FEATURING MEMBERS OF EVANESCENCE, ALICE COOPER AND GRANNY 4 BARREL, KILLINGTON PIT ANNOUNCE NEW COVER SONG ‘RIDING ON THE WIND’ OUT NOW
As Killington Pit prepare to release their first original material later in 2024 and play their first live shows, the band recently released another of their hugely popular cover songs. On Friday, February 16th the band released a stunning cover of the Judas Priest classic “Riding On the Wind”. The track comes from Priest’s seminal 1982 “Screaming For Vengeance” album and is another perfect showcase for the sound and chemistry of newcomers Killington Pit.The track features a stunning performance video from the band HERE
The new cover version follows the bands initial two single releases. Their cover of Accept’s “Balls To The Wall” & Rainbow’s “Kill the King” now have over one and a half million streams on Spotify and hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube.The members of Killington Pit connected during the pandemic lockdown and began recording together. As time progressed friendships grew and a core band formed with Terry LeRoi, Will Hunt, Troy McLawhorn and Chuck Garric. “Kill The King” also featured veteran guitarist Stef Burns (Alice Cooper/Huey Lewis & The News) and vocalist guitarist Jeff Blando (Slaughter/Lynchmob/Vince Neil).Will Hunt says, “‘Riding on the Wind’ was always my favorite Priest tune, before Scott Travis, of course. I definitely tried to approach it in a way I thought Scott would play it to give it some modern energy. The fellas and I had a lotta fun with this one!”Troy McLawhorn comments,“Glenn and KK were my teachers when I was learning to play the guitar. Not literally, but I listened to Priest constantly when I was a kid and spent a lot of hours trying to figure out how to play their songs on the guitar. Judas Priest is one of my all-time favorite bands! It was a lot of fun and a challenge to try to recreate the guitar parts for our rendition of ‘Riding on the Wind’. Again, I stuck pretty closely to the original because I respect and honor what they wrote and recorded, and I wanted to do it justice. I’m not trying to re-invent the song. I just wanted to feel the joy of playing it!!!”Chuck Garricadds, “Ian Hill of Judas Priest is a Bass icon! Thats what you get from a Metal God.”Terry LeRoi says, “Screaming For Vengeance is one of my all time favorite records. It’s been a huge inspiration for me over the years. ‘Riding On The Wind’ is the stand out track for me. Rob Halford’s voice is nothing short of amazing on this song and his midrange tones are ear shattering. His singing style and his willingness to pushing vocal limits is unparalleled and has always been my reference point. When Killington Pit started exploring possible songs to cover…this one was at the top of our list. It’s been such an honor to play with Will, Chuck and Troy and a privilege and great joy to pay tribute to Judas Priest!” LeRoi adds, “Over the coming months we will be releasing our full length covers album with accompanying videos. 2024 will see us playing select shows worldwide and releasing original Killington Pit music. We’re looking forward to sharing this with all of the fans!”
Killington Pit is: Vocals – Terry LeRoi Drums – Will Hunt Guitar – Troy McLawhorn Bass – Chuck Garric
For serious Alice Cooper fans the name Mick Mashbir is well known. Mick was brought in to the band to help out on the Billion Dollar Babies and Muscle Of Love recordings and tours. Along with keyboard player Bob Dolin, Mick w as added to add to the albums’ sound and as a well needed guitar player on stage. Mashbir had a history with the Cooper gang before that 1973-74 period, so he fit right in. In this exclusive interview Mick gives us his story of his roots in music, his hooking up with Alice Cooper, his post Cooper years, And his fantastic 2007 solo album Keepin’ The Vibe Alive.
*While writing a retrospect on Billion Dollar Babies, I thought to revisit and re-post this interview, and add a few links.
For more on Mick [and ordering his album] check out his website: www.mickmashbir.com
You grew up in Phoenix[?] what was your association with various members of the Alice Cooper band prior to ever working with them?
I went to High School with Neal, dated his sister [who is now Dennis’ wife]. I gave guitar lessons and was friends with and recorded with Mike Bruce, prior to his being the ACG. The other guys I only saw at the VIP club when I was hanging out or sharing the stage.
Who were some of your own musical influences, heroes, favorite bands and/or albums in your younger years?
Seeing Elvis in 1958 on TV got me on the path. I’m not a big Elvis fan, but he was the first rocker I ever saw. The Ventures “Smash Hits” was my first album, and “Ghost Riders In The Sky” was the first song i learned off that album. My first band The Jaguars – was pretty much a Ventures cover band until The Stones and Byrds came along. We played a lot of that and some Yardbirds and Beatles, as well. I bought The Who’s “My Generation”, then Jimi Hendrix, Cream and Free showed up and totally changed the game for me. I only wanted to play in classic trio form with lead singers. Early guitar influences would be Nokie Edwards, Pete Townsend, Jeff Beck, Clapton, Keith Richards, Jimi and Paul Kossoff. Milestone albums for me were “Meet The Beatles”, “Rolling Stones Now”, “Are You Experienced”, “The Who Sell Out”, “Tons Of Sobs”, and “Fresh Cream”.
What was your own musical history prior to Alice Cooper – bands, any recordings, major shows or venues?
I formed the first band at my high school. We were the “Jaguars”. Mike Bruce’s band “The Duals” were from a rival high school. Mike and I met at a Battle of the Bands and became friends. He and I recorded together as the “Wildflowers”. It was Mike’s first project and he wanted me to play on it.
I then moved to Hawaii for college and founded the first multi-ethnic band, “the Blues Crew” which later evolved into “Lukes Pineapple Store”. We played the first Hawaii pop festival with “Moby Grape” and “Canned Heat”. Went back to Phoenix and joined a band called “Thackery Rocke”. We opened for “Tommy James and the Shondels”, “The Animals” and “Blue Cheer” among others.
I then formed my first blues rock band “Sun House”. That was short lived. I formed “Joshua” a power trio. We released a single, broke up after about 18 months. Then I moved to London.
[Ref to the SickThings interview] – You were invited by Dennis [?] to come back from England and play on Billion Dollar Babies. What were the circumstances or reasons that they wanted you there, baring in mind – they had 2 guitar players and had already been using the likes of Dick Wagner, Steve Hunter [?] …?
It was actually Mike Bruce that made that happen. GB was basically on strike. He didn’t want to be in the same room as Michael or Bob Ezrin and they were rehearsing for the next record, B$B. Mike was also looking to the future because he didn’t know what GB was gonna do. He knew I would fit in with the other guys from Phoenix.
How much of B$Bs did you play on? Any favorite performances? And how involved was Glen at this time?
I played on every track except “Elected” “Sick Things” and “Generation Landslide”. My favorite song was “No Mister Nice Guy”. I was happy with all my parts, GB was around as little as possible. We were recording in the bands mansion and he didn’t bother to come downstairs.
