Hello! Slash has announced the members of his touring band...drumroll please: on vocals: Myles Kennedy, we all know him from Alter Bridge and the Mayfield Four, on rhythm guitar: Bobby Schenck, who's performed with the likes of Green Day, Aerosmith and Weezer. On bass: Dave Henning, a player with Big Wreck and Doug Pinnick (a member of Living Colour), and on drums, Brent Fitz (you know the guy's nickname has gotta be "Fitzy", right??) Brent's performed with Alice Cooper, Vince Neil and Theory of a Deadman. So there you have it! Look for tour dates soon!....Faith No More have announced their first NYC area show in over 10 years! It will be July 5 in Brooklyn, NY at the Waterfront in Williamsburg, and it will be a benefit for the Open Space Alliance for North Brooklyn. Nice!...Saving Abel have announced the title of their second album will be "Miss America." Due on Jun 8th, this is the album the band was recording at various studios around the country on off days of their touring schedule over the last couple of years. Interesting concept, although it nearly killed poor singer Jared Weeks, who suffered from insulin shock last fall and had to leave the road! We'll get the whole lowdown on it from the band in the coming weeks and looking forward to seeing them at this year's Rock on the Range. The first single off ""Miss America" is due the end of April called "Stupid Girl."....Nonpoint performed acoustically in the studios of one of our affiliates, WJJO in Madison, WI. Find it at www.wjjo.com. Then come back here to find all the dates in the Road Rage page for a new tour for Puddle of Mudd with The Veer Union!...A VERY HAPPY 46th to Vinnie Paul Abbott of HELLYEAH! Getcha pull, my friend!
Wednesday, May 10
Alice in Chains were at Terminal 5 last night here in NYC and they totally heated the place up to maximum levels! The second of two sold-out shows had them screaming for more! During every break the crowd chanted loudly, "Jer-ry, Jer-ry, Jer-ry!" It was electric! Poor Jerry, tho. He's just getting over the flu, and they had to cancel their show last week in Charlotte as a result. When Jerry was introducing his bandmates, he referred to himself as "Typhoid Jerry Cantrell"! Pretty funny. Hung out with drummer Sean Kinney before the show. He's one of the funniest guys in rock, a quick sense of humor, that's for sure! It's actually hard keeping up with him!!! He said his club, "The Croc," in Seattle is doing well, despite the economy. He also is very insightful about the state of the economy and the impact on his business as a musician and he wonders what the future of the record business will be, as many artists are. Will singles still be released? What do charts mean anymore? Will there be full albums released? Wish I had answers. I just hope I am retired by the time that happens, lemme tell ya! We just have to keep on supporting those bands we love and be open minded to new music and the passion it brings out in all of us! ....I've posted new tours in Road Rage for The Used (with Chiodos, New Medicine), Evans Blue (with Rains and Lansdowne) and new dates have been added for Skillet (with Red, The Letter Black)....Nonpoint's "Miracle" cd has been moved to a May 4th release from April 27. The new music video for the title track is available at www.MonsterEnergy.com. You can find the single digitally on Mar 30th....The Smashing Pumpkins are looking for a bassist and a keyboard player. Think you've got what it takes? Send a picture, a sample of your playing and anything else ya got to pumpkinsbass@gmail.com or pumpkinskeys@gmail.com. Open auditions on NOW! For more: www.thesmashingpumpkins.com. ...Happy 47th today to Jeff Ament of Pearl Jam and producer Rick Rubin. And Happy 32nd to Ben Burnley of Breaking Benjamin.
CONGRATS TO OUR WINNERS!
HARDDRIVERADIO is pleased to announce more contest winners!
THE LACUNA COIL SHALLOW LIFEpackages including a deluxe edition of the band's "Shallow Life" cd AND a personal phone call from HARDDRIVERADIO's ASK CRISTINA'svery own CRISTINA SCABBIA were won by:
JASMINE NIXON of VALDOSTA, GA. Jasmine listens to hardDrive and hardDrive XL on 98X, THE ROCK STATION in CHARLESTON, SC!
and
TIM YOUNG of ROYAL OAK, MI. Tim listens to hardDrive and soon will listen to hardDrive XL on Z93, THE ROCK STATION in SAGINAW, MI!
Thanks to everyone who entered!
RICHARD EDDINGTON of HUTCHINSON, KS,a listener of T95 (KICT) in Wichita, won the ROB ZOMBIE HELLYDELUXE 2 PRIZE PACKAGE!!!!!
