Back from LA and the first ever Hair Nation Festival that I was honored to host. This one was a slam dunk! Great weather, and a great turnout of fans young and old. Like most festivals that I am working I don’t get to watch everyone, but truly of the many bands I did see all really did a great job. The music was literally non stop with a revolving stage. And there was even a side stage that unfortunately overlapped with some of the bands on the main stage. But it was a great celebration of 80’s hard rock for sure and everyone seemed to have a blast. It was also the last rock show at Irvine Meadows which is closing soon. Live Nation who produced the show tells me they will do another next year at a new S CA location TBA. Huge thanks to all the fans and bands and to Live Nation LA for having me. Also special thanks to those who purchased my VIP and played some backstage Stump The Trunk!
Had some great interviews last night with Jeff Pilson and Jesse James DuPree. Coming soon to my podcast. This Thursday my guest is Jim Breuer in a podcast exclusive!
The Farm Rock show this weekend in IL is postponed.
Doing something cool with Don & Jim 11/18-20 in Woodstock NY at Hunter Mountain. A 3 night rock hang at a lodge! To join us and learn more go to www.musicfarms.com
No news on TMS. When I know you’ll know, thanks.
Ace Frehley this Friday in NYC at Playstation. See you there!
Guitar icon Zakk Wylde has announced today (May 10th) new U.S. and Canadian tour dates in continued support of his new LP Book Of Shadows II. Wylde will hit over 40 cities spread out across the U.S. and Canada this summer including a performance at Heavy MTL Festival in Montreal on August 7th, a first for him as a solo artist. Tickets will go on sale this Thursday, May 12th. Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown and Jared James Nichols will serve as support.
Wylde, as always, has been on the road nonstop. He wrapped up a buzzworthy stint on Steve Vai’s Generation Axe Tour just yesterday in Red Bank, NJ and prior to that served as a marquee artist on The Hendrix Experience Tour with the likes of Billy Cox and Buddy Guy. This is the first time Zakk has toured as a headliner in the U.S. and Canada since last year’s Unblackened tour.
Book Of Shadows II tour dates:
7/8: Dallas, TX @ Gas Monkey Live
7/9: Oklahoma City, OK @ Diamond Ballroom
7/10: Austin, TX @ Emo’s
7/12: Houston, TX @ House of Blues
7/13: New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues
7/15: Orlando, FL @ The Plaza Live
7/16: Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade
7/18: Millvale, PA @ Mr.Smalls Theatre
7/19: New York, NY @ Webster Hall
7/20: Norfolk, VA @ The NorVa
7/22: Charlotte, NC @ Amos’ Southend
7/23: Louisville, KY @ Mercury Ballroom
7/24: Chicago, IL @ Concord Music Hall
7/26: Minneapolis, MN @ Skyway Theatre
7/28: Detroit, MI @ The Majestic Theatre
7/29: Cleveland, OH @ The Agora Theatre
7/30: Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre Of Living Arts
7/31: Boston, MA @ Royale
8/2: Baltimore, MD @ Rams Head Live
8/4: Uncasville, CT @ Wolf Den at Mohegan Sun Casino *no support
8/7: Montreal, QC @ HEAVY MTL
8/8: Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre
8/10: Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave
8/11: Lincoln, NE @ Bourbon Theatre
8/13: Sturgis, SD @ Full Throttle Saloon *no support
8/15: Denver, CO @ The Summit Music Hall
8/16: Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot
8/18: Missoula, MT @The Wilma
8/19: Calgary, AB @Flames Central
8/20: Saskatoon, SK @ O’Brian’s Event Centre
8/21: Winnipeg, MB @ The Garrick Centre
8/23: Edmonton, AB @ The Ranch Roadhouse
8/25: Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
8/26: Seattle, WA @ Showbox SODO
8/27: Spokane, WA @ Knitting Factory Concert House
8/28: Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater
8/30: San Francisco, CA @ The Regency Ballroom
9/1: Las Vegas, NV @ House of Blues
9/2: Tempe, AZ @ The Marquee
9/3: Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda Theatre
Book Of Shadows II was released on April 8th, 2016 via Entertainment One Music (eOne Music), Zakk Wylde’s first solo release in 20 years. This release is the highly anticipated follow up to 1996’s Book of Shadows LP, a classic album Wylde released between his work with Ozzy Osbourne that has since become a fan favorite. The album debuted at #2 on the Independent Chart, #3 on the Rock Chart and # 6 on the Current Albums Chart, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Book Of Shadows II track listing.
