Releases His Fourth Alligator Records Album Exorcist
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
Veronica Sbergia
3 More Great Interviews
3 Doors Down Gov’t Mule Buckcherry
Wytch Hazel
Everclear
Joe Bonamassa
John Mellencamp
Steely Dan and more!
Hello Rock And Blues International readers. I hope everybody had a great June.
Rock And Blues is happy to announce that we have now entered the era of Podcasts. This past month we launched our new Podcast Channel - Rock And Blues International Podcast. Our special guests so far are Garnet Grimm from Savoy Brown, Phil Lewis from L.A. Guns, and Graham Russell from Air Supply. You can check it out on all the major podcast channels as well as at http://www.buzzsprout.com/2187498 or go to our website at http://www.rockandbluesinternational.com and tap the podcast button. We hope you enjoy them.
And now on to the July issue of Rock And Blues International. On the cover of this issue you can see Selwyn Birchwood Selwyn has a new album out and it’s titled “Exorcist”. Selwyn talked to Rock And Blues International to deliver us all the information on his new release. We will also be having Selwyn as a guest host on the Rock And Blues International Podcast later this month. Be sure to check it out. We’ve also got a great story by Edoardo Fassio about Veronica Sbergia. Be sure to check that out, it’s very interesting. There are also stories on Gov’t Mule, Buckcherry, 3 Doors Down, Robbie Parrish, Wytch Hazel, Megaherz, Everclear, Joe Bonamassa, John Mellencamp, and more! As you can see, there are a lot of varied genres of music here for you to check out, or as we like to say, there’s a little of something for everyone here. We have even included the current installment of the novella, “The Biker”. Read it and than email us back with your thoughts on this. So far our readers seem to really like this Blues loving Biker.
I sincerely hope that everybody reading this publication finds something here that they like and I would like to encourage you to let your friends and colleagues know about us. Just look for us every month at http://www.rockandbluesinternational.com. I would also like to encourage you to email us for a free subscription to Rock And Blues International as well. Just email us at rockandbluesinternational@gmail.com and in the subject line simply put “Sign Me Up” and we’ll email you a link to the magazine each month when it is published.
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Selwyn Birchwood
Selwyn Birchwood Releases His Fourth Alligator Records Album, Exorcist
Page 30
Veronica Sbergia
Edoardo Fassio talks about Veronica Sbergia: Bold, scrupulous, and delightful
Page 18
Gov’t Mule
Gov’t Mule Releases It’s Twelveth Studio Album, Peace... Like A River
Guitarist Warren Haynes Talks About The Making of Peace... Like A River
Page 34
Buckcherry
Stevie D. From Buckcherry Talks About Their New Album Vol. 10 And Current Tour!
By Kevin D. Wildman
Selwyn Birchwood has just released his new album, Exorcist. This is the fourth release that Selwyn has brought to the table for Alligator Records and it is quite possibly his best release yet. This new album features 13 new original songs that are completely original. The subject matter on some of these 13 songs have come from the incredible songwriting skills that Selwyn has honed over the past few albums as well as subject matter taken from the headlines of today’s news. Without a doubt, Selwyn Birchwood is not your average Blues musician. He refuses to dwell on the Blues of yesterday and forges his own path into the Blues of today with imagery that far encompasses the typical subjects of old school Blues. Each one of the songs on Exorcist could actually become a movie on their own with the descriptions that lie beneath the surface of these songs. Songs like “Florida Man”, “Horns Beneath Her Halo,” “Swim At Your Own Risk,” and especially the title song of the album “Exorcist” conjure up unbelievable tales that could only come from the mind of a truly gifted writer. Each one paints a different picture from this incredible songsmith.
Armed with only his guitar and a steel guitar, his incredible vocals, as well a top notch band, Selwyn is delighting the masses with over 200 dates a year on the road, traveling from one end of the United States to Europe and beyond. Pulling songs from his previous album, Living In A Burning House and his new album, Exorcist, Selwyn has put together a set that just blows his audiences away, but don’t just take our word for it. Here is what some of our magazine peers in the business are saying about Selwyn…
According to Guitar World magazine, “Rising blues star Selwyn Birchwood is the real deal. He puts his own fresh spin on the blues, taking the tradition and making it into something new.” Rolling Stone calls him “a remarkable, contemporary bluesman...a powerhouse young guitarist and soulful vocalist…a major player...highly recommended.” Even the Wall Street Journal has taken notice: “This singer-songwriter continues to leap forward…intent on both working in the blues idiom and expanding on it. Stories and sounds combine to haunt beyond their specific references, as the best blues songs will.”
When we first heard Selwyn’s new album, Exorcist, we were blown away. He truly takes the Blues to another level and it doesn’t look like there’s anything stopping him. The new album contains a little of everything from Gospel to Reggae to Funk, to Soul-shaking Southern Blues. It crosses all boundaries with no sign of letting up. Exorcist was released last month on June 9th to critical reviews that do nothing but praise his new songs and the subjects they revolve around. His guitar work and performances on
steel guitar are just getting better and better making him a force to be reckoned with.
I had a chance to sit down with Selwyn prior to the release of the album and gain a little insight into what was going through his mind during the writing process of his new masterpiece. He is truly a great force to be reckoned with on the blues scene and will no doubt become a house name on the Blue circuit. Without any further adieu, here is my conversation with Selwyn Birchwood on his new album, Exorcist.
Selwyn Birchwood: Hello
Rock And Blues International: Hello Selwyn.
Selwyn Birchwood: Yes.
Rock And Blues International: This is Kevin with Rock And Blues International. How are you doing today?
Selwyn Birchwood: How’s it going, man?
Rock And Blues International: Doing fine. We haven’t talked since the last album. I think it was March of 2021.
Selwyn Birchwood: Yeah, man. What’s going on?
Rock And Blues International: Well, I’ve been listening to the album and have
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things been pretty rough this last year for you?
Selwyn Birchwood: Have been pretty rough?
Rock And Blues International: Yeah, because this album is pretty wild. It sounds like you’ve been going through quite a bit here between women and the devil and bandits on the run.
Selwyn Birchwood: Yeah, you know, everyone’s going through women, the devil, if you stay around long enough.
Rock And Blues International: Okay. Now, it’s been pretty wild. I mean, from the opening bars have “Done Cryin’, it’s been something else. So what have you been up to this last year?
Selwyn Birchwood: Man, we’ve been touring like crazy. Already been writing for the next album. I was trying to get like I did for “Burning House.” I had more than half of
“Exorcist” written before “Burning House” came out.
Rock And Blues International: Okay
Selwyn Birchwood: But yeah, then traveling, touring, writing, performing just, and promoting now. But yeah, things were good. We had three-week tour in California, three days home, three-week tour in the Northeast and Midwest, and then another four days home and then we drove up to Memphis to perform a Beale Street Music Festival and I just got back last night. And yeah, we’re promoting the new single now. “Florida man” dropped today. I also just released the video for it as well, so if you want to check out some craziness to go along with the craziness of the song, it’s on my Facebook page.
Rock And Blues International: All right. Well, tell me what were the inspiration for some of these songs. We’re going from “Done Crying” to the Devil to Lazarus raising helping out somebody, and the poor guy that gets what... he gets eaten by an
alligator in the in the swamp.
Selwyn Birchwood: True story.
Rock And Blues International: Is it?
Selwyn Birchwood: I try to pull from stuff that I’ve gone through, stuff that I’ve seen other people go through, and even just headlines in the news on this album. I think one of the coolest things with this music is the way that it changed depending on where people lived. And the sounds changed, the story has changed. Living in Florida, you know my contribution I guess, it’s “Florida Man” and “Swim At Your Own Risk” was another true story. A robber was out burglarizing at nighttime, trying to run from the cops and got the big idea to hide in the lake and the cops never found him, but that alligator did, and same thing with “Florida Man”. Every song and “Florida Man” are all true stories that I put together to land at song form and add a little bit of funk and rock to it. And yeah man, I just hit the full spectrum of emotions on this album and you’re not supposed to be able to listen to it passively. It’s supposed to be able to make you feel something and I think it does that.
Rock And Blues International: Right, well the happiest song on the album I thought was the last song on the album, “Showtune”.
Selwyn Birchwood: Oh, yeah man.
Rock And Blues International: You seem to have been in a really good mood that day.
Selwyn Birchwood: Yeah, that was a... You know, I wanted to write something that just had that kind of happy sort of Showtime feel and that’s how it ended up being called “Showtune”.
Rock And Blues International: Well, let’s start with the first song, “Done Crying”. “If I have to buy me a silver spade to bury all the love that we made”... Is this about someone in particular?
Selwyn Birchwood: Once upon a time.
Rock And Blues International: Once upon a time.... Well tell me a little bit about it.
Selwyn Birchwood: That was about the one that got away... right yeah.
Rock And Blues International: The one that got away. Well, you’re a young guy there’s gonna be a lot to get away probably.
Selwyn Birchwood: There you go. You’re happy that they get away and now they just stay away.
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Rock And Blues International: Well, in later years, you’ll think about the one that got away and then when you think about you think ‘Damn, I dodged a bullet there.’
Selwyn Birchwood: Absolutely.
Rock And Blues International: Well, “Florida Man”... this is a pretty wild song. A Florida man gets drunk and shoots guns at hurricanes, gets high on bath salts, and eats your face. I mean, did you pull all these from the headlines?
Selwyn Birchwood: They’re all, I mean, not even isolated instances. You know, you look up Florida man robbing a store in a spider man mask and you gotta decide which story to go with. You know, it’s crazy.
Rock And Blues International: It is. Takes an alligator for beer runs at the liquor store.
Selwyn Birchwood: Yep, they got a video of it. I actually spliced that into the music video I shared to my Facebook page today of the actual guy with the alligator running around a liquor store.
Rock And Blues International: Makes love while he’s handcuffed in a cop car.
Selwyn Birchwood: Absolutely.
Rock And Blues International: Oh my goodness. So you pulled all these from the headlines or from TV or where did you get all this?
Selwyn Birchwood: I actually have the actual headline in the video but I just... I thought it was a crazy song, but I think it’s crazier when people find out that it’s all real. It’s not just random stuff that I came up with
Rock And Blues International: “Horns Below Her Halo”... tell me about the horns below her halo.
Selwyn Birchwood: Oh yeah man that’s about the kind that you find that want to look one way in front of everybody and then you know once you get behind closed doors you see the masks come off and see who the person really is. And you know she’s got horns below her halo.
Rock And Blues International: Is this the girl from the first song?
Selwyn Birchwood: It’s the girl that everybody’s dated at some point maybe?
Rock And Blues International: Oh Okay, it’s a composite there.
Selwyn Birchwood: There you go.
Rock And Blues International: All right. What was going through your mind in “Underdog”?
Selwyn Birchwood: Man that’s just... that’s the way I feel sometimes. We’ve been out here for 10 years, at least under my name and we performed in 19 different countries. And the more people I get in front, the more that I realized that nobody might know us. And that’s all right. I’ve been the underdog my whole life and no sense in stopping now.
Rock And Blues International: Well, I don’t know. It seems like lately you’ve had a blessed life.
Selwyn Birchwood: Yeah, well, we’ve tried to keep it pushing man and try to take it as far as I can. But you know, I think it’s a natural thing. I think everybody feels like an underdog at some point.
Rock And Blues International: Okay. “Exorcist”. Have you been hanging out with some voodoo people?
Selwyn Birchwood: “Exorcist”. Man. I’m still not sure how that song came about. But it was just really me trying to take an idea and make it as visual as possible with the music and I think we did that. I’m actually working on a music video for that one as well. I have to really hammer it home with the visual art aspect of it. I think that song’s really got some spirit and I’m super proud of it.
Rock And Blues International: Well, the imagery is fantastic in there. “Bring me an eagle’s claw, some dragon’s breath, a monkey paw and a spider web. I’ve got to break this hex”. I mean, really, it looks like something right out of the bayou.
Selwyn Birchwood: Yeah man. (laughs)
Rock And Blues International: And “Lazarus”. Your brother’s fallen sick and you need Lazarus to help you raise him from death.
Selwyn Birchwood: Yeah, so that’s a gospel tune that I wrote. And that one’s just straight from the story from the Bible of Lazarus being raised from the dead.
Rock And Blues International: Okay, it’s not about anybody in particular, just about
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the story from the Bible, right?
Selwyn Birchwood: Yeah, it is about somebody in particular… Jesus.
Rock And Blues International: Okay. Okay. Well, all right. “Hopeless Romantic”. You’re a hopeless romantic. You’re still looking for that woman?
Selwyn Birchwood: Yeah, but I feel like everyone could feel like that at some
point, too. You’re in this relationship that, you know it’s bad for you, but I guess it might be good to you. And you know no matter what keeps going wrong, you keep holding on. And you know, at some point you got to get some sense, I guess. That’s the best visualization I have for that is that. The hopeless romantic is always clinging to that hope.
Rock And Blues International: Okay. And then here, we get a little more positive
on here, “Plenty More To Be Grateful For”.
Selwyn Birchwood: Indeed.
Rock And Blues International: So, tell me about that one.
Selwyn Birchwood: That one actually started, it was just started. It wasn’t even a song. It was just me trying to get my head right during 2020. And instead of having our album out in May 2020, and all of the touring that we had going, we ended up having to sit at home and I’m stuck in just in a small room with my guitar. And, you know, if you really look around and you’re honest with yourself, I think you’ll see there’s plenty more to be grateful for. And I just wanted to write a song to give people that feeling and that hope not only to even out the intensity of this album, but you know, to leave people off with something good.
Rock And Blues International: And I really liked this next one. “I La View”. Am I probably saying that wrong?
Selwyn Birchwood: I love you.
Rock And Blues International: Okay, I love you. Okay.
Selwyn Birchwood: There you go.
Rock And Blues International: Okay. “I love you baby. Like the church loves money. I love you. I love you like Playboy loves bunnies. I love you baby like a Rasta loves pot. I love you like a crackhead loves rocks”. This is a pretty dramatic opening here.
Selwyn Birchwood: Yeah man, I feel like you could write a million songs and say I love you. But, you know, I always got to be a little different and try to put it in my own words and my own way and that’s the best way I can come up with.
Rock And Blues International: Okay. And Bobby Bandit robbed and stole for fun at “Swim At Your Own Risk”. Another song out of the, I mean.... Another something out of the headlines?
Selwyn Birchwood: Absolutely.
Rock And Blues International: So you’re just digging deep for everything here in this album?
Selwyn Birchwood: Yeah, I’m constantly searching and trying to think of what it would make for a good song and you know, inspiration hits however it is. Most don’t try to control it. I just try to capture it if I get that brain buzz and get it down and get it happening.
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Rock And Blues International: It seems like on a lot of these songs here you’re not pulling like traditional blues might from things like that. These are. These are some pretty obscure thoughts here.
Selwyn Birchwood: Oh that’s the idea man. I’m not the type of musician that’s going to be just rehashing what has been done for the last 100 years with this music. I’m going to tell my story and I’m going to tell, you know, try to express emotions in the ways that I know how. And it’s meant to be unique. It’s meant to be received differently. The enthusiasm that we’ve been getting for it so far has been immense, so I’m really glad that it’s been that way because we aren’t playing random cover songs. Every song on that album is a song that I’ve written. And I’m glad to see there’s still one or two people out here that still appreciates musicians that write their own music.
Rock And Blues International: Well, on “Call Me What You Want To”, I really liked that Honky Tonk piano in there. It really... it really sounds good on that song.
Selwyn Birchwood: Oh, yeah, man.
Rock And Blues International: So Tom Hambridge helped you arrange the songs, right?
Selwyn Birchwood: I did all of the writing, arranging, everything with the music. Tom helped with the production once we got into the studio and mixing. I arranged and wrote all the songs.
Rock And Blues International: Okay. Well, tell me a little bit about “Call Me What You Want To”.
Selwyn Birchwood: That’s another one… Instead of saying the same sort of story of you know, my baby done me wrong, I kind of took all of the things that they want to say you’re wrong for and explain why. So “you call me crazy. I agree. You’re right. Crazy to let you treat me the way you do and still worship you every night. You know, call me crazy. Call me cold. It’s freezing cold in this bed alone all the nights you don’t come home. You call me cold and don’t call me when she wants to”.
Rock And Blues International: Okay, That brings us to “My Own Worst Enemy”. Are you your own worst enemy?
Selwyn Birchwood: At times I was, absolutely, and I figure if I was feeling all of those emotions... You know, we’re all stuck in the same human condition, so someone else out there must be like that at some point. So I got it down on the record.
Rock And Blues International: Okay, and on “Showtune” you just wanted something happy, some showtune to write the song.
Selwyn Birchwood: Well I wanted to write a song that I could arrange some horns over and have it really sound kind of big. And have it feel like one of those old sort of Motown intros or outros and I think we got that with that one. I was able to get the horns kind of placed correctly to complement the guitar and the rest of the progression and yeah, I’m really happy with my sax player, what Regi did on that one.
Rock And Blues International: Okay, when you went into the studio to record this was every song completely written or was some of this completed in the studio?
Selwyn Birchwood: Yeah, all of them were written. The only one that had a couple changes added was “Underdog”. We added a couple of movements on there, but other than that the whole album I had already written far before we got into studio.
Rock And Blues International: What was the hardest song on this album for you to write?
Selwyn Birchwood: The hardest?
Rock And Blues International: Yeah, was there was there a song in particular just you just kept going over it or something that just was giving you a bit of trouble.
Selwyn Birchwood: Man, I mean, they’re all hard for me to write almost. I’m so obsessive with how especially in particular how the lyrics go. I can obsess about a line for a long time. And you know, I’m really stuck in my head a lot of times with the long distances we have to drive and it gives you ample time to formulate and to think and come up with sounds in your head and not try to just translate it when we stop.
Rock And Blues International: All right, what was the easiest song to write on here? What just popped in your head you knocked out the first time?
Selwyn Birchwood: Really, I take so much time with all of my songs, that it’s rare for me to have one just come out super quickly. I really let it simmer and I’ll go do something else and or go write something else and come back and it’s a constant process and I pride myself in really trying to take the time so that it’s not just words over chords. It’s some other kind of meaning happening, some story being told, some emotion being conveyed, and I feel like on this record, we were able to do that.
Rock And Blues International: Well, it sounds a little to me like you do the words
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first and then do your music or is it the other way around? Or is it just a combination of both?
Selwyn Birchwood: It’s always different. It depends on the song. Sometimes I’ll have an arrangement that I think feels a certain way, so I’ll try to get words to match, or vice versa.
Rock And Blues International: Okay. Well tell me a little bit about the contributions from some of the other players on the album. You got Regi Oliver on here, Donald Wright, Byron Garner, Ed Krout, and your backup singers, as well as some other people on here. Any contributions they did that really changed the song a little bit from what you wanted? Or did they just follow along with what you told them to play?
Selwyn Birchwood: Really, I mean, I have such a vision in my head already. I’m spending all of my time trying to match what’s in my head. So all of the people I had on the album were absolutely phenomenal in the studio. And they were able to pick up on what I was trying to convey, even though I don’t know how to specifically say some stuff musically, because I didn’t go to school for it. But, man, they really knocked it out of the park on these songs, and I couldn’t be more proud.
Rock And Blues International: All right, well, what’s the typical? What’s a typical session day for you? Do you go in and do you do this pretty much live? Or do you do it piecemeal?
Selwyn Birchwood: No, we do the main band live. And then if we come back, we’ll put the background singers and vocals over, but all of the main band is tracked live.
Rock And Blues International: Okay. Well describe a day in the studio for me.
Selwyn Birchwood: Show up early, get some good coffee. And, you know, hit that play button and really start getting in on the songs. We did try not to keep going over and over the same songs. We’re ready to go and we know our assignments before we get into the studio. It’s just a matter of capturing what we already have written and what we’re already playing by the time we get there.
Rock And Blues International: Can you tell me any interesting anecdotes about things that might have happened during the recording of this?
