Author Archives : Dana

L.A. GUNS PREMIERE NEW SINGLE AND VIDEO “GET ALONG,” NEW ALBUM “CHECKERED PAST,” OUT NOVEMBER 12TH

L.A. Guns have announced the release of their new studio album, Checkered Past on November 12th. The band has released a third single, Get Along from the album today. Watch the music video below and pre-order Checkered Past on CD/Color Vinyl/Digital, here.

Written and recorded during late 2020 and early 2021, Checkered Past sees Tracii Guns, Phil Lewis, and company continuing with the darker lyrical tone of the preceding studio albums, The Devil You Know and The Missing Peace, while incorporating their classic rock influences into the mix. Heavier songs are mixed with bluesier, boogie inducing tracks and dark, introspective ballads, often harkening back to the first three albums the band made, but also pushing the band forward. When fans absorb the album as a whole, they’ll see that the tracklisting is divided up into ‘sets’ or ‘suites’, where a sonic style is explored across multiple songs before moving on to the next, making for a remarkable listening experience.

Feeling inspired and excited like they did when they first started out, but with many years of wisdom and experience under their belts, and most importantly, a renewed and stronger creative and personal relationship, Guns and Lewis are maintaining a creative peak that started with The Missing Peace. Checkered Past shows a band invigorated and ready to bash you over the head, as well as “wow” you with some epic, slower songs, and even make you dance a bit to some rock ‘n roll.

Since their self-titled debut in 1988 to the widely praised comeback albums The Missing Peace and The Devil You Know, L.A. Guns, led by Tracii Guns and Phil Lewis have always delivered solid rock ‘n roll to their fans. This current incarnation of the band has been touring non-stop, with a notable break coinciding with all other touring bands, and the cohesiveness of the unit, not to mention Phil’s stunning and unique vocals and Guns’ mind-bending guitar playing, are on full display here. A must hear and listen for all fans of the band, both new and old.

L.A. Guns never looked like the pretty poster boys that so many of their peers did, but more the band that you would be terrified to bump into in an alley as they would likely be carrying switchblades and ready for a fight. But despite having many songs to back up that image, the band could also write powerful ballads (see the smash hit, The Ballad Of Jayne for Exhibit A of this argument) that showed there were some serious songwriting chops in the band. Those chops are on full display on the band’s two most recent studio albums and the upcoming new album, Checkered Past, arguably one of the most vital and exciting releases in the band’s catalog.

Checkered Past song list:

1. Cannonball 2. Bad Luck Charm 3. Living Right Now 4. Get Along 5. If It’s Over Now 6. Better Than You 7. Knock Me Down 8. Dog 9. Let You Down 10. That Ain’t Why 11.Physical Itch

Tour Dates: November 12-Indio, CA, Fantasy Springs Resort Casino November 26-San Juan Capistrano, CA, Coach House November 27-Long Beach, CA, Gaslamp December 3-Las Vegas, NV, Count’s Vamp’d December 4-Las Vegas, NV, Count’s Vamp’d December 31-West Hollywood, CA, Whisky A Go Go Feb 9-14-Port of Miami, FL, Monsters of Rock Cruise 2022

Watch the video for Cannonball, here.

Line-Up: Phil Lewis – vocals Tracii Guns – guitar Ace Von Johnson – guitar Johnny Martin – bass Scot Coogan -drums

L.A. Guns online: Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM “4” OUT FEBRUARY 11TH 2022, PRE-ORDER, AND THE FIRST SINGLE, “THE RIVER IS RISING,” IS AVAILABLE TODAY

A decade and four albums into their career, Slash Ft. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators haven’t been deterred by any obstacles in their path–including a global pandemic. They have announced today, October 22nd they’ll release their new album titled 4 on February 11th, 2022, through Gibson Records, in partnership with BMG. 4 is Slash’s fifth solo album and fourth overall with his band featuring Myles Kennedy(Vocals), Brent Fitz (Drums), Todd Kerns (Bass & Vocals) and Frank Sidoris (Guitar & Vocals). The album pre-order for 4 is out today, here.

