Good morning! Did you watch the race on Saturday? American Pharoah is the horse that broke the 37 year drought! Now if it could do for the state of California what it has done for horse-racing, THAT would be something!
Corey Taylor‘s new book, “You’re Making Me Hate You: A Cantankerous Look At The Common Misconception That Human Have Any Common Sense Left,” drops July 7th. He is starting to do some interviews around it. Pulse of Radio reports in a new installment of the Spotify Metal Talks podcast, Slipknot and Stone Sour singer Corey Taylor spoke candidly about how he gave up drinking in 2003, during the recording of Slipknot’s album Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses). He recalled, “I got sober about halfway through the recording process. Well, I quit drinking. I didn’t go in a program or anything like that; I just kind of stopped cold turkey. It was about three months into the recording process. And it was hard; like, it was really, really hard.”
Taylor told us he hit bottom when he almost jumped off a hotel balcony and pulled himself together after that: “It was really bad, man. I mean, there was a solid block of about two years that I was basically drinking every night, and I didn’t even realize how bad it was until my wife kind of grabbed me and said, ‘Look, you’ve got to figure it out. If you don’t figure it out, we’re not gonna be together.’ And I quit, that day. And I haven’t looked back.” Taylor said he woke up the next morning after the hotel incident and felt “just sick, sweaty, gross — I mean, just miserable. And I just said, ‘I can’t do this — I can’t do this anymore. What the hell is going on with me?’ And that’s when I really kind of started to take those first faltering steps away from everything.” Taylor continued, “It was a long time before I could feel comfortable with myself, because all I knew was who I was when I was wasted. I didn’t know who I was as a sober person. I knew who I wanted to be, but I knew that was, kind of, a long time coming. It was about, basically, repairing bridges and dedicating yourself to being a better person.” Taylor said it “took ten years” for him to fully recover, adding, “I’d done a lot of damage to a lot of people, and I’m still trying to make up for it.”
Meanwhile, for the new book, Taylor will promote it with a combination of bookstore events and a solo tour which will be one-of-a-kind shows featuring readings from the book, acoustic performance, and audience discussion. One audience only discussion will be hosted by our own Lou Brutus in NYC on Jul 8th in Bryant Park at 1:30 PM and another in LA at Book Soup Jul 19th with Lamb Of God’s Randy Blythe, who also has a book coming out on his ordeal over in the Czech Republic over the accidental death of a fan. Harrowing experience for Randy, his band, family and management. See Road Rage for more info on Corey’s book signing and acoustic appearances. Stay tuned!
Metallica has teamed up with ESPN and Circuit Of The Americas to provide relief to the victims of the recent floods in Texas. The band will donate all money raised from the sale of downloads of the band’s show this past Saturday (June 6th) at the X Games to the American Red Cross of Central Texas. All download formats, including the high definition versions, are being offered at LiveMetallica.com for the very deeply discounted price of $5.00 each through July 15th. The unprecedented flooding in Texas and Oklahoma has killed at least 23 people since May 23rd, when huge amounts of rain fell in the two states. Between 800 and 1,400 homes have been damaged. The X-Games took place in Austin, TX over the weekend and also featured performances from Nicki Minaj, Talib Kweli, Pennywise, Joywave and more. (I saw David Draiman from Disturbed attended with his wife Lena.) Metallica frontman James Hetfield told skateboarding legend Tony Hawk about appearing at the event, “We’re pretty jazzed . . . X-Games has been going on for a while; it’s about time! The music does something to you. When athletes are already really good and the music takes them to another place, you can’t explain that.” Metallica currently has 10 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 thru August 2nd. The band has reportedly been working on its 10th studio album, which will follow up 2008’s Death Magnetic.