Selwyn Birchwood: Well, I mean, it’s always something. Nothing ever seems to go 100% the way it’s supposed to, and you kind of have to be able to go with the flow. I had a keyboard player that was confirmed two, three times over six months before I got to the studio, and completely failed, no call no show, MIA. The owner of the studio is named Ed Krout, who happens to be a phenomenal keyboardist and he jumped in and learned all of the songs and laid them down within seven days. And that’s what ended up being on the record so I’m particularly grateful for Ed doing that for us.
Rock And Blues International: Well that sounds certainly unexpected right there.
Selwyn Birchwood: Yeah. Stressful.
Rock And Blues International: Have you heard from that other keyboard player yet?
Selwyn Birchwood: I have. He gave me a sob story about stuff he had going on. It’s like, man, it doesn’t take anything to send a text.
Rock And Blues International: Oh, my God. I bet that freaked you out with him not showing up on the day. He was supposed to.
Selwyn Birchwood: No, man, it’s always something but you know this train is not gonna stop for anything. And it’ll take a lot more than that.
Rock And Blues International: What was the happiest thing that happened while you were in the studio?
Selwyn Birchwood: Man, just being able to get it, get it done. And I really was able to match exactly what was in my head
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onto this record. And I’m just super proud of what we did with it. This is definitely my best album to date. And I’m excited for everyone to hear it.
Rock And Blues International: When someone listens to this album and they start listening to the topics on this album, what do you want them to come away with?
Selwyn Birchwood: I just want them to be able to listen to it. I don’t feel like you’re supposed to listen to music passively. I think it should be grabbing you and making you think and making you feel something whether it’s good, bad, happy, sad. You know it should be making you feel something and I think that this album has got some intensity to it to really command some attention and that was the goal.
Rock And Blues International: Well, I’m really knocked out with it with the subject matter on this album. It’s completely different from the last album. Are you working hard at just changing this stuff so no two albums even resemble each other?
Selwyn Birchwood: I’m really just trying to write the best music I can and see what I sound like and I’m confident in this record to say that this is my sound. And I think you’d be hard pressed to find a band that sounds exactly like Selwyn Birchwood.
Rock And Blues International: Well, I know a lot of bands have trouble when they’re picking their setlist for their songs. You’ve got several albums out already. When you go to perform, how many of these songs might wind up in your setlist?
Selwyn Birchwood: It depends on the time that you see us. We’ve been doing about half of “Living In A Burning House” and half of “Exorcist” now, but I’m so excited about these new songs. We’re probably gonna be leaning heavily into “Exorcist” once the album is out.
Rock And Blues International: You’re going to be doing most of the album then?
Selwyn Birchwood: Yeah.
Rock And Blues International: Well that’s great. You know, when I was younger, I would go see bands in concert, and they would almost always play their entire new album. Nowadays, you go to see them and it’s
like two songs off the new album and the rest of the catalog. So yeah, it’s kind of refreshing to see an artist actually push their new product.
Selwyn Birchwood: Yeah, absolutely. That’s what I preferred and what I liked when I would go hear bands. I don’t know, I feel like that’s the way it should go.
Rock And Blues International: Well, I know while we’re speaking now, the album hasn’t been released, but a couple of songs have gotten out to the public, or where people can hear him and to the critics because you’re doing interviews of course. What is the response been so far.
Selwyn Birchwood: It’s been over the top positive so far. People that really... even people that have heard us before have been surprised at the musicianship and the sound of the record and like you said, the subject matter and everybody seems to just say the same thing that this is... This is different. This is new. And this is us.
Rock And Blues International: Is there a song or two on here? I know you’re proud of all the songs on here, but is there a song or two on here that just you just really love? You just say that’s me.
Selwyn Birchwood: Man if I had to pick one song that they can only listen to one song and album it would probably be “Exorcist”. I was adamant about making that the title track and that reason. I think it has some movement and some storytelling and feeling and spirit to it that is just very cool and I can’t wait for people to hear it, man.
Rock And Blues International: Well, I will tell you that the lyrics on “Exorcist” are pretty wild. I mean, pretty wild. I’m picturing there’s some lady around a cauldron. You know, whipping up some kind of magic juice or something.
Selwyn Birchwood: Absolutely, man, whatever it takes to get them out.
Rock And Blues International: Was there a song on here that was just a hardest thing for you to do? It was just take after take or did everything in this session, just flow?
Selwyn Birchwood: I can’t remember. It’s always kind of up and down. But none in particular that just couldn’t get the one song down.
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we should have talked about?
Selwyn Birchwood: I don’t know. We are nominated for a Blues Music Award this year for Contemporary Blues Male Artist of the Year. We’ve won the Blues Music Award last year for Song Of The Year. But I think we’ve covered about everything. You always have such different questions, man. It’s refreshing.
Rock And Blues International: Okay, well, thank you. I appreciate that. I’m just thinking I’m missing something here that I should ask, but I don’t know what it is. I mean, this was just such an extraordinary album to me. I was just kind of mesmerized by the sound of it.... by the visualization of the album. The subject matter just blew me away. Very cool blues album. you think about “my baby left me and stuff like that”. Hell, you got people chasing criminals through the swamp. You got a lady whipping up a cauldron of Voodoo Juice. You got... It’s just, this is not your ordinary blues album.
Selwyn Birchwood: No, it’s not. And it was written to not be an ordinary blues album. And I’m glad to hear it proceed that way.
Rock And Blues International: Anything you would change on this, add a song, take a song off.
Selwyn Birchwood: Not at all. I super proud of the way it came out. And really, I think we did the best performance and recording that we could on this. I’m happy.
Rock And Blues International: There’s just some songs on here that just blow me away. I mean, “Exorcist,” what a fantastic song. I listened to “Florida Man” and it’s like... holy shit. I mean the visualization that you’ve put into these songs is extraordinary. It must have taken you quite a while to get the lyrics down on a lot of these. Was there a song in particular that you just struggled over? Or you just the visualization when you expressed it was just, you know, something else to perceive?
Selwyn Birchwood: No, like I said, I really take an immense amount of time and writing these songs, so nothing happens haphazard. If it feels like there might be a double meaning to something, it’s because there is. You know, I just want to write stuff that makes you think it’s supposed to be emotional, but it’s also supposed to be cerebral and if it’s making you visualize stuff, if you’re getting to see the pictures in your head while you’re listening to it, it’s doing the right thing.
Rock And Blues International: Oh, well, I can see pictures in my head on this. I mean, it’s... it’s like, almost every song could be a movie.
Selwyn Birchwood: There you go, man. That’s amazing.
Rock And Blues International: And don’t worry about “I’m Done Crying”. 10 years from now you’re gonna look back at that person say yeah, I dodged a bullet on that one.
Selwyn Birchwood: Oh indeed, I’d already done crying.
Rock And Blues International: Okay, anything else we should discuss? I don’t want to hold you up, but if there’s something I missed... You know that there’s a lot probably going on in your personal life. You’re constantly touring, aren’t you?
Selwyn Birchwood: Absolutely.
Rock And Blues International: About how many days a year you do right now? Especially since especially since COVID is over?
Selwyn Birchwood: Yeah. Before COVID, we’re probably about 200 days a year. But I’m not sure. Now it’s back at least.
Rock And Blues International: All right. On the road constantly. What’s the hardest bit of touring for you?
Selwyn Birchwood: Oh, man, just physical fatigue. It will take it out of you.
Rock And Blues International: well, going from one town to the next. You ever wind up in a town and forget which town you’re in?
Selwyn Birchwood: All the time man. I forget what hotel room I’m at. I’m going to room numbers from hotels five days before. That’s crazy.
Rock And Blues International: Okay, well if there’s nothing else we need to talk about. I’ll let you go. But if I’ve missed something, please clue me in on it.
Selwyn Birchwood: I think that’s all I got. Is this your cell phone number?
Rock And Blues International: Yeah.
Selwyn Birchwood: Okay, I’ll send it oh, well, it won’t let me send it through Texas
too long. But I’ve got the “Florida Man” video on my Facebook page if you want to check out the real visual.
Rock And Blues International: Okay, yeah, I haven’t seen the video, but if you’ve got half of the stuff on there that you’ve gotten into the song it’s gonna be probably unbelievable. And, and you’re working on how many more videos for this album.
Selwyn Birchwood: Finishing up the “Exorcist” video this month and that will be out on release day.
Rock And Blues International: Okay. Can you tell me anything about what’s going into that video?
Selwyn Birchwood: All the visuals you see in the lyrics. I’m trying to put them on the screen.
Rock And Blues International: Okay. Well, I’m looking forward to checking that one out. And I want to thank you for the time you’ve given me with the interview. I really appreciate it and I want to thank you for a very, very, very different kind of blues album.
Selwyn Birchwood: I appreciate it man and thanks for your help and trying to get some ears on it.
Rock And Blues International All right, well, I’ll let you go. We’ll talk again in about two years when you do the next album
Selwyn Birchwood: You got it man.
Rock And Blues International: Okay, bye bye.
Selwyn Birchwood: Thanks, bye bye.
There’s a lot more to Selwyn Birchwood than just being a Blues musician. He is a songwriter and brilliant storyteller. Just listen to songs like “Florida Man”, “Swim At Your Own Risk” and “Exorcist.” They tell stories that will really get your mind thinking and imagining scenes that your average Blues song could never conjure up. I feel that this interview barely scratched the surface of what lies in this brilliant musicians mind, and I can only imagine what he has in store for us in the future. The only problem is…. Now we have to wait for it. I just can’t get enough of this man’s music. Talking with Selwyn is always a lot of fun and this interview was just a privilege to be involved in with him. We here at Rock And Blues International wish nothing but the best for him, he deserves it. My recommendation to everyone reading this story is to get out there at get a copy of Exorcist as soon as you can. Also, stay out of the swamps, watch your back in Florida, and beware The Exorcist.
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Gov’t Mule has just released it’s 12th studio album, Peace... Like A River on the Fantasy label. The album was recorded at Power Station New England’s studios and features twelve of the most extraordinary songs that Warren Haynes and company
have produced to date. From the opening bars of the first song, “Same As It Ever Was,” to the last notes on the last song, Gov’t Mule will have you captivated by their great Rock sound and sensible lyrics. Perhaps even more extraordinary than the music is the story behind the music.
When Gov’t Mule entered the studio at the Power Station to record their last album, Heavy Load Blues, they were also embarking on a new adventure, the recording of two distinctively different albums recorded at the same time… one
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Blues… one Rock. Interesting enough, the band developed two persona’s for this project. During the day Gov’t Mule - the blues band would enter one studio and start recording, and then at night Gov’t Mulethe rock band would return to the Power Station and enter a completely different room and work on their rock album. It was a daunting task for the band. It’s hard enough to be one band, but to be two bands with the same members is an almost impossible task, but they managed to pull it off. Two rooms with two different sets of equipment and a band with two mindsets. Unbelievable!
Songs on this album like “Same As It Ever Was,” “Make My Peace,” and “Dreaming Out Loud” took the band on a journey that has produced something very wonderful and unique for the band.
“Most of these songs were written during lockdown,” Haynes says. “But I made a conscious decision: I didn’t want to write a bunch of Covid-centric songs. I wanted to focus on the positive aspects: what we’re learning, and especially what we learned to appreciate that we took for granted before.”
The opening song, “Same As It Ever Was” sets the pace for this auspicious project. “Life throws challenges at you when you least expect it,” says Warren Haynes. “And in some ways the lockdown was no different than what could happen at any given moment. But this is the first time the entire planet went through it together.”
The Beatles inspired song “Made My Peace” was a labor of love and inspired Haynes to try things he never really tried before. He even “double-tracked” his vocals the way John Lennon did on his Beatles and solo recordings. “The harmony slide guitar in the song’s middle,” explains Haynes, “is very informed by George Harrison.” He even brought in full orchestration from The Kerhonkson Philharmonic to take it into more of a Beatles direction.
Perhaps one of the most extraordinary songs on the album is “Dreaming Out
Loud” where Haynes combines the inspirational quotes from famous American luminaries in a blend with his own thoughts. For this he sought out inspirational quotes from Dr. Martin Luther King, Robert and John F. Kennedy and the late Civil Right leader, U.S. Representative John Lewis. “The idea for ‘Dreaming Out Loud’ was to do kind of a Sly and the Family Stone sort of thing,” further explains Haynes, “where different singers are taking different sections of the song.”
Before I go any further trying to put my own descriptions of the music into this article about Peace… Like A River and Gov’t Mule, the best thing would be to hear it from the man himself, Mr. Warren Haynes, one of the driving forces behind this album and Gov’t Mule.
I had a chance to sit down with Warren recently in New Orleans prior to the beginning of Gov’t Mules latest tour and here he is right now to tell us all about Peace… Like A River.
Rock And Blues International: Hello Warren. This is Kevin Wildman.
Warren Haynes: Yep. How’re you doing?
Rock And Blues International: I’m
doing great. How are you doing?
Warren Haynes: Good.
Rock And Blues International: So you’re in New Orleans a couple of days early before your tour kicks off.
Warren Haynes: Yeah, we’re here rehearsing and preparing for our tour.
Rock And Blues International: Eating a lot of Cajun food while you’re there?
Warren Haynes: You kind of have to, you know, it’s a tradition.
Rock And Blues International: All right. Well, I’ll tell you that I listened to the last album, I listened to this album and quite frankly, it sounds like it’s two different bands. There’s some subtle things in there that sound close, but it really sounds like two different bands. It’s quite a departure, especially considering that you recorded them at the same time.
Warren Haynes: Yeah, that was our mission. That was what our intention was, to make two records that sounded completely different from each other in every
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way, mostly because Heavy Load Blues was our first and only traditional blues record, so we wanted to distinguish it from everything else we’d ever done, not just in the material and the production and the recording and the performances, but in the way the record sounded. So that’s why we made it our mission to find a place where we could set up two different rooms in the same building and completely different setups gear wise there, you know, completely different equipment in each room and it was a test but it was well worth it.
Rock And Blues International: All right, well in the rock room… we’ll call it the rock room because this is more of a rock record, you went with heavier amps, like Marshalls or something. And in the blues room, you went with something like Fenders or whatever.
Warren Haynes: Yeah, mostly little Gibson amps, a couple of old Fenders as well and a Supro. And, you know, just old vintage small amplifiers that we had spread
out all over that little room and a small little vintage drum kit, a separate piano and organ, the bass through a small Ampeg B15 and we were set up really close together with no headphones. I was singing through a monitor for the blues record and then of course for the rock record, we were set up in the big room next door with really high ceilings and all of our normal gear that we would bring to any recording session. And it was great because we would go in at noon and work on “Peace Like A River” to about nine at night, then take a break, get a bite to eat and then go next door to the blues room and play blues for the rest of the night. And that was our schedule every day.
Rock And Blues International: Did you get any sleep during that time?
Warren Haynes: Oh, yeah. Yeah. I mean, you know, sometimes it’s hard with all the excitement going on. Oh yeah, late to bed, late to rise, but all good.
Rock And Blues International: All
right. Well, it starts off with “Same As It Ever Was,” which is quite a wild song. The keyboard on there is fantastic. I know we don’t have time to talk about every song on there, but I’ve got about six of them earmarked. So tell me a little bit about “Same As It Ever Was.”
Warren Haynes: Well, it’s one of the several songs on this record that, from a musical standpoint, brings back the concept of songs having more complex musical arrangements where there’s seven or eight different sections in a song as opposed to the normal two or three. It has a lot of different influences kind of combined together and of course we’re using some acoustic instruments, especially in the beginning and the end. You mentioned that Danny’s keyboard playing in there is fantastic. I think everybody... Jorgen’s organ playing is really off the hook and the sound of the bass is pretty amazing. It’s an odd song in the way that it combines, as I mentioned a lot of different directions. The choruses have three part harmony, and one minute it’s very melodic, the next minute, it’s very kind of aggressive and it’s one of my favorite tunes. I figured it was a good way to start the record out and of course, lyrically, it’s talking about moving beyond where we are at the moment and seeing a better world in the future.
Rock And Blues International: Uh huh. Well, several of the songs on here have a lot of twists and turns to them, a lot of different time changes, at least, it appears to be a lot of different time changes to me. It almost sounds like a throwback to the 70s. In some ways.
Warren Haynes: I would agree with that. Yeah, I mean, in the way that that concept kind of vanished, got lost through the years and it’s one of the things that I loved about music during the time. When I was growing up a lot of the music that I listened to, even music on the radio, took that sort of approach. If you think of a song like “Bohemian Rhapsody” that everybody loves these days, but people take for granted the fact that it’s a really complex arrangement, and very little modern music resembles that these days.
Rock And Blues International: Right. You’ve got a lot of guest stars on here. And that also leads to changes in songs. And I don’t know in selecting the guest stars for the album, or the guest artists for the album, if that influenced the writing of the songs in any way, but you’ve got “Shake
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Our Way Out”. Is that, right?
Warren Haynes: Yep, that’s right.
Rock And Blues International: And that’s got Billy Gibbons on there. And at times that feels... for the lack of a better word for on my part, it feels pretty spacey at times.
Warren Haynes: Yeah, the middle section, there’s a middle instrumental section that goes into a pretty spacey sort of feeling. The song in general, I think, has a lot of ZZ Top influence, which is why I invited Billy to be part of it. We’ve been friends a long time, we’ve worked together a lot. And once we started recording “Shake Our Way Out”, it seemed to have enough ZZ Top influence for me to want to call him and say hey, why don’t you join us? So he put his stamp on it and took it even further. You know, so it really turned out great.
Rock And Blues International: Had you played with Billy a lot before that?
Warren Haynes: Oh, yeah, many times.
Rock And Blues International: Okay. I know that you played with him recently at the salute to Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Warren Haynes: In the past six or eight years, we’ve played together quite a bit. And he’s someone I grew up listening to, and he has such a distinctive style.
Rock And Blues International: Another song on here is “Made My Peace” which in some ways sounds almost like an extended kind of jam to it, but I I believe that you said it’s kind of inspired by The Beatles in some way.
Warren Haynes: Yeah, it has a lot of Beatles influence, John Lennon influence, probably more so than anything we’ve ever done. But it also is one of the songs that goes off into a lot of different directions. I’m really, really pleased with the way that one turned out. I think it’s one of my favorites. It’s hard to choose, you know,
I’m very happy with all of it, but it’s definitely one of my favorites.
Rock And Blues International: All right. On “Dreaming Out Loud”, you have Ivan Neville and Ruthie Foster on there. To me, it seems like there’s a little bit of New Orleans flavor to it. Am I just imagining that because Ivan’s in it or is there?
Warren Haynes: Well, I think it was there before Ivan joined us but you know, Ivan’s gonna bring New Orleans wherever he goes. And again, Ivan and I go so far back. I played on one of his earliest solo records and we’ve played together dozens of times. I love his singing I love his playing. We’re good friends and the same with Ruthie. Both of them sang on my solo record “Man In Motion” and I love the way that our voices work together, that kind of soul music influence, which I would definitely include some New Orleans in that the way that we approach that tune, in the way the song was written. It also kind of reminds me of Sly and the Family Stone, especially in the way that we shared the vocals. Each of us are trading lines and stuff like that and I’ve kind of borrowed that from Sly the Family Stone.
Rock And Blues International: Okay, well, for that song, there’s the lyrics... you’ve taken inspirational quotes from Martin Luther King, and Robert and John Kennedy and US Representative John Lewis. How did that enter into your mind is to include those in that song?
Warren Haynes: Well, I’ve never done anything like that before. The idea for
“Dreaming Out Loud” came to me at like, 3am, or something when I was about to go to sleep. And I just had “forgive me, I’m dreaming out loud again.” That’s what first came to me and it made me think about the “I Have a Dream” speech. And so somehow, I came up with this idea that instead of paraphrasing, I should just borrow some actual quotes and incorporate them into the song lyrics. So every time I say, “somebody said” in the song, that’s followed by a quote. Obviously, I don’t say who said it, but it’s always prefaced by somebody said, and then one of the quotes by the people that you mentioned.
