California Breed, the band initially consisting of bassist and vocalist Glenn Hughes, guitarist and vocalist Andrew Watt, and drummer Jason Bonham and then Bonhams’s subsequently replaced by Joey Castillo, have posted the following message on their Facebook page:
“The band is over…what a logo though right?”
Andrew Watt elaborated further on the situation by saying, “To the California Breed fans here…I put everything I had into this band…all I can say is I was in it for the long hall…I have a lot of new music for you guys…going to be announcing my plans soon…I cannot tell you how much I appreciate you supporting us, buying our music, coming to our shows…this is not the end…it is truly the beginning…cannot wait to continue the quest to bring rock n roll back to the people that are hungry for it…what an amazing learning experience for me here and introduction to an amazing world of people and fans that share love for the same thing.”
Iron Maiden is joining in the fight against ticket scalpers. The band’s manager Ron Smallwood was among 80 representatives from the music and sports businesses who signed an open letter asking the U.K. government to crack down on secondary sellers.
The letter published in The Independent asks officials to “put fans first” and help ensure that anyone who buys tickets to shows and games is getting a fair price.
Smallwood tells BBC News they care about the fans and “the future of this business.” They’re asking for changes to be made to a Consumer Rights Bill currently going through Parliament.
The battle against ticket scalpers is also being fought on this side of the Atlantic. The Foo Fighters recently brought attention to the issue by selling tickets to their upcoming tour in-person rather than online.
Guitarist/singer/songwriter Richie Kotzen digitally released his 20th solo album, Cannibals, January 8th through his Headroom-Inc label. It quickly reached number one on Amazon’s New Rock Releases chart. Videos for You and Cannibals can be found on the site, here.
“Cannibals is an interesting record for me,” Kotzen explains, “because much of this material is comprised from recordings that are as old as 10 years. The title track is the most recent song I’ve written. That was from 2014, but Come On Free, for example, was originally recorded back in the early 2000’s. I always liked the track, but never knew how to fit it into one of my records. Somehow I thought now was the time, so I went back to the original recording and did a remix. The only new overdub is the chant at the end, which happened recently one night when I was playing the song for my friends. I had a bunch of friends in the studio from Brazil and they all started chanting. I was like, ‘All that!’ and put up the microphone and we recorded it with no headphones. Everyone was having a great time. It was so spontaneous.
The track Time For The Payment is also an older recording from 2008. I would have included that on my album, Peace Sign, back then, but it didn’t seem to make sense at the time. That recording is unchanged. I just had it mastered and I think it is a great closer for the record.
In An Instant and The Enemy were both written by combining new song ideas with previously recorded material. I wrote The Enemy chorus in 2014 when I originally recorded the song, but I didn’t like the verse I had written. After spending a day listening to old song ideas, I found an older song of mine with a great verse idea and intro, and basically copied and pasted that recording into the current recording. Then I sang everything over, made some creative edits, re-wrote some lyrics, and ended up with The Enemy. I probably shouldn’t reveal this, but half the song has a drum and guitar performance from several years ago and the rest of the song is comprised of new recorded performances. Crazy concept, but somehow it worked and I ended up with a recording that I’m very happy with. I did the same trick with the song In An Instant.
I suppose my proudest moment on Cannibals is the song I wrote with my daughter, August, called You. I originally released this as a single/video at the end of 2014. It was born from a piano idea she had written when she was 13 or 14 years old. I found the original recording of her piano performance on my computer and wrote lyrics to it last summer. Probably one of my favorite things I’ve ever recorded.
I also did a duet with someone who I’ve always been a fan of, Dug Pinnik from Kings X. I was at a house party and Dug was there, and we were talking about how we should do something together one day. When I went back to the studio I was working on the song ‘I’m All In’ and then it hit me. I called Dug and asked him if he would trade vocals with me on the tune and we did it! He added a whole other dimension to the track. I’m glad I called him!”
In other Kotzen news, he’ll be teaming up with his bandmates of The Winery Dogs (Mike Portnoy and Billy Sheehan) to start working on their second album this month. Stay tuned for new album details.
VH1 Classic’s centerpiece in original programming That Metal Show returns for its 14th season this February. The acclaimed hard rock/heavy metal talk show, hosted by Eddie Trunk, Don Jamieson, and Jim Florentine, will kick-off the new season on Saturday, February 21st at a new broadcast time of 9:00PM ET/PT, repeating at 11:00PM ET/PT the same evening. The new season of “That Metal Show” will consist of 12 all-new episodes and will be shot at Metropolis Studios in New York City on Tuesday nights for broadcast that Saturday. Audience tickets for upcoming tapings are now available via Gotham Casting at gothamcasting.com/gothamrsvp/. Upcoming guests will be announced in the near future.