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Tuesday, Mar 9
Hello students! (That was a line from a terrible local cable show once on in the NYC area called "Ugly George". Dunno why I thought of that, but there ya go!) Today there are LOTS of things a brewin', so here goes. Of the next Foo Fighters' album, leader Dave Grohl told RollingStone, "I think this could be our heaviest album yet!" YES! YES! YES! The band plan to hit Dave's GARAGE sometime in September. Not his state of the art studio, Studio 606, but in his garage! (Oh boy, I can see some not-so-happy neighbors in his future!) Dave said he's bringing in Butch Vig to do the project, in honor of the 20th anniversary of Vig's production of Nirvana's "Never Mind." (Of course, Dave hadn't figured that out yet when we talked to him last month! {sigh} Oh well...) There apparently is also a documentary on the band's history and a making of the new album on the way as well. I wouldn't expect to see or hear any of this til the new year....Bullet for My Valentine have announced dates and you can find them in Road Rage. They're bringing out Airbourne and Chiodos with 'em...Serj Tankian has announced to performaces of his "Elect the Dead Symphony." One is Jul 9th at the Chastain Park Amphitheater in Atlanta, GA with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, while the other will be with an orchestra TBA for the Jul 30th performance at the Greek Theater in LA. Serj will be visiting our LA studios tomorrow to speak with Lou Brutus!....Linkin Park are making a boatload of live shows they recorded between 2007-2009 available for $9.99 each. Find them starting on St Patty's Day at www.download.linkinpark.com ...Maynard from tool's Puscifer project is heading out to more U.S. cities, as well as more screenings of the "Blood Into Wine" documentary. Find them all on the Road Rage page. He's giving away a pair of tix for most of the shows, check it out! www.puscifer.com ....Digital Summer's "Counting the Hours" cd hits April 19th....Lo-Pro's "The Beautiful Sound of Revenge" cd is out May 25th, with a single out Mar 30 called "Alive"....DragonForce has announced the departure of lead singer ZP Theart due to "musical differences of opinion." A search is on now worldwide for a new singer! ....Happy 40th to Shannon Leto of 30 Seconds to Mars.
Monday, Mar 8
Good day! So the big, bad Avatar did not take the big prize home! I thought it was rather cool the director of The Hurt Locker won it. See, there is something to say for the underdog! Speaking of the underdog, I found this item rather interesting this morning. A former employee of Columbia Records apparently decided to issue an album of material from various artists called "Exiled in the Land of the Free." (http://sites.google.com/site/exiledinthelandofthefree/ ) They are live and unreleased songs from Rage Against the Machine, the Beastie Boys, Corrosion of Conformity, Queens of the Stone Age, Helmet, Quicksand, Mike Watt and others. Apparently, the material was intended for release, but for whatever reason, never was. The live songs were recorded at a show I attended in the winter of 1995 at the then Brendan Bourne Arena in New Jersey with Rage Against the Machine, the Beasties and the Wu Tang Clan. The show was a benefit for convicted murderer Leonard Peltier, an American Indian who was sent to prison for killing two FBI agents in a shoot-out at the Pine Ridge Reservation, home to the Oglala Nation. The person who leaked the material said "I apologize for the release of these materials without getting anyone's approval. But I believe the cause needs to be heard and I trust you will remember why you chose to take place in this benefit 16 years past." Peltier's supporters include Nelson Mandela, the late Sister Teresa, the Dalai Lama, Amnesty International, U2, Willie Nelson, Robert Redford, Carlos Santana, Martin Luther King's family, Jesse Jackson and others. I remember that show! It was amazing, but took a scary turn when around a thousand fans in the seats decided to rush the pit, which if you were on the floor behind the pit, felt like a stampede. I think the band stopped twice to ask for everyone to move back. Ah, a Rage show. I love them so much!.... Bullet for My Valentine will perform on May 1st as part of Bamboozle East in the parking lot of the Meadowlands' Sports Complex in New Jersey May 1. They will also be at Rock on the Range May 22. See www.bulletformyvalentine.com for more! ....Taproot have moved the release date to "Plead the Fifth" to May 11th.
Friday, Mar 5
The jaw dropping news yesterday was the announcement of Slipknot's Joey Jordison as the new touring drummer for Rob Zombie, replacing Tommy Clufetos. No reason was given for Clufetos' departure, but this is great news for Zombie and Slipknot fans to see one of the great drummers out on this tour. Joey is no stranger to filling in for other drummers who have left tours for one reason or another. If you recall, he worked with Korn and filled in for Lars Ulrich of Metallica a few years ago at a European festival when Lars was suddenly taken ill. Joey will stay on the Zombie tour through the RockStar Mayhem dates this summer, which happen to include Korn on the bill.....Godsmack have posted a new webisode on their My Space....Skillet have booked some dates with Red and more shows have been added to the Soil-Smile Empty Soul tour. See Road Rage for all the details...On the hardDrive hotLine today with Lou Brutus will be Slash and Crispin Earl of The Veer Union!.....Happy 40th today to former Red Hot Chili Pepper John Frusciante. On Saturday, Happy 64th to David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, and on Sunday, Happy 36th to Tantric's Hugo Ferreira....Have a great weekend! Be sure to check out Lou Brutus on tonight's hardDrive XL and the weekend on the world famous hardDrive!