Rock And Blues International: How did you arrive at those quotes and select those?
Warren Haynes: Some of them I was already familiar with, and some of them I researched to find more of it tied in to the subject matter and the feel of the song lyric.
Rock And Blues International: If you had to pick one quote out of there that was very inspirational to you. What would it be?
Warren Haynes: “If we’re going to leave a better world behind us, we got to get everyone on the bus.”
Rock And Blues International: And who was that?
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Warren Haynes: Martin Luther King.
Rock And Blues International: Was he a very big influence in you in the past?
Warren Haynes: Yeah, I mean, I think everyone, whether they know it or not, he’s had such an impact on America, where we all grew up, and yeah, I mean, I grew up in the South. I grew up in Asheville, North Carolina, and at a time when things were changing every minute, you know. And so yeah, I would say definitely.
Rock And Blues International: I really enjoyed “The River Only Flows One Way” that you had Billy Bob Thornton on it. And again, that’s another song I could be really wrong about, but I honestly think that’s a song that Frank Zappa would probably really like.
Warren Haynes: Oh, I hope so. I’m a huge Frank Zappa fan and I would be honored that if he heard or enjoyed any of my music. I actually got to see Frank Zappa in Atlanta, in 1978 when I was 18 years old, and it’s one of the greatest shows I ever saw. You know, that song as the first time I’ve ever written a song where I wanted the lyrics in the verse to be more like spoken word. And so I had this vision of it being kind of demented beat poetry, and I recorded a version of myself doing it knowing that I would really rather hear somebody else that is really good at that. And of course, Billy Bob, and I’ve been friends for quite a while. We actually wrote
a song together recently and he has a great studio in LA and my wife and I have hung out there a bunch with him. I thought he wasn’t able to come in and do it in the studio with us, but I thought it would be great to get him to do it at his place. And it just turned out perfect. He’s got the perfect speaking voice for that.
Rock And Blues International: It seemed very Zappa-esque to me.
Warren Haynes: Yeah, I can. I’ll take that as a compliment. I’m a huge fan. And of course, lyrically, and Zappa’s kind of vocal approach, you know, his music was so unique. I never thought of it that way, but I see the connection when you mentioned it.
Rock And Blues International: That brings us to “Just Across The River,” probably the most gospel sounding song on the album here and you have Celisse with you. How did you? How did you get her on there? And tell me a little bit about your inspiration behind that song.
Warren Haynes: Well, when I wrote that tune, and it definitely is coming from a gospel type of direction. very influenced by gospel music both lyrically and musically. It’s about a fictitious place that we’re all trying to get to. And it’s not representing heaven, per se. It’s written in a little more abstract and obscure manner, but with a gospel feeling. So there’s definitely that connection. I had recently at that time discovered Celisse’s music. I’ve seen some
of her videos and stuff, and she is fantastic as a player and as a singer. And then, coincidentally, we wound up on this benefit concert together. There’s a benefit concert in New York called “Love Rocks”, and I’ve done it several times and Celisse was on it. Not this past year, but the year before. And so we met and got to hang out a little bit and talked about doing something and it just kind of organically turned in to this project, and that’s usually the way it works with these things. It’s hard to plan them. Usually it’s more likely that something happens that triggers that connection.
Rock And Blues International: Another song on there that was really impressive to me was “Head Full Of Thunder “ It seems like a pretty “in your face” kind of song. Can you tell me a little bit about that?
Warren Haynes: Yeah, I think “Head Full Of Thunder”and “Shake Our Way Out” are the two song lyrics that are coming from a more humorous direction. I didn’t want there to only be serious natured songs on this record and humor is a big part of rock and roll music. Both of those songs as far as the body of the tune, they’re just kind of throwback to feel good rock and roll music. “Head Full Of Thunder” is about a guy that’s trapped in a relationship and wants to get out, but it’s written in a humorous sort of manner and it’s just feel good music, you know,
Rock And Blues International: Did any of these songs give you a little trouble in recording where you started out in one direction and then found it couldn’t go that way and you changed up the direction of the song a bit?
Warren Haynes: Well, we always are open to whatever might change once we’re in the studio. Normally we would be more prepared going in having spent time at rehearsal or on tour or we rehearse a lot at soundcheck and that sort of stuff, but we didn’t have that luxury for this record because of lockdown. We couldn’t travel and we couldn’t tour so the way we chose to take advantage of the situation was to spend a lot of time in the studio. We spent the first seven or eight days just rehearsing and writing. And so a lot of stuff grew and changed over that process. And as I say we’re always open up until the last minute for things to change and that’s the approach that we take live on stage anyway. Stuff can change with each performance so if you heard the performance that is on the record, the one before it, or the one after it
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might be drastically different depending on the song.
Rock And Blues International: Were there any songs that you’d put together and then another member of the band just came in and threw his influence in and just really turned the record around for you in particular?
Warren Haynes: Well, there’s two songs. “After The Storm” is one and that song along with the song “Long Time Coming.” The band was jamming out in the cutting room while we are taking a break, and I was in the control room doing something else, and could hear what they were playing through the speakers in the control room, and it inspired me to start writing lyrics. So in both cases, I wrote lyrics while they were jamming. And as soon as they took a break, I went out and said, Hey, let’s revisit that and turn it into a song. And so with both of those songs, they just kind of grew up out of the floor in the studio, and so we didn’t know those songs were going to exist till we were recording and we usually do that with at least one or two songs with every record. But you know, it’s something that we can’t force, you can’t predict it, but usually those songs have a way of being different from the rest of the record and completing the overall thought being kind of the missing pieces to the puzzle.
Rock And Blues International: Okay, and the song “Your Only Friend,.” Who is your only friend?
Warren Haynes: Well, that’s a composite character, but sad to say, that character, or several versions of that character do exist in my life and probably in everybody’s life. I would be loath to say that it’s one particular person.
Rock And Blues International: Okay. I had heard that you had entered the studio with 40 songs when you started both these albums. What about the songs that didn’t make it? Will they show up on another project?
Warren Haynes; Yeah, I’m sure some
of them will wind up being future Gov’t Mule songs. Some of them will wind up most likely on one of my solo projects. I would say most of them will appear somewhere, and maybe in a different form than they were when we last left them.
Rock And Blues International: Can you pick out one or two songs on here that when you listen to them, you would say, “Wow, I really really liked that song.”
Warren Haynes: Well, I’m really proud of this record in general. I like every song on it. I think it may be song for song, the best record we’ve ever made. Some of the ones you’ve already mentioned, like “The River Only Flows One Way, “Made My Peace.” There’s also a song that closes the record called “Gone Too Long” that I dedicated to David Crosby. I really love that song a lot. I love “Same As It Ever Was” a lot. But again, it it’s hard for me to be objective because I wouldn’t include anything that I didn’t love.
Rock And Blues International: Right, right. When you go out on the road and you start to perform, how many of these might end up in the set? You’re known for having fairly long sets
Warren Haynes: Well, we’re also known for doing a different setlist every night, so you know, we have a large
repertoire of music to choose from and over the course of the tour we’ll play between 100 to 200 songs. At some point I would think we’ll play all of these songs. We won’t play any of them every night and some will get played more than others, but we’d love to play all of them.
Rock And Blues International: Who will be relegated to do the singing part on “The River Only Flows One Way”?
Warren Haynes: I haven’t decided yet if I’ll do it or maybe see if Danny Louis wants to do it.
Rock And Blues International: Okay, that’s gonna be an interesting one to do. I was just really knocked out with that one. It just took me back to the days of Frank Zappa. And it just seemed like it’d be something right up his alley that he would really enjoy.
Warren Haynes: Well, again, that’s a compliment because I’m such a big fan.
Rock And Blues International: Who were some of your influences that helped inspire something like this?
Warren Haynes: Well my first love, musically speaking, was Soul music. I was
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listening to Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett and The Four Tops and The Temptations and Sam and Dave and Aretha Franklin and eventually Sly and the Family Stone kind of came into the mix and led me toward Jimi Hendrix. And then I discovered Cream and Johnny Winter and stuff like that, and that’s what made me want to play guitar. Prior to that I was singing, but only singing in my bedroom. I grew up in a house with tons of music so I listened to everything... jazz, blues, soul music, folk music, rock music, reggae music. So, I love Bob Dylan. I love Bob Marley. I love BB King and Albert King and Freddie King and Son House and still look at Otis Redding as being one of my all time favorites.
Rock And Blues International: Well, we’ve touched on a lot of things here. I know that you wanted to keep this conversation a bit short. I imagine you’re on your way somewhere at this point. What haven’t we touched on that we should have talked about?
Warren Haynes: I think we covered a lot. This is our 12th Studio record and Gov’t Mule has kind of always made it our mission for each record to be different than the one before, and it’s easier said than done, but I feel very proud of all the records that we’ve made. I feel like this record represents where we are at this moment in time as a band and as I mentioned in one of the interviews where they quoted me as saying, “in some ways the healthiest we’ve ever been as a band.”
Rock And Blues International: And you’re out on tour, or the tour starts what
Friday?
Warren Haynes: Yes.
Rock And Blues International: Okay, but it looks like it’s going to be kind of two tours. After you do do the Gov’t Mule tour, then you’re going back to the “Dark Side of the Mule” performances.
Warren Haynes: Yeah, we’re gonna do 12 more “Dark Side of the Mule” shows and those will be the last ones that we ever do. We had kind of said that we weren’t going to do it any more then we realized, this is the 50th anniversary of Dark Side of the Moon. And what we call just to clarify what we call “Dark Side of the Mule is not us doing “Dark Side of the Moon.” It’s us doing any Pink Floyd that we choose to do, but it’s with full production and a large ensemble and a crazy laser show. We initially did it one time in Boston in 2008 for one of our Halloween shows. Every Halloween we do a thematic show where we give ourselves liberty to play somebody else’s music and in the past, we’ve done The Who and Led Zeppelin and Hendrix and Neil Young and Black Sabbath. And for one of our New Year’s Eve shows we, which we also do as a thematic show... We did one time a whole night of solo music, and a whole night of blues. So for one of those shows, we did Pink Floyd and the fans really gravitated toward it. So we released the recording and it turned into something beyond that, which is now called “Dark Side of the Mule”
Rock And Blues International: Do you even have a setlist or you just look at one of the others and say, Hey, let’s do this
one or let’s do that one.
Warren Haynes: Well, we put together a set list based on what we played the last time we were in a certain town or city and make sure that it’s completely different from the last time. Now having said that, we may not stick to it. Once we get out there on stage things sometimes change and we may go off script but we at least start out with something telling us where to start.
Rock And Blues International: Are there any songs in particular that always seem to creep into the setlist?
Warren Haynes: We don’t play anything every night. There are some songs like “Soulshine” that get the most requests, that we play, usually around every fourth show on average. And sometimes some of the songs will go long periods of time without playing them at all and then we dust them off and bring them back but it’s really fun for us to make it different every night. I think that’s one of the things that help keep us inspired.
Rock And Blues International: Well, I want to thank you for your time. I really enjoyed the album. I’m knocked out with a couple of songs on here and I’ll be listening to it the rest of the day.
Warren Haynes: Wonderful. Thank you very much.
Rock And Blues International: Okay, thank you. We’ll talk again sometime.
Warren Haynes: I hope so. Bye.
Rock And Blues International: Bye bye.
As you can see, Warren is really jazzed about the new album and the direction that the band took on this album project. Imagine, recording two completely different projects at the same time. This was an extraordinary task for the band to take on, but they managed to do it perfectly. When you sit down and listen to Peace… Like A River, perhaps you should also sit down with a copy of Heavy Load Blues as well. The two albums go hand in hand, yet they are both distinctively different, but produce the same response…. A lot of great music. Pick up a copy of Peace… Like A River today and check it out. This album really rocks. A lot of inspiration has certainly gone into this album and it shows.
There is something magical within the very make up of Parrish Production’s “Elements Of Friendship”. You do not just listen to this compilation you experience it much the same as one experiences the Moody Blues. The producer Robbie Parrish deploys thought provoking elements through the use of exacting memories. Memories which allow one to trip through this entire musical collage in complete relaxation while contemplating, philosophically speaking, what come to life over our years of existence. For his newest album
Parrish invited his good friend and keyboard expert Michael Hall into the studio along with bass man extraordinaire Chris Maresh. Together they embarked on a special musical journey that stimulates the senses. The result would be a fourteen track combination spoken word musical masterpiece that became the final product. Hard to believe given today’s world of studio re-take after re-take but for the most part the seasoned trio captured their studio moments in one take just like a child might snatch a lightning bug in a glass jar but yet not harming it. The creations are presented in delicate form including soft spoken sentences that reside throughout the complete album. They are recollections, reflections that are presented in subtle hues and spacing. One can easily get lost within these presentations as they activate memories. The comforting delivery even allows enough time for the listener to take it in, digest the train of thought and be able to reflect on it a bit before the song ends. This journey is reminiscent of music with verbal presentations of the late 60s. Music and lyrics were presented as glimpses into deeper thought provoking questions such as one could not resist with the famous oratorical presentation: “cold hearted orb that rules the night and takes the colors from our sight”. Robbie, Michael and Chris have assembled a relaxing trip through time complete with appropriate accompaniments that infuse the experience while embellishing the questions. “Elements Of Friendship” is about those we remember throughout our lives. The album augments personal reflection by deploying glimpses of memories just enough so that the listener can reflect as well. The thoughts presented are revealing, you contemplate reviewing similar situations within your own life experiences while the music subtly continues to invite expansion.
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Track one The Rainbow features a piano lead infused with soft rimshots along with cascading switches between various drums sounds introduced at the precise right time. The keys flow freely allowing the mind to settle in and fall away from the day’s tensions thereby inducing deeper reflective opportunity. At this musical juncture in time the mind vividly recalls like moments in time and allows for the amplification of those experiences. Within track two Green Cadillac the listener is treated to an upbeat jazzy presence by the skilled hands of Michael Hall on piano with Parrish delivering soft percussion accompaniment which delivers an easy to follow rhythm. The musical landscape is accented by the introduction of soft complimentary memories. As the song progresses there is another creative infusion, a blues like feel however the added placement does not over shadow the original jazzy feel. Track three To Marie delivers a statement: “just the thought of her” which leads the listener into a dream like transition created and carried on the keys. At midpoint the cymbals crash placing new found emphasis which suddenly pulls you away from the mesmerizing residence you acquired just gently enough to call attention to a bit of everyday life. The verbal presentation returns with “there are angels in our lives, we have had angels in our lives”. Continued on page 3
Moving on to I Cry Out For You the softspoken tenor voice opens with words of personal reflection. The deflection in the voice stages a level headed view of the orator’s memory. The song’s melody is inviting and relaxation is at hand allowing for one’s own ride across time. The narrative recalling childhood freedoms and then the journey advances arriving at being older, wiser. A frozen memory in time one at which you would just like to say thank you to someone special for the ride. The song harbors a sexy dramatic feel as its sound envelopes the listening space It’s a slow blues tempo with a flowing melody that embraces reflective contemplation. Next up But I Like This imparts a super pleasant, noticeable bass introduction with the drums delivering a steady upbeat cadence revealing a happy time in life. The bass remains dominant throughout this adventure with subdued piano accompaniment while the drums embrace a musical narrative, one of walking a path forward. As Ships Go By The Sound of Time incorporates soft spoken narration setting up the scene. People passing through your life as time advances into the future. The change ups on the piano provide timely emphasis that delivers the listener back into the present and then the music marvelously moves from this added emphasis back into a cordial melody. The orator presents elements of complete thoughts regarding life’s choices regarding things and people. Just As I Remembered It opens with the sole tapping sound on cymbals that open recollections of memories of New York City and what an experience it was within this amazing wonderland of energy. It’s easy to relate to the bustle of NYC as the musical pace is set to a fast walking stride, one of awe and surprise. The narrative sweeps you up as the music and spoken thoughts collide into a collage. Meeting My Magic Man begins with one individual, Robbie Parrish, delivering his voice in two different octaves as if he’s talking to himself. It’s about meeting a muse, major names within real life experiences, then finally meeting the master songwriter. Remembering hanging out, taking it all in, expanding a personal horizon, moving forward as if enveloped by a divine plan. Peace Within Friendship sets yet another scene. The music is captivating as you embrace recollections. Memories of friendships over time that develop through professional associations. Snippets of conversations are revealed. The listener receives a passenger’s seat, an invitation into the artist’s experiences as the “Elements of Friendship” maze continues to unfold.
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Movin on through this mystical recollection of time we enter into I’ve Got This Feeling That I Know You a selection that recalls a beautiful time of love and happiness. “I married an angel who rescued me. She’s so patient and understanding. Part angel, part mermaid, part teacher.” The music amplifies the loving memories that are revealed yet the emphasis, the musical changes, the musical embellishments are subtle. The passing of time stamped memories are unveiled as the spoken word and the music unite. The result is fulfilling as one’s own memories may well embark on a journey of their own. So Serious opens with a soothing spoken sentence this time however the use of a different tone, deflection and amplification calls our attention to a handful of words: what makes us so angry? Then after this introduction no more words, now it’s time for contemplation as a refined piano entry with subtle drum work deliver a hint of background presence. Uniquely placed to our surprise is a bit of barrel house blues effect. A rather toe tapping captivating confluence of sounds and soft voices. The presentation ends asking and answering rhetorical questions. Seven Steps To Heaven opens with dialogue referring to the act of communicating with someone that does not speak your language. Yet the two of you overcome the impediment quietly acknowledging the spiritual angelic quality of making such connections throughout life. Help Me I am Falling reveals feelings of pent up creativity that is locked inside, let it out, let it breathe, become free is the theme. Des Reflets houses a somber opening that accents the lower bass notes on the piano incorporating a slow tempo permitting each note to sink into the psyche for immense comprehension.
Well-known far beyond the borders of the territory of her residence, Lombardy, Veronica Sbergia has many reasons to be satisfied. She won first prize at the prestigious European Blues Challenge in 2013, in Toulouse, she’s at home at the main blues and roots festivals of the continent, she was the only Italian artist invited to the exclusive Mustique Blues Festival, held annually on the Antillean Island of Mustique, lavish home for off-duty James Bond and the aristocratic rock in-crowd.
In an admirable combination of scruple for research and affinity with the stage, Sbergia has tackled pop oldies, jazz, folk and other historical genres, only to find in the century-old tradition of the blues numerous elements of attraction for today’s audiences. Getting to the bottom of a seemingly simple task, she has managed to bring unaware listeners of the third millennium close to a popular but distant music, conceived in the first decades of the twentieth century for vaudeville, cabaret, and the minorities of “race records.”
Sure, Sbergia didn’t invent the job: the whole history of rock tells of palefaces who shared the old black blues with the mainstream. But few current artists, male or female, do so with such reverent, well-documented malice.
In her latest album Bawdy Black Pearls, the scholar and performer from Bergamo concentrates in manifesto-songs, awakening the ambiguous elegance of twelve songs by as many African-American stars or starlets from yesteryear.
The setlist includes both well-known names like Gertrude “Ma” Rainey, the “mother of the blues,” whose “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” is now an award-winning film starring Viola Davis, and totally shrouded in mystery, such as Barrel House Annie, whose “If It Don’t Fit Don’t Force It” deals with anal sex. Speaking of blues, the devil wants his share, too. He finds it in “Sold it to the Devil,” a song recorded in 1937 by Merline Johnson, aka “The Yas Yas Girl”: the singer, namesake and contemporary of Robert Johnson’s, declares that “I sold my soul to the Devil, and my heart has turned to stone”.
Through double-entendre and barely veiled innuendos, accompanied by first-rate instrumentalists, Veronica sings songs about dope, prostitution, lesbianism, betrayals, sexual exuberance, and other licentious incontinence, unraveling a single, common thread. Her seductive singing, which is every bit as languid and assertive as Maria Muldaur’s, shows a legacy handed down over time: the very same expressive freedom of the blues women, who sang about their condition, proudly and outspokenly. Licentious and libertarian, as this evidence suggest, they were feminists ahead of their time.