On the Billion Dollar Babies tour Bob Dolin was also brought in on keyboards. What can you tell me about Bob? And how did you get along with him as well as various other members of the band and surrounding entourage?
I’d only seen Bob play in one band and Mike Bruce wanted a keyboard player for the live show, so we auditioned him. Bob was a gifted player with a fabulous ear. On tour we got along quite well since we were the hired guns. Whenever there was a press conference at the hotel the local promo man would show Bob around town so we would not be interviewed by the press. On the B$B tour everyone from both bands got on tremendously. The openers Flo and Eddie hired Bob and me about 5 years later.
You then wrote and played on Muscle Of Love. I really like this album. A couple of things…. What songs did you contribute to writing and play on and why [OH why] – did you go un-credited in the writing and specific song performances? What are your favorite moments from that LP?
I wrote the verse in “Never Been Sold Before” and Co-wrote “Hard Hearted Alice” with Mike. I knew nothing about the music biz so I didn’t really know what to ask for. The album credits were on the book cover insert and I was credited as “additional guitar”. Shep didn’t want the public to know that GB wasn’t involved. My favorite moment was when we have been trying to get a basic track for “Muscle” and Neal kept fuckin’ up the take. Then after about a dozen or so tracks, I fucked up and Neal threw an empty vodka bottle at me. There was a lot of tension because this was the follow up to B$B.
Though you were brought in as a sideman to the band, did you ever feel you a bit disappointed or ‘cheated’ [for lack of a better word] about not being included in the spotlight?
In the beginning I was just happy to be a part of it all. After the B$B album and tour, GB won an award for his slide work on the “Slick Black Limousine” Flexi-Disc. That was my work that got me thinking that I might be getting the short end of the stick. During the recording of the MOL album there was talk of making me a permanent member but Alice left the band before that could happen.
One thing regarding Muscle of Love I am curious about, is if Glen wasn’t around much for this album [did he play on anything?] – how would he have ended up with a number of co-writing credits? [if you’d have any insight to that]
There were a bunch of writing sessions with only the band. I was not asked to be there. GB was there but I don’t know what he contributed if anything. They were trying to get him back into participating and probably thought giving him songwriters credits was a way to keep him interested. But, since he didn’t know how to play any of the songs when we were rehearsing for the MOL tour (I had to teach him the songs) I don’t think he actually “wrote” anything.
I take it [ref to other interview] that you preferred working with Jack Douglas more so than Bob Ezrin?
Jack’s style and vibe was much more “Rock n Roll” than Ezrin’s. Don’t get me wrong – Ezrin was a trained musician with a lot of talent, but he just wasn’t fun to work with. If you can’t have fun while workin’ or playin’, what’s the point?
What do you recall of the winter tour in support of Muscle Of Love? Was the tour and response to the album a bit disappointing from your perspective?
First let me say that touring in the winter in the Midwest and Northwest is not pleasant. Some days the weather was so severe that I didn’t expect anyone to show up at the arena, but the fans did. We were using a modified version of the B$B stage and because of the storms the stage didn’t make it to the gig, but the equipment did so we performed as a flat stage rock band. I think those were some of the best shows for me and the band. It was the first time I could go to the edge of the stage and engage the fans. It was hard for Alice because he relied on the props to do his thing and they weren’t there. When we went to Rio we were a flat stage band and we kicked ass. I wish there were some bootlegs of that show. Anyone out there have any?
What was the state of the band at the end of the tour and what did you do immediately after?
Actually the state of the band was cool because the Billion Dollar Babies book hadn’t come out yet. I was sharing a house with Mike and Bob Dolin and we continued working on songs in our home studio. That is where I began teaching myself to produce and engineer.
You worked on albums by Neal and Michael. What can you tell me about those sessions and some of the songs you played on?
Neal had a home studio and some over dubs were done there. I didn’t remember playing on “Platinum God” until it’s re-release. I was given lead guitar and harmonica credit on “Baby Please Don’t Stop”..Harmonica!?!..That was a surprise.. I worked with Mike on “In My Own Way”, from conception to completion. I played lead on every track. We recorded in L.A. at the Record Plant. It wasn’t the most pleasant experience because Mike chose the guitar player and drummer from The Young Rascals to produce it. They changed everything we have been working on for over a year, as far as songs and arrangements, and not for the better in my opinion. The album was conceived as more of a rock album but they turned it into a weak pop record. We could have had Bill Szymczyk (The Who, The Eagles, Bob Seger, Joe Walsh) produce, but Mike Bruce didn’t want to wait for him to be available.
Dennis, Neal and Mike Bruce got back together [w/ Bob Dolin] to record the “Battle Axe” album, but you were not included. Why?
I was offered the gig. But I had just relocated to L.A. and I was not ready to go back East again. I was also a little burned out on the guys in the band so I just turned it down.
What did you think of that album? And were you disappointed not to be involved?
I thought it was nice in it’s own way, and after hearing how it ended I have no regrets.
What else did you work on following the Alice Cooper stuff? Any name bands, recordings, tours…?
Besides “In My Own Way” (Mike’s solo project), I worked with Flo and Eddie on a short tour of the north east in 78’ and then again with them in 85’ for an eight month tour, when they reformed the Turtles for the first “Happy Together” tour. I spent a lot of time in the trenches trying to get something together. I had a couple of offers but turned them down.. and those acts went nowhere. Since there was no real credit for my work and zero publicity attached to my time with AC I was just another guitar played in L.A. I was involved in a number of promising bands but the management in all cases were not able to get the labels to pulls the trigger.
Keeping The Vibe Alive was recorded in 1996 [?]. Was this your first attempt at a solo project?
No. I had also written a one man musical play in ’76 that almost made it to the stage but the lawyers could not agree on a fair deal, so it died. I got my first 4TRK Porta-Studio and carried on writing songs.
How is this album been being distributed, just through your site?
I don’t sell it on my site but you can link through my site www.mickmashbir.com directly to ITunes or CDBaby.
I understand that the sad passing of the drummer, Donald Lindley, really set you back and the album did not get mixed or issued for another 10 years. Can you touch briefly on this period and how you eventually got the project completed?