Thursday, Mar 4
March 4th....or march forth! Which is it?.....Congrats to Breaking Benjamin! Their label announced their "Dear Agony" cd has sold 1/2 million copies in the U.S., certifying it as a gold record! Ben and the boys must be very proud!.....Two former members of Guns 'N Roses & current members of Velvet Revolver have stepped up for charitable causes. Duff McKagan performed with a slew of locally based musicians including Pearl Jam's Mike McCready on Sunday night in Seattle, WA at the Showbox in something they called "A Hootenanny for Haiti." Proceeds went to help the victims of the devastating earthquake in Haiti on January 12th. And Slash is just one of the celebrities who designed a backpack for The Children's Defense Fund, sponsored by Nickelodeon. 100% of the profits will go to the international organization for childhood education....The Deftones' album, "Diamond Eyes," will be released on May 18th. The first single for radio will be the title track. Looking forward to getting that soon!....June 1st is the release date for the new HellYeah! album. Vinnie Paul told Revolver TV the new record is "a little more Southern, a little more rock and roll." He added it has "a wide variety of all the different kind of influences that all of us grew up on." Look for HellYeah! to embark on a two-year tour beginning April 24th in Tampa, FL at a radio show....ANew Revolution also has a new album coming out. Look for "iMerica" on May 18th. A new single is on the way soon....If you're not doing anything special Saturday night, you can watch Cold and Nonpoint's show in Milwaukee, WI live from The Rave at www.therave.com.
Wednesday, Mar 3
Good morning! Slash is now confirmed to be on the hotLine with Lou Brutus on Friday! Lookin' forward to talking to Mr Hudson about his new album and tour! Be listening for parts of the interview coming soon on both hardDrive and the XL! We'll also be checking in with Crispin Earl of The Veer Union! ..Yesterday, I heard the first single off the forthcoming Coheed & Cambria album, produced by Nick Raskulinecz. Claudio Sanchez sounds amazing and the track simply smokes! I know you guys out there are like, "yeah, sure" but trust me, you are gonna like what you heard in "Here We Are Juggernaut"! The album, "Year of the Rainbow" is out April 13..... And lots of news today courtesy of my friend at Blabbermouth! First off, Alice in Chains will post a weekly video tour diary starting Mar 10 (the same day they enter the hardDrive studios here in NYC!) Look for that on their My Space. The band has also posted the final comic book based on the video "Your Decision" at http://content.velvethammer.net/alice/ydcomic/ydcomin.pdf . Fans were able to post ideas for concepts for part of the comic book, which were voted on by visitors to the site. The 5 most popular ideas were used as the basis for the 5 new chapters. Cool stuff....Apocalyptica will entitle their new album, "7th Symphony." No exact date yet for the Howard Benson/Joe Baresi produced project, and all we know about guests on it is Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo. More news as we get it....The Osbournes will be returning to tv, although not completely sure where and when. World Entertainment News Network reports Sharon & Kelly will do a mother/daughter advice show (presumably for British TV) and a cartoon series is in the works with centered are the family's life from the perspective of the bulldog Lola. (Writer is rolling her eyes now.)....If you are a regular listener of hardDrive XL, Lou Brutus is always talking about hitting some "destination" concerts. Well here is one I suggest you save your money to attend! Sonicsphere, two days in Switzerland, June 17-18. Partial line up: Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax, Alice in Chains, Stone Sour, Atreyu, Bullet for My Valentine, Rise Against, Mastodon, Volbeat and more! Now THAT'S A FREAKIN' CONCERT I wanna see!
