Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian has announced that he will release an autobiography.
“Why a book? Because I think my story can connect with anyone and, if I was able to make the life I wanted for myself happen, then anyone can,” says Ian. “I’m really excited to be writing a book because the idea of getting forty-something years of stuff out of my brain and onto the page seems very therapeutic. Plus, if I didn’t do it now, I’d start forgetting and wouldn’t be able to share all these killer stories with you, my friends!”
Titled I’m The Man, Ian’s memoirs will be released through Da Capo Press next year and will explore the guitarist’s unbelievable rise from a “nerdy Jewish boy in Queens, New York” to one of the most respected metal guitarists of all time.
Tom Keifer just released his first ever solo album and Billboard has an exclusive premiere of the music video for The Flower Song. Watch it below.
Keifer says the song was inspired by his wife Savannah, who also wrote and co-produced some of The Way Life Goes, out now on Merovee Records.
“Women are God’s greatest gift to our world, truly beautiful inside and out,” he says. “The Flower Song is about recognizing your one true love in a world filled with so many amazing women. It can be dizzying. But then, you see the one. A miracle! I thank God every day for my miracle, inspiration and one true love, Savannah.”
The video was shot in Printer’s Alley in Downtown Nashville, featuring Keifer’s friends and family. It even features his own son, Jaidan, playing Keifer as a child. “He had never acted before but fell right into it, no problem,” says the singer.
Randy Rhoads Remembered: A Celebration Of A Legend is scheduled to take place on Saturday, January 25th, 2014 at The Observatory in Santa Ana, California.
From the creators of Bonzo Bash, Brian Tichy and Joe Sutton bring you yet another celebration for an icon.
Tichy and Sutton, in conjunction with Randy Rhoads’ brother Kelle Rhoads; the Rhoads family; Bonzo Bash guitarist/former student of Randy’s, Brent Woods; as well as one of Rhoads’ dearest friends, rock bass legend Rudy Sarzo, have come together to put on the ultimate tribute celebration in honor of one of the the most influential and brightest stars the world of rock guitar has ever seen; Randy Rhoads, the legendary guitarist who revived Ozzy Osbourne’s career with two iconic records. Sadly, Randy’s future was cut short on March 19th, 1982 when he died in a plane crash. He was only 25 years old. His songwriting, solos, technique and tone on the albums Blizzard Of Ozz and Diary Of A Madman permanently placed him at the top of rock’s most influential guitarists polls.
The idea to give Randy a night of honor came together within the hundreds of hours of Bonzo Bash preparation and phone conversations between Brian Tichy and Joe Sutton. The two would often talk about other musicians that had made a huge impact on them growing up. The name that would come up and excite them the most was always Randy Rhoads.
Sometime in 2013, Tichy threw this idea at Brent Woods, a student of Rhoads’ from the pre-Ozzy era, when Randy was not only the most popular local guitarist at the time, but an extremely popular teacher at Musonia, his mother Delores Rhoads’ (Dee) music school. Brent has stayed very close with the Rhoads family as well as producing Kelle’s classical music. Brent ran this idea by Kelle Rhoads, who had already been to a Bonzo Bash. Kelle expressed interest in this and soon after, Woods and Tichy met with Kelle at Musonia. After a tour of the school and hours of hanging, Kelle gave the show his blessing and preparation began.
Tichy contacted legendary bassist Rudy Sarzo; his friend and bandmate from the recent Geoff Tate Queensryche tour they did together. Sarzo, bassist for Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne and Whitesnake, also gave his blessing and agreed to play bass alongside Tichy, making up the night’s rhythm section.
Sarzo, one of the few people that had so much history alongside Rhoads and watched this amazing talent take over the world of rock guitar firsthand, said, “Randy Rhoads Remembered is a unique celebration of his compositions and trail blazing guitar techniques.
I’m extremely honored and excited to be a part of this significant event honoring my dear friend and bandmate featuring his musical contributions with Ozzy Osbourne and rarely performed compositions from his Quiet Riot years.”
Randy Rhoads Remembered is going to include an array of the world’s best guitarists as well as special guests all coming together to honor the man that we all wish was still here writing and performing.
Tichy, ex-drummer for Whitesnake, Foreigner, Billy Idol and Ozzy Osbourne, as well as guitarist for S.U.N., says: “I am so psyched to get this show together! Randy’s playing, and the music on those two Ozzy records were huge to me!
I am a drummer but I also started putting a lot of time into guitar at the same time Randy came out.
I heard Ozzy being interviewed on the radio when Blizzard Of Ozz was released. They played I Don’t Know and when the guitar kicked in, I was floored and I was an instant fan!
I spent countless hours trying to learn Randy’s songs, riffs and solos while I was also just a beginner on guitar. I tried to learn Randy’s live solo note for note! I had Randy’s posters on my basement walls! I still have those posters framed in my home studio right now! Brent and I even shared a bottle of Randy Rhoads wine when it first came out!