Donald and I had been working together on and off since 71’. We had a real musical chemistry. He was living in Austin in 97’ when he found a 24TRK Studio that was struggling to stay open. “The Hit Shack”, Has a neve desk and a studer 24TRK tape deck. It was exactly what we needed to capture the classic rock vibe we were going for. We got a killer deal for a two week lockout. Donald brought in John Chiambotti with whom he had been working with for the park 8 years to play bass. They had also had great chemistry. All but 2 of the 10 basic tracks on the album were first takes. I also did most of the solos only three vocals, but not everything was tracked. This was in early September 1997. Donald had been playing in a jam band with the famous Ian McLagan of the Small Faces and Rolling Stones fame. He added some killer Hammond B3 to “Waiting For my Wings” and the Title Track “Keeping the Vibe Alive”. About nine weeks later Donald was diagnosed with cancer and he passed Nov 4 of 1998. Losing my friend and musical ally and the future we planned (we had even discussed being just a drum and guitar duo) knocked me on my ass and I just could not listen to the tracks. This was way before the days of Kickstarter and I didn’t have the cash or desire to get back to it.
In 2006 I finally got a version of Protools, version 6 I think it was, and I began finishing the tracks. I was at a loss as to where and how I was going to mix it. I had become friends with Alan Parsons through a mutual friend and we spent a lot of time partying together at the beach and occasionally up at his house. I was trying to mix my record in my home studio. On different occasions as his house I would has him if I could go into his studio to listen to my work. After 4 or 5 times of this, he asked me “if I would mind if he had a listen?” of course I said yes. As we were listening to my crap mixes he asked me “Is this the was you want the album to sound?” I said no it wasn’t even close. He said that I should try mixing it in his room. So we set up the dates he gave me a 10 day lockout and I went for it. He had a lot of things on his plate but he would occasionally pop in to listen. He made a few suggestions in the beginning and that was about all until I was almost finished. I needed help placing my vocals in the mix so he went through all the tracks with me. He also suggested the track sequence for the album. If it hadn’t been for Alan’s generosity the album may never have been released.
Bob Dolin plays on 1 track , “Hold On”. What was / is your contact / relationship like with Bob, and why did he only end up on one cut and what do you recall of it?
Bob it turns out, an amazing keyboard player, was really a frustrated guitar player. When he showed up to play the first words out of his mouth were “don’t expect me to be creative”!?!WTF! Bob was one of the most creative players I had ever worked with. Needless to say the session was like pulling teeth but in the end I got some string parts and piano in the coda. All the other keyboard parts were mine. We haven’t spoken since.
You handle vocals on the album. how did you feel about doing them? I take it you’re a guitar player first.
When I began to revisit the material I put an ad in the “Music Connection” in L.A. looking for tapes from singers. They were all crap. So, in order to move forward I had to just do it myself. A very difficult proposition. Some of my vocals were definitely better than others, but I made the decision that as long as the lyrics could be understood and there was some emotion in the track I could live with them. If I could do it all again I would have found someone to help me.
Regarding the songs… “American Weirdo” was written during your time with Alice Cooper!? Interesting, as it certainly seems to fit in with the AC feel musically and lyrically. What inspired the lyrics?
“Weirdo” was actually written in 1979, post Alice. The reason it had an AC feel is that when I played on B$B and Muscle, my playing helped create the AC feel you are referring to. Someone who reviewed my album thought I was a second rate Alice. There was no intentional aping of that sound. That sound was what I was doing before I played with AC. As I mentioned earlier every one of us in the band at that time had played in cover bands and we all covered the same bands, so our influences were all the same. That is why I fit in with them musically. If I walked away with any influence it was how to arrange songs, thanks to Ezrin.
The lyrics were a work in progress until they were recorded. The politics in America had shifted radically. It was getting hard to tell one political party from the other. Also, it was becoming clear that freedom and liberty as it was supposed to be in America was disappearing.
How many guitar parts are there in American Weirdo? [3?] I’m curious how you would ever do this live. I love this song, it’s kinda’ become my theme song around here [and in the car] – despite my being Canadian!
Thanks Kevin. It’s cool that it knows no borders. When MySpace was really a great place for musicians, I got comments from all over the planet. I remember someone from an Eastern Bloc being very pissed off that I would talk that way about America. There are four parts. Electric rhythm, lead, slide, and acoustic rhythm. The acoustic was really to get the “Gimme Shelter” feel in the chorus. Live? I would just forget about the Slide part and play it straight as a trio with the Wha-Wha solo. Donald and I also discussed having a B3 player to fill up the sound. When we rehearsed the tunes it was just the two of us so we knew it would work as a duo or trio.
And, did you write any other songs during this period that haven’t surfaced yet [or surfaced elsewhere]?
The one man play I mentioned earlier “Lightin’ Up” was all written during that period, and all I have are some of the demos.
Who was “Hell Of A Man” penned about? [kind of a Zeppelin groove-riff to it].
Zeppelin! Thanks for the compliment! The idea for the album was to let all the bands that influence Donald and I shine through the songs. I didn’t try to write like the Who or Zepplein, the songs just came out that way. We agreed if the influences showed up to just let them stand on their own.
Those lyrics were written by the late, great Curt Phillips. Curt must have been hangin’ out with a pretty tough crowd at this time of his life. He captures a great snapshot of the lesbian biker-chic chick of the 80’s.
What can you tell me about some of the ‘70s soul / funk style on “Mirror Image”.
That was Donald’s influence. Being a drummer, he was always interested in different grooves. Hip-hop was coming into its own and he really wanted to try to incorporate some of that funky feel. We both loved Otis Redding so it wasn’t hard to find our way in that groove.
“Workin For My Wings” ?
That track was as close to a Hendrix influenced track that we had at the time. It was the only track that I played a Stratocaster on. It’s a song about searching for personal freedom and identity. It was influence by my psychedelic experiences from the 60’s.
The title track seems to have an old British blues feel to it, almost like early Fleetwood Mac, and I swear I hear a lick from AC’s “Killer” in there. What can you tell me about this song, musically and lyrically?
“Keepin The Vibe Alive” has many influences. It sums up the whole concept of the album. Keeping the classic rock sound and 60’s “Peace and Love” vibe alive. When we recorded this album, most albums had piles of guitars, so we wanted to sticks to the open guitar sound of classic rock. The lick you are referring to is probably in the raga part of the solo, but is not intentional. The Who style rave-up at the end was a total jam and the very ending was an example of the way Donald and I played together. We didn’t rehearse the ending. We just both ended at the same time cause that’s how much unspoken musical communication we had.
Do you have any favorites or stories behind a few of the other tunes?
“Golden Touch” was inspired by books I was reading about Elvis and Jim Morrison. It seemed to me it was fame and fortune that killed them, not drugs. “Heartache Train” was another Curt Phillips lyric about a crazy relationship, which Curt had more than his fair share. He always wrote with a sense of humor, not anger. He wrote the lyrics to “Gods Gotta Gun” as a comment on mans inhumanity to man with god as the judge and jury and the biggest fuckin’ gun you’ve ever seen.
Since you did the artwork, were you an art student as well? [as some of the AC guys].
