirmed for the bill.

Major Australian rock acts, including some reunited 90s chart-toppers, are also expected to be named on the bill in the lead-up to tickets going on sale on Thursday, February 21. more on this story




Iron Maiden Inspired Metal Literature University Course
(Classic Rock) A US university is running a course in heavy metal literature after an experiment with Iron Maiden track Out Of The Silent Planet was a massive success.

Linguistics expert Martin Jacobsen used the song from 2000 album Brave New World to teach sentence structure. The lesson included displaying visual diagrams of how the lyrics had been constructed while the music played.

Jacobsen, of West Texas A&M University, tells Amarillo.com: "The students were mad for it – they thought it was crazy and they loved it. I threw it out as an offhand comment one day: 'What we ought to do is have a class in heavy metal.' There was universal agreement from the students in the class: 'Yes, we should actually do that.'"

He argues that many metal lyrics have been inspired by the works of history's greatest writers. "You constantly see these nods to the intellectual tradition that the lyricists come from," he explains. "Therefore it's reasonable to conclude that it's a form of literature as well as a form of music – in much the same way you might say country music is a species of folklore." More.




Zakk Wylde Reveals Black Label Society's Unblackened DVD Plans
(Gibson) Black Label Society's long-talked-about Unblackened DVD will now be filmed March 6 at Club Nokia in Los Angeles. The set is planned to contain intimate versions of some of BLS's most popular songs, as well as songs from mainman Zakk Wylde's solo album Book of Shadows and his short-lived Southern rock band Pride & Glory.

The show will feature Wylde on guitar and piano, alongside the members of BLS, as well as a four-piece string section, pedal steel, and special guests. The concert will be broadcast live exclusively on AXS TV. A CD/DVD will be released later in 2013.

Wylde told California radio station 107.7 The Bone and AXS TV, "This is something we haven't done yet, and we wanted to give our fans something new. You can take a song that you've played thousands of times and rearrange it, and all of a sudden it's something totally fresh. The attitude of the songs doesn't change when we play them acoustically — the tunes are gritty regardless."

Wylde adds, "We're gonna do the whole thing with a four-piece string section, a pedal steel guy, and I'm gonna have some of my musician buddies sit in on some of the songs and stuff like that. We're gonna have two solid weeks of rehearsal and then we're gonna knock this thing out. [It will be an] acoustic/electric type of thing… almost kinda like if Pink Floyd was doing an unplugged thing and they did "Comfortably Numb" but Dave [Gilmour] will be sitting down but he'll still rip that solo out. It'll still be electric and then we'll have the string section behind it and the whole band and it'll be killer." more on this story






Yes Guitarist Steve Howe Hosting Music Retreat
(Gibson) Renowned Yes guitarist Steve Howe will host the first Cross Styles Music Retreat, an event taking place August 19-23 2013 at Full Moon Resort in the Catskill Mountains near Woodstock, New York.

Howe says, "This year I'm getting back to doing some solo dates, and the Cross Styles Music Retreat is an extension of that. I'll be enjoying the different things the event will demand of me, as opposed to just doing shows. It's a wider breadth of 'guitarness,' and it indulges me in my singular fascination - the guitar. Hopefully, my team and the audience can do a little mingling and learn more about each other."

Guitar players of all ages, levels and styles are invited to join Howe and other guest instructors for this music camp. It represents a first for Howe.

"As I'm self-taught and don't read music, I come at doing workshops from a different perspective than many who teach," Howe says. "I'll be bringing my experience to the fore through performances, interactions with campers, and daily master classes." more on this story






Rush Expand North American Tour Plans
(hennemusic) Rush have announced the addition of two Canadian concert dates as part of their Clockwork Angels world tour.

After 26 years, Rush are returning to Halifax, Nova Scotia to perform at the Halifax Metro Centre on Friday, July 12.

The band will also play Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario on Saturday, July 6. more on this story




Black Sabbath Aim For Raw Sound On New Album
(Classic Rock) Black Sabbath have released another teaser clip for upcoming album 13, their first with Ozzy Osbourne since 1978′s Never Say Die.