Popolare ben oltre i confini del territorio di residenza, la Lombardia, Veronica Sbergia ha molte ragioni per essere soddisfatta. Ha conquistato il primo premio al prestigioso European Blues Challenge nel 2013, a Tolosa, è di casa alle principali rassegne di blues e roots del Vecchio Continente, è stata l’unica artista italiana invitata all’esclusivo Mustique Blues Festival che si tiene annualmente nell’isola antillana di Mustique, lussuosa dimora per James Bond in ferie e paradiso del jet set aristo-rock.
In un’ammirevole combinazione tra lo scrupolo per la ricerca e l’affinità con il palco, Sbergia si è occupata di pop, jazz, folk e di altri generi passatisti, e ha scoperto nella tradizione secolare del blues numerosi elementi di attrattiva per il pubblico di oggi. Venendo a capo di un’incombenza solo apparentemente semplice, è riuscita ad avvicinare ignari ascoltatori del terzo millennio a una musica popolare ma lontana, concepita nei primi decenni del Novecento per il vaudeville, il cabaret e le minoranze dei “race records”.
Beninteso, Sbergia non si è inventata il mestiere: l’intera storia del rock racconta di visi pallidi che hanno condiviso il vecchio blues con il mainstream. Ma pochi artisti attuali, maschi o femmine, lo fanno con la sua riverente, documentata malizia.
Nell’ultimo album Bawdy Black Pearls, l’interprete e ricercatrice bergamasca si specializza in canzoni-manifesto, risvegliando l’ambigua eleganza di dodici brani di altrettante vedette afroamericane dell’altro ieri.
La scaletta comprende sia nomi noti come Gertrude “Ma” Rainey, la “madre del blues”, con il suo “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”, ora un premiatissimo film con Viola Davis, che totalmente avvolti nel mistero come la Barrel House Annie di “If It Don’t Fit Don’t Force It”, un brano dedicato al sesso anale. Parlando di blues, non sia mai che anche il diavolo non voglia la sua parte. La trova in “Sold it to the Devil”, un brano registrato nel 1937 da Merline Johnson, ovvero The Yas Yas Girl: la protagonista, omonima e contemporanea di Robert Johnson, dichiara di “aver venduto l’anima al diavolo, e il mio cuore è diventato di pietra”.
Attraverso doppi sensi e allusioni appena velate, accompagnata da strumentisti di prim’ordine, Veronica intona canzoni di droga, prostituzione, lesbismo, esuberanza sessuale e altre licenziose incontinenze, dipanando un unico filo conduttore. Il suo canto seducente, che non ha nulla da invidiare a una Maria Muldaur, rivela una libertà di espressione tramandata nel tempo: quella delle donne di blues che cantavano fieramente della propria condizione, senza peli sulla lingua. Licenziose e libertarie, ci assicura con queste testimonianze, erano femministe ante-litteram
Rising modern powerhouse blues vocalist/keyboardist Eliza Neals is nominated in three categories for the Independent Blues Awards 2023, which are “Best Female Artist,” “Best Blues Rock Song” (Queen of the Nile), and “Best Blues Rock Album” (Badder To The Bone). Please cast your votes for Eliza now through September 15 at https://www.makingascene.org/independent-blues-awards-2023-vote-now/.
In other news, Neals is prominently featured in the forthcoming film “We Thrive,” about “Armenian-American musicians and the healing powers of music,” explains Co-Executive Producer
Eric Harabadian. The film has its World Premiere June 24 at Art House Productions in Jersey City, as part of the Golden Door Film Festival. Neals was also featured in Harabadian’s 2016 film, Nuthin’ But Music. Harabadian’s CoExecutive Producer in both films is Lisa Hagopain.
Standing before one of America’s truest art forms with an unconditional passion to give the Blues everything she’s got, Eliza Neals — a Detroit- born, blues-rock star on the rise — honors the gut-wrenching, soul splitting intent the American roots of contemporary blues represents with inspired songwriting and
critically-lauded live performances.
Neal’s original compositions helped win her a 2018 Detroit Black Music Award for “Blues Artist of the Year” and she’s won a Detroit Music Award five different times. Eliza has garnered seventeen Independent Blues Awards nominations along with “Get Ready To Rock UK’s” Best Artists awards in five categories.
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Taylor and Etta James. After catching the ‘Pawn Shop Blues,” a “Sugar Daddy” strolled into town but now there’s not enough honey to save him. This tonguen-cheek gem takes ‘playing the dozens’ to new heights. “Candy Store” will make you laugh until your sweet tooth falls out.
“Eliza Neals spins her lyrics into luscious ear candy, in her early years of performing at clubs in Detroit and hanging with Barrett Strong is where her sweet style was honed, writes Indie Pulse Music in a recent review. ‘Candy Store will make you laugh until your sweet tooth falls out.”
Eliza’s history of performing and/or opening for legendary musicians goes back many years, from Detroit’s songwriting godfather, Barrett Strong; to, among others, George Clinton, The Four Tops, Kenny Olson, Tony Joe White, Lance Lopez, Mike Zito, Tommy Castro, Walter Trout, Poppa Chubby, Albert Castiglia, Micki Free, Victor Wainwright, King Solomon Hicks, Peter Keys and Blues Foundation Hall of Fame bluesman, Joe Louis Walker.
Neal’s full-length release album Black Crow Moan was named a ‘Top Album of 2020’ after landing on so many ‘Best Of’ lists. B.B. Kings Bluesville (Sirius XM) has featured sixteen of Eliza Neals in regular rotation since she released her incendiary album Breaking and Entering, quickly thrusting her onto the national blues scene. Her soulful blues ballad ‘Another Lifetime’ reached #6 on Bluesville’s Rack of Blues, while Black Crow Moan reached #9 on ROB. ‘Sugar Daddy,’ released in 2021 reached #5 and remained on ROB for twelve weeks, finishing #12 in the Top Fifteen Blues Songs of 2021 on ROB year-end list. “Queen of the Nile”, Eliza’s latest ballad from her critically-acclaimed 2022 album Badder to the Bone, is currently in heavy rotation and reached #5 on ROB. Eliza’s albums have ascended to the Billboard Top #25; she’s also had five singles and albums in the top five spots on Amazon and ITunes for over three months.
Neals — bandleader, songwriter, vocalist, keyboardist, producer, and record label owner — has had a cadre of amazing musicians back her up over the years. “The best in the business” is what people say, with Neal bringing an all-star
line-up wherever she performs. Audiences are thrilled with her band and plethora of special guests.
Her radio charting and press is great; seeing Eliza Neals perform live is even better. Her shows are exciting, intoxicating and jam-packed with sultry powerful vocals, spirited moves, and soulful piano playing while leading her stellar band and never missing a beat. Phil Ohlinger, President of the Ohio “Big Bend Blues Bash” who booked Eliza, said, “in seventeen years we have had some great women vocalists perform, but not one has outperformed Eliza. I think we have a new crowd favorite!”
Eliza Neals started out singing and performing with her sisters and eventually was told, “you have to get a degree to live under this roof.” Eliza chose opera studies, graduating from Detroit’s Wayne State University (WSU) with a Bachelor of Arts degree and Minor in piano. Touring and performing with the WSU Concert Chorale in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Belgium and UK’s Glastonbury as a Mezzo Soprano Opera singer was thrilling, but eventually the blues chose Eliza (and vice versa).
Back in Detroit, Neals sat in and performed at live music venues like Floods, Old Detroit, Burt’s Warehouse,
The Rhinoceros, Soup Kitchen, Bakers Keyboard Lounge and more, honing her voice, signature style and piano chops. A chance meeting with Motown Legend Barrett Strong Jr. led to Eliza signing with his record label, where she learned to produce and arrange (vocals to strings) in his multi-million-dollar studio. Eliza and Barrett became good friends; he showed her the many hidden secrets of a Motown-trained singer, songwriter and performer. Soul legends Marvin Gaye and Gladys Knight were previous artists Barrett Strong had produced, making Eliza Neals the last Motown-trained R&B vocalist from Detroit, and landing her in some very special company.
Catch Eliza Neals On Tour: July 23 (Sun) - Portsmouth NH @ Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club
August 4 (Fri) - Port Sanilac MI @ Port Sanilac Blues Festival
August 5 (Sat) - Pomeroy OH @ Big Bend Blues Bash
August 26 (Sat) - Long Branch NJ @ Long Branch Jazz & Blues Festival
Dec 1 (Fri) - Bradenton FL @ Bradenton Blues Festival
Dec 7 (Thur) - Brunswick GA @ The Blue Door
Dec 8 (Fri) - Ormond Beach FL @ Blues & Brews Bistro
Dec 15 (Fri) - Biloxi MS @ Ground Zero Blues Club
I’ve Been Out Living
I’m taking what I’m giving
I hint you with the mission
Step up and turn it on
Don’t always turn it on
People singing, people dancing
So shut up and hit the floor
Let’s go and hit the floor, wow
These are the first two verses from the first single, “Good Time” released off the new Buckcherry album, Vol. 10, and just a precursor to what you’re going to hear on the album. This new album features everything that you’ve come to love from a band like Buckcherry, 11 emotional songs, ballads, thought provoking songs, and some great partying songs. This album has it all.
The album was just released June 2nd of this year to great critical acclaim. Already the critics are calling this the greatest Buckcherry album ever released and are singing their praises for this new direction for the band. Yes, it has the same familiar stylistic songs that we’ve come to love from the band, but on Vol. 10, the band has really gotten a chance to stretch out a little bit more that they have in the past. It really makes for a fresh new approach from Buckcherry.
The album was produced by their all-time favorite producer, Marti Frederiksen and was recorded at Sienna Studios in Nashville. Yes, the 10 original songs on the album reflect a new mature version of Buckcherry that we’re sure that you’ll love. They even have added a cover song that has come to become a favorite in their live performances, “Summer Of ’69”, the classic song by Bryan Adams. So far, three great singles have been released by the band, “Good Times”, “Let’s Get Wild,” and “Shine Your Light.” Other songs on the album include “Keep On Fighting”, “Turn It On,” “This And That,” “Feels Like Love,” “One And Only,” “With You,” and “Pain”. Each one of these is set to captivate your emotions and get you totally involved in this fine release.
Right now the band has kicked off a fantastic tour with four legs that have them co-headling the stage with Skid Row. While the band is currently on tour right now with shows that kicked off in Biloxi, Mississippi on May 5th of this years, there last two legs with Skid Row starts off on August 31st in Dallas, Texas at the House of Blues. The tour is scheduled to
conclude December 15th at the Nugget Casino Resort in Reno, Nevada.
Buckcherry burst out on the scene in the late 90s bringing their special brand of sleeze to a scene that was being dominated by post-grunge and the rise of nu-metal. Despite all this, the band quickly made a name for themselves styling themselves to the days of the 80s where they took their main influences from. They definitely envisioned themselves as the successors to band like Motley Crue and wrote and performed accordingly. From “Lit Up” off their 1999 self-titled release to “Crazy Bitch” and “Sorry” off their third album, 15, the band was quickly getting a name for themselves and garnering fans everywhere they performed. 15 was certified platinum and so was the band. Nothing was going to stop them now. And now the band is back with their 10th studio release, Vol. 10. We’re sure you’re going to love this one.
We had a chance to sit down with longtime Buckcherry guitarist Stevie D. and he gave us a great insight into what to expect from the band and what they have been up to lately, so without any further adieu, here’s our interview with Stevie D. from Buckcherry.
Rock And Blues International: Hello.
Stevie D.: Kevin.
Rock And Blues International: Yeah.
Stevie D.: Hi, this is Stevie from Buckcherry.
Rock And Blues International: Yeah. How you doing today?
Stevie D.: Real good. How’s things?
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Rock And Blues International: Oh, things are good here. I hear you’re in Roswell, New Mexico today.
Stevie D.: Yeah, we’re surfing with the aliens.
Rock And Blues International: All right. You seen any aliens yet?
Stevie D.: No, not today.
Rock And Blues International: How about the Roswell Museum? You’ve been out to the Roswell museum yet?
Stevie D.: I have not. I was planning on going later today. A couple of the guys went yesterday. And then they also talked with some of the some of the locals that kind of debunk the whole Roswell crash. They were doing some experiments. So I don’t know. You know, I’ll go see for myself what’s going on over that museum? I’m not sure though.
Rock And Blues International All
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right. Well, you’re back out on the road again and you just released a new album. I think the last tour to support the last album was like 230 dates.
Stevie D.: Yeah, it was. We’re lucky. You know we worked really hard through the years. We established a good road business and we worked hard. We’re in that tier of bands that, you know.... we’re not at the Foo Fighters level, so we go out and we just, we work hard and we bring the music to the people.
Rock And Blues International: You play anywhere and everywhere.
Stevie D.: If there’s electricity, and you want us there? Well, we’re there.
Rock And Blues International: All right.
Stevie D.: So yeah,
Rock And Blues International: Well, the new album just came out... two days
ago, three days ago? Something like that.
Stevie D.: Yeah, on the second.
Rock And Blues International: On the second, and any reports on it, and how it’s how it’s charting.
Stevie D.: Right now we’re at number 11 in the U.K. on the overall chart. So that’s not even the Rock Chart. That’s the overall chart. So we’re doing really good. There’s no news yet. We’ll know, after a week what we’ve done in the States.
Rock And Blues International: Well, the internet is buzzing right now saying that this is going to be the biggest Buckcherry album yet. What do you think?
Stevie D.: Well, you know, it’s it’s a different day and age and music isn’t really bought, it’s streamed now. So it’ll be interesting to see what the results are. I know success is clocked in a different way.
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So if if kids are streaming and people are streaming songs, I’m happy. And if that gets them to shows, then we win. You know, we’ve done our job. And I can tell when, when we’re playing live, when they’re screaming the words at the top of their lungs if we’ve connected with our audience, so that’s a good gauge for me.
Rock And Blues International: Well, I think this new album will definitely connect you with your audience. It’s like one party song after another.
Stevie D.: Yeah, I think there’s more to Buckcherry than that kind of party vibe. There’s songs like “Pain”, there’s songs like “Keep On Fighting”, and “Feels Like Love”. We’re always gonna have that kind of lock stock kind of vibe with “Let’s Get Wild” and in songs like “Crazy Bitch”, and “Lit Up”, but you know, on this one, we stretched out a little further than we normally do. I think we’ve stretched out on the last few levels, so I hope that our core audience takes note and I hope I hope new listeners take note.
Rock And Blues International: Right. Well, I love the ballad “Feels Like Love”. It’s just reminds me those old 80s ballads that ruled the charts.
Stevie D.: Yeah, we went in right before we started pre production. And we had a whole album already written. That was kind of lock stock Buckcherry. And we went in to... I talked to Marty and I was like, ‘What do you think about kind of upping the game... making the production a little bit bigger. Layering more guitars, layering more backing vocals, bigger drums, kind of like what the production was like in the 80s and all the good stuff that we’d love in the 80s’. So, for me that was production like from Bob Rock. He did that with Cult, he did that with Motley Crue, Metallica, and so that was our jumping off point. And then we we went in and wrote for 10 days and came up with a whole new album than what we were writing for the past year. So that’s what you’re listening to now.
Rock And Blues International: So you’ve got an entire album, that’s somewhere in the can.
Stevie D.: No, no, no, that’s the album we released. All that from from that new mindset, right, but the bigger 80s kind of vibe, you know, Bob Rock.
Rock And Blues International: Okay. Well, this album’s got some.... well, it sounds like a party album from the beginning to the end. However, there are some very emotional moments in there like “One And Only” and “Pain” that are very emotional songs for the band.
Stevie D.: Yeah, we have a side that’s... we like all types of music and it doesn’t just stop at guitar kind of vibes from the 70s... 60s, 70s, and even 80s. So we started stretching out even on the last album with strings and piano. And there’s
been a lot going on since the last few years, even before 2020 emotionally in our personal lives, so that’s what we were trying from.
Rock And Blues International: Did a lot of your personal life kind of cross over into these recordings?
Stevie D.: I think, I think it always does. I think for musicians and songwriters that’s the easiest place to draw from,
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personal experience. And that way I think that’s where it becomes more authentic and when people make that connection, because they’ve experienced something similar. We also write from third person. Josh, you know, he does all the lyrics and melody and he writes from third person as well. But for me, I connect with songs that are written from personal experience.
Rock And Blues International: Okay, so Josh does the lyrics and you pretty much kickoff the music and arranging there.
Stevie D.: Yeah, I’ll come in.... Sometimes I’ll write a riff, verse, do chorus, chorus, and I’ll repeat that. I’ll demo it at my home studio, and then put it in front of him to write lyrics and melody over that. Or he’ll come in with a chorus idea. This is kind of what the lyric would be and here’s what the melody would be, and then I’ll write around... I’ll build a song around that. It’s a bunch of different ways. Sometimes no matter how it goes down, then we bring it to Marty Frederickson, our producer, and then he kind of fine tunes everything and makes it sonically brilliant.
Rock And Blues International: What was the most personal song on the album for you?
Stevie D.: For me, I’d say it “Feels Like Love”. You know, I think writing that riff... There was a song on “Hellbound” called “The Way” and I wrote that from personal experience, at least the feelings that I was having when my father passed in
2020 and when I wrote the riff for “Feels LikeLove”, I was just going through a lot of stuff that surrounds... I don’t know if I want to talk about it, but it’s surrounded like a personal experience that I was going through for the past couple of years. And that’s how it came out.
Rock And Blues International: Okay. And then the songs “One And Only” and “Pain”? How did those come out?
Stevie D.: On “One and Only” we were, we were probably towards the end of the writing cycle. And what Josh likes to do when we get to that point... he wants to kind of round out what the whole body of work will sound like... what the album will sound like. And he wanted a couple songs that... he’ll say at the beginning of the day, we don’t have this type of song, or we don’t have the piano song for this album, or that let’s have a darker, more epic, maybe even cinematic kind of song. Marty came up with the piano for “Pain” and then what we did is we slowly put the flesh and bone on it, and the personality on it. So those are how those started? Once those are kind of structured, and the foundation is built, then Josh will write in his hotel room loose lyrics and melodies, and then bring it in.
Rock And Blues International: Then what inspired the musical part of “Pain”, not the vocals, but the music part because it’s a very intense song.
Stevie D.: Yeah. As far as inspiration, there’s been some songs that we layered in more of a cinematic way.
There’s also songs that we were listening to back in the 80s, early 90s, maybe some Ozzy, some Guns ‘N’ Roses and we thought, you know it might be cool to layer a more classical type of vibe with strings and piano in those parts and just just overall building from just one instrument to maybe one more epic cinematic ending. Nine Inch Nails does that too, so we choose from a few different inspirations.
Rock And Blues International: All right. And songs like “This And That” and your first single “Good Time”. “Good Time” is a very, very good party song there.
Stevie D.: Yeah. That’s a pretty swampy kind of finger picking kind of song. I was really into Travis picking during the pandemic, and some Brian Setzer. I always love Billy Gibbons. And there’s... for “Good Time”, that was kind of my Billy Gibbons “Tush” inspired riff. But yeah, the swampy and rock and roll and they’re always a good mix for us.
Rock And Blues International: Okay, and what about the second single... “Let’s Get Wild”. Well, that was pretty wild song.
Stevie D.: Yeah, “Let’s Get Wild”. That’s another one that goes to the 80s style of guitar playing. The voiceings of those chords are pretty throwback to that era. So there’s that Randy Rhoads, Mick Mars kind of vibe that everyone trying to copy at that time. Yeah, I mean, that’s a feel good song. A lot of these are feel good songs. They’re just something that you put on at a house party or on a long drive, or a night out. You know, that kind of stuff to get the party started?
Rock And Blues International: Right. Like, like “Shine Your Light”.
