The 2nd Annual Bowl 4 Ronnie Bowling Party, benefiting the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund, will take place on Friday, November 4th at the Pinz Bowling Center in Studio City, California. The event, hosted by VH-1’s Eddie Trunk, will include a celebrity bowling tournament, a raffle and a special live auction.
The event kicks off at 6:30PM with open bowling and a VIP pre-party for lane sponsors, celebrities and their guests. Bowl 4 Ronnie participants can anticipate an evening of fun, food, and, of course, bowling with rockers and celebrities competing for trophies in the name of raising funds and awareness for the Dio Cancer Fund.
In addition to emceeing duties, Eddie Trunk, host on Sirius XM’s Volume and VH-1’s That Metal Show, will captain his own bowling team with guitarist John 5 (Rob Zombie) and drummer Steven Adler (Guns N’ Roses) among those joining him in the Celebrity Bowling competition. Other musicians expected to attend include Bjorn Englen (Dio Disciples/Tony MacAlpine/ Yngwie Malmsteen), Chris Broderick (Megadeth/Act of Defiance), Eddie Money, Chris Hager (Rough Cutt), Marty O’Brien (Lita Ford), Mick Sweda (Bullet Boys), Tim “Ripper” Owens (Dio Disciples/Judas Priest), David “Rock” Feinstein (Elf/The Rods), Jeff Scott Soto (Kryst The Conqueror/Yngwie Malmsteen), Chas West (Lynch Mob/Foreigner/ Bonham), Joe Retta (Dio Disciples/ Sweet), Marc Ferrari (Keel), Robert Sarzo (Hurricane), Rowan Robertson (Dio,/Bang Tango/DC4), Rudy Sarzo (Dio/Quiet Riot/Whitesnake), Scott Warren (Dio /Warrant), Craig Goldy and Simon Wright (Dio/AC/DC), Howie Simon (Nelson, Alcatraz), singer Ann Boleyn (Hellion), singer Sonia Harley, Joey Vera (Armored Saint), Roy Mayorga (Stone Sour), Christian Martucci (Stone Sour), Mike Spencer (Flotsam and Jetsam), guitarist Monte Pittman and actor/ musician Sean McNabb (Lynch Mob/Quiet Riot/Dokken), with more names still being added.
There will a live auction that will include music memorabilia and a 6-string Jackson guitar donated by Chris Broderick of Act of Defiance, who will be in attendance, stage played while on tour with Megadeth in 2012 (as well as autographed photos of Chris playing that guitar). Among the raffle prizes will be a specially-designed bowling ball and a bowling pin featuring the Bowl 4 Ronnie artwork, each accompanied by a Bowling Party donated by host venue Pinz Bowling Center.
100% of the net proceeds from the Bowl 4 Ronnie will go to the Dio Cancer Fund. Most recently, the Dio Cancer Fund presented a check for $25,000 to Dr. David Wong, Director of the Dental Research Institute at the University of California Los Angeles, to further his research into saliva testing for the early detection of cancer. Dr. Wong believes this simple, non-invasive test will be available for medical use within the next three years.
Individual tickets and lane sponsorships are now on sale, and participants are encouraged to gather friends, family and co-workers for the ultimate bowling team. The Pinz Bowling Center is located at 12655 Ventura Blvd in Studio City, California.
To purchase tickets for this event, please visit diocancerfund.org/bowlforronnie. For more information about the strong>Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund, go to diocancerfund.org.
Michael A. Moodian of the Huffington Post reports:
Eddie Trunk is one of American hard rock radio’s most recognized voices. The New Jersey native, an industry veteran for decades, launched the country’s first heavy metal and hard rock radio show (in 1983), managed rock stars, was vice president of Megaforce Records, and was the host of VH1’s That Metal Show. His latest program Trunk Nation with Eddie Trunk, airs on Hair Nation and Volume, Sirius XM stations. Trunk is the definition of a rock ‘n’ roll guy.
Hair Nation features 1980s bands such as Mötley Crüe, Dokken, and Cinderella, groups whose most commercially successful period occurred approximately 30 years ago. While Ronald Reagan sold arms to Iran to fund the contras’ effort in Nicaragua, ignored the AIDS epidemic, and cut aid to the poor, Def Leppard, Poison, and Ratt dominated the radio airwaves and MTV. These acts, also known as glam or lite metal bands, have become labeled—perhaps affectionately, perhaps jokingly—hair bands in reference to the hairstyles they proudly displayed during a time of Nintendo Entertainment Systems. Hair bands are known for outlandish perms, big bangs, backcombing, and lots of hairspray.