Pulse also reporting Alter Bridge and Creed guitarist Mark Tremonti said in a new interview with Kerrang! magazine he believes Creed singer Scott Stapp thought the other members of the band would drop Alter Bridge once Creed reformed in 2009. Tremonti explained, “When you singlehandedly bring a band to its knees like he had done, and we all split up, and then you build something, you’re not all of a sudden going to just jump back to the other band and forget what you’ve built. So I think he expected us to do that. Especially me.” Tremonti added, “I think he took all his frustrations on me. I think it all came down to (one time when) we were having lunch in catering. He was like, ‘Hey man, what are you doing in January,’ and I’m like, ‘I’m going to the studio with Alter Bridge, we’ve talked about this.’ He’s like, ‘Really?’ From then on we didn’t speak. On tour. On stage. Didn’t speak.”
Creed reunited in 2009 after a five-year break, making one album and doing several tours before going back on hiatus in 2012. Scott Stapp told us in 2013 that the door was “always open” for the band to return: “You know, I love those guys and always will and want the best for them in everything they do. And when it’s organic and when it can be as fulfilling and as joyful and as real and not so much about what managers and record companies want, definitely, you know, the door’s open for that.
On the subject of Stapp’s drug-induced mental breakdown late last year, Tremonti said, “I just saw it going down with everyone else. People don’t understand that I haven’t been a close associate or friend of Scott’s for nine years or however long it’s been? We did one record, one tour but we were on different buses, we hardly spoke during that time. It’s not like I know his personal life anymore.” As for whether he could see Creed working again, Tremonti said, “You never say never but . . . I’ve just gotten to the point with my life where I’ve got so much going on that I’m excited about that I don’t want to get back into anything that’s stressful or brings any kind of negativity into my life.”
Tremonti’s self-named solo band will release its second album, Cauterize, tomorrow, (Tuesday, June 9th). The new album is SMOKING HOT! I dig every song. I can’t wait to see the band perform more of the tracks from it. Meanwhile, work on a new Alter Bridge record is slated to begin later this year as well. And look for a major tour announcement in the next few weeks! The thing I love about Mark is he is family first and foremost. He is just the nicest, most hard working musician you will ever meet!
Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready will take part in the expansion of Turnaround Arts, a music education program affiliated with the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, to 54 high-poverty schools across the country. McCready will join Elton John and Jack Johnson, who will work in participating schools. Launched in 2011, the pilot program began with eight schools and is now a presence in 15 states, helping to bring resources, supplies and talent to lower income schools. (RTT News)
Blabbermouth reports “Cirice”, the new video and single from Swedish occult rockers Ghost (formerly Ghost BC), can be seen here. The clip was directed by Roboshobo (a.k.a. Robert Schober), who has previously worked with Metallica, Alice In Chains, Mastodon and Green Day, among others. The song is taken from Ghost’s third album, Meliora, which will be released on August 21 via Loma Vista Recordings. The follow-up to 2013’s Infestissumam was helmed by Klas Åhlund, a prolific songwriter, producer and guitarist who is also a member of the Swedish rock band TeddyBears, and was mixed by Andy Wallace (Slayer, Nirvana, Avenged Sevenfold, Linkin Park, Guns N’ Roses to name just a couple).
Oh no! I am so worried about this! Blabbermouth reporting California-based rock quintet Of Mice & Men has canceled the remaining dates of it Full Circle Tour after the band’s lead singer, Austin Carlile, was hospitalized for undisclosed reasons. Said the group in a statement: “Austin Carlile was admitted to a hospital yesterday morning, and, per doctor’s orders, has been kept in overnight for evaluation. The band regrets not being able to perform for their fans and hopes to be back in [San Diego and Mexico City] as soon as possible. Refunds for both shows will be available at point of purchase. However, Of Mice & Men are planning to reschedule both shows for a later date in the year. We will have more news on this in the the coming weeks and tickets holders are welcome to retain their tickets, as they will remain valid for these rescheduled dates.” Austin has something called Marfan syndrome, a disease that affects the body’s connective tissue, which provides the strength, support, and elasticity to tendons, cartilage, heart valves, blood vessels, and other vital parts of the body. In the past, Austin has had heart surgery, lost hearing and has endured other health issues, yet he has remained strong and vital and has the most positive outlook on life of anyone I know! I love this guy and I am hoping everything will be ok. We’ll update!