Had a great time yesterday with Starset and In This Moment dropping in on us at the hardDriveRadio Ranch! First off, I told Maria Brink and Chris Howorth how moved I was listening to Black Widow. I mean, there are songs on there that cut right to the bone, and Maria couldn’t have opened up her heart any deeper! I was actually moved to tears when I listened to the spoken word piece, “Into the Darkness,” that was recorded unbeknownst to Maria. She said Kevin Churko, their producer, likes to push her buttons, but this is uber intense. Meanwhile, I may have given Maria an idea for her next cover song: a Missing Persons track. “Nobody Walks In LA.” Let’s see if that takes shape! And Startset’s Dustin Bates and his band performed three songs in the studio, including “My Demons,” “Halo” and the David Bowie tune “Space Oddity.” It was very sweet to hear Dustin thank us for our support (when we play songs on the air, we help to promote the bands and their songs get airplay impressions which means they advance on the charts. But we are good AND bad. When we DON’T play a song one week, they lose traction, so it’s a weird dichotomy …a yin and yang, if you will.) Anyhow, Dustin said when he’s home in Columbus, or on the road, he listens to hardDrive XL with Lou Brutus! I love hearing that! I reminded him to download the hardDriveRadio APP so he can listen to the weekend show too! …..OK, so Foo Fighters sold 190,000 copies in the first week of their new Sonic Highways album. It’s about 45,000 less than their last album, but that’s the nature of the beast these days. Taylor Swift is still selling buckets of records. Oh well, Foos are still Number One to me!….Soundgarden has already released a deluxe 20th anniversary reissue of its 1994 album Superunknown this year and has a three-CD collection of B-sides and rarities called Echo Of Miles on tap for next week. But the band isn’t done restoring its old catalog yet. Guitarist Kim Thayil told us exclusively he and famed Seattle producer Jack Endino recently turned their attention to the band’s first album, 1988’s Ultramega OK: “Last year, Jack Endino and I spent a number of weeks remixing Ultramega OK and we’re gonna search for a label — it’s no longer on SST — and put it out with a beautiful, heavier, warmer mix from Jack Endino, which is something we always felt we had to correct about that release.” Ultramega OK was released in 1988 on the SST label and was Soundgarden’s first full-length release after recording two EPs for the Seattle-based Sub Pop Records. Thayil told us the band hopes to release the new version of the disc sometime next year. Soundgarden’s long-awaited collection of B-sides, rarities and non-album tracks, titled Echo Of Miles: Scattered Tracks Across The Path, comes out next Monday (Nov 24th). The three-disc set will contain seven never-before-released songs, including the newly recorded track “Storm,” along with original B-sides, instrumentals, covers and demos recorded throughout the band’s career. The first disc is subtitled “Originals” and will feature Soundgarden-written B-sides plus the previously unreleased “Storm” and “Kristi.” “Covers” is the theme of disc two, featuring Soundgarden takes on songs by the Beatles, Black Sabbath, the Rolling Stones, Devo and others. while disc three is called “Oddities” and includes an assortment of instrumentals, remixes and demos. Soundgarden plans to work on a new studio album sometime in 2015. Be listening for Kim on our annual Cover It Up special edition of hardDrive with Lou Brutus for your Thanksgiving weekend!…Congrats to Kid Rock, who has performed at many military bases over the years and makes it a point to meet with members of the armed forces at all of his shows, who received Operation Troop Aid’s 2014 Patriot Award for his empathic approach to troop support. OTA founder and executive director Mark Woods said, “Kid Rock is one of the most giving entertainers I have ever met. He really gets it… Last year, Kid Rock challenged his fans to help raise money to send care packages to the troops. In one short month, we were able to ship over 500 care packages just in time for the holidays. His art, legacy of family and spirit of patriotism is exactly why this award exists.” Rock told us a while back Americans need to remember the sacrifice that the members of the military make: “I just think that people in general, especially maybe my generation, has really forgotten, or maybe just needs to be reminded somehow or really open a history book and realize how many people fought to keep this country free and well and safe and sound.”….Celebrating life today: Joe Walsh of The Eagles (featured on the new Foo Fighters Sonic Highways) is 67. Mike D of the Beastie Boys and Sen Dog of Cypress Hill are both 49 and Davey Havok of AFI is 39.