Happy Friday!
First off, let me congratulate a couple of rock radio friends & pioneers who are featured in a documentary called “I Am What I Play.” Check it out here. Could Lou Brutus be next?
Yesterday, I was on the hotLine with Sonny Sandoval of P.O.D. We talked about their new album, The Awakening, due Aug 21. It was produced by Howard Benson and has a couple of cool special guests (I won’t say who yet!) Be listening for their new single “This One’s For You” and the interview very soon. Look for their upcoming tour with Islander and From Ashes To New.
Also heard for the first time the brand new single from Five Finger Death Punch called “Jekyll & Hyde.” It’s off the band’s forthcoming sixth studio album, Got Your Six. Be listening for it on hardDrive XL on Monday, Jun 22. Five Finger Death Punch will be our Featured Artist of the Week. Lou Brutus recently spoke with drummer Jeremy Spencer.
Pulse Of Radio reports Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello has launched a new record label called Firebrand, which he has co-founded with Ryan Harvey of the Riot-Folk Collective. Morello told Rolling Stone, “The label gives you one-stop shopping for all your rebel-music needs. It’s the kind of label that I wish had existed my entire artistic life.” The label was launched on Thursday (June 4th) with a digital sampler of music by Harvey and activist musicians like Egyptian revolutionary Ramy Essam, San Francisco indie rockers Built for the Sea, Swedish punks Lycka Till and Bronx-based post-rock singer Bell’s Roar. Morello explained, “People always ask me, ‘Why aren’t there artists writing lyrics like Public Enemy or the Clash or Rage Against the Machine?’ And my answer is always, ‘There are. They may not be currently at the top of the chart and you have to seek to find them, but there are.’”
In addition to his work .with Rage Against The Machine, Morello was a member of Audioslave and performs solo under the name The Nightwatchman. The guitarist said about the roster on his label, “Firebrand artists are black, white, Arab, Jewish, men, women, queer, straight, folk, punk, hard rock, hip-hop, but they all have one thing in common: They play music with a sense of purpose to create a more just planet.” Morello said while the acts on Fireband will be politically active and themed, “first and foremost the music has to be great.” In addition to his solo acoustic tours and albums, Morello has spent time over the last couple of years recording and touring with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.
Metallica has made available for purchase a limited edition box set containing 50 CDs that chronicle the band’s tours of Australia and New Zealand in 2010 and 2013. First announced in April, the set began shipping this week to fans who pre-ordered it, with copies still available. Australian cities featured in the box set include Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide, while the New Zealand shows are taken from Christchurch and Auckland. The set features recordings of 62 different Metallica originals and covers, including rarities like “Dyers Eve,” “The God That Failed,” “The Call Of Ktulu,” “Trapped Under Ice” and other songs that don’t often make the band’s current live set. The box features 25 different shows, each on two discs, and retails for a hefty $395. Metallica currently has around a dozen or so dates on its calendar between now and mid-September, including this year’s edition of Lollapalooza, which will take place at Grant Park in Chicago, on July 31st, August 1st and August 2nd. Metallica have been working on new music and we expect to have it in the new year. Here’s the band performing “Enter Sandman” in Brisbane.
Meanwhile, Metallica has joined forces with ESPN and Circuit Of The Americas to assist the victims of the recent floods in Texas by donating all money raised from the sale of downloads of the band’s show at the X Games to the American Red Cross of Central Texas. All formats of the download, including the high definition versions, are being offered at LiveMetallica.com for the very deeply discounted price of $5.00 each through July 15. Click here to pre-order the show.
The historic flooding in Texas and Oklahoma has killed at least 23 people since May 23, when huge amounts of rain fell in the two states. Latest reports say that four people died in the flash floods in Houston, and between 800 and 1,400 homes have been damaged.