Y&T have launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the making of a career-spanning documentary.
Frontman Dave Meniketti hopes fans will step up so the band can tell their own story their own way.
The movie is to be built out of the hundreds of hours of personal footage shot over the years. It’s set to cover their earliest days of rehearsing in Leonard Haze’s grandmother’s house, then move through the first two albums, touring with Journey, Boston and Queen, to their big breaks with AC/DC, Ozzy Osbourne and Dio.
It’s also designed to be a tribute to bassist Phil Kennemore, who died in 2011.
Meniketti says, “In the past we’d ask a record company or a big corporation for funding – and in exchange, sign away our rights and artistic control. But we can do it differently, and tell the story the way it should be told, uncut, with all the nitty-gritty, the stories you want to hear, in a film you want to see.”
The crowdfunded edition of the DVD will feature bonus material that won’t appear in the standard version. Y&T have raised nearly $9000 of a required $26,000 via the Kickstarter campaign, with 28 days to run. To donate, please click here.
Stryper frontman Michael Sweet says that he was approached to produce a solo album from Sebastian Bach, claiming that the plan was to write music that was reminiscent of “those powerful songs from [Bach’s Skid Row] past.”
During Sweet’s appearance on the January 19th edition of Eddie Trunk’s SiriusXM satellite radio show, Eddie Trunk Live, Eddie brought mentioned that Bach wondering in a recent interview why so few of his 800,000 Facebook followers purchased his latest solo album, Give ‘Em Hell, when it was first released.
Sweet replied to Eddie, “This isn’t a bash against Sebastian at all; it’s just my opinion. I think people wanna hear Sebastian of old. They wanna hear the Skid Row Sebastian. They wanna hear the hits. And he’s giving them modern rock. It’s [Give ‘Em Hell] a good album, it’s a good-sounding album, but it’s not the glory days. And I think that’s the one thing Stryper at least tried to do, and I saw the numbers to prove it.”
He continued, “Our album Reborn, which is a little more modern…Murder By Pride was in between modern and old… they sold less than 5,000 the first week out. We come out with No More Hell To Pay, which is going right back to our roots, giving the fans what they want and wanted, and we did almost 10,000 units first week out.”
Asked if there was any truth to reports that he was supposed to be collaborating with Bach on some new music, Michael said: “I don’t wanna throw him under the bus or make him feel awkward or weird. I was approached to do a Sebastian album… to produce it and to co-write with him and basically try to kind of go back to those powerful songs from the past. Not make a dated record, but just that style, the anthemy Skid Row stuff that everybody loves. And that was the plan. Management got involved, and Sebastian and I e-mailed each other back and forth. It was going down the track a little ways and all of a sudden it came to a screeching halt. He decided he wanted to do an acoustic album, or wanted to do this, or wanted to do that. And I was just, like, ‘Guys, let me know what’s going on, if it’s going on.’ And I never really heard any more about it, so I guess it’s not happening. But it would have been cool.”
Sweet added, “I’ll tell you right now, I think I could have helped Sebastian make a killer album. But hey… We’ll never know.”
After Sweet’s comments were first published online, Bach reportedly wrote in a tweet that has since been deleted, “Dear @michaelhsweet : shut your mouth. Before I shut it for you.”
Sweet tweeted today (January 29th), “I never disrespected @sebastianbach & I wish him well. I simply answered a question that was asked by @EddieTrunk Nothing more, nothing less.”
Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler has been arrested following an altercation at the Corkscrew Saloon on the Furnace Creek Ranch in Death Valley, Calif.
Booked at the Inyo County Jail under this full name of Terence Michael Butler, the 65-year-old was charged with misdemeanor assault, public intoxication and vandalism on Tuesday (Jan. 27). Butler has since been released “after detox and citation,” the Inyo County Sheriff’s Department said in an official statement.
“Shortly after midnight on Jan. 27, sheriff’s dispatch received a call regarding a verbal and physical altercation,” the statement says. “After the Inyo county sheriff’s deputy arrived on scene and interviewed witnesses, it was determined that there had been an argument that escalated into a physical confrontation — resulting in an individual being struck, and a broken window.”
Butler has also been Black Sabbath’s primary lyricist since co-founding the group in 1968. He remained with Black Sabbath through 1985, served an early-’90s stint and has been back with the group since 1997 — a period of rebirth that included the hit Ozzy Osbourne reunion album 13.
Black Star Riders has confirmed their appearance at this year’s Download Festival – England’s premiere summer rock event taking place at “the spiritual home of rock,” Donington Park. The multi-stage music festival will also host KISS, Judas Priest, Motley Crue, Faith No More, Muse, and Slash.