Despite the fact that glam rock is decades removed from the mainstream, Trunk’s show and others on the station are very popular and widely listened to. “This music has become a new generation’s classic rock. As much as in some areas it’s still marginalized it can’t be denied it impacted a massive amount of people,” said Trunk. “These artists sold millions of albums and lived on TV screens on MTV. If you are between 40 and 50 years old this is what you grew up with, and it’s being celebrated by those people as well as their kids who are discovering it through their parents…”
…Glam metal’s best were featured at a September music festival in Irvine, Calif., titled the Sirius XM Hair Nation Festival. The concert included notable acts such as Mötley Crüe’s Vince Neil, Poison frontman and The Celebrity Apprentice participant Bret Michaels, Slaughter, Lita Ford, the great Yngwie Malmsteen, and many more.
“Hair Nation really set the table nicely, honoring 20 national acts to play day and night for tens of thousands of people. It brought us back to the days of playing sheds and arenas following around Guns N’ Roses and Skid Row,” Chip Z’Nuff, lead vocalist and bass player for Enuff Z’Nuff, said.
What struck me about Hair Nation was that this style of music has not been considered mainstream for at least 25 years, yet there is still significant demand to see these bands perform, as thousands attended the festival.
“It does not surprise me as all those bands collectively have sold over 100 million records. It shows the power of MTV/VH1 Classics and rock radio who played these bands every day in front of massive audiences and Sirius XM radio who supports rock every day,” shared Z’Nuff.
“The music is timeless. Metal and hair metal have so many hooks, like really great popular music through the years. People have so many memories associated with each album and song. Like any great music genre, it stands the test of time,” stated Joe Truck, guitarist of Circus of Power, one of the festival’s performing acts. “I’m a fan of music and it’s truly a blessing that fans still support this genre of music,” added Kristy Majors, guitarist of Pretty Boy Floyd, also a festival act. “Niche music will never lose a fan base. It’s a particular lifestyle and sound that transcends to younger generations.”
A separate but related takeaway is that glam’s popularity in the mid-1980s to early-1990s represented the last time in the United States that musicianship was truly valued by the masses. This does not mean that there was not quality work to emerge from grunge, mainstream alternative rock, and nu metal of the 1990s. But it is hard to deny that the guitarists, drummers, and bassists of the glam movement are immensely talented at their respective instruments. That is simply not the case with contemporary mainstream bands, as one rarely even hears guitar solos when listening to new rock music on the radio.
Trunk opined, “I feel every era had some great moments; however, the eighties may have been the last era of the rock stars. And without question some amazingly talented artists came from that time and are still great at what they do.” He elaborated, “But as long as they keep getting put into this ‘hair’ branding people sadly can’t see beyond it. The impact of MTV cannot be overstated when talking about this genre. It broke many of these acts, but it also left people thinking of the visual of the time almost more than the quality of the songs and playing.”
Trunk hates the term hair band. “I honestly think it’s ridiculous and I also think many forget it is an offensive and derogatory term to describe this era of music as style over substance… I think every era has its signature look and sound, and every era has good and bad bands,” the broadcast veteran said. “I do feel some of the movement of new rock I am hearing is clearly a throwback and influence from the eighties. Again the people who grew up with this music now have kids 20 years old and they grew up on their parents’ music. I see more and more attempting to start bands in the spirit of this music.”
As previously reported, Vocalist/guitarist Rik Emmett’s new solo album features guest appearances by his former Triumph bandmates, bassist Mike Levine and drummer Gil Moore, as well as Rush’s Alex Lifeson and Dream Theater’s vocalist James LaBrie.
The new recording is called, RES 9, and will be released on on November 11th through Mascot Label Group.
“This album represents a journey through my life,” Emmett observes, “and the idea behind a lot of these songs is me trying to figure out who I am, and why I’m doing what I’m doing. There’s a common thread of positivity here that ties into the records I was making 30 years ago. What did I learn from making them? You’ll hear all of that echoed in the grooves of this album.”