In the video guitarist Tony Iommi discusses the band's new material, produced by Rick Rubin and featuring Rage Against The Machine's Brad Wilk on drums.

Iommi says: "It's different altogether now. We've got much more of a thing going than what it was in them days. The new material's really good – we've got some good stuff going.

"Rick's looking for a raw Sabbath and that's what we're looking for. We like what we're doing." Watch the teaser here.




Def Leppard Going To Rock Camp
(hennemusic) Def Leppard have signed on to headline a special edition of Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy Camp.

Set for April 4th - 7th in Las Vegas, the event falls in the midst of the band's 11-show residency at The Joint in the Hard Rock Casino and Hotel for their "VIVA Hysteria!" series.

At the Camp, the group will serve as mentors and instructors, guiding campers through their songs as well as general playing and performing techniques. more on this story




Cheap Trick Guitarist Rick Nielsen Gets Picked By American Pickers
(hennemusic) Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen will be featured in an upcoming episode of History Television's American Pickers, premiering March 11.

"What happened was pretty special," said the show's Mike Wolfe. "We're birds of a feather, Frank and Rick and me. Collecting, picking brothers in arms. We were all three bitten by the same crazy bug early on in life and it's amazing how quickly it brought us together when we went to Rick's exhibit in Rockford. That's when the picks really started flying."

"Seeing Rick's exhibit was truly mind-boggling," said Frank Fritz. "For me, as a nearly lifelong Cheap Trick fan, I was in heaven. And, then, to dig even deeper with Rick himself – well, we can't wait for the nation to see what we picked out of Rick's storage lockers. Mike and I drove away from Rockford very, very happy." more on this story




Black Star Riders Mixing Their New Album
(hennemusic) Black Star Riders, featuring former members of Thin Lizzy, have posted an update on the status of their forthcoming debut album. "The album is currently being mixed as we speak," writes the band.

"We will announce 2nd week of March full album details (title, release dates per territory, track listing etc). At the end of March there will be the first 'single' release that will have an exclusive airing via certain media outlets - to be announced - prior to public release. Around the same time more tour dates for the autumn will be announced."

"The album will be released at the end of May. The first Black Star Riders live appearances will be around the same time." more on this story




Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Megadeth Label Sold
(Classic Rock) Sanctuary Records, once home to Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Megadeth and many others, has been sold by Universal to BMG.

The deal is part of an agreement with competition regulators after Universal bought EMI, and it's thought to have been worth $62m.

BMG boss Hartwig Masuch says: "We have made no secret of our ambition to create a new force in the music industry focused on delivering service and revenue to artists. We believe this deal will be good news for those artists, good news for our partners particularly in the independent sector and good news for the music industry as a whole." More rock news.





Dave Grohl and Stevie Nicks Rock Letterman
(hennemusic) Dave Grohl stopped by The Late Show With David Letterman last Thursday to promote his directorial debut, Sound City.

The film, which premiered last month at Sundance, chronicles the story of the Van Nuys, California studio of the same name, where music legends recorded major projects throughout the years – including Nirvana's 1991 smash, "Nevermind."

Grohl joined Letterman for a chat about the project, after which he was joined by the Sound City Players – Foo Fighters plus guests, including Stevie Nicks – for a live performance of "You Can't Fix This" from the flm's soundtrack album. Watch the appearance here.




Alice In Chains Go Behind The Scenes of the Hollow Video
(hennemusic) Alice In Chains recently released "Hollow" as the lead single from their forthcoming album, "The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here."

The band is now sharing behind-the-scenes footage from the making of the video for the track.

The stunning sci-fi-themed clip was shot by award-winning director Roboshobo (a.k.a. Robert Schober; Metallica, Mastodon) and is already nearing the one-million-views mark.

Scheduled for release in May, "The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here" was recorded in Los Angeles with producer Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Deftones). Check it out here.



Leslie West Shares Story Behind Mississippi Queen
(Gibson) Had Leslie West done nothing more than record "Mississippi Queen" – one of rock guitar's finest moments -- his place in music history would be assured. Fact is, however, that classic, which West recorded with the legendary trio Mountain, is just one chapter in a vast body of work that attests to his monumental skills.