In the U.S., Black Star Riders will play three shows this April as special guests to Europe following their appearance on the Monsters Of Rock cruise. Upcoming show dates are:
4/24/15 Potawatomi Casino – Milwaukee, WI [Tickets on sale 1/30]
4/28/15 House of Blues – Chicago, IL [On sale now]
4/30/15 Irving Plaza – New York, NY [On sale now]
Additional U.S. tour dates will be announced soon.
Guitar legend Eddie Van Halen will speak at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and Zócalo Public Square February 12th about innovation as part of the national “What It Means to Be American” program. The Dutch immigrant and naturalized U.S. citizen will discuss his American journey, his role in creating one of the biggest American rock bands of all time, how he has reinvented the way the guitar is played and designed, and he will answer the question, “Is rock ‘n’ roll about reinvention?” Entertainment journalist Denise Quan will moderate the sold-out event.
Edward “Eddie” Van Halen (b. Jan. 26th, 1955) is a Dutch American guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter, producer and self-taught inventor of guitar technology and technique that allows musicians to make sound in new ways. The February 12th event is sold-out, and no public tickets are available. The event video may be accessed February 13th at www.whatitmeanstobeamerican.org.
Best known as the lead guitarist and co-founder of Van Halen, Eddie Van Halen is recognized for his innovative performance and recording styles, two-hand tapping, scorching solos and energetic concerts. Van Halen has invented guitar technology, technique and instruments that have redefined how the guitar is played and heard.
For the event Van Halen and Fender will donate a master-built replica of Van Halen’s infamous white-with-black-stripe Stratocaster. This is the guitar that changed the guitar world in 1978 when Van Halen cross-pollinated Gibson electronics with Fender body and neck designs. To represent the path of progressions in his instrument designs, a Stealth finished EVH Brand Wolfgang will also be included to represent his modern-day workhorse.
In addition to the guitars, Van Halen and Fender Musical Instruments Corp. will also donate an EVH Brand 5150-III amplifier and speaker cabinet to embody the journey and progression of his amplifier designs from the early ’70s through the modern day.
The National Museum of American History and Los Angeles-based Ideas Exchange Zócalo Public Square have partnered to present “What It Means to Be American,” a collaborative three-year initiative aimed at engaging leading thinkers, public figures and Americans from all walks of life to explore how the United States became the nation it is today.
The “What It Means to Be American” initiative will inform the museum’s upcoming exhibition projects centered on exploring the themes of democracy, immigration and migration, and the nation people build together. Additional events will take place in the museum’s Liberty Square, an interactive events space scheduled to open in 2016.
Through incomparable collections, rigorous research and dynamic public outreach, the National Museum of American History explores the richness and complexity of American history. The museum helps people understand the past in order to make sense of the present and shape a more humane future. The museum is located at 14th Street and Constitution Avenue N.W., and is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (closed Dec. 25). Admission is free. For more information, visit americanhistory.si.edu. For Smithsonian information, the public may call (202) 633-1000.
Zócalo Public Square, a proud affiliate of Arizona State University, is a not-for-profit Ideas Exchange that blends live events and humanities journalism. Zócalo partners with educational, cultural and philanthropic institutions, as well as public agencies, to present free events and conferences in cities across the U.S. and beyond and to publish original daily journalism that is syndicated to more than 160 media outlets.
Former Accept singer and current Udo frontman Udo Dirkschneider was a guest on the Lokaos Rock Show. Portions of the conversation appear below.
When asked how it feels for him to see Accept continue with a new singer (former TT Quick frontman Mark Tornillo) as his replacement, Udo said, “What can I say? I mean, I was watching a show of Accept in Hamburg, and I was a little bit disappointed. It was without any emotion. For me, there was no band on stage. Playing-wise, it was okay, but it was without any emotion. It was automatic — like, do it and then go.”
Discussing whether he would ever consider reuniting with his former bandmates, Dirkschneider replied, “No.”
When questioned what the difference is between fronting his own band versus being the singer for Accept, he responded, “Let’s say it in this way: With Accept, the name Accept, if I continued with the name Accept, then you have to do something… what the people know under the name Accept..I think with U.D.O., I think I’m more free.”
Speaking with Music Enthusiast Magazine in September 2014 Accept guiarist had this to say about his former singer, “I haven’t heard from him in forever other than indirectly in the press, and honestly none of us are even thinking about him..It’s really not been an issue at all, I mean, we surely put it to rest with this album [discussing Blind Rage]. Clearly it was a big deal the first time around for [2010’s] Blood Of The Nations; a lot of people were asking, ‘Why?’ and ‘What?’ and ‘How come?’ But the story has been told so many times now that it’s clear that we’ve started a new life and Udo didn’t want to be part of it. He made his choice, we’re moving on, and that’s that.”
To listen to Udo’s entire interview with the Lokaos Rock Show, below.
Y&T have launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the making of a career-spanning documentary.