Indeed, the scope of the 11 deeply heartfelt songs on Res 9 covers a lot of exciting aural ground, from the out-of-the-gate gallop of Human Race (which also features a driving 12-string contribution from Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson) to the testifying tones of My Cathedral to the whispering blues of The Ghost of Shadow Town, not to mention the cutting-heads guitar duels on End of the Line and the touching album-closing bonus track Grand Parade, which reunites Emmett with his onetime Triumph bandmates, bassist Mike Levine and drummer Gil Moore. The RESolution9 band itself is comprised of Rik’s touring quartet, with Dave Dunlop on guitar, Steve Skingley on bass and keyboards, and Paul DeLong on drums. Dunlop and Skingley also co-produced RES 9 with Emmett.
Emmett is a strong believer in teamwork, and to him, the overall vibe of RES 9 is clearly reflected in the brotherhood and camaraderie shared amongst all the artists who made this special music together. “You can’t accomplish this kind of project 100 percent by yourself,” Emmett believes. “It takes a lot of things working together to make something like this happen. I come back to the old saying that goes, ‘Success has many fathers, and failure is an orphan.’ I knew that I had to spread it all around. It’s important I keep the guys in my band pretty happy.”
Lead track Human Race masterfully sets the positivity table for what’s to come. “I’ve been around the block a few times, and one of the things I like about the lyrics in Human Race is when we get to the last verse where it says, ‘I am still this guy. I still live this.’ That’s very true,” Emmett acknowledges. “There’s also a line in there about raising a joyful noise — and I still want to do that too.”
Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson added some period-perfect 12-string guitar alongside Emmett and Dunlop to buttress the impact of Human Race, and he says he found it quite an honor to play with and for his lifelong friend. “When Rik asked me to play on his new album, I didn’t hesitate for a second,” Lifeson reports. “He’s the consummate musician, a wonderful guitarist, and a terrific person, and it’s always my pleasure to work with him any chance I can get. There is a rock purity in his songwriting and performance, and it’s just so much fun to get together and throw ideas around. He’s always so up and open for anything — even a notoriously uncooperative Rickenbacker 12-string!” Dunlop points out the way RESolution9 meshed with Lifeson “stands as a great example of the collective efforts of the brotherhood.”
Another one of Res 9’s honored guests, Dream Theater vocalist James LaBrie, lent his own considerable talents to a pair of tracks, I Sing and End of the Line (the latter of which also features Lifeson taking the third guitar solo), and he jumped at the chance to record with his fellow Canadian. “I’ve been extremely blessed and fortunate to meet so many great musicians and beautiful people throughout my career, and to have the opportunity to collaborate and record with some of them is really icing on the cake,” LaBrie notes. “What a thrill it was to record with Rik, who is such an incredible musician and overall down-to-earth cool guy.” About the slow-build manifesto of I Sing, Skingley enthuses, “James sang his ass off on that song!” Adds Dunlop, “I enjoyed tracking the guitars on I Sing the most because I got to go crazy with several layers of guitars — and I also got to channel [Pink Floyd’s] David Gilmour on the outro.”
A fair amount of the album was recorded and mixed at Mississauga, Ontario’s MetalWorks Studios, a location where Emmett, Levine, and Moore (who owns the studio) recorded many of Triumph’s greatest works — and it’s also where the trio convened to tackle Grand Parade. Clarifies Emmett, “The Triumph song is a bonus track. That’s the best way to position it. It’s like Suitcase Blues [the last track on Triumph’s 1979 million-seller, Just a Game] — or Her Majesty at the end of Abbey Road!”
Having Triumph involved on Res 9 to some degree was always on the table. “I play Suitcase Blues as the last song of the night in the encore for my acoustic shows. I dedicate it to Mike and Gil and the fact that they gave me the latitude to do the crazy things that I do,” Emmett laughs. “As I was developing the lyrics for Grand Parade, I started thinking, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if I could get Mike and Gil to play on it? Wouldn’t that just bring everything full circle?’ One thing led to another, and there we were, recording in MetalWorks. Things just lined up perfectly.”
Levine had a great time in the studio with his former bandmates. “We rocked it up a bit, and Gil made the drums heavier than they were on the demo,” the bassist notes. “Once I paid deeper attention to the lyrics, I really got into the ‘let’s wrap up this late night’ kind of feel to it. I think it turned out really fantastic. I told Rik I felt it was a really cool tune, one that was very personal for all of us. I’m really, really proud of it, and it was great to work with both Rik and Gil on it. It was really neat.”