No, I wasn’t an art student. I can’t draw for shit, but I’ve always been able to come up with visual concepts. Once again it was out of necessity and I had trained myself to use Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, so I just went for it. I am very pleased with that. The whole concept as I mentioned before was to keep the “Classic Rock” vibe alive so the cardboard CD Cover and the enclosed CD (that actually looks like a vinyl record), completed the package. It looks like a miniature record album. It’s gotta be a collectors item just for the packaging alone and because it’s not in a plastic case, if someone buys it internationally from CDBaby, they don’t have to pay a premium for shipping.
And how has feedback been?
The feedback has been mostly positive and I’m happy for that. One of my favorite compliments was that my CD was the closest sound to a vinyl record that Alan Parsons had heard in years. If you go to CD-Baby you can read some other very cool comments.
What are you currently up to? Do you play regularly live or have any plans to record a follow up album?
I miss playing live, but there’s really no opportunity to play out where I live. I have since released a couple of new tracks on ITunes and have some more in the pipeline and I have a few instrumentals that I will eventually release. I recorded some tracks for a cool band “The Velvet Saints”, but those haven’t been released yet.
Have you have any contact with or keep in touch with any of the AC guys — Neal, Dennis, Alice or Michael?
Mike”s a “ghost” – no one can find him.. no contact with Neal or Alice. Dennis and I were in touch for awhile through Myspace because we both released solo projects at the same time and that was 5 years ago. So, basically, no.
In regard to the AC band songwriting…… what did you think of Mike Bruce as a songwriter and Alice as a writer? and was there a good bit of competition going on at the time you were there? [w/ Alice being Alice and Mike being the major writer.
I think the success of their work answers that question. I rarely hear any post ACG songs on the classic rock station, just songs like “Schools Out”, (every year at the end of school) and “No More Mr. Nice Guy”, my favorite.
I know that Mike presented a lot of the songs in finished form, lyrics and all, like “Be My Lover” and if Alice felt they fit what he and the band were trying to present then he would leave the songs as is. If the lyrics didn’t fit , Alice would rewrite them. I can’t give you any specific examples of the rewrites but I know that it frustrated Michael and that led to his desire to express himself with a solo album. The easiest way to understand this is, Mike embraced the Beatles music,[ listen to “King of America on his solo album] and the rest of the guys were a Stones band before he joined. I remember that during the tracking rehearsals Alice didn’t sing, he sat and listened and worked on his lyrics. What competition there was led to a more creative working situation, as it often does in bands.
In reference to Mike’s solo album…. were you happy with any of the songs or your performances [as they were produced)?
As far as my performances, I felt my work was just what those songs needed. The Beatles pop feel let me play my George Harrison style slide work which I quite enjoyed. If you listen to the bonus tracks on the double album release you will hear the tracks we recorded with Jack Douglas producing. Comparing the demo of “As Rock Rolls On” with the finished product, you will have a perfect example of how the work was watered down to a pop sound. The whole guitar solo section on the demo was left out of the final arrangement by Gene and Dino. The Slade cover, “So Far So Good”, came the closest in energy to what I thought the album should feel like. It was sad to me that other songwriters were brought in to the project. I was disappointed that Mike allowed that to happen , but it was his solo project, not mine, so I respected those choices and supported that with my playing. And in the end none of the above really matters, because I don’t think that many people have heard that record. I will add that the engineer David Palmer did a nice job.
What happened to Michael after this album [from your view?] – being that he was such a prolific writer for years.
Well, a writer needs a place for their song to live. First there was the ACG, that ended. Then Mike’s solo project that never really got off the ground, for lack of management, and finally the failure of the “Battle Axe” project. Mike kept writing, did another solo project and that was the last I heard from him until years later, when he did the Iceland recordings. But, don’t forget that last year (2012) Alice released his latest record and did a semi-reunion with Mike, Dennis and Neal. Mikes song “When Hell Comes Home”, was in my opinion, the best song on that album. It was truly classic Alice Cooper.[My apologies to Mike for any omissions that I may have made].
Kevin I just want to say thanks for giving me the opportunity to tell more of my story.
‘Now’ was recorded in 2013. Mick sent it to me then, mentioning that he had been inspired to write it after the interview we did. *thanks to Ron Mann for his help with a few questions and posting the original interview.
YES released their latest studio album ‘Mirror To The Sky’ in May 2023, and following an acclaimed US tour late last year, the band will return to the UK & Europe for ‘The Classic Tales of YES Tour 2024’. To coincide with this, they have launched a brand-new video for an edited version of the album’s epic title track, and you can watch that now here:
A new Limited 2 CD+Blu-ray Digipak edition of the album will also be released on the 5th April. This edition features the full album, plus the blu-ray including Dolby Atmos, 5.1 Surround Sound & Instrumental Mixes of the album and is available to pre-order here: https://yes-band.lnk.to/MirrorToTheSky‘
The Classic Tales of YES Tour 2024’ will include many iconic tracks from the YES back-catalogue covering fifty-plus years. The tour will also include a celebration of the 50th Anniversary of ‘Tales from Topographic Oceans’ as well as music from their current album ‘Mirror To The Sky’. “We’re all excited to be bringing our show home to Europe and the UK!” says Steve Howe, “We’ve selected a new playlist of Yes music but with some firm favourites in there too, of course! To keep our performances fresh, we ‘now’ carry our own lights, so we can present a consistent show each night, designed for us by William Succuso …….. Looking forward to seeing you out there!”
“We are very much looking forward to the 2024 European leg of our YES Classic Tales Tour. Having recently completed the US, we are now really excited to bring that out to all our fans in the UK and Europe. It promises to be one of our most interesting sets to date, scanning through much of YES’s history and with some previously unheard pieces as well as music from our latest album, ‘Mirror To The Sky’. Bring it on and see you all out there!” Best, Geoff Downes.
Symphonic rock trio EXIT EDEN have a new album out Femmes Fatales, featuring 6 covers. The covers are unique and interesting choices, and served up very different to the originals – Pet Shop Boys (It’s A Sin), Alice Cooper (Poison), Heart (Alone), Marillion (Kayleigh), Journey (Separate Ways), Mylène Farmer (Desanchantée). Billed as ‘the Queens of symphonic metal’, Femmes Fatales is their 2nd album, also featuring 6 of their own songs. Check out the clips & links below.
EXIT EDEN are: Clémentine Delauney Anna Brunner Marina La Torraca
Once a part of the LA scene, A DOLL’S HOUSE never released an album back in the late 80s, but 30+ years later the band has recorded and released their debut album. More of a lighter rock /AOR 10 track album, A DOLL’S HOUSE offers up some smooth sounding tunes, well recorded and produced, with excellent vocals. Worth checking out for tracks like “Woven”, “Steps To Summer”, and “And Time”. Lots of acoustic guitars (see ballad “Chimney”). *Check out the band’s 2 videos below, and links.