A vibrant rock album fueled by memorable guitar hooks and compelling melodies, big choruses, and even bigger riffs; 4 builds on the legacy of Slash Ft. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators’ prior work. That sensibility comes through immediately on the opening track and first single, The River Is Rising, which was released today (10/22), to radio. Watch the official video below.

Slash describes the creation of the song The River Is Rising, “There’s two or three songs on the record that were written during the pandemic; everything else was written before. The River is Rising was one of the last songs I wrote before we started pre-production, and because it was so fresh and has a certain groove and energy to it, it was the first thing we really attacked. It’s the newest song on the record, and as for the double-time part, that was something that I came up with and tagged onto the end of the arrangement. Then when we were over at RCA, Dave Cobb suggested we do it right after the breakdown. So, we went straight into the fast part, and I just started doing the guitar solo over it. It was one of those things where we were jamming around, trying to fish out the arrangement, and it just happened.” While Myles Kennedy adds, “The lyric ultimately explores how humans can be brainwashed or indoctrinated by some sort of dangerous idea. Once we shot the demo back and forth a few times, I personally felt confident that we had the album opener. To me, it’s an important track.”

Today, the band has launched a DSP and physical pre-order in the following formats for 4, including a Deluxe Vinyl Box Set featuring a vinyl gatefold jacket in four colors (Black, Red, Blue, and Purple), randomly distributed inside a mirrored O-card. Each vinyl is 140g black vinyl and comes with a guitar pick, an Axe Heaven Custom Limited Edition 4 Slash Les Paul Mini-Guitar, CD softpack in one of the four colors above (also random), the O-card and a guitar pick, a Cassette Tape featuring an exclusive four-song live rehearsal titled Live Rehearsal Tape 5/28/21, a 36-page photobook including an SMKC interview and handwritten lyrics, an embroidered sew-on patch, a Signed Lithograph (limited to the first 500 copies) and a pick tin with 4 custom Slash guitar picks. A Deluxe CD Box Set, a full album Cassette Tape, and Standard Vinyl and CD packages are also available. To view the full variety of 4 album packages available, go to slashonline.com.

The new album 4 has the added history-making distinction of being the first-ever album to be released on the new Gibson Records label, which is headquartered in the iconic American instrument brand Gibson’s hometown of Music City, Nashville, TN. In light of the 30-year partnership between Gibson and the GRAMMY Award-winning, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Slash, it makes sense the new Slash Ft. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators’ album 4 will be released via Gibson Records–in partnership with BMG.

In another groundbreaking move, Gibson will commemorate Slash Ft. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators’ first studio album with Gibson Records, with a first-ever limited–edition Slash Les Paul Standard 4 Album Edition guitar package that will be released on February 11th, 2022, the same day as the album release. Only 250 Slash Les Paul Standard 4 Album Edition guitars will be made available for global release on gibson.com and at select authorized Gibson dealers, and the unique guitar package also features the new SMKC album 4 on vinyl with an exclusive case inside that houses the vinyl, a 4 album guitar pick tin containing a variety of pick colors (8-count), a signed SMKC band portrait, and a 4 album decal sticker.

Slash Ft. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators will kick off a North American headlining tour on February 8th, in Portland, OR, and hit 28 major cities, including Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Denver, Nashville, Dallas, Austin, Houston, and more, before wrapping-up March 26th in Orlando, FL (all dates below).

Spotify fans will have access to SMKC tour pre-sale tickets at 10:00AM local time on on October 26th. American Express® Card Members can purchase tickets in select markets on October 27th (10AM Local) through October 28th (10PM Local). Tickets will be on sale to the public at 10:00AM local time on October 29th at slashonline.com/tour/.

Slash Ft. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators online: Slashonline.com, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music.

BASSIST DAVE ELLEFSON DISCUSSES HIS RECENT SEX SCANDAL AND SAYS, “THE GREATER JUDGE OF CHARACTER IS [WHEN PEOPLE SUPPORT YOU] WHEN [YOU’RE] AT [THE] BOTTOM”

On October 19th, Former Megadeth bassist Dave Ellefson was a guest on Eddie’s Sirius/XM show, Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk, where he discussed his recent sex scandal that resulted in his firing from the band.