Stevie D.: “Shine Your Light” was the very first song that we wrote after deciding whether to to go with the 80s type production. We listened to a bunch of Bob Rock. I dropped my D string. and here we go. That one came together pretty quickly. Same with “Let’s Get Wild”. A lot of these took, I’d say, not a lot of time but I feel like when you connect into that frequency, that songwriting frequency, that everything comes together smoothly. Songs sound better that way. When I labor over riffs and an arrangement and it’s not coming together, those songs usually end up on the cutting room floor, but “Shine A Light” came together quite quickly and easily.
Rock And Blues International: What
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about “Keep On Fighting”? That’s almost like a little call to war there.
Stevie D.: Yeah, a little call to war. You know, it’s no secret that Marty has written a lot with Aerosmith and produced quite a bit for them and we had several riffs up on the block that day. And that one he pulled out. And then we just kind of volley parts back and forth. It ended up sounding very Aerosmith inspired. I got to really stretch out on that guitar solo quite a bit, which I love. I got to do a lot more on this album than any records in the past.
Rock And Blues International: Why is that?
Stevie D.: Why am I getting to stretch out?
Rock And Blues International: Well, because you said you’ve done more on this than the albums in the past. Is it just a natural progression or what?
Stevie D.: I think it was a natural progression, but I think I had more freedom. We’ve built a lot of songs through the years. There was different producers and on the album’s previous, I would just play for the songs. Big beginning and middle end type solos. You have roughly eight bars to create a guitar solo. It’s not like you’re Joe Bonamassa where you get three minutes to build a solo. So on this one since we were going towards that bigger production and style production where they had plenty of guitar solos, I had more freedom to stretch out and make a statement.
Rock And Blues International: On any of your solos on these songs was there something that you just.... when you finished you go, ‘I can’t believe I just did that’.
Stevie D.: You know, on “Keep On Fighting”, I finish that solo and we’re gonna start playing it live. And a lot of times when I finish recording, I don’t revisit it unless we we play it live. And I went back to that. So Josh said, let’s put in “The Way” and “Keep On Fighting” and on both of those solos, I listened back for the first time after several months of not hearing it and I wasn’t sure what I did. Not to brag, I just was pretty pleased that I had taken such a big leap technically and I guess musically, as far as guitar solos go.
Rock And Blues International: When you’re building your guitar solos is this a planned process, or do you write them out ahead of time or do you just go for the feel?
Stevie D.: Something like, “Feels Like Love”, I want to feel. I was listening to John Sykes through that record cycle and I wanted to kind of emulate that feeling that he does when in slow songs. There’s others that I’ll play and I’ll just sit and what I’d like to do is the goal for me is have the listener be able to hum or sing the solo back just like a melody. I feel like a lot of the guitar players that I love, I’m able to sing along or hum along or air guitar, because they have a specific middle, excuse me, beginning, middle and end, and some sort of melody. Even if there’s shredding or flurries of notes or quick blasted notes, there’s something to hold on to throughout the solo and that’s kind of what I’d like to achieve. Sometimes it’s ambitious, but yeah. I’m usually a rock and roll guitar player, so I only get roughly eight bars to stretch out. And to me it’s an art form in itself to create something that non guitar player can grasp, as well as that turns on guitar players.
Rock And Blues International: Well, absolutely. When you’re writing these songs, most of your listeners, I would say, are not musicians, they’re listeners. They’re listening for a certain type of music, a certain type of song. And they probably might not get into a three minute lead.
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Stevie D.: You know, it’s not the Seventies where you could do a minute or two of like “Freebird”, which was cool for the time, but I don’t know if that would fly these days If no one knew who Lynyrd
Skynyrd was. They would have to come out as a blues rock guitar player, like Josh Smith, or in that kind of Joe Bonamassa world, Eric Gales. They have the luxury of doing that kind of stuff. But in the rock world, and rock radio, songs are three minutes long, so it’s about sculpting guitar riffs, and short solos. Doing it that way, it’s a different animal.
Rock And Blues International: Right. You’re in and out. You make your point as quick as you can, you get through it. You move on.
Stevie D.: Yep, yep, yep. Yep, like Paul Gilbert. Even he kind of straddles both worlds. He’s very song oriented, but he can do the 10 minute solo. I don’t know, I admire all those guys they can get to do those long solos. I just don’t have that luxury.
Rock And Blues International: What about the “Summer of 69”? What made you all choose that one?
Stevie D.: Well, a couple of years ago, Josh.... He would say right before we’d play our song “Crazy Bitch”, he would say to the audience... He’d say, ‘what do you guys want to hear?’ And they’d go “Crazy Bitch” and he’d say ‘I can’t hear you so good. I’m 50 now and I can’t hear so well,’ and go ‘what song you want to hear?’ And they scream “Crazy Bitch” again and just to kind of make a joke he goes. ‘“Summer Of 69” by Bryan Adams?’ And I knew the riff so I went into it and everyone knows that riff. So we all played like, you know, 30 seconds of it, and it was fun. And then the next day, we all did it at soundcheck, and we did a punk rock version of it. So we started playing
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that right before “Crazy Bitch” and our manager heard it and loved it. And actually, every crowd that we’ve ever played it for loves it too. So we decided to track it for this album as a bonus track, but it was so fun. It was so good that we just ended up putting it on there.
Rock And Blues International: I was on YouTube the other day, and I saw one of your 12 minute versions of “Crazy Bitch” on there and that gets to be pretty wild at times.
Stevie D.: Yeah, we get to stretch out on that one. We introduce the band. Everyone gets their moment in the lane to show people what they can do. We also throw a couple of covers in there... short and sweet. You know, we don’t play the whole song. But we just play like, a couple of seconds that we do “Sex Machine” from James Brown. We do “Bad Girls” from Donna Summer. Kind of that “Crazy Bitch” theme and we also do a Tina Turner song as a nod to her for her untimely passing. So yeah, and then we have the crowd participate, so it’s a fun, fun little number.
Rock And Blues International: It looks like you’re gonna be out on the road for another 200 shows with this album. And of course, you have to play songs like “Sorry”, “Lit Up,” “Crazy Bitch”, “Bring It On Back”... some songs like that. How
many of the new songs do you think may creep out on the on the playlist?
Stevie D.: Well, right now, I mean, we always have to play the obvious songs, we also have to play ones that have been hits for us. It wouldn’t be fair to the fans to get that, you know... they pay to come see the songs they love, so we always have room to put that in first and then we start adding other popular songs. We have to promote a new album right now. The response to this album has been so great that we have to already do “Good Time” and “Let’s Get Wild”. And the way the world now is your release four songs, maybe not as singles, but you release them before the album comes out. So “Keep On Fighting” has been released before the album came out... “With You” and ‘Feels Like Love”. So right now, we’re probably playing “Good Time”, “Feels Like Love”, “Pain” and “Let’s Get Wild”. Those are standards in every set now and then we’ll probably swap out. Josh just added “Keep On Fighting” and “With you”, so we’ll probably swap a couple of those out and put those in, in rotation.
Rock And Blues International: All right. The longer the set, the more you’re more freedom you have.
Stevie D.: Yeah, we’re usually playing anywhere from an hour 15 to an hour and a half these days in our headlin-
ing set, which is pretty amazing for us. We always stop at 1:15, so we’re having a good time.
Rock And Blues International: All right. So how do you think this album stacks ups in line with the other of the previous albums. How do you think the progression goes?
Stevie D.: You know it’s hard for me to say because I’m so close to these songs and my involvement is a lot deeper than it’s ever been, so it’s hard for me to judge. When they asked me what song should be a single when we were doing “15”, I would have thought “Crazy Bitch” was not the song it was going to be. I didn’t because it had the word bitch in it. I didn’t think that it would get on the radio, and it ended up being one of our biggest hits. So I don’t know where it’s gonna land in comparison to the other songs, the other albums, I do know that the critics have said it’s our best album to date and the fans are right there with them. So that’s all I can really go on
Rock And Blues International: If someone heard your music for the first time, what album would you want them to hear first? The new one or one of the old ones?
Stevie D.: I’d say the new one for sure. That’s the best representation of the band and who it is right now. So the band has changed, members and with that, the sound is altered a bit. So if you ask me, it’s as strong as it’s ever been, which is not what a lot of bands can say after being around over 20 years.
Rock And Blues International: Right, right. Well, there’s been two consistencies to the band. Josh’s vocals, and your guitar playing ever since 2005, when the band reformed back and you went in. You’ve been the constant with the band, you’ve kept the melody running the whole time.
Stevie D.: Yeah, but I’ve been, you know, Josh’s support for a long time. And Keith Nelson did a lot of great stuff with us. I’m very proud of what we did together. I consider myself lucky to have been in a band with him. I learned a lot from him. And yeah, things change and and we are still very lucky to be doing this, that we get to do this after all these years.
Rock And Blues International: What is the one thing that you would like people to come away with after they hear this album, the one thought you’d like to have permeate their brain?
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Stevie D.: That Buckcherry is so much more than just a party band. Another big thing for us this year is we’re touring with Skid Row and the response to that. We booked one leg for the Skid Row tour and it went so well, most of them were sold out. And the response from promoters and the public was so great that they booked another leg and then they booked two more, so we have a total of four tour leg bookings for the rest of the year and then we’ll be out in the Europe and U.K. The response to the new album has been pretty awesome out abroad so we’re making strides and getting out there in the new year.
Rock And Blues International: And you’ve got a complete Canadian Tour on this too.
Stevie D.:: Yeah, next week we’ll be out there in Canadia.
Rock And Blues International: In Canadia. Yeah. Okay. And you’re touring completely up to almost Christmas time.
Stevie D.: Yeah, we’ll take a little break for Christmas and then I’m hoping that we get out to Europe and the U.K. at that point.
Rock And Blues International: What’s the hardest part of touring for you, because I’ve known in the past, a couple of your members couldn’t get into the schedule that you all are doing and kind of walked?
Stevie D.: Yeah. I mean, the hardest thing. When you’re touring, and you’re a young man and all you really thought about in your career is the music and touring and all that comes with it, and then you get it. Then you become successful. You start building a life, and your priorities change and your family becomes number one and it’s hard for some to juggle that. So the hardest part from touring for me is getting away from my family. But nowadays we’re getting a quite a bit of time off to be with them without sacrificing doing music, so it’s just trying to find the balance between what your priorities are.
Rock And Blues International: Right, right. All right. Well, I want to thank you for for the talking with us.
Stevie D.: Yeah.
Rock And Blues International: Wonderful. Thank you so much. And I hope you have a very successful tour ahead of you. And I hope that album does become your biggest one to date. And then after that, the next one becomes your biggest.
Stevie D.: Cool, thank you, sir. Thank you so much for your time, Kevin.
Rock And Blues International: Thank you. Okay. Bye bye.
Stevie D.: Bye. Thank you.
We hope you liked our interview with Stevie D. We found a lot of the information he provided on the band and their new album Vol. 10 to be very informative and interesting. As you can tell, this band is just happy as hell to still be together and on the road delighting their fans. If you get a chance, please pick up a copy of the new album. We found every song on this new album to be a definite winner and I think you will too. I’d like to thank Stevie D. for sitting down with us for this fantastic and fun interview. Thank you Stevie. July 2022 • Rock and Blues International
3 Doors Down has announced that they will be hitting the road on tour with special guests Candlebox for their Away From The Sun Anniversary Tour. This is going to be a very special tour for the band as they will be performing their sophomore release, Away From The Sun in it’s entirety. Produced by Live Nation, 3 Doors Down will be appearing in some of the biggest venues and amphithe-
aters around the United States. In addition to Away From The Sun, 3 Doors Down will also be performing quite a lot of their greatest hits and let me tell you, they have a lot of them. Do you remember “Kryptonite”. That was a massive hit for the band, among many others.
For Candlebox, this will be the final hurrah as the band plans on calling it quits after this tour. They will also be releasing their final studio album later this year.
The recording sessions for Away From The Sun took place during the summer of 2002 with producer and engineer Rick Parashar at London Bridge Studio, in Seattle, Washington. Away From The Sun produced quite a few hits for the band including the title song, “Away From The Sun” which topped the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. Another
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single from the album, “When I’m Gone” peaked at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 2003, not to mention seventeen weeks atop the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Charts. It also peaked at number two on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks, not to mention charting on even more rock charts. “The Road I’m On” was their second single off the album and reached number eight on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and number 24 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. Last, but not least, “Here Without You”, the third single from the album reached No. 5 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and was certified double platinum in the U.S. for shipping over 2,000,000 units. It was also quite successful around the globe peaking at No.2 in Australia and reaching the top 10 in Denmark, The Netherlands, and New Zealand. Without a doubt, Away From The Sun was a monster success and has sold over 8 million albums worldwide and topped the U.S. Billboard 200 Chart.
One of the highlights of being out on the road for 3 Doors Down this year is their 18th Annual “The Better Life Foundation Concert” that will take place at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort in Cherokee, NC, on October 21st. So far, the band has raised over $3 million that went out to veterans, children, women, and humanitarian relief efforts domestically and around the world.
“Away From The Sun has always been a personal favorite of mine because of how much it resonated with out country’s service members,” says 3 Doors Down’s Brad Arnold. “We are so blessed to be able to celebrate these significant milestones because we were very young making these albums, and we still have so much more life to give our fans. The show we are planing will be next level this year. It’s going to be incredible to have Candlebox on tour with us. I’ve been a fan of theirs since I was a teenager...”
3 Doors Down has sold more than 20 million albums worldwide, received a Grammy nomination, two American Music Awards, and five BMI Pop Awards for songwriting, which includes “Songwriter of the Year.” Immediately when they burst our on the scene with their first album, The Better Life, 3 Doors Down quickly made a name for themselves. The Better Life went on to be certified platinum seven times, and their hit song “Kryptonite” catapulted them into the stratosphere.
We sat down recently with lead guitarist Chris Henderson who is just ecstatic about this new tour and being able to perform Away From The Sun in it’s entirety to discuss the album, the tour, and the future of 3 Doors Down. It’s certainly a high point in his life right now and he was more than happy to
share his thoughts with us here at Rock And Blues International. So, here’s our conversation with Chris Henderson.
Chris Henderson: What’s up Kevin...
Rock And Blues International: Hey, how you doing today?
Chris Henderson: I’m doing alright. How about yourself?
Rock And Blues International: I’m doing just fine. Thank you. I’m doing great. Well, so it’s about a week before before the tour kicks off.
Chris Henderson: Just about a week.
Rock And Blues International: Well, what’s the anticipation like with this one?
Chris Henderson: Well, I think having done the Better Than Life Tour already and got through that, and then doing the other tour with Collective Soul, that’s kind of cool and we’ve done a few of them. But we really enjoy doing these Live Nation tours and they’re a lot of fun. And you know, a lot of people get to come and see us play a little bigger venue with a little bit more, a few more lights, a little bit more sound and stuff like that. It’s cooler, to kind of, you know, to have that behind you and go out and play like that. I mean, it’s not always like that. Not every band plays arenas and stadiums every
night. You know what I mean? Because it’s like, America, and it was the world really so you go to all kinds of places and it’s nice to get those Live Nation venues like that.
Rock And Blues International: Well, it looks like this tour is gonna put you in arenas all over the United States. I don’t know where else you’re touring, but all over the U.S. at least.
Chris Henderson: All over the states for sure, but you know what, it’s just nice. This is gonna be a real tour for sure. Absolutely.
Rock And Blues International: So what is the anticipation like seeing that you’re going to be doing Away From The Sun in its entirety?
Chris Henderson: Well, the anticipation for me is like there’s a lot of cool songs on that record and we’re doing some cool stuff around it as well. It’s going to be nice. I don’t want to let the cat out the bag or anything, but there’s some really cool songs on that record and we’ve been doing this as long as we have and when you’ve done the amount of albums that we have, you forget about these kind of like, deep cuts until you you go back and listen to them. They’re good songs man. For instance, my son was five and I got him an Ipad and he walks around and he
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listens to “Kryptonite”, and he listens to “Pop Song”. He’s got a good taste of music and he gravitates towards the songs that people don’t necessarily know and I like that about him. He’s not afraid to listen to stuff like that and there’s some good stuff like that on this record that we’re gonna play. And I’m looking forward to that. So that’s my anticipation.
Rock And Blues International: All right, well, you’ve got like four singles off the album alone itself, “When I’m Gone,” “Away From The Sun,” “The Road I’m On,” and “Here Without You,” and I imagine that you’ve probably been playing those in concert, or at least some of those in concert all along the way for all your tours, but now you’ve also got a lot of songs that you haven’t touched on in a long time. So what was it like going back and relearning the entire album?
Chris Henderson: Um, it wasn’t that hard. It was like, we play a lot of songs on that record already. So maybe four or five that we’ve, that we only had to learn and go back and start revisiting because you don’t really play them if you don’t play them, so they kind of get lost to you a little bit, but they come right back. It’s, it’s neat to feel them, kind of make sense again, you know.
Rock And Blues International: What were the songs that you had to relearn?
Chris Henderson: Oh, man, quite a few. “Pop Song” is one of them. It’s not on the record, but it’s like... it’s just one of the things that we’re doing. So we go back and learn a song like that. And we had some stuff that we did with Alex Lifeson between records that he produced and we’re going to be messing around with some of that stuff. And I get all them mixed up to be honest with you. There’s so dang many of them, I can’t even really hardly to tell you which ones. I
got the setlist if I can find it real quick. I’ll just tell you by looking at it.
Rock And Blues International: Okay, well, Alex Lifeson performed live with the band during your premiere party in Biloxi for “Away From The Sun”.
Chris Henderson: Yeah, sure did. Yeah. That was a good time, man. He didn’t rehearse with us or nothing. The man just came in there and just like, looked at the guitar I was playing, looked at what position I was in, what key I was in and started soloing. It was really cool to see somebody do that.
Rock And Blues International: Well, what was it like when you went into the studio with producer and engineer Rick Parashar at London Bridge Studio when you went into record this? Was there a little bit of anticipation because you had just come off a mega hit with “Kryptonite”?
Chris Henderson: Yeah, I mean, so when you do that, as hard as they want you to do it again, you never know if you can do it again. And so there’s a lot of that back and forth. And, you know, a lot of negotiations with the record company and stuff like that. It kind of set us up to fail big or win big. Does that make sense? And so we went up there. The first thing when you walk in that studio, you see the amount of records have been made in there and the amount of records that Rick made before he passed away. 10 Years was made there. Alice In Chains’ “Jar Of Flies” was made there. I want to say a bunch of other ones. Sublime, that first sublime record was made there. There’s a lot of good records. I think the Candlebox record, the first Candlebox record was made there as well. You see those gold records and you see that place and see how big it is, and how good it sounds, you realize that you stepped into another world. It’s not a baby band studio, it’s a big studio and a nice one, the
first kind of like major studio. I think you know that you can call it that. It’s really kind of like a hole in the wall, but still a major studio. It’s just really nice and sounded really amazing and to walk in there with Rick. They just did that Nickelback record right before that and that was one of the reasons we wanted to talk to him. That record sounded so good. I think it’s called “Silver Side Up” and he made that record there and it sounded really good. So we were like, ‘Let’s talk Rick,’ so we talked to him on the phone with a bunch of producers and they just had it... he had it worked out in his mind what he wanted to do already and you know, we all agreed after that phone call that he was the guy.
Rock And Blues International: Great, great. Well, evidently everything went great for you because “When I’m Gone” just took off after the album was released, the first single from the album.
Chris Henderson: Yes sir, it did.
Rock And Blues International: So what made the band want to get together and relive that album?
Chris Henderson: It’s just like... a couple of years ago at the Better Life Foundation, we played Away From The Sun in its entirety and had such good time doing it, it gave us the idea to do the 20th anniversary tour of The Better Life. We tried to do it before COVID, but couldn’t get it done, because you know, COVID shut everything down. I think we knew, even before we did that tour that we were gonna do this one as well, because we did it that one night at one show. It was a lot of fun and the crowd loved it and the fans after the show tell us like, how neat that was and they’d seen us seven or eight times and never seen us do anything like that. They really liked it. They really appreciated it. And so did we, so that was the motivation behind it. And I’m sure we’ll probably do Three Doors Down after that, hopefully. That would be nice. We’ll see.
