Author Archives : Dana

FOREIGNER ANNOUNCES 40TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR WITH CHEAP TRICK AND JASON BONHAM

I Want To Know What Love Is, Cold As Ice, Hot Blooded, Juke Box Hero. Foreigner, the band behind these classic and iconic songs, is turning 40 this year and they’re bringing their friends along for the year-long celebration.

First up is a mammoth worldwide tour, set to launch in Syracuse, NY on July 11th. For the US shows presented by Live Nation, Foreigner will be alongside Rock & Roll Hall of Famers Cheap Trick — who are also celebrating 40 years since the release of their self-titled debut album — and special guest Jason Bonham who will be bringing the music of Led Zeppelin to great night of Rock N’ Roll. Tickets go on sale January 13th at Live Nation.

“I never could have imagined when I set out to create Foreigner forty years ago, that we’d still be touring around the world and performing the music we love all these years later,” says founding member and lead guitarist Mick Jones. “I can’t express the gratitude I feel when fans share stories of how our songs have been woven into their milestones and memories over the years. This summer we are going to celebrate these songs, and I can’t imagine a better group of friends to share this monumental tour with, than Cheap Trick and Jason Bonham who are sure to make it a true tribute to the everlasting power of rock and roll.”

Inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2016, Cheap Trick is undoubtedly one of the most influential classic rock groups of the past 50 years. They have performed over 5,000 shows spanning four decades and have sold 20 million records worldwide. Cheap Trick formed in 1974 and while they have evolved throughout the years, the band continues to reach mainstream and critical success. Hits such as I Want You To Want Me, Dream Police, and Surrender have cemented the group as one of America’s top rock ‘n’ roll bands of all time. In 2016, Cheap Trick released its 17th studio collection, Bang Zoom Crazy…Hello.

“I was thrilled to hear Mick Jones wanted me to be involved in celebrating 40 years of Foreigner. I spent three years as their drummer and had a great time,” says Jason Bonham. “Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience show will hit home run after home run with these timeless classics done to perfection. JBLZE started 7 years ago as a way to show my appreciation not only to my dad and the music of Led Zeppelin, but also to the fans themselves. With the amazing Cheap Trick along with the one and only Foreigner this is show not to be missed.”

To coincide with the tour, Foreigner–Mick Jones (lead guitar), Kelly Hansen (lead vocals), Jeff Pilson (bass, vocals), Tom Gimbel (rhythm guitar, sax, vocals), Michael Bluestein (keyboards), Bruce Watson (guitar) and Chris Frazier (drums)– will be releasing a celebratory 40th anniversary album that features forty songs throughout the years entitled 40 – Forty Hits From Forty Years (RHINO). This album is a comprehensive compilation of original hits and several tracks from the current lineup with Kelly Hansen on vocals including Cant Slow Down, Too Late, and the Top 20 AC hit When It Comes To Love. The album also features two new songs, The Flame Still Burns, and Give My Life For Love, a brand new song by Jones. Rhino is kicking off a year-long catalog promotion with the January 24th picture disc release of Head Games.

Foreigner tour dates:

July:

11 Syracuse, NY Lakeview Amphitheater
13 Camden, NJ BB&T Pavilion
14 Bethel, NY Bethel Woods Center for the Arts
15 Hershey, PA Giant Center
17 Boston, MA Blue Hills Bank Pavilion
18 Saratoga Springs, NY Saratoga Performing Arts Center
20 Wantagh, NY Nikon at Jones Beach Theater
21 Darien Center, NY Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
22 Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center
25 Bristow, VA Jiffy Lube Live
26 Virginia Beach, VA Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at Virginia Beach
28 Nashville, TN Ascend Amphitheater
30 Pelham, AL Oak Mountain Amphitheater

August:

1 West Palm Beach, FL Perfect Vodka Amphitheater
2 Tampa, FL MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheater
5 Charlotte, NC PNC Music Pavilion
6 Raleigh, NC Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek Amphitheater
8 Cincinnati, OH Riverbend Music Center
9 Chicago, IL Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island
11 Clarkston, MI DTE Energy Music Theatre
12 Burgettstown, PA KeyBank Pavilion
13 Noblesville, IN Klipsch Music Center
15 Kansas City, MO Starlight Theatre
16 Maryland Heights, MO Hollywood Casino Amphitheater – St. Louis
19 Woodlands, TX Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
20 Austin, TX austin360 Amphitheater
23 Albuquerque, NM*** Isleta Amphitheater
24 Phoenix, AZ*** Ak-Chin Pavilion
26 West Valley City, UT ***USANA Amphitheater
29 Chula Vista, CA*** Sleep Train Amphitheater
30 Los Angeles, CA***Greek Theatre

