Well, mostly moved in. Phones not working yet. My recorder on my computer not working. Studios still being assembled. So I will stay ensconced in my little abode working from my Lenovo. All is good in the world when you can stay in your PJ’s.
Congrats to our friend Lacey Sturm! The platinum-selling and platinum-haired, Grammy-nominated frontwoman of Flyleaf (through 2012) bolts back onto the music scene as a solo artist with the five-star-acclaimed release of Life Screams last week on FOLLOWSPOT Records with The Fuel Music distribution. Available at iTunes, Amazon.com, Best Buy and everywhere great music is sold, the album launches to No. 1, No. 7 and No. 9 on the Top Hard Music, Current Alternative and Core Genre Rock Albums’ charts respectively, while topping the iTunes Rock Top Albums chart for much of last week. The album also sparked the Mediabase Active Rock chart top 30 (No. 27) and climbing hit radio single, “Impossible.” We are putting the finishing touches on the her acoustic performance video (the last one shot in our old video studios) now and will post that very soon on the hardDriveRadio YouTube Channel, so please subscribe if you haven’t already!
Tour dates have been announced for the upcoming Disturbed/Breaking Benjamin summer shed tour for July & August with Alter Bridge and Saint Asonia! It’s gonna be awesome! Can’t wait! Find them now in Road Rage. Get your tickets on Friday, Feb 26 at www.livenation.com.
Dates also available for both the Rob Zombie-Korn-In This Moment Return of the Dreads Tour (tickets on sale March 11) and Slipknot-Marilyn Manson-Of Mice & Men tour dates have been revealed. Find them ALL in Road Rage! What a summer it is going to be!
By the way, all three tours are participating in a promotion from Ticketmaster.com that will grant you access to a date of Slipknot’s run, along with a stop on Rob Zombie and Korn’s co-headlining trek and Disturbed and Breaking Benjamin’s summer trek.
And, speaking of my friends Of Mice & Men, the first in a five-part documentary series “The Full Circle Story” launched yesterday! Watch the trailer here! You have to be a member of their fan club to watch. I can’t wait for their next album, which they are recording in the NYC area! WOO HOO!
Frontman Austin Carlile commented, “It’s been an extreme past half year of broken ribs, head, hips, and tour dates. After initial surgeries, followed by more medical exams and tests, and physical therapy multiple times a week, the last few months have been a real hurdle for me mentally and physically. Now that we’ve reached the other side, I’m ready to get the relentless machine that is Of Mice & Men back on track. It will start in March with two and a half months in the studio recording our new album. Then a European festival run (taking in Slamdunk and Rock Am Ring/Rock Im Park). Next up we will be opening for Slipknot and Marilyn Manson all summer long in America, playing various American rock radio festivals along the way, including Chicago Open Air festival.”
“We hope our new documentary series, ‘The Full Circle Story’, will hold you over for now. We put a lot of time and energy into it and hope you enjoy watching part of our Artemis journey and just how it all came Full Circle. See you on the road. Tell everyone you know, Of Mice & Men is back.” (Thanks Blabbermouth.)
3 Doors Down has premiered the official video for its latest single, “In The Dark,” from the band’s upcoming album Us And The Night. The clip stars actor RJ Mitte, best known for his work on Breaking Bad and Switched At Birth. Guitarist Chris Henderson told hardDriveRadio the song began life in a different way than usual for 3 Doors Down: “It was a lyric idea and the song was written, programmed on an iPad. It was a dance track. Brad (Arnold, singer) heard that repeating thing and he was like, ‘Ah, that’s not for us, but I got this idea — “Do it in the dark, she likes to do it in the dark.”‘ And I was surprised, you know, ’cause Brad never in a million years would think of a lyric like that. But he went home and mentioned it to his wife, and she was like, ‘That’s a great idea!’ And that’s kind of the catalyst, you know — once she was okay with it, it started happening and became the first single.”
“In The Dark” is currently available via iTunes and is offered as an instant download to fans who pre-order the Us And The Night album. Us And The Night is due to arrive on March 11th. The new disc ends a five-year recording hiatus for the group, during which it parted ways with two founding members, guitarist Matt Roberts and bassist Todd Harrell. 3 Doors Down is scheduled to appear at the Welcome To Rockville, Fort Rock and Carolina Rebellion festivals this spring, with a headlining tour soon to be announced for later this year.
The Pulse of Radio reporting the producer of the Grammy Awards said in a new interview with Billboard the broadcast’s tribute to late Motorhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister probably wouldn’t have happened if not for the efforts of Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl. Producer Ken Ehrlich explained, “I will confess I didn’t have a lot of Motorhead on my iPad. The metalheads have Dave Grohl to thank for that, because when I asked Dave if he would introduce that segment, he said, ‘I’ll do it — if you do something for Lemmy.’”
Alice Cooper’s new act Hollywood Vampires performed a version of the Motorhead classic “Ace Of Spades” to a surprised audience of pop and rap fans during the gala event in Los Angeles, following an intro from Grohl. Grohl said in his brief speech, “Many of us play rock’n’roll but a rare few among us are rock’n’roll. Lemmy was rock’n’roll. He was a rebel, an outsider, one of a kind, and a way of life. He was Motorhead. He was a legend and I was proud to call him my friend.”
Ehrlich was already struggling to fit an unusually large number of musician deaths into the show’s “In Memoriam” segment, including legends like David Bowie and Glenn Frey. He admitted, “It became a challenge to do the proper thing and, at the same time, not let the show turn into a series of tributes.” Kilmister, one of heavy rock’s most iconic frontmen, died Dec 28th from cancer at the age of 70.
Interesting note: Dave Grohl got an “Ace Of Spades” tattoo on his arm in memory of Lemmy Kilmister shortly after the Motorhead leader’s death.
Rumor mill: The Pulse Of Radio says a rumor is circulating that Slash has reportedly been working on new Guns N’ Roses material in the studio, according to the band’s former publicist. Arlett Vereecke, who did publicity for the group during the early stages of their career, told Classic Rock that recording is “definitely” taking place, although singer Axl Rose has yet to get involved in it. Vereecke said, “I know they’re doing some recording. They’re definitely doing something there in the studio. Axl hasn’t been there, but Slash is definitely in there and it’s not for anyone else.” Hmmm…..I know Slash has been working on his next album-the dude is always working on something! So for Arlette to say this is word, I am not so sure. But hey, you never know! I, for one, think it would be AMAZING to have some new GN’R music from the original members, don’t you?
Dates also posted for Bring Me The Horizon‘s spring U.S. trek which includes Fort Rock, Welcome To Rockville, Carolina Rebellion, Northern Invasion, Rock on the Range and many city stops. See Road Rage.
Gotta dash. Writing up questions of Asking Alexandria, who I will be talking to this evening in NYC at the Playstation Theater. They are currently touring with Bullet For My Valentine. Looking forward!