In the summer of 2011, West underwent an amputation of his lower leg due to complications from Type 2 diabetes. Just three months later, he released Unusual Suspects, a guitarist's dream album featuring an A-list of fellow six-string greats. Such is the fortitude of the man.

In the quotes below, he talks about playing with Jimi Hendrix, how he gets his unique tone and the "coolest rock star" with whom he's ever jammed.

On how "Mississippi Queen" was written, as told to Gibson.com: [Mountain drummer] Corky Laing came up with the lyric when he was in his previous band, Energy. He was playing the drums at some club, and the power went out. He saw a girl dancing, and he wanted to keep her dancing, so he started shouting out this stuff. When we got together, he showed me the lyric. I already had the music, and we constructed the song in about 20 minutes.

On playing with Pete Townshend during the Who's Next sessions, as told to Gibson.com: I got a call from The Who's manager, asking if I wanted to play on the album. I was like, "Well, they have a guitar player." But he said Pete didn't want to play lead guitar, that he wanted me to play. It was really funny, those sessions. [Producer] Kit Lambert ran around holding up signs, whenever we would be getting good take. He did that during "Won't Get Fooled Again," holding a sign up that said, "GOOD JOB. KEEP IT UP." Later, of course, they re-did the album with Glyn Johns producing. But Pete did release the original sessions, many years later. I gave him a Les Paul Junior, at those sessions.

Today's Day in Rock News!

Today's Day in Rock


David Lee Roth Hopes For Full Van Halen Reunion
(hennemusic) David Lee Roth has delivered a state of the Van Halen reunion address in a new interview with Rolling Stone, and among the items presented is Roth's wish for bassist Michael Anthony's return to the band.
"Ed has his own vision [for the band's future], I'm assuming," begins Roth. "We haven't really been able to speak about it and it's a disappointment, just as not having a chance for a reunion of the original band. Clearly, vocals are every bit as much a component of success as a rhythm section or a guitar solo, and there's an old expression saying, 'They don't go home singing the lighting show, they don't go home singing the production.' You're right, they sing my words and my melodies. And what we have at our fingertips is arguably one of the greatest high tenor voices ever – that was in Michael Anthony. In our tiny little corner of the universe, that voice is as identifiable as the high voice in Earth, Wind & Fire, as identifiable as the high voice in the Beach Boys. Van Halen is an indelicate house blend of both – that's intentionally. So I would always look forward to that reunion, and I would always look forward to writing a whole variety of material."

"I would certainly look forward to working with Ed on some new material, but we have yet to do that," Dave continued. "Almost all of the music that you hear on our most recent album [2012's 'A Different Kind Of Truth'] was written and demoed before the first album. And I would certainly look forward to writing a whole list of songs with Ed, but we haven't found the time to do that [laughs]. You hear the tone. I'm not sure what's in Ed's mind at this point. I'm gonna guess that his plans are to write with his son [Wolfgang], and I'm not sure where that actually leads. But truth be told, Edward and I haven't written a new song in 20 years … Wait, what am I saying? 'Stay Frosty' is brand new, and I wrote that whole song myself. I wrote the chord structure, played the guitar, the vocals, etc."

Currently living in Tokyo, Roth rambles at length about his frustration with Van Halen's failure to tour internationally, including playing festival shows around the globe. Read about that here.



Demon Hunter Address Osama Bin Laden Shooter Story
The metal band Demon Hunter made headlines recently when the Navy SEAL who reportedly shot and killed Osama bin Laden said he was wearing the band's patch when he shot the infamous terror leader.

The SEAL spoke in an Esquire article about how heavy metal was used in interrogating prisoners and how the band supported members of the military by sending them patches and CDs, as well how the band were supportive after Metallica asked that their music stopped being used.

The SEAL told Esquire, "I wore my Demon Hunter patch on every mission. I wore it when I blasted Bin Laden."

