On the heels of singer Darren Smith announcing that he was leaving the band, Red Dragon Cartel bassist, and Lee’s former Badlands bandmate, Greg Chaisson has announced that he has decided to depart the group as well.
Chaisson said, “I’m afraid to say real life just jumped right up and got in the way of my good time. I can no longer take any more time away from my regular job. I want to thank everyone in the Red Dragon Cartek organization, and most of all, my best friend Jake E. Lee. And a very special thanks to all of you who have treated me so great! They will continue on without me and it will be fantastic as always.”
Chaisson’s replacement will be Anthony Esposito, who has previously played with Ace Frehley and Lynch Mob. In addition, it has been revealed that singer Smith’s replacement will be Michael Beck who is the owner, engineer, and producer at SoundVision Recording Studio in Mesa, Arizona.
Red Dragon Cartel’s self titled debut album was released on January 24th in Europe and January 28th in North America.
19 Responses
That’s too bad. The Red Dragon Cartel album is terrific by the way. Wish they would rerelease the second Badlands album.
The guy has a day job, as many musicians do but don’t talk about. Reality.
You are 100% correct Eddie. People forget it’s a business the “Music Business” and as you age your simply limited to a point but in reality you also can do anything you want without having to answer to anyone. At the end of the month when bills, rent , mortgages and car payments and putting food on the table is really #1, if you have a family or 3 kids to support and a loving wife/partner life is too short to give that up just to get an ego boost or adulation and fan-fare at the end of the day it’s all about priorities if you spread yourself to thin life passes you by and you miss out on the really important stuff as I mentioned. Hey if I had a few 100 thousand or a million in the bank I could focus on music full time again, but I’m not 20. It’s great to have dreams goals and aspirations, but reality and being an Idealist is really what it’s about at some time in your life you have to be pragmatic and make smart calculated choices! Remember there is a big difference the way music was 20-30 years ago and now and if everyone just dropped everything to become “ROCKSTARS” I THINK the world would be over saturated with talented players but with no guidance or connections and that’s what life is really all about who you know and who knows you. Most of all follow your heart but be realistic like Greg Chaisson is being….UNTIL NEXT TIME – ROCK ON WORLD….. – JOHNNY ROCK – : )~
Michael,
Badlands did release a second album called, Voodoo Highway. Also, it would be difficult for the band to ever reunite with the line-up that made them popular, when their singer, Ray Gillen, passed away a long time ago and Eric Singer is currently a member of KISS.
Dana from ET.com 🙂
Dana,
There is also a third Badlands cd called DUSK,released after Ray died.
yep good album girl !
Damn, Greg definately is going to be missed as the band were gelling with his time with them. I think its time for Jake to join someone elses band and take some pressure off himself. He can still jam with the best of them and needs to concentrate on that and not all the bs of trying to create his own thing. I hope all this crap doesn`t discourage him and he goes into recluse again.
So much for the fantasy of the rich rock star eh? That’s a bummer, and the sad reality that many musicians don’t talk about. They either have to work a “real” job or have a spouse that brings in the bucks. Interestingly enough, the same goes for many authors and artists….but nobody talks about it.
If he can’t get a solid band together, another move would be for him to do another solo album and just bring in guest singers and musicians. I’m sure he’ll find out lots of people would want to work with him.
How much does he even want to do this is the question? Greg leaving was inevitable, he was just filling a hole mostly anyway
Whatever he chooses to do, I hope he stays active. We don’t want him getting discouraged and quit the business again. I know I’ll support any musical venture he takes, whether it’s Red Dragon Cartel, a supergroup (why not? Everyone else does it), or solo. He put out a solo album years ago called A FINE PINK MIST that I liked.
Red Dragon Cartel isn’t selling records or drawing anything from concert revenue, so this is what happens. Jake E. Lee can play but there’s nothing in the history to show he can lead a band. Sorry to say, but that’s just the way I see it. I wish him the best of luck.