1. Autumn Changes
2. Tears of December
3. Lay Me Down
4. Lost Prayer
5. Darkest Hour
6. The Levee
7. Eyes of Burden
8. Forgotten Memory
9. Yesterday’s Tears
10. Harbors of Pity
11. Sorrowed Regret
12. Useless Apologies
13. Sleeping Dogs (see video below)
14. The King
Purchase here a digital copy here and a physical copy here.
James Campion of the Aquarian Weekly spoke with our very own Eddie Trunk, portions of the interview appear below.
Aquarian Weekly: Is there something you would prefer that would allow you to do the things you didn’t have the budget to do or you would even attempt to do to expand [That Metal Show], to have bands play or have more production value or whatever?
Eddie: Absolutely. How realistic it is, I don’t know, but I always have lofty goals and I always am looking to make everything I’m doing bigger and better and have more opportunities at every level no matter what I do. I would certainly love to record more episodes a year than we have. I’d love to include band performances. And I would certainly love to broaden it out. People may find this pretty hard to believe, but I never ever, ever, wanted the name “metal” in the name of the show. And that’s not because of the fact that, I mean, God my whole reputation is in that genre, so it’s nothing to do with that. It’s just that I wanted it to be a little broader based. I thought it would be important to lure in other sort of acts that might be alienated by that name and still keep it a rock show. So, we would like to take some chances and do some different things. We’d like to make it bigger and better. It’s just a question of finding a dance partner that’s up for that and wants to do it. And listen, the flipside of that could very well be where we have to go a little leaner and meaner. We have to even strip some things away maybe depending on what the opportunity presented to us is. So, again, we are listening to everything and everybody and taking it all in. It’s being digested and I’ve got a guy that I trust to process all this and go through it and see what’s going to make the most sense. We just simply don’t know right now. Truly anything can happen. We just have to let the process play out.
Aquarian Weekly: What’s your preference for how this plays out?
Eddie: My dream would be to be on HBO. The reason why I say that is because I would also love to be uncensored. I think that dealing with the people that we talk to, the stories and stuff that we could get that we wouldn’t have to censor would be incredible. Or obviously my dream would be to be on a network, but that’s a pretty lofty thing. But again. I don’t rule out anything. Nobody does. It’s just a question of where is there traction? Where is there interest? It’s funny, James, because, and I get this from a fan’s standpoint because they’ve lived with this show for so long and they love it and it’s ingrained in them, and I greatly appreciate that; but the huge amount of fans that I hear from, they all say the same thing, “Well, just take it here.” “Just take it there.” “Just put it on there.” Like I can do that! (Laughs). There’s going to be a very sizable audience that when we do announce a new home is going to immediately come there. And we hope that that’s a powerful enough thing to get some interest from a network, but I gotta be honest with you, man, I’ve always been a guy that I never get too high and I never get too low. So nothing would surprise me that could happen here. And, of course, I hope for all the best stuff, but I’m prepared for anything and I’m hoping it all works out. If it doesn’t, I’ll do something else. I’ll do something new. I developed this. I’ll develop something new hopefully.
Aquarian Weekly: You guys still do road shows and appearances, right?
Eddie: Yeah.It’s very important for people to know what we do on the road is certainly not a taping of the TV show. But for years now we have been going out together, the three of us, and we go out to clubs and we tell stories, behind the scenes stories, and Don and Jim do standup, and I do some Q&A, and we do some live Stump the Trunk. And we just have
fun with the audience in a bar setting. People come out, obviously they have some drinks, we give away prizes, and we have a good time. There are no cameras. Sometimes there are no guests. It’s just really us.
Another thing, people have said, “Hey, just go do the show on the road.” That’s a little more involved than you would think. Again, it comes down to money. You’re talking crews and sets and hiring guests and musicians. That’s a big operation that again we don’t have that sort of funding available.
So, we do kind of a lean and mean road show. We get out there, we have fun, we thank the people that have supported the show and it’s something that we’ll keep doing with or without the show on a new network. The three of us are all still great friends. We have a good time out there together. We’ll see where it goes. But I can’t stress enough my thanks to everybody for their support through this whole thing. And also, of course, that we hear ya’ and it isn’t as easy as saying, “Go here.”
Ever timeless, seemingly ageless, and artistically fearless, Lee Aaron has sustained a three-decade strong career based on the powerful songwriting and vocal delivery that are at the heart of Fire and Gasoline (Big Sister Records/ILS/Caroline). Featuring songs like the title track Fire and Gasoline, Wanna Be, Heart Fix and Bitter Sweet which evoke the influences of Led Zeppelin, Heart, Bowie, The Runaways and Fleetwood Mac while weaving in and out of Aaron’s unique artistic vision. It is a vision that has led her to sales of close to a million copies in Canada alone, multiple awards and nominations, and a fervent following around the world. Iconic videos for songs like Metal Queen, Whatcha Do To My Body, Hands On and Some Girls Do were staples of MuchMusic in Canada, and continue to rack up massive views on YouTube, bringing Lee Aaron classics to a new generation.
Fire and Gasoline was recorded at Vancouver’s The Farm studio (better known to rock aficionados by its former name, Little Mountain Sound) with acclaimed west coast engineers Ben Kaplan (Mother Mother, Hedley) and vocal engineer/keyboard guru John Webster (Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, The Cult). Their Gold- and Platinum-certified ears give Fire and Gasoline a contemporary sonic sheen while also honouring the energy of the “off the floor” approach of real musicians interacting in real time.
Tom Boy, the first video and single, was penned for Aaron’s daughter and was inspired by the fearless, unself-conscious energy of pre-teen girls. The video features Aaron’s daughter (on guitar) along with her school friends as Aaron’s backing band. “It was incredibly cool watching the girls pick up the song as well as the instruments in an afternoon and give the performance they did. Off camera, we were all eating pizza and clowning around and that joy translated onto the screen. It really captures the essence of the tune.” Lee, a fan of vintage film and video, wanted the girls to have that ‘Jailhouse Rock’ look.
You can view the video below.
Fire and Gasoline is truly a classic rock n’ roll album, with an emphasis on “class.”
This summer Lee Aaron will be performing to crowds of thousands at major music festivals across Canada, and is looking towards select live dates in Europe as well.
Fire And Gasoline track listing:
Tom Boy
Fire And Gasoline
Wanna Be
Bitter Sweet
Popular
50 Miles
Bad Boyfriend
Heart Fix
Nothing Says Everything
If You Don’t Love Me Anymore
Find The Love
For further information, please visit LeeAaron.com.
Metal Blade Records is proud to announce the worldwide signing of Jim Breuer and the Regulators, Jim Breuer’s new hard rock/metal group. As a lifelong hard rock/metal fan, Breuer has often incorporated loud music into his comedy stand-up, so it seemed only natural for him to take the next step and start his own band. Over the past few years, the Jim Breuer band has performed at premier festivals such as Rock on The Range (with Guns N Roses and Avenged Sevenfold), the Motorboat cruise (with Motorhead and Megadeth), Metallica’s Orion Music Festival, Sonisphere in the UK (with Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, and Anthrax), and the headlining stage at Wacken in Germany.