Now the band has issued a statement after the barrage of media inquires following the publication of the article. Here is what they had to say: As you can imagine, our inboxes and phones (and those of our representatives) have been flooded with messages asking us how we feel about the Esquire article on the raid that brought Osama Bin Laden to justice that began circulating yesterday. Specifically, the person identified in the story as "The Shooter" said that Seal Team 6 wore the Demon Hunter emblem on their uniforms and "I wore it when I blasted Bin Laden."

Over the years, we have been overwhelmed by the personal (and unofficial) emails and letters we've received from members of the US military. We have been humbled and honored by the troops who've told us our music has offered them some comfort while overseas, while missing loved ones, while doing what they do best in order to keep America safe and protect the freedoms we enjoy. We've met many servicemen and women at our shows and they've shared their stories with us in person, as well. We wrote "The Soldier's Song" back in 2005 to pay tribute to these folks who've reached out to us. We included one such veteran among the Demon Hunter fans we profiled in our documentary film, 45 Days.

We have seen our symbol, a demon skull with a bullet hole in its forehead, tattooed on fans around the world. We've seen it made into sculptures, painted onto motorcycles, even spray-painted onto tanks and military planes. We often post these pictures on our Facebook page when we receive them. One such email, a few years ago, came from a special operations team who had crafted homemade Demon Hunter patches and put them on their uniforms. They asked us if it was OK if they did this and we of course told them "YES" because we are unapologetic supporters of our troops. In the last 24 hours, we have come to believe this team who contacted us a few years ago must have been Seal Team 6.

As for the talk about enhanced interrogation techniques that has sprung up in the media in the last 24 hours surrounding this story, we feel that it is an unnecessary distraction. It's been widely reported for years that heavy metal music has sometimes been used in these situations. We have no specific knowledge of our music being used for this, nor have we ever volunteered it to be used as such, nor are we commenting on it beyond that. The debate about enhanced interrogation techniques is for politicians, military intelligence, pundits and others of the like to have.

The members of Seal Team 6 and The Shooter are American heroes who deserve our support. We were among the Americans and people around the world abroad who supported the bringing to justice of one of the biggest mass murderers in history, who planned and executed some of the most horrific acts imaginable. All of the military who risk their lives to protect our freedoms earn our respect each and every single day. We are honored, humbled and blessed that Demon Hunter was of any support or comfort to Seal Team 6 or anyone in the US military at any time.

– DEMON HUNTER




Ozzy Says New Black Sabbath Album The Most Important of His Career
(hennemusic) While Black Sabbath continue working on their new album, "13", the band is sharing a preview of some behind-the-scenes video on the project.

The group will issue a full video on Wednesday and, in advance, they've offered up a 30-second preview clip of what fans can expect.

"The last time we were in the studio, all together, was 1978," says guitarist Tony Iommi, referring to the band's "Never Say Die" album.

"If you try to live up to the expectations of the past album, then you just fail dismally," explains bassist Geezer Butler.

"I want it to sound current but yet still have that Sabbath vibe, ya know," adds Ozzy Osbourne. "This Black Sabbath album is quite possibly the most important album of my career." more on this story




Dave Clark Five's Rick Huxley Dead at 72
(Classic Rock) Dave Clark Five bassist Rick Huxley has died at the age of 72. Frontman Clark, one of only two surviving band members, says he's "devastated" after confirming his heavy-smoking bandmate had recently been given the all-clear from emphysema.

"I spoke to Rick on Friday," the drummer and vocalist tells the BBC. "He was in great spirits. He was very kind and had an amazing sense of humour. He was the funny one in the group and a very talented musician."

Huxley joined the British Invasion outfit in 1958 and remained until they split 12 years later. He enjoyed success with 12 UK and 17 US top 40 hits including Glad All Over and Bits And Pieces. more on this story



Muse Set New Chart Record With Madness
Alternative rockers Muse have broken a record set by the Foo Fighters for the most weeks at the top of a Billboard chart.

The band's latest single, "Madness," has now spent 19 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard's Alternative Chart.

This breaks the previous record set in 2007 by the Foo Fighters for their hit single "The Pretender."

"Madness," is the latest single from Muse's album, "2nd Law".