In the late ’80’s, two teenagers started writing songs in L.A. They started a band and played all the clubs, The Whiskey, The Roxy, The Troubadour, etc. They built a bit of a following and did well. But not well enough. Life took over and the party ended. They were barely 22.
Thirty years later, those same guys are in their 50s with careers, kids, mortgages — the whole deal. Bucking the odds, they set out to make an album. The gods smiled when they met Brian Wheat, a seasoned producer, perhaps best known as the bass player and co-founder of Tesla – a band that has charted multiple hits, sold millions of albums and is still going strong.
Brian listened to the songs and decided to take charge of the album himself – arranging, recording and mixing at his J Street Recorders studio in Sacramento, CA. The result is A Doll’s House first album: Annum. An album 30 years in the making. The debut single released this past Fall, Hey Wait, is emblematic of the band’s “Chill Rock” sound, blending groove with sticky melody and true musicianship and was received well at Triple A radio. Over Easy the new single is a prelude to the full album release coming out in 2 weeks.
DAVID SANTOS – Vocals
DAV PETRUNICH – Guitar
SETH RAFKIN – Bass
TONY DeFRANCO – Drums
Produced, mixed and engineered by Brian Wheat
Mastered by Mike Fitz
All songs written by Dav Petrunich and Seth Rafkin
Niagara Falls’ HONEYMOON SUITE debuted in 1984 with the Q107 radio contest winning cut “New Girl Now”, which lead to a record deal and a highly successful debut album. The band followed that up with further successful albums The Big Prize (1986, produced by Bruce Fairbairn), Racing After Midnight (1988, produced by Ted Templeman), and 1991’s Monsters Under The Bed (co-produced w/ Paul Northfield). Following that run it would be a decade before another HMS album, and another after that! But the end of this week sees the release of Honeymoon Suite’s brand new studio album ‘Alive‘.
In this conversation I talked to guitarist/songwriter Derry Grehan about making the new album Alive, as well as the recent remix & reissue of the Clifton Hill album, what else he’s up to, and some of the band’s he grew up on. HMS is one of the first band’s I saw live, and growing up near the Falls was well aware of them – they broke out big right away, drawing instant comparisons to Loverboy (who had a similar early success with their debut LP), but after that string of 3-4 albums I moved on to other things, and wasn’t aware most of these guys aren’t still in the Falls (or so close), so we began with that….
How’d you how’d you end up in Nashville?
Well, I’ve been in Illinois, Central Illinois for 20 years. I moved from Toronto, to Illinois, where I have my house there. And I recently, about six months ago got another place in Nashville with my daughter, who’s a singer-songwriter as well. So I’m kind of biding my time between two places because I love Nashville. And I’ve been kind of commuting back and forth for a long time here working with people. So we just decided to get 2 places. But I’m kind of down here a little more than I’m a back in Illinois and hoping to relocate here permanently.
So you must have a lot of other things on the go other than just a new Honeymoon Suite stuff coming out?
Well, I always find things to do. I do some co writing with a few people, once in a while and work with my daughter, and I’ve been working on a solo record. And this Honeymoon Suite thing is there, it keeps me pretty busy as well. So there’s always something to do.
So the new album ‘Alive’, that’s coming out – It’s kind of been in the works for a few years, right? Like there’s been a few singles out since 2019.
Yeah, it has taken good three years probably since we started it. Probably three years ago, Johnnie and I started but we went to Nashville, to meet with our producer Mike Krompass, who was down here at the time. I reached out to him, see if you’d be interested in working with us. And he was, and we went to his place and started writing songs. And he said I want to produce produce your album. So lots of trips back and forth. And then COVID hit in what 2022. So Mike, moved to England at that time. So we were going back and forth to his place, his studio in England doing stuff, but then COVID hit we couldn’t travel anymore, so I guess what I’m saying is just everything got pushed back, you know, then it took longer. You know, the way it was.
So did you guys have all the songs or all the songs at that time when you started? Or was this kind of still adding?
No, not right away. But we wrote, we had a fair amount of them, but we also wrote a few along the way and developed them over, you know, a year or two.
I saw you guys out in Port Colborne a couple of years ago. 2019. with David Wilcox, and I think the new track was on the radio at the time, but I don’t think you guys played it.
No, we hadn’t put the songs in the show. We’re really careful about putting new material in the show. Although we love it, you know, people are there to hear the hits. And like with this new album, or our singles are really doing well, so we’ll probably put out a new song or two in the set…
Can you tell me a bit about how you and Johnnie, obviously you guys live pretty far apart so how you guys collaborate and get things together?
Yeah, you know, we we’ve lived here he’s been up in your area and I’ve been in Illinois for 20 years, but it hasn’t impeded us at all, you know, John and I, it’s been a long time since we live together or lived in the same place. We just, you know you got the internet now and everything’s recorded digitally and Pro Tools and all that. So if I have an idea, I’ll just send files to him. And we send stuff back and forth by the Internet. Once in a while, of course, we see each other a lot when we’re touring. because all the band guys- we all live in different places. When we tour, we all go to an airport and then meet up in the city and we hang out for a couple of days. And then sometimes we’ll get together on the road and bang some things out.
Can you tell me a bit about the songs, the singles, you guys got out like ‘Find What You’re Looking For’ and ‘Tell Me What You Want’ – what they’re about, and what how you guys came up with some of the ideas?
‘Find What You’re Looking For’, that was the first one that we wrote with Mike, and that was one of the first songs we recorded and finished. Mike had a lot to do with that; Mike’s a great producer and the sound around it’s classic Honeymoon Suite, but he made it sound not dated, he gave it a kind of a modern sound to the production but without alienating you know, the real sound of the band. ‘Tell Me What You Want’ is a good example of that. It’s kind of different for us. We tried some new kind of production techniques and sounds and I think it’s a cool song. What’s it about? ‘Tell me what you want’ – It’s I guess, when you’re in a relationship, sometimes you just can’t figure that other person out, whether it’s your girlfriend, or boyfriend or whatever, it’s like, I don’t get you, man. Like, I’m doing everything for you to me, tell me what you want. You know, it can be that old struggle. And then ‘Find What You’re Looking For’ is a track that I’ve had for years actually, and it was called something else, but I always loved the the verse in that song it was so heavy, we just didn’t have a great chorus. So eventually, we worked on that with Mike and we did come up with a really good chorus for it. And if you listen to the lyric, it’s really cool and find what you’re looking for – Grabbing and and don’t don’t give up.