I went on to play with the amazing Zakk Wylde in Pride & Glory and then had the honor to play with Ozzy himself on the 2000 Ozzfest tour with another student of Randy Rhoads’, Joe Holmes, an awesome guitarist in his own right. Not to mention that just this year, while playing guitar with my band S.U.N. in Las Vegas, Rhoads’ replacement in the Osbourne band, Jake E. Lee, came up on stage and jammed with us!
But I think this next story may take the cake…
In 2000, after auditioning for Ozzy in Burbank, California, I left and headed to a gig. I was going a tad too fast on Hollywood Way and got pulled over. The officer saw my drums and asked what I was doing. I told him, ‘I just auditioned for Ozzy Osbourne and I am running late for a gig.’ The officer replied, ‘Black Sabbath was the first concert I ever saw, and I pulled Randy Rhoads over on this same street. If you get the Ozzy gig, I want you to send me a T-shirt. Now get out of here and slow down!’ So, yes, I sent him the T-shirt! Haha!”
Kelle Rhoads, who will be a guest vocalist at Randy Rhoads Remembered, stated: “I am excited that a tribute concert with this caliber of talent is being staged for Randy. I have attended and participated in memorial shows in the past, but nothing has been staged along this scale before now.
The Rhoads family is touched and extremely grateful to Brian Tichy, Joe Sutton and Brent Woods for their vision and commitment to this special remembrance for Randy.”
Joe Sutton, Tichy’s partner in Randy Rhoads Remembered as well as Bonzo Bash, also grew up on Randy. He saw Randy live on the Blizzard Of Ozz tour in Memphis. Sutton says, “This is going to be the greatest guitar event in the world.”
Brent Woods, Randy’s student who probably spent more time learning from Randy than most, had this to say: “31 years after the tragic death of my mentor and favorite guitar player, it’s time for a proper celebration of Randy’s legacy.
Being involved with the Bonzo Bash since day one, I know Randy Rhoads Remembered will be a tribute unlike any other.”
With this group of friends, family and talent joining together to honor their brother, bandmate, friend, teacher and hero, there is no doubt this is going to be a special occasion! Every song from Blizzard Of Ozz and Diary Of A Madman will be performed; each song by a different guitarist! Some guitarists will tie into Randy’s history, others are icons that were themselves hugely influenced by Randy Rhoads. Guitar gods will be announced shortly.
Despite being listed as an influence on countless notable bands, there has never been a book that tells the complete story of both Faith No More and Mr. Bungle. Until now. Author/journalist Greg Prato’s tenth book overall, The Faith No More & Mr. Bungle Companion, serves as both a career overview and analyzation of both bands – tracing their ups and downs, uncovering quite a few unheard or uncommon tales, and of course, telling the stories behind such classic albums as The Real Thing, Angel Dust, Disco Volante, and California.
And many members of today’s top rock bands offer up opinions and memories of Faith No More and Mr. Bungle exclusively for this book, including Jason Newsted (Newsted/ex-Metallica), Max Cavalera (Soulfly/ex-Sepultura), Kim Thayil (Soundgarden), Devin Townsend (Devin Townsend Project/ex-Strapping Young Lad), Ville Valo (HIM), Johnny Christ (Avenged Sevenfold), Gilby Clarke (ex-Guns N’ Roses), Travis Stever (Coheed and Cambria), Angelo Moore (Fishbone), John Garcia (Vista Chino/ex-Kyuss), Wes Borland (Black Light Burns/Limp Bizkit), Everlast (House of Pain/solo artist), Mike Fleischmann (Vision of Disorder), Mitts (Madball), and Jeff Walker (Carcass).
Prato writes for Rolling Stone, and has penned such popular and critically acclaimed music book titles as Grunge is Dead: The Oral History of Seattle Rock Music, A Devil on One Shoulder and an Angel on the Other: The Story of Shannon Hoon and Blind Melon, The Eric Carr Story, Too High to Die: Meet the Meat Puppets, and MTV Ruled the World: The Early Years of Music Video, among others. He is also a long-time fan of both bands – having interviewed every single Faith No More member who appeared on record over the years (of which excerpts from these interviews are included in this book), and having witnessed countless FNM and Bungle performances over the years.
Available as both a paperback version [$14.99, 210 pages] and a Kindle download [$6.99, 189 pages], The Faith No More & Mr. Bungle Companion helps put it all into perspective for fans of both bands.
For ordering info, please click the higlighted links for Paperback or Kindle.
It’s universally agreed that Michael Schenker is one of the greatest heavy metal/hard rock guitarists of all-time, as the amount of renowned guitarists that list him as a prime influence is off the charts. And on his newest release,Bridge the Gap, this German guitar great has united with his old rhythm section from the Scorpions days – bassist Francis Buchholz and drummer Herman Rarebell – as well as enlisting ex-Rainbow singer Doogie White, plus guitarist/keyboardist Wayne Findlay. And if that wasn’t enough metallic star power, none other than Don Dokken lends his vocals to an exclusive track
(Faith) only available on the album’s “deluxe edition.”