Queens of the Stone Age Drop Another Cryptic Clue
Queens of the Stone Age obviously like to have fun. We do know that the band is working on their new album but the details are few and far between. However, the band has been dropping clues via cryptic messages to media outlets.

The band have previous sent two handwritten letters to music media outlets Uncut and Mojo with some clues about the forthcoming album.

Now the band has sent a new handwritten letter to Kerrang! that contained a drawn hand with several wristwatches and the following text: DEAR KERRANG,

…SOME THINGS YOU CAN'T FIX SO…

ON THIS RECORD WE CAME TO A REALIZATION: THE BEST TRICK OF ALL, IS NO TRICK AT ALL

THE SONGS ARE A REAL TIME DOCUMENT OF THE MANIC UPS AND DOWNS OF THE LAST YEAR. IT CAN'T ALWAYS RUN LIKE CLOCKWORK.

SO RATHER THAN CONTROL THE DIRECTION OF THE RECORDINGS, WE DECIDED TO RIDE SHOTGUN ON OUR EMOTIONAL BANDWAGON. WE EMBRACED OUR EVIL, HELD THE HORRIBLE, LICKED THE LUNACY AND BLEW THE BEAUTIFUL. AS A RESULT, WE'RE ON CLOUD 9.

I CAN'T WRITE ANYMORE CAUSE MY PHONE'S DYING,

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE more on this story




Def Leppard Delivering Digital Valentine
(hennemusic) Def Leppard's single, "When Love & Hate Collide", which originally appeared on the band's 1995 greatest-hits collection "Vault", will be released digitally for the first time on Valentine's Day (Thursday, February 14).

Written by vocalist Joe Elliott and bassist Rick Savage, the tune was originally demoed for 1992's "Adrenalize" album, but surfaced a few years later.

Upon its original release, "When Love & Hate Collide" reached #2 on the UK singles charts and #58 on the Billboard 100. more on this story




Megadeth Name New Album And Reveal Release Plans
(hennemusic) Megadeth have revealed details of their forthcoming new album. "Super Collider" will be released in June via Dave Mustaine's new label, Tradecraft, which is distributed by Universal.

"It was a real thrill for us to learn there was an opportunity to join Universal," said Mustaine. "It seems like every time you see a great band or music video, it comes from a Universal label. Being with Universal is by far the most exciting and prestigious home for Megadeth ever! We are electrified with what the future holds and the possibilities such a powerhouse like Universal will bring for us all. We have worked with some great people over the years, and it is amazing to see so many of them on the Universal team for our new record, 'Super Collider'. If Megadeth being here isn't satiating enough, having Tradecraft as my own label is going to be really amazing for metal bands around the world."

"Super Collider" is being recorded at Mustaine's Vic's Garage studio in San Marcos, California and is Megadeth's first release its recent split with Roadrunner Records. more on this story



Down Launching Spring Tour
Down will be hitting the road to perform a handful of headline tour dates this May.

The band will launch the seven-date mini tour on May 23 in Birmingham, AL and will make stops at the Maryland Deathfest, Raleigh, NC, Augusta, GA, Nashville, Broussard, LA and finish in New Orleans on May 31st.

Down will be touring in support of their latest release, Down IV Part I. The 6-song EP will be released on vinyl on February 26th. more on this story




Dave Grohl Taking Sound City Players Across The Pond
(Gibson) Foo Fighters main man Dave Grohl has announced that he will be bringing his Sound City Players to London for a one-off show. On February 19 the all-star band will take the stage at The Forum. It will be their first concert outside the United States.

Sound City Players are made up of, among others, Grohl, members of Foo Fighters, Krist Novoselic of Nirvana, and Stevie Nicks.

During the band's set in Hollywood on January 31, they played for a stunning three and a half hours, where each performer would do original compositions as well as their contributions to the Sound City documentary soundtrack.

Tickets for the London gig have already gone on sale, and the day before the show the Sound City documentary will be shown on selected screens across the UK. The screening at Vue Leicester Square in London will be followed by a Q&A with Dave Grohl. more on this story






Jon Bon Jovi Worries That This Generation Lacks Interest In Music
(Gibson) Jon Bon Jovi gave his views on the current state of modern music in an interview with British magazine Star.