 When asked if his family, including his wife of 27 years and their two children, both of whom are in their late 20s, were “supportive” and “understanding” throughout the ordeal, Ellefson responded (as transcribed by Blabbermout.net): “Look, [they were] supportive, understanding… Not so supportive, not so understanding. I mean, dad’s in a rock band, and not just any band — Megadeth. Let’s face it: we’ve been a band with a history. And this isn’t to discolor or paint anything on the current Megadeth at all, because, obviously, 2021 is not the way it was in 1986. But there’s a reason we had a Behind The Music [special from VH1].”

“Look, I’ve tried to be very transparent, and I think we kind of did in that band over the years,” he continued. “We were very transparent in things — when things happened in our personal lives and things happened in the group, we were always pretty open about it. And I’ve talked openly about getting clean from drugs and booze years ago and all of these things.

On the home life, again, look — I was in  Megadeth to start, and then the families come after. And again, I think there is a reconciling of the lifestyles, that it’s, like, ‘Okay, dad’s off at the circus being the rock and roll guy and all that comes with that,’ including a very comfortable life that affords you opportunities you would not get in any other life. At the same time, it certainly doesn’t give license to go out and misbehave. So I think there is that. And again, that’s probably you and me just talking as husbands and fathers and all that we are in a show biz lifestyle. And again, that’s just the reality of that. And we’ve seen a lot of our friends be successful with it, struggle with it, et cetera, et cetera.

I remember Ace Frehley years ago, and this isn’t to discount it at all, but I remember there was a quote from Ace, he said, ‘Drugs and girls are an occupational hazard.’ And I remember reading that when I was a kid. And I didn’t understand it at that time. And then later in life, I would understand, that’s it’s, like, hazard pay, if you will. And in every life, there is that, and that happens to be one in our way of life over here in the creative world, especially touring rock and rollers.”

The bassist states that has received a lot of support from fellow musicians in the months after the incident.

“I was flying pretty high pretty fast at a high altitude and hit some turbulence, no doubt,” he said. “And people reminded me, [they said], ‘Listen, we’re all human. We all make mistakes, man.’ And even more so in rock and roll.”

“A lot of other musicians, industry people, rock stars — from the smallest to the absolute biggest — reached out to me,” he continued. “Everybody was, like, ‘Hey, brother, are you okay? Anything you need, let me know.’ And it was very supportive from everybody. Which was great because everyone is on your side when you’re picking up your Grammy and you’re on the red carpet and everything is going great, but the greater judge of character is who are you, who am I when we’re kind of at our bottom, when we’ve shown some real humanness. And this was a moment where, I’m happy to say, people really rallied around me.

I’ve gone through a few dark seasons in my life over the years, as we all do — drugs and alcohol, in and out of Megadeth 20 years ago. Things happen, things go down. This was a dark one, I’m not gonna lie.”

In related news, Ellefson’s new band, The Lucid, just released their self titled, debut album on October 15th. To read more details about this release, and to stream their songs, Damned and Maggot Winds, please click here.

SAMMY’S BEACH BAR COCKTAIL CO. PRESENTS SAMMY HAGAR & THE CIRCLE “A TOAST TO TEXAS” TOUR; DECEMBER 3RD – 8TH, TICKETS ON-SALE OCTOBER 22ND

Rock & Roll Hall of Famer and spirits trailblazer Sammy Hagar today announced plans for a four-concert tour of Texas with his supergroup, The Circle, featuring Michael Anthony, Jason Bonham and Vic Johnson. Hagar’s A Toast To Texas tour is presented by Sammy’s Beach Bar Cocktail Co., Hagar’s first line of canned sparkling rum cocktails which are launching in the Lone Star State in step with the shows.  A Toast To Texas starts December 3rd in Fort Worth and stops in San Antonio December 4th, Austin, December 6th and wraps in Houston on December 8th. Tickets go on sale this Friday, October 22. Visit RedRocker.com for complete information.