September:

1 Marysville, CA*** Toyota Amphitheater
2 Mountain View, CA*** Shoreline Amphitheater
4 Morrison, CO*** Red Rocks Amphitheater
8 Ridgefield, WA*** Sunlight Supply Amphitheater
9 Auburn, WA*** White River Amphitheater

** Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience not on this date. Additional dates and support to be announced.

GUITARIST RITCHIE BLACKMORE TALKS ABOUT RAINBOW, RONNIE JAMES DIO AND DEEP PURPLE

Jeff Perlah of Newsweek spoke with guitar icon, Ritchie Blackmore. Highlights from the interview appear below.

Newsweek: Ritchie, how did the regrouping of Rainbow in the mid-’90s come about?

Blackmore: I kind of left the Purple camp and I was really at a loose end, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I just knew that I didn’t want to travel anymore. They were all over the world, all the time, and I hate traveling. It’s funny, because I chose a profession where all you do is travel. I thought maybe I’ll re-form Rainbow and see how it goes.

Popularity-wise, it went very well. But I wasn’t pleased with the lineup. After being in the studio, I thought, You know, I’m not happy with the singer [Doogie White]. My main connection with music is the singer and if I don’t have a good singer, I can’t force it. And when you bring somebody into a band, sometimes the egos go crazy, so I thought, “Why am I doing this?…” So I decided to gravitate more toward the ballads and Medieval/Renaissance music, which of course has been my favorite music since 1972…

Newsweek: When you reformed Rainbow for the shows last June, were you disappointed that you weren’t able to invite original singer Ronnie James Dio, who died in 2010?

Blackmore: I hate to say it, but no, I wasn’t. I’d finished with Ronnie a long time ago, and we kept in touch now and again but I went on to other things and he was in other things. We kept it very convivial and that, but I think neither one of us really wanted to get back together. He’s a strong alpha male, and so am I; he wanted to go one way, I wanted to go the other.

Newsweek: Deep Purple took several stylistic twists and turns before establishing a hard rock sound that would end up influencing countless rock and metal groups. When did that approach come together?

Blackmore: When the band first came on the scene in ’68, obviously psychedelia was in, and everybody had lights and things. We played the Fillmore East and West; it was great, but we weren’t really a psychedelic band. Someone like Pink Floyd was more into that.

We didn’t really find our way, in my opinion, until we did In Rock [1970]. We seemed to have an idea where the hell we were going. I said to [keyboardist] Jon Lord, “Let’s make a rock and roll record, completely hard rock, and if that doesn’t sell we’ll go back to playing with orchestras [Deep Purple played with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra on 1969’s Concerto for Group and Orchestra].” I was a little bit tired with playing with an orchestra because it was very almost contrived. You’d have to play so quietly because the violinist was always complaining the lead guitar was too loud.

My biggest influences were Vanilla Fudge and Mountain. I remember Ian Paice and I were out for a drink in a bar in Germany, in 1970 I think it was, and we were pretty pleased with our record In Rock, and they were playing it. And then this other record came on, and we didn’t know who it was, but it was such an amazing, big, hard sound. We looked at each other very nervously and thought, “Who the hell is that?” We asked the DJ and it was Mountain, with Mississippi Queen, and that thundered.

We couldn’t speak because because we didn’t know what to say [laughs]. We thought, “Oh, my God, that is one hell of a sound.”

Newsweek: In the past you’ve also mentioned the Who as an influence.

Blackmore: When they did Can’t Explain that was an eye-opener. When I heard My Generation, with that feedback, I thought it was wonderful. A guitarist would do a solo and have a feedback part. Whereas I used to do sessions, and heaven forbid, if I came up with any feedback, I was thrown out of the studio. I knew [drummer] Keith Moon a little bit. I always liked his antics. Very, very funny, great man he was. He would make me cry laughing all time.

Newsweek: Many Rainbow songs feature neo-classical elements. What influenced the classical leanings in your guitar work?