Now, under a new moniker (Jim Breuer and the Regulators), the group plans to release their debut in Spring 2016, with various special guests appearing on the record. Complete details about the album will be revealed soon, but in the meantime, fans can tune into Breuer’s The Metal in Me podcast for additional news and information. The first three episodes are already online with more to be added each week, about finding the comedy, reality, and metal in us all – the perfect mix in life.
Metal Blade Records Chairman/CEO Brian Slagel comments, “We are super excited to be working with Jim Breuer. His is a comedy legend and this album is something truly special. You will be surprised in a good way when you hear it!”
See below for all upcoming comedy tour dates, and stay tuned for more news about Jim Breuer and the Regulators coming soon.
Feb. 5 – Boston, MA – Wilbur Theatre
Feb. 6 – Red Bank, NJ – Count Basie Theatre
Feb. 12 – Baltimore, MD – Baltimore Soundstage
Feb. 13 – Huntington, NY – The Paramount (7:30PM)
Feb. 13 – Huntington, NY – The Paramount (10:00 PM)
Feb. 26 – East Greenwich, RI – Greenwich Odeum
Feb. 27 – Peekskill, NY – Paramount Hudson Valley
Mar. 3 – Fort Lauderdale, FL – Improv Fort Lauderdale
Mar. 4 – West Palm Beach, FL – Palm Beach Improv
Mar. 5 – West Palm Beach, FL – Palm Beach Improv
Mar. 6 – Naples, FL – Off The Hook Comedy Club
Mar. 11 – Sarasota, FL – McCurdy’s Comedy Theatre
Mar. 12 – Clearwater, FL – Capitol Theatre
Apr. 4 – Kansas City, MO – Voodoo Lounge at Harrah’s Kansas City
Apr. 14 – Arlington, VA – Arlington Drafthouse
Apr. 15 – Arlington, VA – Arlington Drafthouse
Apr. 16 – Westhampton Beach, NY – Westhampton Beach PAC
May 6 – San Diego, CA – Observatory North Park
May 27 – Las Vegas, NV – South Point Hotel Casino & SPA
May 28 – Las Vegas, NV – South Point Hotel Casino & SPA
May 29 – Las Vegas, NV – South Point Hotel Casino & SPA
Jul. 16 – Atlantic City, NJ – Borgata Hotel & Casino
Aug. 6 – Royal Oak, MI – Royal Oak Music Theatre
Sept. 2 – Las Vegas, NV – South Point Hotel Casino & SPA
Sept. 3 – Las Vegas, NV – South Point Hotel Casino & SPA
Sept. 4 – Las Vegas, NV – South Point Hotel Casino & SPA
Oct. 1 – Philadelphia, PA – The Fillmore Philadelphia
The Scorpions have issued a previously unreleased video for Arizona, taken from their recently reissued 1982 record Blackout. Listen to it below.
The outtake clip is one of the extras featured on the 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition Series, which features dozens of unheard studio tracks and live recordings.
It includes eight expanded CD releases from 1977 to 1988 – Tokyo Tapes, Taken By Force, Lovedrive, Animal Magnetism, Blackout, Love At First Sting, World Wide Live and Savage Amusement.
Each release is equipped with extended booklets featuring rare photos, single covers, backstage passes and additional liner notes.
Five of the eight albums also come with a DVD with live concert footage, TV performances and interviews from the period.
Scorpions released their album Return To Forever in February after deciding their farewell tour was too much fun to quit the band last year.
The Scorpions previously streamed the demo for Midnight Blues Jam included as a bonus track on the reissue of 1977 album Taken By Force. Listen to it, here.
 new U.S. and Canadian tour dates in continued support of his new LP Book Of Shadows II. Wylde will hit over 40 cities spread out across the U.S. ... )