Tour route and on-sale links below:

·       Dec. 3, Billy Bob’s, Fort Worth, tickets on-sale at 10am CT, here

·       Dec. 4, Aztec Theater, San Antonio, tickets on-sale at 10am CT, here

·       Dec. 6, Moody Theater, Austin, tickets on-sale at 10am CT, here

·       Dec. 8, House of Blues, Houston, tickets on-sale at 12/Noon CT, here

“We chose cool, smaller venues on this tour so we could throw a party like we do in Cabo,” said Sammy Hagar. “It’s about the whole experience, fans can sample my new Beach Bar Cocktail Co. sparkling rum cocktails, along with some Santo Tequila and Beach Bar Rum, while listening to The Circle jam. We’ll be back next summer with the big rock shows, this is a party we’re throwing just for Texas.” 

Hagar made history when he launched Sammy’s Beach Bar Cocktail Co. last month with the Las Vegas Strip’s first-ever rooftop performance for people on the Strip. The cocktails, made with Hagar’s award-winning Puerto Rico-made Beach Bar Rum, are available in four playful twists on classic flavors: Tangerine Dream, Pineapple Splash, Island Pop and Cherry Kola Chill. The flavorful canned cocktails will soon be available throughout Texas. The cocktails are now available in California, Nevada and Texas with more states coming soon.  To find Sammy’s Beach Bar Cocktail Co.’s sparkling rum cocktails near you, click here.

MÖTLEY CRÜE BASSIST’S NEW MEMIOR “THE FIRST 21: HOW I BECAME NIKKI SIXX” REVEALS HIS CONNECTION TO COMEDIAN RICHARD PRYOR AND HOW HE CHOSE HIS MONIKER

The New York Post has reprinted excerpts from Mötley Crüe‘s’ Nikki Sixx‘s new memoir, The First 21: How I Became Nikki Sixx, read the clips below”

In 1987, Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx was clinically dead for two minutes after overdosing on heroin at age 29.

Decades earlier, he was introduced to drugs at an especially early age by his mother’s then boyfriend in Mexico. “I have faint memories of Bernie and my mother drinking and smoking weed, although I didn’t know what weed was at the time,” the 62-year-old rocker writes in his new memoir, The First 21: How I Became Nikki Sixx (Hachette Books). “And I have some memories of Bernie asking me if I wanted to try what he was smoking. I recall doing that and feeling kind of tripped out, and it wasn’t until much later that I realized he’d turned me on to marijuana, and I wasn’t even seven years old.”

Born Frank Feranna Jr., Sixx would eventually graduate to taking LSD while attending Roosevelt HS in Seattle, Wash., and having a mind-altering experience. “The batch we got ahold of was called Four-Way Windowpane,” he writes in the book, which covers the first 21 years of his life — two years before he co-founded Mötley Crüe in 1981 with drummer Tommy Lee.

“You were supposed to take one square and split it up into four pieces, but I had never seen acid before. I thought that one square was one hit, not four. It was not a good experience . . . I’d say that it altered my mind. I don’t think I’ve seen my hands, the clouds, a tree, the grass or the mountains or heard my voice the same way again.”

Then as a teenager, he went from using drugs to selling them, including mescaline, “It came in the form of an off-white powder, like a lighter shade of cocoa. That gave me the idea of mixing it with cocoa and selling it at the school. Chocolate Mescaline was the brand name I came up with for this surefire thing.”

The tome also reveals that Sixx’s mother Deana once dated comedian Richard Pryor while they were living in Lake Tahoe, Calif., in the ’60s. “He was kind, and I remember him down on his hands and knees, playing with me, cracking jokes that I thought were the funniest things in the world,” he writes. “He had held on to his own inner child, but would sometimes be sad . . . But by the time I entered high school, he’d become more than famous — he was an icon.”

Sixx recounts how his own journey to fame revved up while he was in another band, London, playing the Starwood on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood. The club showcased such rock acts as Quiet Riot, whose then-lead singer Kevin DuBrow once asked Sixx to join his band (“I turned him down flat,” he says). It was owned by gangster Eddie Nash, the alleged mastermind of the Wonderland murders in the Laurel Canyon section of Los Angeles in 1981. “He was a perpetually coked-up, paranoid, vicious and violent man,” writes Sixx.