Produced by Michael Schenker and Michael Voss (and engineered by Voss), Bridge the Gap will be released in the US via the inakustik label on January 7th, 2014 (and credited to “Michael Schenker’s Temple of Rock”), with the traditional thirteen-track release features such fierce rockers as Where the Wild Winds Blow and Horizons.
Bridge the Gap will be released in three configurations:
* CD
* Deluxe Edition-media book packaging, plus o-card with high relief and partial gloss coating of the Michael Schenker’s Temple of Rock logo, extended booklet with signatures of all band members, bonus track, Faith, sung by Don Dokken.
*180 gr LP
Watch a trailer for the album below:
Michael Schenker will begin the first round of his 2014 dates with a US tour, which will feature a line-up comprised of Schenker, White, and Findlay, as wellas bassist Rev Jones and drummer Pete Holmes, before the “album line-up” will take over for a World Tour starting in Japan in March.
Schenker says, “Hello America. I am very much looking forward to touring the States in Jan/Feb, and to introducing my new singer, Doogie White, and material from our brand new album,Bridge the Gap. Doogie, Wayne Findlay and myself will be promoting our new album in the States before teaming up with the album line-up for a World Tour starting in March in Japan. We are all looking forward to rock you. Til then, keep on rocking.”
Michael Schenker Bridge The Gap U.S. tour dates:
January:
9 Las Vegas, NV LVCS
10 Corona, CA M -15 Concert Theatre
11 Ramona, CA Ramona Main Stage Theatre
14 Denver, CO Ecks Saloon
16 Libertyville, IL Austins
17 Libertyville, IL Austins
18 Toronto, Canada Rockpile West
19 Toronto, Canada Rockpile East
20 Englewood, NJ Bergan Performing Arts Center
21 Londnberry, NH Tuepelo Music Hall
22 New York, NY B B Kings
24 Sayrevill, NJ Starland Ballroom
25 Poughkeepsie, NY Chance Theatre
27 Sellersville, PA Sellersville Theatre
28 Cleveland, OH Agora Ballroom
30 Oaklahoma City, OK Chameleon Ballroom
31 Houston, TX Concert Pub North
February:
1 San Antonio, TX Backstage Live
6 San Francisco, CA Yoshi’s
7 Orangevale, CA Boardwalk
8 Portland, OR TBA
9 Seattle, WA El Corazon
12 Hollywood, CA House of Blues
15 San Juan Capistrano, CA The Coach House
16 Hermosa Beach, CA St. Rocke
Bridge The Gap track Listing:
1. Where The Wild Winds Blow
2. Horizons
3. Lord Of The Lost And Lonely
4. Rock n Roll Symphony
5. To Live For The King
6. Land Of Thunder
7. Temple Of The Holy
8. Shine On
9. Bridges We Have Burned
10. Because You Lied
11. Black Moon Rising
12. Dance For The Piper
13. Faith (Bonus Track – Deluxe Edition only)
Riot’s classic Thundersteel and Privilege Of Power lineup reunited in 2009 and delivered a critically acclaimed album, Immortal Soul, via major metal heavyweights SPV/ Steamhammer and Avalon/ Marquee. A successful tour with performances on the prestigious 70000 Tons Of Metal cruise and appearances at Sweden Rock and Metalway festivals solidified Riot’s long-sought-after return a success, but success doesn’t come without tragedy.
The band’s journey has never been easy, with personnel changes and the untimely deaths of frontmen Guy Speranza, Rhett Forrester as well as the passing of long-time founding guitarist Mark Reale who finally lost his lifelong battle with Crohn’s disease early last year, and with Tony Moore battling his own demons and health issues, Riot, like Johnny, are back again!
Through the storm of life’s obstacles, Mike Flyntz, Bobby Jarzombek and Don Van Stavern are joined by powerhouse vocalist extraordinaire Todd Michael Hall (Jack Starr’s Burning Starr, Reverence) and are ready to raise the flag in honor of the Riot legacy of music and our fallen bandmates and heroes, as well as the fans who have been demanding Riot for years and years to come! With the blessing of Mark’s father Tony Reale, the remaining members prepare for the next phase, the fifth phase if you will, of Riot.
Mark always used to say that there were always different phases of Riot throughout the years continuing on with a new singer, sound, logo as well and each having a few records under their belt, Phase One: Guy Speranza, Phase Two: Rhett Forrester, Phase Three: Tony Moore, Phase Four: Mike DiMeo and now Phase Five: Todd Michael Hall! A new album is in the works for a summer 2014 release and reissues are due on Sony, EMI and Metal Blade.
Riot V is:
Todd Michael Hall – Vocals
Bobby Jarzombek – Drums
Don Van Stavern – Bass
Mike Flyntz – Guitar
Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian has announced that he will release an autobiography.