The new one is ‘Alive’, the title track and I was watching that today and 2 things – I like that it’s short and to the point, punchy; all the songs are easily memorable. And also, you guys still play the – like with the video, you still use the falls in the background and a lot of local scenery…
We decided to go back to Niagara Falls and do the video for that just as a kind of a nod to our past. And if you remember – one of the first videos we did was ‘Burning In Love’, in Niagara Falls. So it was fun to go back to that same location, walk around with a camera crew and watch people look at us funny. And put Johnnie back in Niagara Falls. So I think it was really cool.
Do you guys have much of a hand in the album artwork or is that kind of brought in to you guys?
No, actually, Mike, our producer, he also has his own record label and his own team of people. They came up with the concept of the the guy on the front with the hat, cloud on his face. Mike actually presented that to us and and I was like, right away. I’m like ‘That’s great!’. Everybody thought that was cool. Say no more. You know. I like it, Yeah.
It’s a very different cover to me, you know. Like I love the ‘Clifton Hill’ cover with the classic shot of Clifton Hill from the bottom, and obviously the earlier covers, but yeah this is very different cover. It almost looks like something that I might expect from one of those prog bands or something but…
Yeah. Like Pink Floyd maybe a little bit. Yeah. But it’s very artsy and cool, but I think it goes with the music really well.
You also have the reissue of ‘Clifton Hill’ out(!?)
Well, that is a guy that we’ve been working with, actually does our merchandising called Greg Campbell. He’s run our web store for a long time. He does a lot of bigger bands. He’s done really well for us with our merch and our albums in Canada. He approached us and he’s just a fan of the band, and he always liked the Clifton Hill album. He has a relationship with a studio in Toronto; so he approached us with a proposal, he said ‘You know, I love the Clifton Hill album, would you guys be interested in re mixing it?’ And I said ‘for sure’ because the original one – It’s okay, but it could be better. So I gave him the tracks, the stems, and he mixed it and it’s amazing what they pulled out of there. You know, the engineer found tracks I forgot that I did. So I’m very happy with it.
Do you know where that picture came from? Was that just an archived photo on the cover?
Yeah, we actually..my wife and I did the artwork for that back then. Of course we call it ‘Clifton Hill‘ because we wanted something related to the Falls. And we actually got that from the Niagara Falls library, if I remember correctly. We found it in their archives looking for pictures of Clifton Hill, you know. And we asked them for permission to use it, and they did. So it was really cool because that’s the Clifton Hill that I remember growing up in the 70s. That’s what it looked like, it was really cool.
You said you’ve got a solo album you’re working on!?
Yes. So during COVID all us musicians had a lot of time on our hands, you know. So I would spend a lot of time in my studio just writing and playing guitar, which I do every day. And I started cataloging a lot of riffs and ideas. And a lot of things that I come up with weren’t really Honeymoon Suite they’re just more like heavier rock riffy kind of stuff. And it occurred to me that I would have probably enough to maybe do a little solo instrumental album, which I’ve always wanted to do, but I never had the time or the right tracks. So Yes – it’s almost finished, it’s going to be like 10 songs. It’s all guitar, no singing, just all instrumental. I’m playing everything on it, and I got some wicked drummers playing on the stuff, and some of it’s pretty heavy. And it’ll be coming out, probably in a couple of months.
Can I ask you what you grew up on listening to as far as bands. I know a lot of bands that came through and that but you know, you guys would have seen shows at Niagara Falls Convention Center and stuff like that back then, and in Buffalo.
For sure, well growing up in the Niagara Peninsula, like I grew up in St. Catharines. It actually was a great place because at that time in the 70s and early 80s – there’s so many bands playing in the clubs. You get all the cool bands from Toronto coming down – Triumph and Max Webster and all that. playing Uncle Sam’s you know locally and Montebello (Park) in St. Catharines. You’ve got these great recording bands coming down and then you had Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto and the Aud in Buffalo, Niagara Falls Convention Center – these huge venues just like an hour away. And so every band you wanted to see came through. So where I grew up on man like Deep Purple was my band – Ritchie Blackmore. I saw them with at the Aud. I saw Kiss and Bowie and Blue Oyster Cult. It was great area, a great time and that’s where I saw a lot of my bands that I love, you know!?
That’s cool. Actually my second show I ever saw was 1984 when I saw you guys opening for April Wine at the Kingswood (Music Theater).
Wow, early days, Awesome!
I remember because Corey Hart, there was big sign up that Corey Hart had cancelled. but we didn’t know who was going to be the band until you guys came on. But I don’t think the album was out at that time, I think we just knew you guys from the Q107 contest.
Yeah, right. So that’s what happened. A lot of things were going moving really fast then, and I remember Corey had to cancel some shows. So they just called us up and asked us ‘do you guys want to drive eight hours down and open up for April Wine?’ Hell Yeah! You know, we would play anywhere and everywhere.
Did you keep a lot of stuff growing up – as far as albums and stuff, like buy a lot of stuff and still because I see the album like Clifton Hill came out on limited vinyl reissue and that as well.
Yeah, I wish I knew that vinyl was going to come back like it did man like I wish I kept my records. I had tons of them. But you know, moving from place to place – those damn things are heavy and I had milk cartons full of great records. I wish I’d kept them all but I gave them away or I traded them in, you know and now that I have a turntable and I’m back into vinyl, I’m rebuilding my my collection. So the only thing I kept was about 60 Purple albums. Is it Honeymoon Suite ones.
What’s your favorite Deep Purple albums?
Well, you know, Machine Head was a classic. And then the first one with Coverdale and Hughes – Burn, that’s another classic. Made In Japan, man wore that one out. Love that!
So Purple was your number one band grown up?, anything else as far as guitar players or favorite albums?
Well, sure, I mean, Ritchie Blackmore! Early Santana. Yeah. You know, Alice Cooper, Grand Funk. Anything that was rock and heavy I love.
The recording machine who is Israeli guitarist/songwriter AVI ROSENFIELD has released a new album in his ‘Very Heepy Very Purple’ series, making this one ‘XV’, featuring 10 original tracks than are in the vein of that classic heavy early 70s sound. This one features a number of guests, most notably Canadian singer Nick Walsh (Slik Toxik, Moxy, Famous Underground), American singer Harry Conklin (Jag Panzer, The Three Tremors), American guitarist Brian Young (David Lee Roth, Jeff Scott Soto), singer Bryan Ketelaars (August Life), and Argentiian singer Pablo Sanchez. A series of albums worth checking out. Highlights on ‘XV’ include “Metal Tears”, a Rainbow inspired rocker (reminiscent of “Stargazer”), one of a few tracks featuring Nick Foley on Hammond organ and “Lady Luck” features Nick Walsh on vocals, with a Gillan era Purple vibe and Heep-ish backing vocals, as well as a cool Hammond organ intro and performance by Niall Temple (of UK band Lost In Thought). Later on “Wheels Are Turning” lightens things up a bit here, and features Italian guitarist Claudio Acampora, while Atomic Punks’ guitarist Brian Yooung (and ex David Lee Roth) lays down a killer solo on “It’s Alright”. Check it out!