Blackmore: Someone was saying the other day that I came up with the idea of playing classical music to a rock beat. I didn’t really come up with that, although I like having the honor. But there was a band I saw when I was 15 called Nero and the Gladiators, and they dressed up in Roman togas, and they were playing all this classical music rocked-up. It would be [Vittorio] Monti’s Csárdás, it would be In the Hall of Mountain King by Edvard Grieg. I was mesmerized by this band. I’ve never been so moved by a band onstage.

Everybody else was playing Chuck Berry and stuff like that. Although I do appreciate Chuck Berry obviously—especially for his lyrics and singing. Most bands around that time—the Rolling Stones came a bit later and a few others—were all influenced by the blues, but I was influenced by classical music.

Newsweek: Two years after In Rock was released, Deep Purple unveiled Machine Head. Can you talk about the making of that album in Switzerland?

Blackmore: The first part we approached was the backing of Smoke on the Water, so Paicey [drummer Ian Paice] asked, “What rhythms should we do?” He used to start just playing a rhythm, and I would join in with a chord sequence. On that particular day, we had this gigantic ballroom. What happened was, the rest of the band joined in on the progression, and soon as we started on the backing track, the police turned up to try to close us down, because we were making so much of a racket. They were literally banging at the doors, demanding to be let in. But we knew that if we’d stopped, we would lose these good sounds that we had in this big ballroom.

Newsweek: Then what happened?

Blackmore: We were listening to the playback on Rolling Stones Mobile Studio, and we knew that the police were still there. We heard the track and went, “That’s it, we got it.” We opened up the door and the police said, that’s it, we’ve had too many complaints from the neighbors, you gotta close all this down and move on.

Now we are stuck in Montreux, with no place to play. Luckily we knew Claude Nobs [a city leader who was manager of the Montreux Jazz Festival]. He knew of an abandoned hotel we could play in. Long story short, we set up in the corridors of this old, very cold hotel, because it was snowing. And with the Mobile unit in the courtyard, we did that record Machine Head.

It was strange to hear playbacks because we’d be in the corridor, we’d have to leave the corridor, go through a bedroom, out the window, along the fire escape, in through another window, across the marble reception, and then across the courtyard. It probably took us 10 minutes to get to hear a playback. After a while, whenever the engineer would say, “do you wanna come and hear that,” we’d often stay “oh, no, it’s OK, we’ll leave it for now.” We knew it was gonna be a 10-minute thing and we’d have to put our coats on—it was quite funny. It was trying to play in very adverse conditions. But in a way, it probably motivated us.

Read more at Newsweek.

source: newsweek.com

BLACK STAR RIDERS RELEASE VIDEO FOR “TESTIFY OR SAY GOODBYE”

Black Star Riders will be releasing their new album, Heavy Fire, on February 3rd. They have released a video for the song, Testify Or Say Goodbye, which can be viewed below.

Singer Ricky Warwick says of the tune, “Power, glory, rock n roll with a whole lotta soul. You gotta testify or say goodbye. Tell me no secrets, tell me no lies. Get up on the stand look me straight in the eye. You gotta testify or say goodbye… Kinda says it all, really!”

To read more about Heavy Fire, view the track listing, and to watch a lyric video for the song, When The Night Comes In, please click here.

Also, to view a couple of trailers about this release, please go here.

BLACK SABBATH’S TONY IOMMI DEBUTS “HOW GOOD IT IS”

Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi had debuted new music since Black Sabbath retired from touring, and it is a religious experience.

“It’s something we have started from scratch,” Iommi tells the Birmingham Mail, “a completely new piece of music unlike anything I have done before.”

Titled How Good It Is, the song is inspired by Psalm 133. It had its premiere at the Birmingham Cathedral in his hometown of Birmingham, England on January 5th, before a specially invited audience.

Iommi composed the dark piece with the Very Reverend Catherine Ogle, the Dean of Birmingham. It was written for the choir of Birmingham Cathedral and features cellist George Shilling along with Iommi, who performs acoustic guitar on the piece.

“They’re a fantastic choir but the guitar player’s crap!” he says modestly.

The divide between heavy metal and chorale music is vast, but as Iommi explains, there is nothing ironic about a longtime Black Sabbath member writing music for the church. For that matter, he has professed his belief in God, saying he’s a non-church-going Catholic.

“People used to think we were Satanists, but we weren’t,” he says. “The songs were the opposite—they were all about the dangers of Black Magic…”

…Iommi [also] tells the Mail he hopes to explore other new musical challenges after Black Sabbath play their final show.

“I will still be making music, and I have a number of interesting offers and projects that I will look at in good time,” he says. “I would like to do some film soundtrack work, maybe something else for TV, and I would like to resume my mentoring work.”

Listen to, How Good It Is, below.

additional source: guitarworld.com

KXM’S SOPHMORE ALBUM “SCATTERBRAIN” TO BE RELEASED ON MARCH 17TH, BAND FEATURES DUG PINNICK, GEORGE LYNCH AND RAY LUZIER

Building upon the success of their 2014 self-titled debut, KXM returns with their sophomore album Scatterbrain. The new album is scheduled for release on March 17th through Rat Pak Records. Scatterbrain is currently available for pre-order via the Rat Pak Records website in various bundles including signed CD’s and t-shirts. All fans who pre-order the album through the Rat Pak website will be entered to win a one-of-a-kind custom guitar as well as other prizes. The pre-order is available by clicking here.

KXM is comprised of dUg Pinnick of King’s X on vocals/bass, George Lynch of Lynch Mob/Dokken on guitars and Ray Luzier of Korn on drums. Scatterbrain features 13 brand new tracks and was recorded at the Steakhouse studio in North Hollywood California. The album was produced by Chris “The Wizard” Collier (Flotsam & Jetsam/Prong/Last In Line) who also produced the band’s 2014 debut.

From the infectious riff of the album opener Scatterbrain to the outro of Angel, KXM have created something truly special and musically diverse. Songs like Breakout, Calypso, and True Deceivers are sonically different from each other taking the listener on a musical journey. Scatterbrain is thematically a darker record than the debut. The album builds upon the developed KXM rock sound but this time includes some different dynamics drawing inspiration from prog, ska, punk and metal. Through it all, it remains undeniably KXM.

Recorded over the span of ten days, every song on Scatterbrain was the result of a musical jam from all three members playing together in the same room.

Ray Luzier explains on the process, “We wanted to use the same formula as the 1st KXM record: book studio time, come in fresh every day with a new idea & run with it and not over think anything.” George Lynch described the sessions as Record-topia, “We showed up in the studio, camped out with a bunch of gear and let the tape roll. Just like the first album, no pre-production, no rehearsal, no pre-written songs.” dUg Pinnick adds, “The vibe was like a bunch of old friends having fun creating music like the previous record, nothing but fun!”

The track listing for Scatterbrain is:

1. Scatterbrain
2. Breakout
3. Big Sky Country
4. Calypso
5. Not a Single Word
6. Obsession
7. Noises In The Sky
8. Panic Attack
9. It’s Never Enough
10. True Deceivers
11. Stand
12. Together
13. Angel

KXM formed in early 2013 when dUg, George and Ray spoke about trying to jam together. At the time it wasn’t clear what would come from those jams. The only thing that was clear was that these three musicians, at the top of their game, wanted to play together. The self-titled debut, KXM, was released on March 11th, 2014 and debuted at #31 on the Billboard 200. The band takes its name from the combination of the member’s other projects: K from Korn, X from King’s X and M from Lynch Mob. In a world that constantly searches for new and unique music, KXM delivers all the power and punch that one would expect from these high level players.

JACK RUSSELL’S GREAT WHITE STREAMS “LOVE DON’T LIVE HERE”

Jack Russell’s Great White is streaming a new song titled, Love Don’t Live Here, from their forthcoming album, He Saw it Comin’, due January 27th, 2017. Listen to it below.

The band has released two other songs, from this release, for streaming. Click on the highlighted link to preview the songs.

She Moves Me and Blame It On The Night.

He Saw it Comin’ Track Listing:

1. Sign Of The Times
2. She Moves Me
3. Crazy
4. Love Don’t Live Here
5. My Addiction
6. Anything For You
7. He Saw It Comin’
8. Don’t Let Me Go
9. Spy Vs Spy
10. Blame It On The Night
11. Godspeed

Jack Russell’s Great White Lineup:

Jack Russell (Vocals)
Tony Montana (Guitar, Keyboards)
Robby Lochner (Guitar)
Dan McNay (Bass)
Dicki Fliszar (Drums)