Rock And Blues International: Well, when you do that, when you do the songs, are you just going to start at the beginning of the album and go all the way through or is it just going to be kind of split up between the hits.
Chris Henderson: It’s going to be split up. We did that at that at that show. We played it from front to back and we did The Better Life that way, so we’ve kind of done that. I think we’re gonna just kind of mix it up this time, but we are gonna play all the songs on the record for sure.
Rock And Blues International: It looks like it’s gonna be a tough one to get all your hits in on that. I’m looking at a list of songs that you all have done that have charted and it’s just an unbelievable catalogue of work here. How long is this set going to be?
Chris Henderson: Man, I’m going to have to look at my notes to tell you. It’s gonna be a long one. We’ll say it’s 20 songs, I
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mean that we whittled it down to, but it’s gonna be long... it’s probably more than a lot of sets we’ve ever played, but you know, that’s what that’s what you got to do.
Rock And Blues International: Yeah 20 songs... so that’s still doesn’t even cover the hits.
Chris Henderson: Well, I mean, I think we probably we’ll get most of them in there. Every time we want to, but we never play all of them. We’ve got so many. We do our best to get the ones everyone wants to hear in there and try it without mixing it up a little bit. I think we’re gonna start playing and we’re gonna adjust it as we go.
Rock And Blues International: Okay, well tell us a little bit more about the recording process when you did Away From The Sun. Put us inside that studio there. What was it like to be inside the studio when you started the recording on that project.
Chris Henderson: It was really cool. So it was in Seattle, but not Seattle, itself. It’s in Shoreline which is north of town, up I-5. We eventually moved into a hotel and right beside the hotel was a gym and a nice grocery store and right across the street was the studio. None of us rented cars or anything like that. We just lived in the hotel and walked to the studio every day and they had a basketball and we’d go outside. And there were all kinds of old instruments laying around inside, pool table, full kitchen and a bathroom and the live room is incredible. It had this old analog board in there and you know, the room was acoustically like almost perfect, one of the better sounding live rooms that I’ve ever been in. And of course, the vocal booth was was crazy cool. And that was the first time we saw Pro Tools in the recording process. We use it to mix. We knew what it could do mixing wise, but that was the first time we’ve seen it in production. And there was an engineer there named Geoff, Geoff Ott. I think he owns the place now. As a matter of fact, I know he does and he could run Pro Tools as fast as he can think. I’ve never seen anyone do that before, but I pretty much stayed on his shoulder the whole time just to learn as much as I could about that program. And sitting in there, you can see all the gear, you realize all the music have been through all that stuff, all the really cool, like life changing music that’s been recorded there. And that vibe’s still in there and Rick was incredible. Rick was a great producer and with that engineer and producer team, it was it was smooth sailing. Josh Freese did drums, and he came in did all the drums in one day. It’s just what he does. That was pretty cool to watch him do that. He did one day of rehearsal with us in Mobile, Alabama, flew in
and played the drums and that was it. Done. Good stuff.
Rock And Blues International: How many days did you wind up spending in the studio all together?
Chris Henderson: Oh, man, I couldn’t tell you the number. I would say about six, eight weeks really? There was two months for all of it.
Rock And Blues International: Okay. When you look back at this album, are there any songs on there that just particularly grab you?
Chris Henderson: Yeah, the song “Away From The Sun” grabs me. I’ve always loved that song, little guitar riff in the front. One of the ones that I kind of like. I had a little bit of trouble with it when I was writing it and you know, wanted it to kind of feel like it dropped a beat if I could and so do a little bit of some kind of skip back stuff. I don’t know how to explain it but I wanted to do a certain thing and couldn’t really make it do it. I finally got it. It took me a minute, but that one really grabbed me and I think the lyrics of that song are really, like just spot on. Brad nailed that song and of course the vocals he did as well. But that one really grabbed me and and also “Here Without You” man. But those two in particular.
Rock And Blues International: What was it about “Here Without You”?
Chris Henderson: Yeah, that one definitely grabbed me, it’s been good too, I’m not going to lie. It’s the gift that keeps on giving?
Rock And Blues International: Well, it was the power ballad off the album.
Chris Henderson: Yes sir, it was.
Rock And Blues International: Oh, right.
Chris Henderson: So that’s another thing we had trouble writing. The bridge was really hard to come up with and not that it was hard to come over, it was just hard to connect the dots, if you will. It’s one of those things where we kept putting it on the back burner and putting it on the back burner? And Brad and I were like, you know, we’re gonna stick with it, stick with it, stick with it, and see if we can get the song written. And there was times I didn’t think we were gonna get it written. And it did. I want to say I woke up one Saturday morning and just had the bridge in my head and grabbed the guitar and put it together real quick, showed it to Brad next day of rehearsal and the song’s done.
Rock And Blues International: Oh, great. You had kind of a special song on here for your fans as well. The hidden track at the end of the album, “This time”. What was the point of having a hidden song?
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Chris Henderson: I think it was just to kind of like, as everyone had done back in the day. Everybody did that and they had the hidden track, the last track. Sometimes it wouldn’t be in the list. And it was just they were fun. And so we were just gonna have some fun and give our fans something special and give ourselves something special too.
Rock And Blues International: Okay, well, the album was a monster as well. Six times platinum certification in the U.S., a top five, scoring top five on the Billboard Hot 100 list. What was it like with the band when you started achieving success like that with this album?
Chris Henderson: Well it’s kind of surreal, because we didn’t expect it. We didn’t expect the record to do what the first record did, because it’s just so hard to do that and we didn’t understand that. Now, after the success of The Better Life, we thought, hey, we’re gonna write some songs and it’s gonna be awesome. It’s gonna be you know, we’re gonna go in there and jam it like we did the last time. That’s what we do. We’re were filled with confidence and bravado and cocky and just, you know, telling people what to do and all this stuff and it wasn’t really working out that way songwriting wise. The songs didn’t lay down like the other one did, you had to force a couple of them. You had to work really hard to get some of them out.
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And while we’re recording, even during when the recording started, we still didn’t know about... a couple of them weren’t even finished yet. You know, we didn’t know if they’re gonna like them if if they heard them. And Monte Lipman and Avery came out. And and our manager at the time came out to the London Bridge and sat and listened to those new songs. And that’s what I knew that we were going to be okay. When I saw look on those guys face, I saw what they, you know, felt on their face, what they already knew and they knew it was gonna be big, and they were happy. And I was happy because, you know, for a while... I even heard one producer say that we were talking to... He said, if you wrote the songs and this was your first record, you wouldn’t get a record deal. That was one of the things I heard, which is like... that’s the scary stuff, man because you don’t want to go home. You know, you like just change. You want to go back to where it was. So we we’re a little scared about that, but it all worked out.
Rock And Blues International: They actually told you that if you’d done that album first, you wouldn’t have gotten a record deal?
Chris Henderson: I heard that a couple of times. Yeah. If we submitted those songs to get signed, we wouldn’t got signed. That’s what they’d say.
Rock And Blues International: Oh, really? What was the look on their faces when it went five times platinum?
Chris Henderson: Well, I mean, they’ve changed their tune right there in the studio even before we went out, you know. I mean, before we even went out there, they heard them and they were like, ‘alright, that’s pretty good.’
Rock And Blues International: Well, when you look back at the recording, what was like the hardest song that you did on there? What was the one that just was really bugger to do?
Chris Henderson: I think probably “Here Without You” was really tough and I wanted it to be so clean and wanted everything to be perfect on that and you know with Pro Tools I can edit it, I can make it perfect, but I wanted to play it so that was a thing and I practiced really hard to get everything down and get it nice and clean and I wanted it to be a tape not an edit so that would have been the hardest one for me and there were some parts that needed to be written that hadn’t been written yet from other songs, not main body parts, just ear candy stuff and sometimes that’s tricky too.
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Rock And Blues International: Okay, what was the easiest song. What song just flowed the minute you started playing it?
Chris Henderson: “When I’m Gone” for sure. that’s the easiest song. That practically wrote itself almost.
Rock And Blues International: Really, tell me about that.
Chris Henderson: Sometimes if you listen to that opening riff, that a-minor riff that... it’s a 3 Doors Down thing. It’s throughout our music. It’s also I mean.... I’ve picked up parts from Skynyrd and stuff like that, but it’s a signature thing that I do, that I always have done, and so I had to get it in a song. So when I started writing, that’s that lick on that song, just kind of like start laying down and it went into the intro, into the verse, into the chorus, into the bridge and everything. It really just went quick. We wrote that at soundcheck in Puerto Rico in two takes. We played it once and made a couple mistakes and played it again. That’s the way we’ve been playing it ever since.
Rock And Blues International: Oh, fantastic.
Chris Henderson” Yeah, it’s cool. It’s cool.
Rock And Blues International: All right. Well, one thing that the band has done that’s a little different from other bands is you’ve started the Better Life Foundation and I know that’s a big thing. I know, we couldn’t write this story without a little information about the Better Life Foundation, so tell me how important that is to the band.
Chris Henderson: It’s very important man, we’ve put a lot of work into it and our friends that work for the foundation have put a lot of work into it. We take it very seriously. It’s like a dollar in, dollar out, organization. Well, we have a cell phone bill and we cover some expenses, but really every dime we make, we give away, and Brad and I and the guys in the band can choose where they want the money to go. So pretty good. So I’m excited about it every year, I love going to the event. A lot of people get together to see each other once a year at the event. It’s become like a meeting place and all the events they do over the weekend are crazy and cool and they have a really good time. And it’s a lot of fun and a lot of work for a lot of people. But for us, the band, you know, we get to play a show and then give all the money away and it’s pretty cool, man. Really, it is and we’ve helped some organizations that probably didn’t expect that. I think after Katrina I rode my Harley into an encampment of people that
were just rebuilding it, down in the Gulf Coast and they needed some money and I gave them a check for 70 grand a week later just because I saw them on the side of the road and they were all working real hard. You know these guys are giving back, let’s give some money to them so what we did was pretty cool. It’s good to be able to do that. It makes you feel good.
Rock And Blues International: Well at the show you put on for the concert for the Better Life Foundation, you’ve had a lot of luminaries there performing... Lynyrd Skynyrd, Shinedown, Alter Bridge, Staind, Hinder, Switchfoot, Tracy Lawrence, Sara Evans, and a host of others. How do you think it affected your guests.
Chris Henderson: I think they enjoyed that you know, because like sometimes it’s a show that they’re not going to get anywhere else. I mean, Tracy Lawrence and 3 Doors Down. You don’t see that too often, although we have played shows with him over the years, but it’s, you know, Lynyrd Skynyrd we have as well. Of course Shinedown, Stained and all that good stuff. We usually take a band in there that’s been on the road with us and then take the bands because they love this stuff. It’s all about who’s there. You don’t... I mean it’s not like who’s playing first, who’s playing next and that kind of show. It’s not like an opener. They get to play a little bit longer. it’s kind of cool and they get to spend the weekend there if they want to and do the whole nine yards and have the experience of the event and it’s pretty cool man hanging out with friends like that, that you don’t really hang out with them like that on tour.
Rock And Blues International: Well when this tour is over, what what lies in store for 3 Doors Down? What do you have planned?
Chris Henderson: Oh, I don’t know. I think we’re going to try something new and write some new music and start thinking about new 3 Doors Down material instead of just doing tours. On this tour, our team has
worked real hard to like make this and make what we’re bringing out with it, you know, the media that we’re releasing with it a big deal. They’ve done a really good job. They’ve done a lot of hard work. It’s exciting, so I think it’s time now that they’ve done, that it’s time for us to go about writing music.
Rock And Blues International: Have you started writing any yourself?
Chris Henderson: Myself, I’ve been noodling around and put some ideas on tape and just keeping things to myself at the moment because if I give it all to Brad, or we sit down, it kind of overwhelms him a bit. He’s gotta get... he’s got to get some lyrics out of his head, I think. And that’s normally what he needs to do and he writes a song or two before we start writing just to get to clear his head. That’s, you know, I would never do that, but he and Greg wrote a song. It’s pretty cool. We’ll play it I think, and probably record that one after we live with it.
Rock And Blues International: Okay, well, what comes first, the words or the music.
Chris Henderson: You never know, sometimes they happen at the same time. It depends on who’s doing what and who’s fired up. Brad writes all the lyrics. Sometimes he has a set, he’ll bring the story to you and it’s really, I mean, for me, it’s a little bit harder to do that than it is to write the music first, and just have him kind of build it.
Rock And Blues International: I would imagine you already have some ideas in your head where you’d like to go with the next album.
Chris Henderson: I was experimenting with some different tunings and things like that just to make things different, so we get some different phrasing and different chords on different things that we’ve never done before. It’s important, I think, to kind of try to
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grow and it’s also really difficult because nobody has the same idea. So it’s like, you just got to kind of let it develop and see what happens and seeing what gets picked up or just dropped on the floor, you know?
Rock And Blues International: Right, drop it in the pot and stir it and see what you come up with.
Chris Henderson: That’s it.
Rock And Blues International: Okay, anything you’d like to add to this? Anything you’d like to your fans know about this show in particular?
Chris Henderson: Yeah, I think I’m really excited to put this out there. And to get this going and put the production out there, start rehearsing, and looking forward to seeing everybody. It’s been a minute since we’ve been out and toured like this. So, you know, I’m really looking forward to it. I was texting yesterday about how excited we were about it, so I want everybody to know that we’re excited to come and see them and excited to play again and can’t wait to see all of them on the road, and sign some auto-
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graphs and meet new friends, and see our old friends again.
Rock And Blues International: All right. Well, then, if that’s all we got, I think I’ve got what I need right here.
Chris Henderson: Certainly, I appreciate it.
Rock And Blues International: Wonderful. Thank you so much. I really enjoyed our talk today. And where are you calling from. What state?
Chris Henderson: I’m in Tennessee, Cottontown, Tennessee.
Rock And Blues International: Thanks again. I appreciate you taking this time to talk with us and I hope your day is fantastic. I’m looking forward to seeing the tour when you come to Houston, which is like the day before the last show.
Chris Henderson: Yes, at the end. Yeah. All right, I’m looking forward to that show, too.
Rock And Blues International: All
right. Well, thank you again, and I guess we’ll talk to you later. We’ll talk to you when you do the new album.
Chris Henderson: Yes Sir.
Rock And Blues International: All right.
Chris Henderson: Thanks, guys.
Rock And Blues International: Okay, bye bye.
Chris Henderson: See ya. Bye.
So, as you can tell by now, Chris is totally jazzed about getting back out on the road with his bandmates on tour and performing Away From The Sun in its entirety. He certainly has a lot of fond memories about recording the album and was more than happy to share them with us. I’d like to thank Chris Henderson on behalf of Rock And Blues International and wish him and 3 Doors Down a fantastic and profitable tour. For you readers out there, I hope you get a chance to see the Away From The Sun Anniversary Tour. No doubt, it’s going to be a blast!
Wytch Hazel Charts on Billboard with New LP ‘Sacrament’
British Metal Band Continues Soaring Ascent
UK Medieval Metal Phenoms Fourth Album Overflows with Affecting Hooks, Ageless Melodies
WYTCH HAZEL “Strong Heart” (OFFICIAL VIDEO) @ https://youtu.be/WJ8t0QQsvQg
WYTCH HAZEL “A Thousand Years” (Official Lyric Video) @ https://youtu.be/5eMLwUG8yaA
Wytch Hazel “Angel of Light” (official video) @ https://youtu.be/oE3nTaafv8w
Follow the band on Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/wytchhazel/ Instagram @ https://www.instagram.com/wytchhazel/
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Acclaimed British hard rock sect, Wytch Hazel, released its new album, ‘Wytch Hazel IV: Sacrament’, on June 2 via Bad Omen Records. Recorded with longtime producer Ed Turner (Purson), and tracked in a converted Baptist chapel in rural Wales, the record is a resounding achievement and glittering treasure chest that builds on the momentum of the band’s celebrated 2020 album ‘Wytch Hazel III: Pentecost’.
Wytch Hazel’s growing climb continues as ‘Sacrament’ has landed on the Billboard charts in its first week of release. The record placed at #15 on Billboard’s Top New Artists Albums, #20 on its Current Hard Music Albums, and at #66 on the Independent Albums Chart, all first time accomplishments for the young group.
Wytch Hazel’s indelible sound has caught the ear of many of today’s tastemaker indie platforms, with the quartet being hailed as “the most badass Christian metal outfit out there today” by Invisible Oranges, while the album lauded as “a hard-rocking, foot-stomping good time” by MetalSucks, “powerful and emotive” by Heavy Music HQ, “one of the hookiest bands around” by Angry Metal Guy, “excellent rock” by Nine Circles, and “gloriously bright heavy metal” by Metal Injection, who pegged Wytch Hazel as a band to watch as part of its “LesserKnown Modern Heavy Metal Bands You Need In Your Life” hot list.
Led by vocalist/guitarist
Colin Hendra, Wytch Hazel is a singular source of hard rock/heavy metal dominion, offering a never ending quantum of medieval melodic structures and to uplifting hymns to the Lord. The fourth Wytch Hazel
album is overflowing with indelible earworms the likes of which must be heard to be believed. And believe, you shall.
“I’ve blown my own mind a bit,” Hendra admits. “And even after all this painstaking work, I still feel like I’ve only scratched the surface of what Wytch Hazel could be doing musically. I wish I could have a month to work on one song, and go on a tangent a bit. I will in the future, it’s going in the right direction. It’s some of the most honest songwriting I’ve ever done, and the lyrics come from a darker place, I think. I’m getting older, that comes through in some lyrics: ‘see my body breaking’, ‘I’m digging deeper’, ‘time’s running out...’ I struggle to see the positive a lot of the time, so the songs end up being negative, the subject matter coming from constant striving.”
It’s these deeply personal
lyrics, coming from a place of faith and conviction, which make Wytch Hazel stand out further from the modern herd; although we’ve been bombarded with the cartoon diabolism of the ‘occult rock’ revival for the best part of two decades, no other band has dared to offer the other side of the story. Lest any heathen headbanger start to fear any kind of evangelical conversion agenda, Hendra expands on his position: “Music is created for all, it’s a common grace for everyone,” he affirms, “which is why the music that shows the glory of God the most, in my opinion, is not music created by Christians. It’s Black Sabbath, you know!”
In addition to vocalist/ guitarist Colin Hendra, Wytch Hazel features Alex Haslam (guitar), Andy Shackleton (bass) and Aaron Hay (drums).
MEGAHERZ
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German pioneers of industrial metal, MEGAHERZ, return to tear down walls with their full-length studio album, In Teufels Namen (eng. In the Devil’s Name), set to be released on August 11, 2023 via Napalm Records! Three decades into their career, MEGAHERZ (have undoubtedly become one of the most important bands) the CoFounders of Neue Deutsche Härte, which they proved with their critically acclaimed 2018 full-length, Komet - storming charts and peaking at #7 in Germany.
On their new release, In Teufels Namen, MEGAHERZ raise their voice again and direct their gaze to where it hurtscriticizing conspiracy theories, religion and society as a whole, but also facing inner struggles and pain. The brand new single “Alles Arschlöcher” (EN: “All Assholes”) shows off hard hitting guitars, catchy synthmelodies, electronic influences and strong lyrics - criticizing the worst of society in trademark MEGAHERZ style. Followed by a captivating, dark official music video, it highlights the expressive statement and strong topic.
MEGAHERZ on “Alles Arschlöcher”: “Today we proudly present the first single from our new album. ‘Alles Arschlöcher’ is a hard-hitting expression of our frustration and the anger we feel towards the hypocrites and manipulators of this world. Let yourself be carried away by the aggression and the penetrating power of ‘Alles Arschlöcher’ and scream your frustration out together with us!”