The 50-year old rocker is concerned that young people aren't "paying attention" to music in the same way that teenagers used to when Jon himself got his start in the industry. He also points out that with shows like American Idol and X Factor, young talent don't get the chance to mature on their own: "It's hard because they're thrust into a huge spotlight and they're expected to have a record on a par with the greats six weeks later."

On the question of whether Bon Jovi would have made it under such circumstances, Jon answered, "No, I had 21 years to write my first record." In fact, Bon Jovi did not hit the big time until their third album, Slippery When Wet, went multi-platinum. The first two albums, while moderately successful, allowed the band to mature in peace.

Jon does realize that there are plenty of talented musicians around today, no matter what genre they might belong to, saying "But you can't compare One Direction to the likes of Adele or Mumford & Sons. Their talent is invigorating. I'm glad to see talent continuing because I worry this generation isn't paying that much attention to music." more on this story






Joe Bonamassa Releasing An Acoustic Evening at the Vienna Opera House
Joe Bonamassa has set a March 26th North American and March 25th UK release date for "An Acoustic Evening at the Vienna Opera House."

The package will be released in various formats including 2-CD, 2-LP, 2-DVD and Blu-ray.

The release features a show captured during a stop at the Vienna Opera House during a special unplugged tour in July 2012.

Bonamassa explains, "Originally, when I had the idea of doing an all-acoustic concert, I imagined doing it solo. I'd surround myself with a bunch of guitars, tell the background story of each song, and then play it. Kevin believed the show would be more exciting with a band and he got to work. All of a sudden, we had a five-piece group, and 72 hours to rehearse 20 or so songs. It was amazing, different than anything I'd ever done before."

"An Acoustic Evening" will feature 22 songs include Woke Up Dreaming, Around The Bend, Driving Towards The Daylight, and Sloe Gin. more on this story




Terror To Join Hatebreed, Every Time I Die Tour
Hatebreed are about to wrap up their Divinity Of Purpose North American tour and already prepared to launch a new leg of the trek.

Terror announced on Tuesday that they will be joining Hatebreed, and Every Time I Die for the Divinity Of Purpose 2 Tour 2013, which will also feature Job For A Cowboy and This Is Hell.

The new trek will be kicking off on April 9th in Millvale, Pa and will conclude with a stop at the New England Metal & Hardcore Festival on April 20th.

Fans can expect Terror to perform music from their new album, Live By The Code, which is set to be released on April 9th.

Terror are currently on a North American tour with H20, Backtrack and Code Orange Kids which is set to conclude on March 3rd. more on this story




Green Day Expand North American Tour
Green Day have added two additional dates to their upcoming North American spring tour.

The new tour dates will take place in Berkeley, CA on April 16th and in Los Angeles, CA on April 18th.

The tour is set to kick off on March 28th in Rosemont, IL and is currently scheduled to conclude with the new Los Angeles show on April 18th.

The band will then head to Europe in May to kick off a three month long European and UK tour.

The band will be hitting the road in support of its recently released album trilogy Green Day ¡Uno!, Green Day ¡Dos!, and Green Day ¡Tré! more on this story




Phoenix Releasing New Album in April
Phoenix have set an April 23rd North American and April 22nd UK and European release date for their new album, Bankrupt!

The album was co-produced by the members of the band and producer Philippe Zdar.

The band will also be launching a North American tour that will kick off on March 28th in Vancouver, BC and includes their headlining set at the Coachella Festival.
more on this story




August Burns Red To Begin Recording New Album Next Week
August Burns Red will be entering the recording studio next week to begin recording their new studio album, which they expect to release this year.

"2012 turned out to be quite intense for us from a touring standpoint," says guitarist JB Brubaker. "We did more traveling than we had ever previously done in our career and after three straight months on the road to end the year I think we were all ready to come home and shift into writing/recording mode. Now that the writing is complete we are all itching to get started with the actual tracking."

