Slash on the hotLine yesterday from Sweden. He’s overseas doing promo for his upcoming World On Fire album (Slash featuring Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators.) We talked about the new music on the album, the single which is coming later this week, and more. The one thing I had to ask him was whether he had ever wanted to have his hair straightened. He told me once he did it himself back in the ’90’s and “I looked like a dandelion,” and he never did it again. LOL Love that. Meanwhile, about the album & single he commented, “It’s a cool record, I’m really happy. The thing was, it’s where we’ve arrived at after basically four years of working together. And the material came together really quick and really easy. You know, we put it all together and ‘World On Fire’ was really a song about sex, that I just thought was a great title for the album as a whole because it became more a metaphor for a lot of different things, depending on how you wanted to look at it.”…Hellyeah’s Chad Gray and Tommy Maxwell dropped by the hardDrive studios yesterday to talk about their new album, Blood For Blood, which is out today. It’s definitely the start of the new career with bassist Kyle Sanders and new second guitarist Christian Brady. It is definitely their best music to date. And you’ll hear a hardDrive Double Dose with my favorite track called “Moth” in an upcoming show later this month. I was surprised to hear that just as they started to record this album with Kevin Churko in Las Vegas, they almost broke up. This was when things were coming to an end with guitarist Greg Tribbett and bassist Bob Zilla. Issues with Greg were getting so bad, Chad actually left the studio and drove home to Arizona and wasn’t coming back. He said it was very hard because he’d worked with Greg for something like 18 years, including their time in Mudvayne. Like a marriage. Hard to stay in or out of it. But they made the changes and I gotta say, Blood For Bloodis their finest effort to date. Check it out. It’s streaming online and be listening for the interview in the coming weeks….This is funny and I can totally see it! Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale, Joe Hottinger & Josh Smith recently participated in Affliction’s Rock Star Stories series and bassist Josh shared he has a history of inadvertently hitting people. Smith has accidentally hit a girl and an elderly man. Smith explained, “We were on tour with Seether and we’re at a bar after the show, hanging out, having a good time. I’m sitting at the bar telling Joe a story and Shaun Morgan is to my right. I was drunk and telling a very animated story . . . and I punched her . . . So I hit a girl.” He added, “One time on plane I was trying to undo my belt buckle, my seatbelt on the airplane and next to this old fragile man. And like I’m trying to tighten it and I accidently let go, and like dead arm the dude. Elbow right in the sweet spot . . . It’s like a recurring thing. I just have to be careful with my limbs.” Oh man!….It’s baaacccck! After breaking records for a stand alone haunted house event last year at the Fairplex in Pomona, CA, Rob Zombie has decided to re-up on his Great American Nightmare. The ultimate Halloween horror event that includes haunted houses and live music performances will return for a second year with a special opening night performance by Zombie & his band on Sep 19th. The Great American Nightmare will run from Sep 19th to Nov 01st at the WestWorld in Scottsdale, AZ. Zombie said in a released statement, “The first year was such a blast. I am thrilled to be able to take the Great American Nightmare to a new city this year . . . My only goal is to make it even sicker than last year.” Great American Nightmare is a haunted house experience that includes three separate attractions based on Zombie’s own horror films: The Lords Of Salem In Total Black Out,Captain Spaulding’s Clown School In 3D, and The Devil’s Rejects. So far the event will run on Sep 19th, 20th, 26th, 27th, Oct 03rd, 04th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 23th, 24th, 25th, 26th, 30th, 31st and November 01st. For more: GreatAmericanNightmare.com…..Oh, to get back to Slash for a second, he told me how excited he is to get out on tour with Aerosmith. Knowing those guys for over 30 years, I am also stoked to see this tour. And just check out Joe Perry. He looks so freakin’ HOT. Thanks Blabbermouth!…In the hardDrive studios today: Sully Erna and Shannon Larkin of Godsmack! Gonna hear the new album tonight! More tomorrow!