Tuesday, Mar 2
Tonight, Saving Abel wil stream their live performance from a U.S. base in Kuwait at http://www.ustream.tv It starts at 10 PM EST...Got an email from SoundgardenWorld informing me SubPop Records (the label that signed Soundgarden in their early days) will reissue the band's very first single, "Hunted Down" b/w "Nothing to Say" on vinyl. The reissue will be available as part of this year's Record Store Day, which is Saturday, April 17th. The email also included a live video of Soundgarden's Nov 30, 1996 outdoor performance of "Spoonman" at the Del Mar Racetrack in San Diego, CA. It's really cool! The live performance was one of several west coast dates the band recorded during a 1996 tour, originally intended to be a live album release. But the mixing sessions never happened, 'til now. So look for the album probably sometime later this year. The band is also heavily rumored to be on the bill this year for Lollapalooza in Chicago in early August. Stay tuned....The Smashing Pumpkins rolled out the 3rd free song from their 44-song "Teargarden by Kaleidyscope" album. Billy Corgan intends to release the entire album for free on the net. Today you can find "A Stitch in Time" at http://soundcloud.com/smashingpumpkins or at www.smashingpumpkins.com ....Slash will be on the hotLine on Monday to talk about his new self-titled album, now set for an April 6th release. Looking forward to that and you can look for Slash on upcoming editions of hardDrive and hardDrive XL!....Evanescence are heading into the studio today to work on their next album. Meanwhile, We Are The Fallen (a new band with former members of Evanescence with American Idol contestant Carly Smithson and bassist Marty O'Brien) have titled their debut record "Tear The World Down," on May 11.
Monday, Mar 1
To our friends north of the border in Canada. Congratulations. See you in 4 years!.....Stone Temple Pilots have announced a string of dates for the first part of their U.S. Tour! See them in Road Rage! In other news, Scott Weiland is reportedly releasing his next solo album on March 20th called "Live in Los Angeles." It was no revealed which LA show was recorded for the project.....Alice in Chains have announced more tour dates, see those in Road Rage, too! The band will be dropping by the hardDrive studios on Mar 10th to speak with Lou Brutus!.....Five Finger Death Punch, The Used, Escape the Fate, Less Than Jake, Reel Big Fish and Story of the Year will perform at the 15th Annual Extreme Thing Sports & Music Festival slated for Mar 27th in Las Vegas at Desert Breeze Skate Park. The event will include a BMX dirt jump, roller derby and more! Tix on sale now....Metallica are set to perform in Tel Aviv, Israel on May 22.....Black Label Society pulled out of Norwegian metal festival in order to perform on a major U.S. tour sometime in early July. Hmmmm, could this be Ozzfest? Wonderers are wondering.....Happy 37th to Nickelback's Ryan Peake.
Friday, Feb 26
SNOW DAY! Man, NYC is getting pummeled with heavy, wet snow. A man was killed in Central Park by a tree limb! Sidewalks are a mess and trying to get across the streets is like climbing Mt Everest. It is NASTY! So I am staying inside where it's warm and dry!.....Saving Abel will be streaming one of their shows they are doing on U.S. bases in the Middle East. Find it here: www.ustream.tv/savingabel ....Here is the track listing (again in case you saw it on Wednesday morning and then it got pulled) for the new Stone Temple Pilots' album, which has already been pushed up to a May 25th release date. “Between The Lines” (probably first single), “Take A Load Off,” “Huckleberry Crumble” (my fav), “Hickory Dichotomy,” “Dare If You Dare,” “Cinnamon”,“Hazydaze,” “Bag Man,” “Peacoat,” “Fast As I Can,” “First Kiss On Mars,” & “Maver.” I asked Robert Deleo what "Maver" means, and he said it was a word his 3 year old son came up with, so they decided to use it. Cute!....Ozzy Osbourne is getting the Key to the City of West Palm Beach from the mayor in recognition for his many years of bringing both his shows & Ozzfest to South Florida. The event will be this afternoon in Centennial Square today in case you are in the area....Taproot have announced they are releasing their "Plead the Fifth" cd on June 14th....Happy 41st to Timmy Commerford of Rage Against the Machine!
Thursday, Feb 25
Gee, no band interviews today! That's news! ....Ok, let's see, what can we tell you.....Aaron Lewis of Staind was on the hotLine yesterday and he's changed his mond about his solo project. It will be mostly a live cd of recorded and filmed along his solo acoustic tour that is in progress as we speak. He also is going to record a couple of songs he's been impromptly writing on the road and trying out on fans. So far he has a couple of song titles that are tentative for them and plans to head to LA to meet with a producer to discuss going into the studio to record them. Aaron feels the music business has changed so that audiences aren't buying albums as much as they are single songs, so he wants to experiment with that, probably releasing these couple of songs virally, and then including them on the live set as bonus tunes. Stay tuned for more on that. In the meantime, I asked Aaron if he's been in touch with his friend and mentor back in the day, Fred Durst. He has and when he was in LA last, he hung out with Fred, John Otto and the boys (Wes wasn't there that day) and even came up with a chorus on a track for their new album. I do know Limp Bizkit is working hard on their next album, which they plan to release sometime this year, probably around early summer or so. I know there are a ton of haters out there, but I really believe the band is has something to contribute, remember, they were H U G E back in the day. HUGE! And you just can't deny that even if their audience has grown older & away from them, you just can't deny some of those songs as bona fide hits. Let's see what they come back with before we set our minds on "negative." I think they will be awesome at Rock on the Range.....Slash's first single off his solo album will be "By The Sword" with Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother. It comes out next week....The big Aerosmith announcement is the string of European dates they are planning this summer. I, for one, hope their tour with ZZ Top that was cancelled last year can be resurrected!....Happy 28th to Bert McCracken of The Used.