British progressive-art rock band THE PINEAPPLE THIEF will release their latest studio album February 9 titled ‘It Leads To This’. Check out the info below, links, and the first 2 singles/videos from the album “The Frost” and “Every Trace Of Us” below. A 3rd single has just been released today (February 1 (today), and can be pre-ordered HERE (video below)
The Pineapple Thief revel in opposing forces. Muscle and fragility. Chaos and precision. Gnarly introspection and warm, dreamlike expanse. Conceived in 1999 by Bruce Soord, the progressive quartet underwent a rebirth in 2017 with the arrival of Gavin Harrison (King Crimson, Porcupine Tree) on drums. Completed by bassist/backing vocalist Jon Sykes and keyboardist Steve Kitch, they’ve honed a lean yet lush, quietly timeless sound that soars on It Leads To This.
“I’m so proud of it,” says Soord. “I just can’t wait to get out there and sing it. I’m going to be able to sing every word, play every note, and feel really good about all of it.”
“I’ve been in lots of situations with producers and session musicians,” says Harrison, a drummer with an arranger’s ear, who quickly became involved with songcraft upon joining the band. “I’ve witnessed people rearranging songs in front of your face, and sometimes a song with a different arrangement is like a different song. Luckily, Bruce loves being shocked or surprised. That’s a rarity, working with singers.”
Since 2014’s Magnolia, The Pineapple Thief have worked towards an ideal form of 21st century progressive music. Spacious, detailed songs in pop packages. Maximum depth with a minimalist spirit. Meanwhile Soord also released three solo albums, mixed records for Jethro Tull, Anathema, Katatonia, TesseracT, Haken and many others, and became a father of three. Alongside this, the world changed. Turmoil unfurled, from global warming to #MeToo. The pandemic happened.
It all feeds into It Leads To This. Comprising eight fat-free epics – all about five minutes long, mixing rock urgency with delicate atmospherics, pensive keys and captivating melodies – it finds Soord looking back and fearing for the world his children will inherit. In a career first, his real world lyrics also draw from literature: accounts of Ancient Rome, John Williams’ classic Stoner and his epistolary Augustus. Pictures of real and fictional men, reevaluating their pasts.
For Soord it was also a time of self-reflection, epitomised in the slightly sinister title track – all creeping, intricate rhythms, offset by distorted guitars and dreamy electronics. “I was that person. I was that ambitious man who wanted to be a successful musician and would stop at nothing, almost, to do it. So when I look back on it, I think ‘well, actually, yeah, it was bad’. What I’m writing about, what I’m criticising, is me, and that’s probably why I could sing it. It really was written from the heart.”
It all began that strange spring in 2020. Walking out to his studio, in Yeovil, Somerset, Soord looked up at a silent, empty sky and wrote Put It Right – the quietly haunting marriage of poise and moody alt rock that opens It Leads To This. “It was just clear blue, not a plane in the sky,” he remembers. “I remember writing the whole of Put It Right. It starts off with the words ‘this haven’, because I was down in my little haven, at the bottom of my garden.”
More songs came out of that period. All That’s Left was one; all eerie melancholia and loud, jagged peaks. Album closer To Forget was another; a stunning, delicately sprawling ode to the tragedies people live through, inspired by accounts of the families lost under dictatorships in Argentina and Chile. All of it conveyed through Soord’s fragile yet penetrative tenor, nodding to storytellers like Nick Drake, Thom Yorke and Katatonia’s Jonas Renske.
But it was stints at Harrison’s home studio that imbued the record with real heat. One standout result was Rubicon, a bruising yet nuanced picture of the tyranny and paranoia of Julius Caesar, and history’s capacity to repeat itself (especially in regard to its world leaders).
For the singer/guitarist, it was an intense experience. “I’m so used to just writing here [in my studio], where there’s no pressure,” he admits. “Whereas driving to Gavin’s house and staying there for three or four days, it was properly intense. I don’t think I’ve ever focused my mind as intensely as I did during that time.”
“Bruce is a more chaotic person,” Harrison offers. “I’m a bit more logical. With Bruce, it’s more the mood he’s in and how much confidence he’s got. And that’s probably the successful part of it. If we were both chaotic, it’d probably not come together. If we were both a lot more logical, it wouldn’t be so interesting.”
Perhaps the most incendiary expression of this creative fusion is first single The Frost – a banger with a dark heart.
“The Frost was one of those moments that every songwriter wishes happened all the time, where you pick up a guitar, and it just comes out,” Soord says, “and it’s actually a love song with a slightly sinister undertone, about falling with your soulmate to the ocean floor, in peace together…”
In a way, that’s The Pineapple Thief all over. Idiosyncratic but relatable. Devastating and life-affirming, in the same breath. Not married to a single genre, just melody served by tones and textures. Music that only the four of them (friends, not just bandmates) could make.
“I learned that from Porcupine Tree,” Harrison observes, “if you change one person, the whole sound of the band changes. The chemistry of the sound is the four of us, doing what we do. And we have a laugh, we make fun of each other…” he grins, “well mostly [of] Bruce, but it’s good fun.”
Maybe that’s why this clever, commanding record unfurls as naturally as it does. Why It Leads To This can, and should, be read with a question mark. Is the world doomed? Could we have acted differently? Do people change? Does it lead to this?
“As much as I go on about the polarized state of the world, l do think it’s a minority creating this toxic environment that a lot of us have to live in,” Soord says. “I think most people who I meet are genuinely nice. So there’s a positive message from this. Because it shouldn’t, it doesn’t have to lead to this.”
Canada’s own STRIKER has a new album out this week, titled ‘Ultrapower‘, the Edmonton band’s 7th record. First off, love this cover-art by Al Perez/Ramone Sketch, awesome retro 80s drawing of machine/robot and cool colorful lettering drawn in. These guys are really more fast paced hard-rock /metal, but throw in elements of AOR/pop, prog-metal, and party type rock & anthems. The band’s latest single “Give It All” even features keys and saxophone, and those big ’80s backing vocals, making this one sound like it could be out of some lost ’80s action hero movie! For the most part this is really good, with standouts “Circle Of Evil” (the previous single, a Malmsteen inspired metal cut about secret societies, etc..), as well as ’80s styled arena rockers “Turn The Lights Out” , “City Calling” (influenced by 80s AOR & pop like Kenny Loggins and Toto) , and “Ready For Anything”. Most interesting track is the sorta progressive “Blood Magic”, with a few twists and changes, big guitar solos, with the band citing King Diamond as an influence here. Musically these guys pick up lots from ’80s bands like Dokken, Queensryche, Anthrax, as well as Judas Priest (the ’80s stuff)… Well worth checking out. A fun rocking album! *Check out the band bio below, as well as the 3 videos from Ultrapower, and links!