The book also reveals just how Frank Feranna Jr. became Nikki Sixx: He stole the name from Jeff Nicholson, who, as frontman of a California cover band called Squeeze, went by Niki Syxx.

“I loved that name right away — even though it was missing that sweet extra K,” Sixx writes. “Then and there, I decided to steal it. For a while I went around calling myself Nikki London . . . Nikki Nine was on the table briefly.”

But ultimately he went back to his original inspiration, tweaking the spelling: “Then I thought, ‘F – – k it . . . I’m just going to be Nikki Sixx.”

Sixx’s The First 21: How I Became Nikki Sixx is out today (October 19th) and can be ordered here.

DRUMMER SCOTT ROCKENFIELD FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST HIS FORMER QUEENSRŸCHE BANDMATES MICHAEL WILTON AND EDDIE JACKSON

Blabbermouth.net recounts that founding Queensrÿche drummer Scott Rockenfield has filed a lawsuit against the band’s fellow original members Michael Wilton (guitar) and Eddie Jackson (bass), alleging, among other things, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and wrongful discharge. Metal Sludge was the first to report on the lawsuit, which was filed on October 11th in Snohomish County Superior Court.

In the complaint, Rockenfield claims that he took paternal leave of absence from Queensrÿche in February 2017 after his fiancée experienced complications during the birth of their son and had to have an emergency Cesarean delivery. According to the drummer, his leave of absence was approved by the members of the band and he was to retain an equal one-third interest in all Queensrÿche companies (QR Companies), including Tri-Ryche Corporation, Melodisc LTD., Queensryche Merchandising, Inc., EMS Music, LLC and Queensryche Holdings, LLC.

The drummer argues that “Rockenfield, Wilton and Jackson are the remaining members of the band Queensrÿche, as well as the sole or majority shareholders and members of the entities controlling the intellectual property and contractual rights of said group, to wit the QR Companies.”

He alleges that or about October 11th, 2018, Wilton and Jackson purportedly “voted to dismiss Rockenfield from the QR Companies due in whole or in part to his taking of approved family leave. Rockenfield was informed of his purported dismissal from the QR Companies in a letter dated November 3rd, 2018.”

According to Rockenfield’s complaint, since 2017, Wilton and Jackson “have wrongfully withheld from Rockenfield all sources of income from the QR Companies in violation of the various Operating Agreements and Contracts governing the QR Companies for no lawful purpose.” In addition, they “have failed to provide Rockenfield with an accounting of the books, records, business and contracts of the QR Companies.”

Although Rockfenfield says he has continued to receive royalties from Tri-Ryche since February 2017 for the old catalogue, he claims he has “received no payments from Melodisc since February 2017, and no payments from Queensryche Merchandising since early 2018, and no payments from EMS since February 2017.”

Rockfenfield also claims that Wilton and Jackson did not include him in the recording the band’s latest album, The Verdict, “despite his availability and willingness to participate.”

During all of 2017 and 2018, Rockenfield claims, he “remained active in all aspects of the QR Companies’ business, song writing, licensing options, and communications with the exception of touring.

During his family medical leave, Rockenfield was in constant and continued communication with the band, participated in writing songs, and prepared for the band’s recording schedule that was set to begin in early 2018,” the complaint reads.

“In October 2018, Rockenfield participated in negotiating a new extension of Queensrÿche’s 2013 recording contract with Century Media, which would add two (2) additional albums to the recording contract, and continued to work to secure seven very lucrative licensing offers on behalf of Queensrÿche,” according to the lawsuit.

Rockenfield claims to be “owed compensation for lost wages and profits as, as well as an amount equal to the present fair market value of his equity interest in the QR Companies as of his wrongful dismissal, plus interest thereon.”

Rockenfield’s lawsuit, which also names Wilton and Jackson’s wives as defendants, comes nine months after he shot down suggestions that he quit the band or retired from playing music. In January, the drummer shared an update on Facebook in which he said that fans “have not been given the facts by any means” and implied that he would offer more details at a later date.