Moore wholly enjoyed the Grand Parade experience. “It was really a pleasure to have Rik and his band at MetalWorks, and getting to see him there every day was just like the old days,” the drummer recounts. “I always liked how Rik was able to bring another dimension and another color palette to what we were doing, and I like the spacious bass and drum tracks we did together. That’s what’s always been in my wheelhouse, as far as my playing is concerned. I’m really happy with how this song turned out. I hope we get to do it again.”
Emmett’s ultimate goal for RES 9 is to connect with as many people as possible. “The context of this entire album for me was, ‘Wow, somebody tossed me a lifeline,’” he concludes. “I still want to make positive music and offer people something that’s motivating and inspiring — and I want to do it for myself too. I need music, and music can provide that lifeline for me.” Mission accomplished, “I’ve got a thirst for life,” as Emmett sings on “Human Race.” And you’ll find that thirst being quenched quite handily in the very heartbeats that percolate within all 11 tracks of Res 9. Drink up.
RES 9 track listing:
1. Stand Still
2. Human Race (feat. Alex Lifeson)
3. I Sing (feat. James LaBrie)
4. My Cathedral
5. The Ghost Of Shadow Town
6. When You Were My Baby
7. Sweet Tooth
8. Heads Up
9. Rest Of My Life
10. End Of The Line (feat. Alex Lifeson & James LaBrie)
11. Grand Parade (feat. Gil Moore & Mike Levine) (bonus track)
Hookers & Blow, the band featuring Guns N’ Roses keyboardist Dizzy Reed and Quiet Riot guitarist Alex Grossi, have released their first ever studio recording, a cover of the Elton John classic Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting.
The track is currently available as a free download starting on October 22nd, exclusively online and in-store at Forgotten Saints L.A..
The band recruited veteran producer Ron Mancuso (Iggy Pop, Ace Frehley, Jake E. Lee) and features drummer Les Warner, best known for his iconic drumming on The Cult’s critically acclaimed album Electric as well as session work for Johnny Thunders & Julian Lennon, Bow Wow Wow among others)
“We figured we might as well record a cover song that has been a staple in our live set since the band’s inception in 2004 and give it away with the newest line of Hookers & Blow merchandise” says guitarist Alex Grossi. “We are very excited to have taken the Hookers & Blow brand to where the whole concept has become somewhat legendary over the past decade. The one thing that has been constant throughout, is the demand for new merchandise and recorded music, So we figured, let’s kill two birds birds with one stone and release both at the same time…”
Hookers & Blow has also just announced a string of December tour dates, including an In-Store Hollywood Holiday party at Forgotten Saints LA on Friday, December 23rd, followed by a live performance at the legendary Whisky A Go Go later that evening.
The band is currently in negotiations with multiple labels to put out a full-length cover record as well.
Forgotten Saints online store ships worldwide from its world-renowned Melrose Avenue boutique in Hollywood, California.
For more information about Hookers & Blow, please visit the band’s Facebook page.
Hookers & Blow tour dates:
12/2 Tony V’s Garage Everett, WA
12/3 Rock Hard PDX Portland, OR
12/21 St. Rocke Hermosa Beach, CA
12/22 Maui Sugar Mill Saloon Tarzana, CA
12/23 Forgotten Saints LA (In Store Appearance) Hollywood, CA (6pm)
12/23 Whisky A Go Go – Hollywood, CA (10pm)
Bassist Michael Anthony was a recent guest on Eddie Trunk’s Sirius/XM show, Trunk Nation heard on the newly launched, Volume channel.