MEGAHERZ’s new album begins strongly with the epic title track “In Teufels Namen” (EN: “In the Devil’s Name”), detailing their critique on the church as an institution. On “Der König Der Dummen” (EN: “The King Of The Fools”), one of the heaviest songs on the record, the quintet doesn’t mince words once again, commenting on conspiracy theorists in their tinfoil hats. The hypnotizing track “Amnesie” (EN: “Amnesia”) is heavily built on electronicinspired beats and melodies, while chanting anthem of the free spirited, “Freigeist”, features catchy synths and a sing-along chorus. On tracks like “Rabenherz” (EN: “Raven Heart”) and “Engelsgesicht” (EN: “Angel face”), the band show an emotional facet, while the second is a reminiscent of the band’s all-time hit “Miststück” (EN: “Bitch”). “Menschenhasser” is a powerful, fast Neue Deutsche Härte track that eases into the breather “Ich Hasse (Epilog)” (EN: “I Hate (Epilogue)”), featuring emotional keys, before the empowering “Auf dem Weg zur Sonne” (EN: “On My Way To The Sun”) showcases their vulnerable side before closing the album. Overall, In Teufels Namen is an energetic ride providing the listener with pure industrial metal at its best!
MEGAHERZ on their new album:
“We are happy to finally release our new album, In Teufels Namen, and it hits with full force! In Teufels Namen is an album steeped in dark themes and strong emotions. We went deep into the abyss of human nature and the result is songs that powerfully and uncompromisingly unleash an energy that will sweep you away.”
MEGAHERZ are Lex - Vocals, X-ti - Guitars & Samples, Chris - Guitar, Wenz - Bass, Maxx - Drums
Don’t miss MEGAHERZ on their European co-headliner tour with Combichrist this fall!
In Teufels Namen tracklisting: In Teufels Namen Rabenherz Engelsgesicht Freigeist
Kannst du den Himmel sehn?
Der König Der Dummen Amnesie
Alles Arschlöcher
Menschenhasser
Ich Hasse (Epilog)
Auf dem Weg zur Sonne
In Teufels Namen will be available in the following formats:
2 CD Deluxe Box (incl. Ltd. Digisleeve, bonus CD with 6 previously unreleased tracks, pocket bottle, art print (15x15cm))limited to 300 copies
1 LP Gatefold Clear Blue – limited to 500 copies, GSA only
1 LP Gatefold Black – limited to 300 copies
1 CD Digisleeve + Shirt Bundle
1 CD Limited Digisleeve Digital Album
September 8th Fall Headlining Tour Begins
September 6th With Guests The Ataris and The Pink Spiders For Tickets go to https://www.everclearmusic.com/tour
Releases
Everclear, one of the leading alternative rock bands to emerge from the ‘90s led by vocalist, guitarist and founder Art Alexakis, has officially revealed the details for their new live album, Live at The Whisky a Go Go, and released the first single and music video for “Heroin Girl.” Due out Friday, September 8th via Sunset Blvd Records, Live at The Whisky a Go Go was recorded and filmed in late 2022 during Everclear’s 30th Anniversary Tour back in Alexakis’ hometown of Los Angeles and marked the first time the acclaimed quartet performed at the famed venue. The 17-track
collection features all the hits and hidden treasures from throughout Everclear’s extraordinary catalog as well as two bonus studio tracks, last year’s single “Year Of The Tiger” and new single “Sing Away.” The first offering from the forthcoming album is the 1995 hit “Heroin Girl,” off the band’s platinum-selling album Sparkle and Fade.
“Live at The Whisky a Go Go is raw, loose, noisy, and kind of ragged around the edges…just like rock & roll is supposed to be,” shares Alexakis. “Having grown up in Santa Monica in the late 1970s, performing at
The Whisky was always a dream, and that dream finally came true last December. Everclear has always been one of those bands that are way louder and rowdier live than we are on record, so this album is a gift of love to the thousands of fans who have come to our shows over the last 30 years.”
Everclear – Art Alexakis (vocals, guitar), Davey French (guitar), Freddy Herrera (bass), Brian Nolan (drums) – will be out on the road in support of the live album on a recently-announced fall headlining tour. The 30-date outing, featuring special guests The Ataris and The Pink Spiders, begins September 6th in Lexington, Kentucky and will make stops all across the country, including Cleveland, Buffalo, Philadelphia, Boston, New York City (September 18th at Gramercy Theatre), Nashville, Omaha, Denver, Seattle, Los Angeles (October 9th at The Wiltern), San Francisco, and many more, before wrapping October 15th in Pioneertown, California. Everclear also has a variety of shows lined up for the summer. See below for full list of upcoming tour dates.
Since forming in 1992, Everclear has enjoyed a lengthy career by any measure, spanning 11 studio releases, including four that have been certified Gold or Platinum, selling over 6 million records, and achieving 12 Top 40 Hit Singles on Mainstream Rock, Alternative, and Adult Top 40 radio, including “Santa Monica,” “Father of Mine,” “I Will Buy You A New Life,” “Wonderful” and “Everything To Everyone,” as well as numerous videos, thousands of shows, and various other accolades, including a 1998 Grammy nomination. The band’s 1993 debut album, World Of Noise, released on the Portland independent label Tim/Kerr Records, paired with their significant efforts to break into college radio and the buzz they’d created within the Portland music scene, attracted the attention of major labels, including Capitol Records, which signed the group soon after. Beginning with their majorlabel debut, 1995’s platinum-selling album Sparkle and Fade, and its massive charttopping hit “Santa Monica,” Everclear was soon a household name and catapulted into the masses, thus allowing their impressive three-decade career to prosper and endure. In 2019, Alexakis was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) and has since donated one dollar from every ticket purchased for his performances to charities such as Sweet Relief Musicians Fund and National MS Society. To celebrate their 30th anniversary in 2022, Everclear reissued World Of Noise as a special remastered, deluxe edition, making the album available for the first time on digital streaming platforms with 6 bonus songs in addition to its original 12 tracks. In addition to his thousands of Everclear performances over the band’s lengthy career, Alexakis created and runs the annual Summerland Tour, which features a package of popular ‘90s alt rock bands, and he released his first solo album, Sun Songs, in 2019. PRESS HERE to watch a special commemorative anniversary video,
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“Everclear – 30 Years Gone: A Retrospective,” hosted by former MTV VJ, current radio host and longtime friend Matt Pinfield.
More than three decades later, Everclear’s enduring legacy and ongoing appeal as a live band continues.
Friday, June 30 Decatur, IL @ Devon Lakeshore Amphitheater
Saturday, July 1 Attica, IN @ Badlands Off Road Park
Sunday, July 2 Westchester, OH @ Voices of America Museum
Monday, July 3 Dixon, IL @ Dixon Petunia Festival
Saturday, July 8 Woodhaven, MI @ Uncle Sam JamWoodhaven
Friday, July 14 Lake Charles, LA @ Golden Nugget Casino
Saturday, July 15 Cadott, WI @ Rock Fest 2023
Friday, July 21 Detroit Lakes, MN @ Northwest Water Carnival Bash On the Beach
Thursday, July 27 Jordan, NY @ Kegs Canalside
Friday, July 28 Whitehouse Station, NJ @ New Jersey Lottery Festival of Ballooning
Saturday, July 29 La Porte, IN @ LakeFest
Sunday, July 30 St. Louis, MO @ Pig and Whiskey Street Fest
Saturday, August 5 Butte, MT @ Brawls and Kickstart Days
Thursday, August 17 Lynchburg, VA @ Academy Center of the Arts
Friday, August 18 Bristol, TN @ Paramount Bristol
Saturday, August 19 Fayetteville, GA @ Southern Ground Amphitheater
Saturday, August 26 Wittenberg, WI @ Ho-Chunk Gaming Wittenburg
Saturday, September 2 Albany, OR @ Albany Downtown Block Party
Fall Headlining Tour w/ The Ataris and The Pink Spiders supporting:
Wednesday, September 6 Lexington, KY @ Manchester Music Hall
Thursday, September 7 Nashville, IN @ Brown County Music Center
Friday, September 8 Lemont, IL @ The Forge Lemont Quarries
Saturday, September 9 Fort Wayne, IN @ Piere’s
Monday, September 11 Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues ^
Tuesday, September 12 Buffalo, NY @ Town Ballroom
Wednesday, September 13 Silver Spring, MD @ The Fillmore ] Silver Spring
Friday, September 15 Philadelphia, PA @ Rivers Casino ^
Saturday, September 16 Westbury, NY @ The Space at Westbury
Sunday, September 17 Boston, MA @ Big Night Live
Monday, September 18 New York, NY @ Gramercy Theatre
Wednesday, September 20 Raleigh, NC @ The Ritz
Thursday, September 21 Nashville, TN @ The Sky Deck at Assembly Food Hall
Friday, September 22 Mt. Vernon, IL @ The Granada Theatre
Saturday, September 23 Waterloo, IA @ National Cattle Congress
Wednesday, September 27 Omaha, NE @ Barnato
Thursday, September 28 Denver, CO @ Gothic Theatre
Friday, September 29 Kamas, UT @ DeJoria Center Arena
Saturday, September 30 Cheyenne, WY @ The Lincoln
Sunday, October 1 Great Falls, MT @ The Newberry
Wednesday, October 4 Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile
Friday, October 6 Umatilla, OR @ Rock The Locks +
Saturday, October 7 Elko, NV @ Maverick Hotel and Casino by Red Lion Hotels +
Monday, October 9 Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern
Tuesday, October 10 San Francisco, CA @ August Hall
Thursday, October 12 Temecula, CA @ South Coast Winery Resort & Spa #
Friday, October 13 Rocklin, CA @ Quarry Park Amphitheater
Sunday, October 15 Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy + Harriet’s
Friday, October 27 North Augusta, SC @ Jack-O-Lantern
Jubilee +
+ indicates Everclear only
^ indicates Everclear and The Ataris only # indicates tickets on sale 6/23 at 10am local time
Follow Everclear:
Website @ https://www.everclearmusic.com/ Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/everclear Instagram @ https://www.instagram.com/everclear/ Twitter @ https://twitter.com/EverclearBand
YouTube @ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClxjm6JR5j7Wc_uP20OjUCA
Spotify @
https://open.spotify.com/artist/694QW15WkebjcrWgQHzRYF Apple Music @ https://music.apple.com/us/artist/everclear/549623
Deluxe, Vol. 2, Celebrating The 20th Anniversary of His Best-selling Independent Release
Listen to the latest single, a blistering reinterpretation of Bobby “Blue” Bland’s “Twenty-Four Hour Blues” here at https://jbonamassa.com/streaming/bdv2/24hourblues/ Watch the official music video for “Twenty-Four Hour Blues” now at https://youtu.be/iKH_jK_9TF8
Twenty years since the release of his best-selling album ‘Blues Deluxe,’ which celebrated what the US government had declared “the year of the blues” with a mix of originals and reinterpretations of classic songs, superstar Joe Bonamassa is taking stock of how far he and the genre have come with Blues
Deluxe Vol. 2, out October 6th via J&R Adventures. Featuring two new originals and eight new covers spanning some of the most important names in the blues –from Bobby “Blue” Bland and Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac to Albert King –Blues Deluxe 2 finds Bonamassa returning to his roots and giving new life
to the classic tracks that have informed his own artistry.
“If you had told me 20 years ago my career would last long enough to see the 20th anniversary of this little record called ‘Blues Deluxe,’ I’m sure I would
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have laughed,” Bonamassa reflects. “Blues Deluxe was my last shot after being dropped by two major record labels and my booking agent. It was then that my manager, Roy Weisman, had his first ‘all in’ moment. We would go back into the studio and record. A record that would hopefully define the direction of whatever future career I might have.”
“On Blues Deluxe Vol. 2, I asked my great friend Josh Smith to produce a record to be a companion to the anniversary edition of the first album, and hopefully demonstrate a bit of how I have progressed over the last 20 years,” Bonamassa adds. “The contrast between a cocky 26-year-old and an established 46-year-old is considerable. Does the fire still burn like it did? Am I still playing hungry? Am I even good enough to pay tribute to my heroes all over again? The answer lies somewhere in this album.”
“When Joe asked me to produce Blues Deluxe Vol. 2, I knew immediately what I wanted to accomplish,” adds Smith. “I wanted the fans to hear the completely natural, relaxed Joe that I hear when we are just goofing around playing guitars. He really was in the moment and feeling completely supported and I know that he really ‘went for it’ on everything.”
To mark the announcement, Bonamassa has released the album’s latest single “Twenty-Four Hour Blues,” a blistering reinterpretation of Bobby “Blue” Bland’s classic track, featured on one of Bonamassa’s favorite albums of all time, Dreamer. The new version features one of Bonamassa’s best-ever vocals and guitar solos. “The outro guitar solo is incredible,” Smith comments. “It happened live on the floor and has some deep lines you’ve probably never heard Joe play before. The band is absolutely smoking, and Calvin Turner did an incredible String and Horn arrangement. Super proud of this one.”
“Part of my approach to these new recordings was that I wanted to see if I had matured musically over the years,
and if I had gotten better as a player,” Bonamassa says. “I’m happy to say that I am a much better singer than I was 20 years ago - though I still don’t really consider myself to be a legit ‘singer,’ I can now carry a tune a little better than I could back then.”
The announcement of Blues Deluxe, Vol. 2 follows the release of the album’s lead single “I Want To Shout About It,” originally performed by Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters. Bonamassa’s joyful version features solos from Reese Wynans on organ and Paulie Cerra on sax, as well as some killer adlibs from vocalists Dannielle DeAndrea and Charles Jones as the track winds to a close. “Shout About It is a song originally by the great Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters with Darrel Nullisch on vocals,” Smith adds. “It’s a tough/high song to sing and Joe really pushed himself and nailed it. It’s a real rave up, a party song. Joe has been playing it live lately and the crowds are really digging it!”
Featuring Reese Wynans (keys), Calvin Turner (bass), Lamar Carter
(drums), Kirk Fletcher (guitar), and Smith (guitar), additional highlights from Blues Deluxe Vol. 2 include Guitar Slim’s “Well, I Done Got Over It,” Bobby Parker’s “It’s Hard But It’s Fair,” and “Is It Safe To Go Home,” a new track written for Joe by Josh Smith. “I knew I wanted to push him really hard vocally,” Smith adds. “I’d heard him sing things just messing around or when we’d be producing for other artists that I’d never heard him do on record. So the songs were both chosen and written with that in mind. If you listen to the vocals on “Twenty-Four Hour Blues” and “Is It Safe To Go Home,” you’ll hear Joe really going for it.”
Having just earned a remarkable 26th #1 on the Billboard Blues Chart for his sprawling and extensive live concert film and album Tales Of Time, Bonamassa is heading to Europe for three weeks of festival performances, before returning to the US for a string of summer dates. The summer run will include Bonamassa’s debut appearance at Hollywood Bowl on Wednesday, August 9th, with an exclusive, one-night-
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only concert experience alongside an orchestra, which will be recorded for his next live concert film. Then the hardest working bluesman in show business begins his US Fall Tour on October 23rd at The Cannon Center in Memphis, TN, which will take him from coast-to-coast to end at the guitar-shaped Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, FL.
Cited by Guitar World as “arguably the world’s biggest blues guitarist,” Bonamassa is known for taking risks and venturing into uncharted territory throughout his wide-ranging career. His last recent full-length Time Clocks marked his most raw, rocking studio album yet, with American Songwriter sharing, “Bonamassa pushes into fresh territory while staying within a blues-based framework,” and “there is more than enough proof in this sprawling set that Bonamassa doesn’t intend to rest on his laurels or take his star status in the bluesrock genre for granted.”
Hailed as “a near spiritual experience” by Classic Rock Magazine and featuring songs from his latest #1 studio album, Time Clocks, Bonamassa’s latest live concert release Tales Of Time, captures a stratospheric performance by the blues-rock titan at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, which found his virtuoso guitar style and unique technique and flair elevating the evening to an almost heavenly high. The project was produced by long-time collaborator and producer Kevin Shirley (Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Journey).
“This live show represents our most progressive and largest production to date, focusing on my most ambitious studio album to date,” commented Bonamassa. “My band was a force of nature on this show, and it truly was a special night.”
Blues-rock superstar Joe Bonamassa is one of the most celebrated performing musicians of today. As a three-time GRAMMY-nominated artist and 13x Blues Music Award Nominee (4 wins), he achieved his 26th No. 1 album on the Billboard Blues Chart with Tales Of Time, a sprawling and expansive live concert film and album, shot at the breathtaking Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado in August 2022. Only in his mid-40s, Bonamassa has become a living legend with an astounding multi-genre catalog. He has released more than 40 albums, including studio and live recordings, as well as collaborative albums with his adventurous side projects: Black Country Communion and Rock Candy Funk Party.
A prolific writer who is always on the hunt to expand his eclectic musical horizons, Bonamassa has a limitless work ethic whether it’s in a studio, on the road, or working with other artists to spur new music. In recent years, he has produced an immense number of albums including Joanne Shaw Taylor, Marc Broussard, Larry McCray, Jimmy Hall and others for his independent label KTBA Records, and has also recently launched Journeyman LLC, a full-service artist management, record label, concert promotion, and marketing company that builds awareness for independent artists worldwide. Recent producing highlights include ‘Crown’ by the blues legend Eric Gales, which was nominated for “Best Contemporary Blues Album” at the 2023 GRAMMY Awards.
Bonamassa has been featured in several publications from Esquire, WSJ and Parade to Rolling Stone and American Songwriter, as well as on the covers of Guitar World, Guitar Player, Vintage Guitar, Guitarist, and Classic Rock Magazine. His non-profit Keeping The Blues Alive provides funds and resources to schools and artists in need and has positively impacted more than 91k students to date while raising over 2 million in donations.
Blues Deluxe Vol. 2 by Joe Bonamassa
1) Twenty-Four Hour Blues (originally performed by Bobby “Blue” Bland)
2) It’s Hard But It’s Fair (originally performed by Bobby Parker)
3) Well, I Done Got Over It (originally performed by Guitar Slim)
4) I Want to Shout About It (originally performed by Ronnie Earle & The Broadcasters)
5) Win-O (originally performed by Pee Wee Crayton)
6) Hope You Realize It (Goodbye Again) *original song written by Joe Bonamassa & Tom Hambridge
7) Lazy Poker Blues (originally performed by Fleetwood Mac)
8) You Sure Drive a Hard Bargain (originally performed by Albert King)
9) The Truth Hurts Feat Kirk Fletcher and Josh Smith (originally performed by Kenny Neal)
10) Is It Safe To Go Home *original song written by Josh Smith
Summer U.S. Tour
August 2 – Vina Robles Amphitheatre – Paso Robles, CA
August 4 – The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas – Las Vegas, NV
August 5 – Eccles Theater – Salt Lake City, UT
August 6 – Red Rocks Amphitheatre – Morrison, CO
August 9 – Hollywood Bowl – Los Angeles, CA^
August 12 – Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater – Wantagh, NY**
August 13 – Bethel Woods Center for the Arts – Bethel, NY**
September 23 – Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Festival – Los Angeles, CA
**Keeping the Blues Alive presents: Joe Bonamassa & Friends: Styx and Don Felder, formerly of the Eagles
^Joe Bonamassa with Orchestra
Fall U.S. Tour
October 23 – Memphis, TN – The Cannon Center
October 25 – Shreveport, LA – Shreveport Municipal Auditorium
October 27 – San Antonio, TX – Majestic Theatre
October 28 – Sugar Land, TX – Smart Financial Centre At Sugar Land
October 29 – Austin, TX – ACL Live
November 1 – Fayetteville, AR – Walton Arts Center
November 3 – Little Rock, AR – Robinson Performance Hall
November 4 – Grand Prairie, TX – Texas Trust CU Theatre
November 5 – Oklahoma City, OK – Civic Center Music Hall
November 8 – Tulsa, OK – Tulsa Theater
November 10 – Kansas City, MO – The Midland Theatre
November 11 – St. Louis, MO – The Fabulous Fox
November 12 – Cedar Rapids, IA – Paramount Theatre
November 14 – Rochester, MN – Mayo Civic Center
November 15 – Rockford, IL – Coronado Performing Arts Center
November 17 – Fort Wayne, IN – Embassy Theatre
November 18 – Detroit, MI – Fox Theatre
November 19 – Columbus, OH – Palace Theatre
November 21 – Reading, PA – The Santander Performing Arts Center
November 22 – Providence, RI – Providence Performance Arts Center
November 24 – Springfield, MA – Symphony Hall
November 25 – Baltimore, MD – The Lyric
November 28 – Savannah, GA – Johnny Mercer Theatre
November 30 – Sarasota, FL – Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall
December 1 – Estero, FL – Hertz Arena
December 2 – Hollywood, FL – Hard Rock Live
For More Information Please Visit: Official Website @ https://www.amonarchy.com/ Instagram @ https://www.instagram.com/amonarchyband/?hl=en Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/amonarchyband/ YouTube @ https://www.youtube.com/@amonarchy87 TikTok @ https://www.tiktok.com/@kyleismetal
AMONARCHY is set to release their self-titled album on all major platforms June 10, 2023. The album was recorded by Charlie Scovill & Sean Lee and produced by Kyle Purwin.