“It’s been a bit of a lay-off but I’m so thrilled to be coming back with season 14 of ‘That Metal Show’ on February 21st at our new time of 9PM ET!”, exclaims host Eddie Trunk. “We’re already lining up a great roster of new and returning guests from the world of rock and metal that I’m sure everyone will love. I want to thank all the TMS faithful for their support, it’s great to finally be back!”
If previous seasons are any indication, season 14 will be the biggest season of “That Metal Show” to date. Last season marked some monumental changes for the show as it returned to New York City. Previously the show was taped over several days in a course of a week, at Sony Studios in Los Angeles. But Season 13 was shot at Metropolis Studios on Tuesday nights, for broadcast the following Saturday, which will be the same for this new season. Fans can watch previous episodes and other exclusive bonus clips at ThatMetalShow.VH1.com and on the new VH1 app.
Last season brought some of the biggest names in hard rock and heavy metal including members of Kiss, Motley Crüe, Alter Bridge, Lamb of God, Living Colour, The Winery Dogs, Sevendust, Anthrax, and Megadeth. Season 13 also featured icons Ted Nugent and Dee Snider, and some of the best musical performances in the show’s history, featuring Lita Ford, and guitar virtuosos Yngwie Malmsteen, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal, Joel Hoekstra, as well as drummers Charlie Benante and Richard Christie.
That Metal Show first premiered on VH1 Classic in November 2008 and since has become the only place for all things hard rock and heavy metal on cable television. The show has been visited by some of the biggest names in the genres including members of Black Sabbath, Van Halen, Metallica, Aerosmith, Pantera, Kiss, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Pearl Jam, Guns ‘n Roses, Queensrÿche, Heart, and many more.
That Metal Show is a production of VH1 Classic. Lee Rolontz, Jeff Baumgardner, and Keshia Williams serve as executive producers for VH1.
VH1 Classic brings you the best metal, rock, soul and pop from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. The channel features the gods of rock – from Black Sabbath, Metallica, and Iron Maiden to Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam, and Dire Straits – in marquee concerts and music specials, and of course, tons of classic music videos. Recent big events include “National Metal Day” (11.11) and “Metal Evolution”, an 11-part documentary series on the history of metal. When it comes down to it – all music should go to 11.
Ozzy Osbourne’s Hell Gate project is a month-long residency in Las Vegas themed on Halloween, wife Sharon has revealed.
The Black Sabbath frontman teased the concept in September, launching a Facebook page that led to speculation it would be linked with Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights.
Now Sharon reports on her US TV show The Talk, “It was meant to start last year but we couldn’t get it together in time. Ozzy’s going to be in Vegas for the whole month. What it is is a Halloween experience. It’s a very state-of-the-art, interactive show that Ozzy will put on, with everything that goes with Halloween.”
The vocalist last year launched compilation album Memoirs Of A Madman, with the intention of making sure fans didn’t forget he still had a solo career – even though Sabbath have committed to making a final album before splitting.
In November Ozzy said he hoped original drummer Bill Ward could return for their final bow, but added, “I don’t deal with the business side. That’s my wife’s job.”
AC/DC will perform during next month’s Grammys ceremony scheduled for February 8th, it’s been confirmed.
Described as “music’s biggest night,” the 57th Grammy Awards ceremony takes place at LA’s Staples Centre and it’ll be broadcast live on US network CBS. The show also features Madonna, Ed Sheeran, Ariana Grande and Eric Church.
It’ll be AC/DC’s first live appearance since Malcolm Young was forced to retire as a result of his dementia, to be replaced by nephew Stevie Young. It’s also been revealed that the mainman was treated for lung cancer before he left the band.
But it’s still not known who will be playing drums, since Phil Rudd faces continued legal troubles after being accused of threatening to kill. Despite facing seven years in jail if found guilty, Rudd said last month: “I’m going back to work with AC/DC – and I don’t care who likes it and who doesn’t.”
AC/DC released 17th album Rock Or Bust on December 1st. Vocalist Brian Johnson later admitted he’d been concerned over his ability to perform in the studio, saying, “I went with my fingers crossed and my eyes shut into the singing booth.”