STRIKER:
Dan Cleary – Vocals Tim Brown – Guitar John Simon Fallon – Guitar Pete Klassen – Bass Jono Webster – Drums (album only)
Blending classic heavy metal, hard rock, and 80’s hair metal, Striker has been making shredtacular anthems since 2007. The band has toured multiple times across Europe and North America, chosen to open for Metallica in their hometown of Edmonton, AB, Canada along with many festival appearances that include 70,000 Tons of Metal, Wacken Open Air (Germany), Bang Your Head Festival (Germany), and more to add to the almost 1000 shows performed in their decade-plus career. The band has been honoured with multiple Best Album awards in their home country of Canada from the JUNO Awards(The Canadian equivalent to the American Grammy), Western Canadian Music Awards, and the Edmonton Music Awards.
Striker is kicking off 2024 with their seventh studio album “ULTRAPOWER”, which follows their Juno Award-winning self-released full-length “Play to Win” (2018) released on their label Record Breaking Records. The new album also features the band’s latest lineup addition of long-time friend and guitarist John Simon Fallon (The Order of Chaos). For the band’s seventh full-length, they teamed up with producer Josh Schroeder (Lorna Shore, Tallah, King 810), entering the studio in March 2023. With the band writing material since 2018, “ULTRAPOWER” is a collection of five years of Striker tinkering and exploring new avenues.
“ULTRAPOWER is the amalgamation of 5 years of writing and exploring music. With influences from AOR to Speed Metal, Hardcore to Hair Metal, Steely Dan to Deathcore, you name it, it made its way into the album. In the end with the help of Josh Schroeder’s guiding hand, we melted it all together to present something uniquely Striker. Lyrically we’ve stuck to the Striker tradition of writing montage songs for movies that don’t exist, songs about our spiraling serfdom, and lyrics about the evils that lurk in the shadows.” adds the band.
“ULTRAPOWER” follows Striker’s six studio albums Eyes in the Night (2010, Iron Kodex), Armed to The Teeth (2012, Napalm), City of Gold (2014, Napalm), Stand in the Fire (2016, Record Breaking), Striker (2017, Record Breaking), and Play to Win (2018, Record Breaking).
Jack Russell & Tracii Guns have a new album out now titled Medusa, and it rocks! Russell was the voice of GREAT WHITE, one of my favorite bands to come out of that LA hard rock ’80s scene, and Tracii Guns is from the legendary LA GUNS. Jack Russell released an album in 2017 titled He Saw It Comin’ (as Jack Russell’s Great White), and Guns (who is always busy) released an excellent collaboration with Michael Sweet (STRYPER) in 2021 Evil And Devine (as SUNBOMB). Both albums are highly recommended, with He Saw It Comin’ sounding more like classic 80s GREAT WHITE than anything the band had done in years (particularly without him). So it is no wonder that album is another solid set, heavy, melodic, with Jack Russell still sounding as great as he did 35+ years ago, and Tracii Guns being one of those amazing players that suits anything. Lots of great heavy riffs here on rockers like “In And Out Of Love” (the Hammond organ is a nice touch), “Give Me The Night”, “Coming Down”, and the single “Tell Me Why”. There’s also a good ballad in “Living A Lie”. Further cool heavy rock in the album’s title track and “Where I Belong”. Every song here is at least good (OK, I’m not crazy about the lead off single “Next In Line”, but…), enough changes to keep it all interesting, along with added piano and organ throughout this record (courtesy of Alessandro Del Vecchio. Awesome collaboration.
RUSSELL – GUNS marks the beginning of a fresh artistic partnership between two legendary figures of Los Angeles hard rock: Jack Russell and Tracii Guns, accompanied by Johnny Martin, Shane Fitzgibbon and Alessandro Del Vecchio.
The pair released their new studio album, ‘Medusa,’ on January 12th, 2024 via Frontiers Music Srl.
Commenting on the partnership, Tracii Guns said, “Jack is one of the greatest rock voices of our generation. It’s a total honor to play guitar on this record.”
For Jack Russell, this project represents a long-awaited return to recording and new music, coming seven years after the release of ‘He Saw It Comin” with Jack Russell’s Great White. Instead of dwelling on the past and attempting to recreate the storied origins of the multi-platinum hard rock entity, Jack is excited to be moving forward and collaborating with none other than Tracii Guns, an artist experiencing a creative resurgence of his own.
On ‘Medusa,’ Jack and Tracii have discovered a common thread in a collection of songs that draw from the bluesy power and heavy energy of their most celebrated material and roots, yet infused with a fresh, energetic drive and modern metallic production.
About the album, Jack had this to say, “It was so great making a record with Tracii! Initially, I had my reservations about making this record, but in the end it kicks ass. I’ll play with Tracii anytime!”
‘Medusa’ is an album that showcases inspired artistic integrity and commitment to rock’n’roll from two extraordinary rock stars of the 80s and 90s.
Track List: 1) Next In Line 2) Tell Me Why 3) Coming Down 4) Where I Belong 5) For You 6) Give Me the Night 7) Living A Lie 8) In And Out of Love 9) Medusa 10) Back Into Your Arms again 11) I Want You
Line Up:
Jack Russell – vocals Tracii Guns – guitars Johnny Martin – Bass Shane Fitzgibbon – drums Alessandro Del Vecchio – keyboards, backing vocals
In 1984, Jack Russell burst onto the scene as the frontman for Great White, a prominent presence in the Los Angeles music scene. The band’s self-titled debut, along with platinum-selling albums like 1987’s ‘Once Bitten…’ and 1989’s ‘…Twice Shy,” sold over 8 million copies worldwide. Their rock legacy continued into the 21st century, and in 2011, Russell went on to form Jack Russell’s Great White.
Tracii Guns is a legend in his own right. He founded LA Guns in 1983, which later merged with another group called Hollywood Rose, laying the foundation for one of the true giants of rock: Guns N’ Roses. After departing the band and reuniting with former Girl lead vocalist Phil Lewis to reform LA Guns, he signed with Vertigo Records and released 14 studio albums with the band. He also ventured into various side projects, including Contraband (with Michael Schenker and others), Sunbomb (with Michael Sweet of Stryper), and more recently, Blackbird Angels with Todd Kerns (of Slash & The Conspirators).
Ultimately, this new music from RUSSELL – GUNS is a gift to the millions of fans who have steadfastly supported both Tracii Guns and Jack Russell throughout the years. It’s everything they’ve been waiting for and more.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Outsider Rock 