Wednesday, Feb 24
Well, last night was a treat! Got to hear the new Stone Temple Pilots album with the band and got the scoop on the songs! All four members were in attendance (I didn't get to talk to Eric Kretz, though) and it was quite a night. Scott Weiland looked the best I have seen him in person in a long while, decked out in a 3-piece light colored suit of his own design (with Weiland embroidered on the back pleat of the jacket!) He started a men's clothing line a couple of years ago. Anyhow, we chatted a bit. His vocals on this record are smooth as silk and he did a nice speech at the Rose Bar at the Gramercy Park Hotel after the first listen to the album, giving props to the Deleo Brothers, Robert & Dean, who produced the album. Overall, this is the perfect evolution of their sound, with the Deleo nod to the Beatles, soaring guitar solos and musicianship. Hung out mostly with Robert and Dean, who graciously gave me the song list. (I had to retrack at the label's request! Sorry!) The album was record at Eric Kretz' studio, and while still untitled, will be released June 1. The band will be announcing a tour very soon, which is rumored to be a festival-like line-up. Robert also told me his and his lovely wife are expecting their second child in late May, right when the band has to leave for Europe. Needless to say, that's a bit troublesome for the soon-to-be Dad! All in all, I have to give the record 4 stars. It definitely is one for the records! I suspect the first single will be "Between the Lines." Lots of great hard hitting tunes. Stay tuned....Saving Abel is currently performing for U.S. troops in the Persian Gulf as part of a USO/Armed Forces Entertainment tour. The group has already played in Qatar, with two more countries on the itinerary for the eight-day trip. The exact times and locations of the shows have not been disclosed for security reasons. The band will also hand deliver an assortment of cards and artwork to the troops from students of St. Albert the Great School in Louisville, Kentucky.....Papa Roach is planning to release a live album later this year that will include 5 new songs produced by David Bendeth, who I met last week backstage at the Breaking Benjamin, Three Days Grace, Flyleaf show. He's quite a character, too. We may get him on the hotLine to do a hardDrive Concert Report on the show. Anyhow, the Papa Roach album will be released sometime later this year. The live material was recorded during the P-Roach tour with Shinedown last year....It was great seeing Joey Kramer of Aerosmith yesterday and reliving old stories from Boston in the 70's. What a time! Anyhow, Joey told me the band will be making a major announcement later this week, so stay tuned....10 Years are working with Howard Benson on their next album, entitled "Feeding the Wolves." Look for it later this Spring and look for 10 Years on the road with Flyleaf starting in late April....Pantera will release a greatest hits called "1990-2000: Decade of Domination" this Spring. There will also be vinyl reissues of "Cowboys From Hell," "Vulgar Display of Power," and "Far Beyond Driven" on April 17th. And a 20th anniversary edition of "Cowboys" will be released with bonus tracks and new artwork later this year. Sounds like we need to get Vinnie Paul on the hotLine to fill us in on this labor of love!....Fieldy from Korn just completed a solo album called "Bassically." He stresses the album is NOT a hard music venture, rather it traces Fieldy's early jazz and funk inspirations like Stanley Clarke. Should be interesting. No word on when it'll be released....Ray Davies of the Kinks is planning on a release of new versions of their old classics with guests Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi and hopefully Metallica. Ray got the inspiration from his performances with Metallica at the 25th Anniversary of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Speaking of the Rock Hall, Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong will induct the Stooges, Little Steven (Van Zandt) will induct The Hollies, Trey Ananstasio will honor Genesis, Wyclef Jean pays homage to Jimmy Cliff and Barry & Robin Gibb honor Abba at this year's induction ceremonies in NYC. Meanwhile, speaking of Green Day, I saw a tv commercial for the Broadway production of "American Idiot," which will open this Spring on the Great White Way.....30 Seconds to Mars have announced tour dates with Mute Math and Neon Trees. See them in Road Rage....Happy 37th to Chris Fehn, #3, of Slipknot.
Check out the new Lacuna Coil video -- I Won't Tell You:
