Music: Rock & Metal Profs

THE ROCK & METAL PROFS

WITH MATT ALSCHBACH & DR. COURT LEWIS

Associate professors at Owensboro Community College and Pellissippi State Community College, respectively, Alschbach and Lewis host the popular podcast The Rock & Metal Profs: The History & Philosophy of Rock & Metal. Now they're bringing their keen insights to the pages of News 4U with a monthly deep dive into some of the best bands of the rock/metal genre and thoughts on music in general.

ODD PAIRINGS IN ROCK

In early November of 2022 Judas Priest was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RNRHOF). Regardless of your feelings for the legitimacy or illegitimacy of the RNRHOF, it was nice to see Priest receive their just accolades. One of the highlights of the Hall’s induction ceremony was a moment when Priest vocalist Rob Halford sang alongside fellow inductee Dolly Parton. As the pair harmonized “Jolene,” I was struck by the optics of country music icon Dolly arm-in-arm with the leather and stud-clad metal god, Rob Halford. 40 years ago, the idea that this duo would appear onstage together would have been an impossibility - 80s metal heads would have scoffed sanctimoniously. Some things just don’t go together; or do they? That got us thinking about other unlikely pairings of rock and metal artists with performers in other genres. Do people still remember the pairing of Aerosmith and Run-DMC? Rap was fairly new and had not quite broken into the mainstream. Yet, Run-DMC rejuvenated the newly reunited Aerosmith, scratching and rapping “Walk This Way” into a hit single once again. It reintroduced Aerosmith to a whole new generation and made rap and Run-DMC household names. Elton John appeared on Alice in Chains’ 2009 track “Black Gives Way to Blue” playing the piano and performing backup vocals. Not surprisingly, the harmonizing vocals of Sir Elton, Jerry Cantrell, and vocalist William Duvall were fantastic. And while Elton has all the rock credibility in the world, few 90s AIC fans could have imagined that pairing. Elton was the establishment – pop-rock royalty and a massive commercial success. AIC was a dirty, counterculture alt-metal band indicative of the backlash against hair rock in all its commercial bombast. And how about when Johnny Cash, via his American records series, covered bands like Soundgarden and Nine Inch Nails? His haunting version of “Hurt” was so good that NIN's Trent Reznor claimed it was no longer his (Reznor’s) song. Of course, Reznor himself was well known for creating unique versions of other people's songs, as he did with Queen’s “Get Down Make Love.” You just never know what kind of magic will

PICTURED LEFT TO RIGHT: MATT ALSCHBACH

AND DR. COURT LEWIS occur when you bring two different genres and music-makers together. History will tell if Parton and Halford are the strangest pairing ever. With Dolly’s recent announcement of recording a rock record, we might get to see a few more odd pairings. Dolly and KISS, Dolly and Metallica, Dolly and GWAR? Who is the strangest pairing you can imagine? Let’s see if we can make it happen. The Rock & Metal Profs podcast is available on iTunes, Google and Spotify.