"This new record will push the boundaries of our genre more than we ever have before," Brubaker continues excitedly. "We set out to write a record where every song stands out from the last. There is a lot of ground covered here and a ton of meat to this album. It's full of odd metered rhythms and breakdowns, unexpected twists and turns, and some of our most technical riffing to date. Each of us have parts that make our heads spin and we have had to practice like crazy to get some of this stuff together. I know we always say this, but this will be our most ambitious album yet." more on this story




Alice In Chains & Friends Launch Charity Auction
(hennemusic) The Alice In Chains & Friends Fantasy Football League launched its fourth annual charity auction on eBay this week.

The ten-day-long auction includes collectible items donated by league participants, such as a double-platinum plaque for Pantera's record, "Vulgar Display Of Power", autographed by Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul.

It also includes 2012 World Series memorabilia autographed by MLB pitcher Brian Wilson, G&L Tribute Series Rampage Jerry Cantrell Signature Model Electric Guitar autographed by Jerry and more. more on this story




I Am Empire Releasing Sophomore Album Next Month
Tooth & Nail have set a March 26th release date for I Am Empire's new studio album, Anchors.

"We're always writing, and even when Kings was just finished, we got right back to writing and continued throughout the next year-and-a-half," says frontman Austin Lyons. "As we approached Anchors, we went into the studio with 30 songs and jammed our way through them all, but then recorded the best eight or nine and then finished up the rest in the studio."

"There are a couple of different themes throughout the record, starting with a lot of progression in my life and the idea of moving forward and rebuilding," reveals Lyons, also asserting the band's support of The Mentoring Project (which helps kids growing up without father figures). "Kings was my therapy from my upbringing, but things are getting better, which even plays out in why we named the album Anchors. It's about throwing away and getting rid of the weight that holds you down, which is something we also experienced collectively as a band. We've gone through seasons of getting burnt out from the road, difficult times financially and just going through rough stuff behind the scenes, but we came out of all that wanting to make a record that's 100% our art and not what anyone else wants us to be. Tooth & Nail said 'you guys just do your thing' and they've been completely supportive."

"If listeners can take away one thing from Anchors, it's the idea of just throwing away all your worries and casting them aside so you can be free mentally and spiritually in your life," sums up Lyons, who credits his high school sweetheart turned new bride in helping shift his perspective towards the positive. "You can't progress if there's a giant anchor tied to your ankle. You'll be stuck in the same spot as long as you want it there. As far as my Anchors go, I'm done with them. Just move forward and progress." more on this story




Foals, Surfer Blood and Blondfire Tour
Foals will be hitting the road in April to launch a spring headline tour of North America with support from Surfer Blood and Blondfire for most of the trek.

The tour is set to kick off on April 10th in Reno, NV, and will feature two performances at Coachella, and is scheduled to conclude on June 12th in Asheville, NC.

Foals are hitting the road in support of their third full-length album, Holy Fire, which was produced by Flood & Moulder (PJ Harvey, Nine Inch Nails, Smashing Pumpkins) at Assault & Battery studios in London. more on this story




Surfer Blood Releasing New Album in June
Warner Bros have set a June 11th release date for Surfer Blood's new studio album, Pythons.

The album was produced by Gil Norton (Pixies, Echo and the Bunnymen) in Los Angeles and mixed by Rob Schnapf (Beck, Elliott Smith, Guided By Voices).

The band will be hitting the road later this month for a series of headline shows before they head to this year's SXSW, which will be followed by a North American run with Foals. more on this story





Singled Out: Psychothermia
Today Psychothermia singer Johan Maldonado tells us about the title track of their brand new album "Fall To The Rising Sun". Here is the story:

We're all very proud of our latest release "Fall To The Rising Sun". The title track clearly was a front runner for being our single as soon as it came together. We work well (definitely wouldn't say a well-oiled machine) under pressure and only had a few months to finish our debut album. FTTRS was a bubbling little track that we had been putting together for an advertising side project at the time. But the track blew me away the first time I heard it! I knew we had something more than just a good track, we had our SINGLE! As a little tidbit, Jon (guitar) had pulled the verse guitar part from a B-Side called "Fallen Tree". It fit perfectly and complimented his very unique whammy pedal intro and chorus parts.

Inspired, I felt the subject matter needed to be vocally epic and emotionally moving as well. We had been through a lot in the past couple of years. We've made every possible move to stay not only afloat, but ahead of ourselves. Lyrics in hand, I got myself in the recording booth and belted out what I feel was my strongest vocal performance on the album. It also helped that Mikey (drums) and Chenzo (bass) lit a fire under my ass for showing up a half hour late. "Stay one step ahead of yourself; stay one step ahead of the competition; always strive to better yourself… and if you don't, you fall to the rising sun. Fate will catch up with you," is the basic meaning behind the song and the new found mentality of the band. It's true… don't believe me!?!? Come see for yourself this March on our "FALL TO THE RISING SUN" southwest tour 2013. For details hit us up at all the usual social mobbing pages and www.psychothermia.com. Grassy ass amigos!!

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




Tommy Thayer of KISS Talking Metal and Guitars
Tommy Thayer of KISS is the featured guest on the latest episode of the Talking Metal podcast.

During the podcast Thayer talks with host Mark Strigl about his limited edition Epiphone signature model Les Paul guitar.

They also discusses Black N Blue, Hunter S Thompson, Vinnie Vincent, Judas Priest, Stars, Angel, the first Metal Massacre album and various Kiss albums including Monster, Sonic Boom, Hot In the Shade and Revenge. Check it out here.

More on KISS - KISS Music - KISS Tour Dates/Tickets - KISS CDs, vinyl and rarities
What You May Not Know About Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi
(Gibson) Tony Iommi turns 65 on February 19. The Black Sabbath rifflord is a legend of rock guitar, having a huge influence on heavy metal and all riff-rock for over four decades. The title of his autobiography, Iron Man – My Journey Through Heaven and Hell, is also well-named: Iommi recently had to undergo cancer treatment to finish recording the new Black Sabbath album due summer 2013.

You'll know the numerous classic riffs Tony Iommi has written. But what about the man himself? Gibson have collected 10 things you may not know about Tony Iommi.

He grew a mustache because of spiders and fireworks As a child, Iommi was scared of spiders. A boy neighbor – "Bobby Nuisance, which is the right name for him," recalled Iommi in 2011's book Iron Man – collected large spiders, and once chased Iommi down the street with them. "I was s**tting myself and running down this gravel road when I tripped, so all the gravel went into my face and along my lip. The scar is still there now. The kids even started calling my Scarface, so I got a terrible complex about that." Later, Iommi even had a "sparkler" firework go off in his face. "As soon as I could, I grew a mustache."

Led Zeppelin's John Bonham was one of his best friends: "John was a good friend, best man at my first wedding, and he liked us," says Iommi. "Sabbath jammed through "Supernaut" [from 1972 Sabbath album Vol. 4] with John on drums once. John loved that track. Though we ended up just jamming 12-bar blues at the end. "Supernaut" got too complicated for John! He was going all over the place."

Iommi "Invented" Ultra-Light Gauge Strings: After Iommi lost his fingertips he had to apply thimbles to extend his two damaged fingers. Originally, he self-made the thimbles with the plastic bottle caps of Fairy dishwashing liquid (think Dawn, in the U.S.) His thimbles are now leather. But regular strings were still too painful too play. He bought banjo strings and used the lightest for B and high E. "This way, I managed to get rid of the low E string, using an A string instead." Iommi tried to persuade string manufacturers to make such a "complete" set but most told him, "Nobody's ever going to buy them." He wasn't successful until the U.K's Picato company agreed in 1970.

Iommi's strings had a .008" gauge for the top E. Jimmy Page, Brian May and Billy Gibbons have all since used .008" top E strings. Compare that with Stevie Ray Vaughan, Pete Townshend and Malcolm Young from AC/DC who all use (or used) .012″ or heavier.

Iommi says he's been told by producers that he needed a set of thick strings to get a big sound. "I've never used a set of thick strings and I do have a big sound."

For D# (root) tuning, his gauges are .008, .008, .011 (unwound), .018 .024, and .032. For C# tuning, he uses .009, .010, .012 (unwound), .020, .032 and .042.