When asked when the last time the bassist had any contact with his former bandmates, the Van Halen brothers, Anthony responded (as per blabbermouth.net), “You know what? This is pretty interesting. There’s a mutual friend of Alex’s and mine. His name’s Craig DeFalco. And this is a guy who was a tech for me for a while, and he actually was Eddie’s tech… I don’t know if it was the 2007 tour, but he teched for him one of the tours. And he stays in touch with Alex, basically. I got a relatively new place out there at the beach in Southern California, and this guy Craig, he had never seen my house, so he came out. He was on tour with Lenny Kravitz or someone, doing… teching and had a break. And so we went out on my boat. I’m, like, ‘Yeah, we’ll cruise you around the bay and you can check the place out.’ So, as it goes, I had a couple of cocktails, and next thing you know, we were talking about the band and the good old days and all that stuff. ‘Cause he did, I think, at least two or three Van Halen tours with me back in the ’80s. So we’re talking, and next thing you know, I’ve got him holding his iPhone up and I’m shooting a video going, ‘Hey, Alex, man…’, just talking about the good times and everything that’s going on now. All these heroes of ours, people I grew up listening to, they’re, like, starting to drop left and right now. It’s, like, ‘Oh, my God!’ And so later on, we were at my house, my buddy and myself, Craig, and his phone rings, and it was Alex. And he’s, all, ‘Hey, tell Mike I said hi.’ Next thing I know, [Craig] is handing me the phone and goes, ‘Here, Al wants to talk to you.’ And I’m, like, ‘What?’ And this was this past May. And I hadn’t spoken to Alex in, like, ten years, I think — ten or eleven years.”
While Anthony explained that “nothing heavy” was discussed during his conversation with Alex, Michael added, “But it was just great to talk to him. We talked for about twenty minutes, and had a great conversation — just about life in general and getting older and what’s going on around us in the music industry. And it was actually really great talking to him.”
…When asked if he still thinks there is “unfinished business” between him and Van Halen and if he believes there is a chance that he will reunite with his former bandmates one day, Anthony told Trunk, “You know what? In some ways, I’m kind of over it, only because you can only hold your breath for so long. But it’s kind of interesting that you say ‘any unfinished business,’ Van Halen being one of the biggest bands there ever was, it’s kind of sad to see how everything kind of dwindled down like it did, kind of with a whimper. Which, this band, if we were gonna go out, we should have gone out killing it all over the world. And, you know, I’m always a never-say-never guy. If the circumstances were right, I have no problem… I love going out and playing the music. And if we did it, though, it would have to be none of this four separate planes and four separate this and that, and you only see them on stage. It’s gotta be kind of like… I don’t know if it can ever be a brotherhood like it was before.”
Last In Line, the band featuring former Dio band members Vivian Campbell (guitar) and Vinny Appice (drums) along side singer Andrew Freeman have released a lyric video for the song, Already Dead. The band posts that they have posted it to celebrate the beginning of their Heavy Crown tour this week. Watch the clip below.
Joining Last In Line on their tour dates is bassist Phil Soussan, who replaces the late Jimmy Bain, and keyboardist Erik Norlander.
Last In Line Heavy Crown tour dates are as follows:
October:
22 – Costa Mesa, CA (Tiki Bar)
23 – Los Angeles, CA (Whisky A Go-Go)
28 – Sacramento, CA (The Boardwalk)
29 – Reno, NV (Rock Bar)
30 – Las Vegas, NV (Count’s Vamp’d)
November:
10 – Gwynedd, UK (Hard Rock Hell)
13 – Zwolle, Holland (Hedon) – w Saxon (Official)
14 – Paris, France(Le Trianon) w/ Saxon
16 – Strasbourg, France (La Laiterie) w/ Saxon
17 – Stuttgart, Germany (LKA Longhorn) w/ Saxon
18 – Telfs, Austria (Rathaussaal) w/ Saxon
19 – Zlin , Czech Republic (Masters Of Rock Winter Festival,
21 – Warsaw, Poland (Progresja) w/ Saxon)
22 – Berlin, Germany (Huxleys) w/ Saxon)
23 – Cologne, Germany (Luxor Köln)
25 – London, UK (O2 Academy Islington)
26 – Winter Storm Festival, Troon, UK
27 – Bristol, UK – (Bristol Bierkeller
28 – Nottingham, UK (Rescue Rooms)
30 – Wolverhampton, UK (Wolverhampton Civic Hall)
December:
1 – Newcastle, UK (O2 Academy Newcastle)
2 – Sheffield, UK (Corporation)
3 – Belfast, NI (Limelight Belfast)
Last In Line’s Heavy Crown was released on February 19th, 2016 through Frontiers Records.
 and Vinny Appice (drums) along side singer Andrew Freeman have released a lyric video for the song, Already Dead. The ... )