“We’re excited to announce the release of our debut album, a blend of metal and rock with lyrics that dive into the events and emotions that drive us to create music. We drew on influences from Metallica, Iron Maiden, Rage Against the Machine, Queen and other legends of metal and rock. So put on your horns and crank up the volume. We can’t wait to share our music with you!” says Kyle Purwin.
After graduating from Boston’s Berklee College of Music, Kyle Purwin (guitar, vocals, writing) moved to the West Coast to seek out passionate musicians who shared his vision of telling stories through songs about modern-day issues. After a thorough search, he found likeminded artists, Tony Gallo (drums) and Sam Apotheker (bass), and formed Amonarchy.
The band has been performing regularly at local clubs within the Los Angeles area and has been gaining a lot of ground in the rock music scene. Their songs are musical narratives about real world matters in politics and humanity in general. Their lyrics express their empathy and concerns toward war, government, suicide, and toxic relationships. Amonarchy means one nation, one kingdom and one world that they believe that we are all a part of. The band wishes to inspire their fans and listeners to feel and pursue a chance for a better world we can all live in amicably. Having done many shows, the band has become well known for their energetic performances and powerful sound, which they draw inspiration from: Metallica, Iron Maiden, Foo Fighters, Linkin Park, Rage Against the Machine and Queen.
Photo credit @kimmillerphotography @kimmillerphotography
Amonarchy is Kyle Purwin (guitar and vocals), Tony Gallo (drums), Sam Apotheker (bass)
Tracklisting:
1. Menace
2. Unknown Reckoning
3. Racing Hell
4. Among Reason
5. Edge of Time
6. Far Desperation
7. Patronized Heart Attack
8. Man in the Sky
9. Burning Season
Orpheus Descending was produced by Mellencamp and recorded at his own Belmont Mall Studio. One of his most personal records to date, standout tracks “Hey God” and “The Eyes of Portland” focus on social issues Mellencamp continues to passionately advocate for.
He has been performing songs from the new LP during his live set. The Chicago Tribune says “Awash in death, ‘Hey God’ functioned as a plea for deliverance from senseless gun violence. Preceded by a story about his encounter with a 20-something homeless woman, the solo acoustic ‘The Eyes of Portland’ took aim at the empty ‘thoughts and prayers’ condolences offered as a solution to major tragedies and dilemmas.”
Mellencamp is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a recipient of the John Steinbeck Award, ASCAP Foundation’s Champion Award, The Woody Guthrie Award and Americana Music Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award and more recently, the Founders Award, the top honor assigned by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers and a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
He recently released a deluxe edition reissue of his beloved seminal album, Scarecrow, which features a massive collection of bonus tracks, rarities and more never previously shared before. Listen HERE. His critically acclaimed studio LP, Strictly A OneEyed Jack, was released early last year to praise from The New York Times, NPR Music, Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes and more.
Mellencamp has continued to focus on another facet of his artistic expression: painting. Last year, he released a self-curated book of his work, John Mellencamp: Paintings and Assemblages, which is out now on Rizzoli New York.
The tour has been getting rave reviews, with LA Weekly praising, “Mellencamp strode out looking for all the world like a Brando or a Paul Newman or a James Dean—a Misfit who managed to find his place in the world through his music,” while the Dallas Observer describes that the show “made it clear Mellencamp is a true music legend, and from the sound of it, one that will continue to be making music for a long time to come.”
7. Understated Reverence
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Today, the South Philadelphiabased rock ‘n’ roll artist Low Cut Connie released “SLEAZE ME ON,” the second song to be released from his forthcoming album ART DEALERS out September 8 via Contender Records. “SLEAZE ME ON” finds Adam Weiner writing with a gender-fluid voice as he belts the refrain “Treat me like a modern girl!”
Weiner explains, “That song just kinda slapped me across the face one night. I was half-falling asleep and in a semi-dream-like state real late at night in South Philly. One of those frames of mind where you forget what year it is, what city you are in, and who you are supposed to be. That kind of mindset makes the best songs I find, because it frees you up to have wild fantasies. I forget whether I’m an adult, or a man or a woman, or what direction I’m expected to go. Decency and responsibility are out the fucking window.
I never thought for one second whether the voice in the song is male or female. It feels so much more comfortable to me to not know and not care.”
“SLEAZE ME ON” follows the release of the album’s single “ARE YOU GONNA RUN?” which was praised by Rolling Stone and has been climbing the non-commercial and AAA radio charts with support from dozens of stations, including WXPN, WFUV, and The Current, who hosted Weiner for a solo piano session upon announce.
ART DEALERS follows the band’s critically-acclaimed 2020 album Private Lives and 2021’s Tough Cookies: Best of the Quarantine Broadcasts that was born out of their twice-weekly livestreaming rock and soul variety shows that led The New Yorker to call Weiner the “Pandemic Person of the Year.”
In addition to the new album, Adam Weiner co-directed an 80 minute feature film that will premiere late this year as a companion piece to ART
DEALERS. The film is a hybrid-genre documentary that combines a stellar run of NYC concerts from 2022 shot at Sony Hall and the Blue Note, as well as 15 years of performance footage and personal misadventures that led up to Tour Dates:
ART DEALERS. There will be limited festival screenings of the ART DEALERS film late in 2023 in tandem with this fall’s US tour, with a wider release to follow in 2024.
6/9 – Amagansett, NY – The Stephen Talkhouse
6/10 – Atlantic City, NJ – Anchor Rock Club
6/29 – Philadelphia, PA – The Mann Center – Downstage with Chill Moody
9/7 – Cambridge, MA – The Sinclair
9/9 – Burlington, VT – Higher Ground
9/10 – Portland, ME – Portland House of Music
9/12 – Hamden, CT – Space Ballroom
9/14 – Pawtucket, RI – The Met
9/15 – Medford, NJ – Medford Oktoberfest & Music Festival
9/16 – Elkton, MD – Elkton Music Hall Monday
9/18 – New York, NY – Blue Note Jazz Club
9/19 – New York, NY – Blue Note Jazz Club
9/20 – New York, NY – Blue Note Jazz Club
9/23 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club
9/24 – Camden, NJ – XPoNential Music Festival
10/5 – Louisville, KY – Headliners Music Hall
10/6 – Madison, WI – Majestic Theatre
10/7 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
10/9 – Ann Arbor, MI – The Ark
10/11 – Cleveland, OH – Grog Shop
10/13 – Milwaukee, WI – Shank Hall
10/14 – Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall
10/15 – Pittsburgh, PA – Mr. Smalls Theatre
Follow Low Cut Connie Online At” Website @ https://lowcutconnie.com/ Instagram @ https://www.instagram.com/lowcutconnie/ Twitter @ https://twitter.com/lowcutconnie Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/lowcutconnie
Ascension Intention LP Out Later This Year
LISTEN & SHARE: Caicos - “A Spade A Spade”
Stream @
https://open.spotify.com/album/4pO8ujhCkOMyBuq7ehCfF7
Caicos LINKS
Bandcamp @ https://iamcaicos.bandcamp.com/track/little-kids-deerhunter-cover Soundcloud @ https://soundcloud.com/iamcaicos Instagram @ https://www.instagram.com/iamcaicos/ Twitter @ https://twitter.com/iamcaicos
New York-based indie-pop maestro Caicos, Alex Frenkel’s moniker for his solo project apart from the indie band Gospels, released the first single from his forthcoming album Ascension Intention, out on September 15th via #veryjazzed Records. The single is titled “A Spade A Spade” and demonstrates the depths of Caicos’ sonic and lyrical world; the track is about finding tranquility in accepting today’s reality, even if it’s not what you expected.
Frenkel wrote, played, and recorded Caicos’ forthcoming album
Ascension Intention in his home studio during the pandemic, supported by a virtual network of friends, musicians, and artists who helped along the way. Stay tuned for more new music coming
soon from Caicos.
The artistic home for musician and singer-songwriter Alex Frenkel’s solo work, Caicos makes warm, introspective, and colorfully-layered music. One of the principal songwriters for early 2010s New York-based indie band Gospels and a long-time collaborator of Gabriel Garzón-Montano’s, Frenkel is known for his wide-ranging sonic palette, signature guitar style, expert musicianship and impeccable production that complements each of his songs’ intentions. He is set to release his fourth record, entitled Ascension Intention, on September 15th 2023 on #veryjazzed.
Written and recorded while under lockdown at the height of the COVID-19
pandemic, Ascension Intention tries to make sense of the existential questions that we were all asking, centered on purpose, priorities, pressures of contributing to the legacy of your ancestors, and the inevitability of personal evolution with the passage of time. This latest album builds on the artistry of its three predecessors, weaving in expanded vocals, unexpected sounds, and captivating appearances from Zach Koeber’s expressive saxophone and from rapper lojii.
All songs by Aleksey Frenkel ©2023 Past Perfect Publishing (ASCAP). Produced and Engineered by Alex Frenkel. Mixed by Phil Joly. Additional Production by Phil Joly and Peter Frenkel. Assistant Recording Engineers: Anna Frenkel and Peter Frenkel. All instruments arranged, played and recorded by Alex Frenkel except: Drums on Tracks 1-3, 5 and 8 by Mike Gordon, Saxophone on Tracks 2 and 3 by Zach Koeber, Additional Lyrics and Vocals on Track 6 by Avery Domingo, Additional Vocals on Tracks 1 and 4 by Madeleine McMillan, Additional Vocals on Track 5 by Jackson Shelton, Synth Bass on Track 7 by Phil Joly. Mastered by Steve Fallone at Sterling Sound, NYC.
Ascension Intention TRACKLISTING:
01. Continue In Me
02. Bruise Or Blush
03. A Spade A Spade
04. Played Out
05. Evolution
06. Subsequent Footprint (feat. lojii)
07. Swallowing Swords
08. Bear The Glare
Bonus: Subsequent Footprint (Clay Wilson Remix)
Watch Here at https://youtu.be/UVMd-7aN9HM
TURBOKILL online:
FACEBOOK @ https://www.facebook.com/TURBOKILLBand
TURBOKILL Define European
Melodic Power Metal
The German five piece, founded in 2017 by Stephan Dietrich, the former singer of Alpha Tiger and guitarist Ronny Schuster, released their first recording, a self-titled EP, in 2018. The quintet was able to sign a record deal with renowned label Steamhammer of SPV the following year and in fall of 2019, the band’s debut album ‘Vice World’ was released. Unfortunately, the corona pandemic put support for that album on hold, yet, from this prescribed hibernation, TURBOKILL have reawakened, full of energy and ready for
WEBSITE @ https://www.turbokill.de
action!
At the moment the band is doing a lot of intensive song writing and state the following:
“We are convinced that this forced break has done us good and we have really strong songs in the works!”
The new material, full of catchy melodies and hooks, along with two, new, powerful partners in their management and booking agency, shows 2023 will be a groundbreaking year for TURBOKILL. With the single “Time to Wake”, the band returns full of energy with the first of three planned single
releases before the album is released in 2024.
Singer Stephan Dietrich has announced a lyrical reorientation with the upcoming songs:
“Positivity and motivation are the big themes that the new lyrics are about and I think that‘s exactly what people need at the moment. Amongst all the daily grind, it‘s easy to lose sight of your actual dreams and goals. The new single ‘Time To Wake’ should shake you awake. Take your happiness into your own hands! Be a fighter – face every day anew!”
FEATURING “RIKKI DON’T LOSE THAT NUMBER,” THE BAND’S FIRST TOP 10 ALBUM MARKS THE LATEST RELEASE IN AN EXTENSIVE REISSUE PROGRAM OF STEELY DAN’S CLASSIC ABC AND MCA RECORDS CATALOG – ALL OVERSEEN BY DONALD FAGEN AVAILABLE JULY 28 VIA GEFFEN/UMe
Pre-order Pretzel Logic now: https://steelydan.lnk.to/PretzelLogicVinylPR
Steely Dan’s broadly acclaimed third album, Pretzel Logic, will return to vinyl for the first time in over 35 years on July 28th via Geffen/UMe. Originally released in 1974, the best-selling album marked the band’s first to break Billboard’s
Top 10, on the strength of their most successful hit, “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number,” plus such favorites as “Any Major Dude Will Tell You,” “East St. Louis Toodle-Oo,” and “Barrytown.”
Pretzel Logic marks the latest release in Geffen/UMe’s extensive reissue program of Steely Dan’s classic ABC and MCA Records catalog, which returns the band’s first
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seven records to vinyl – most of which haven’t been available since their original release. Overseen by founding member Donald Fagen, the series launched in November 2022 with the group’s legendary debut, Can’t Buy A Thrill, followed most recently by 1973’s Countdown To Ecstasy in May 2023.
The album was meticulously remastered by Bernie Grundman from the original analog tapes and pressed on 180-gram black vinyl at 33 1/3 RPM. Additionally, Pretzel Logic will be released as a limited edition premium 45 RPM version on Ultra High-Quality Vinyl (UHQR) from Analogue Productions, the audiophile in-house reissue label of Acoustic Sounds. Analogue Productions is also releasing this series of titles on Super Audio CD (SACD).
Additional titles will roll out over the next year, including 1975’s swing-pop perfection Katy Lied (featuring “Black Friday,” “Bad Sneakers” and “Doctor Wu,” as well as the addition of Michael McDonald on vocals); 1976’s guitardriven The Royal Scam (“Kid Charlemagne,” “The Fez”); 1977’s platinum-selling jazz-rock masterwork Aja (with the hits “Deacon Blues,” Peg” and “Josie,” plus the elegant title cut); as well as Steely Dan’s final album for MCA, and last for 20 years, 1980’s brilliant Gaucho (featuring “Hey Nineteen” and “Time Out Of Mind,” with Mark Knopfler on guitar).
All albums are being mastered by Bernie Grundman from the original analog tapes except for Aja, which will be mastered from an analog, non-EQ’d, tape copy, and Gaucho, which will be sourced from a 1980 analog tape copy originally
EQ’d by Bob Ludwig. (There’s no evidence the original tapes containing the flat mixes of Aja and Gaucho were delivered to the record label and it’s presumed the tapes no longer exist.) Lacquers for UMe’s standard 33 1/3 RPM 180-gram version will be cut by Alex Abrash at his renowned AA Mastering studio from high-resolution digital files of Grundman’s new masters and pressed at Precision. They will be housed in reproductions of the original artwork.
The 45 RPM UHQR versions will be pressed at Analogue Productions’ Quality Record Pressings on 200-gram Clarity Vinyl, packaged in a deluxe box, and will include a booklet detailing the entire process of making a UHQR along with a certificate of inspection. Each UHQR is pressed, using hand-selected vinyl, with attention paid to every single detail of every single record. All of the innovations introduced by QRP that have been generating such incredible critical acclaim are applied to each UHQR. The 200-gram records feature the same flat profile that helped to make the original UHQR so desirable.
Led by the songwriting and virtuoso musical duo of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, Steely Dan released an extraordinary run of seven albums on ABC Records and MCA Records from 1972 through 1980. Filled with topline musicianship, clever and subversive wordplay, ironic humor, genius arrangements, and pop hits that outshone the Top 40 of their day, Steely Dan’s records –which were as sophisticated and cerebral as they were inscrutable –were stylistically diverse, melding the band’s love of jazz with rock, blues, and impeccable pop songcraft.
Their third album, 1974’s Pretzel Logic, marked Steely Dan’s final full-length as a touring band, as well as the last recording in their original quintet setting. Helmed by longtime producer Gary Katz, the album found the band expanding upon their influences while eschewing the longer jams of their earlier work – opting instead for concise, pop-forward selections like “Barrytown,” “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number,” “Any Major Dude Will Tell You,” and “Parker’s Band,” an homage to saxophonist Charlie Parker (the group also
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honored their jazz roots with a spot-on cover of Duke Ellington’s “East St. Louis Toodle-Oo”). The band’s tighter focus still left plenty of room for experimentation, however, as they recorded what many consider to be their greatest masterpiece – one that brims with crafty lyricism, complex melodies, and an array of unique instrumentation.
This expansive sound can be owed in large part to the more-thana-dozen studio musicians that performed on the album, including drummer Jeff Porcaro and keyboardist David Paich (both later of Toto), as well as guitarist Dean Parks, and seasoned bassists Chuck Rainey and Wilton Felder. In the liner notes for a 1999 reissue of Pretzel Logic, Becker and Fagen wrote, “‘Studio Musician’ – to us, there were no grander words in the English language than these…. Once the neural floodgates had been opened upon the possibilities of recording with any and all of our favorite ‘L.A. Cats,’ there was no turning back.” Months after the album’s release, Becker and Fagen announced their retirement from the road. From that point on, Steely Dan would be a studio-only duo.
Upon its release, Pretzel Logic was embraced by the press – drawing rave reviews from the likes of Rolling Stone, Creem, the Village Voice, and DownBeat, which declared “there are no better rock recording groups in America, and damn few worldwide.” Months later, NME named Pretzel Logic as its Album of the Year. In the ensuing decades, the album has made frequent appearances in high-profile rankings, including Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Albums of All Time,” while in the publication’s 2004 Album Guide, writer Rob Sheffield praised, “The whole album is flawless.” Commercially, Pretzel Logic was also a phenomenal success –marking Steely Dan’s first Top 10 album on the Billboard 200. Single “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number,” meanwhile, became the biggest hit of their career, landing at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Nearly 50 years on, the timeless album remains an essential listen in America’s pop music canon – and a testament to the breadth of the band’s talents.
Steely Dan helped define the soundtrack of the ’70s with hits such as “Reeling in the Years,” “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number,” “Peg,” “Deacon Blues,” “Babylon Sisters,”
and “Hey Nineteen,” culled from their seven platinum albums issued between 1972 and 1980 (including 1977’s groundbreaking Aja). Both their sound and their notoriety survived the ’80s despite Walter Becker and Donald Fagen occasionally surfacing for a solo project. They reunited as Steely Dan in the early ’90s, touring successfully throughout the decade and releasing a live album in 1995 (Alive In America). In 2000, they released their multiGRAMMY® winner, Two Against Nature, and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.
The Steely Dan vinyl reissue program follows 2021’s release of Steely Dan’s Northeast Corridor: Steely Dan Live! and a live version of Donald Fagen’s acclaimed solo album, The Nightfly Live, which were both released via UMe on 180gram vinyl, CD, and digital. The first live Steely Dan album in more than 25 years, Northeast Corridor: Steely Dan Live! was recorded across tour dates at New York City’s Beacon Theatre, The Met Philadelphia, and more, and showcases selections from Steely Dan’s extraordinary catalog of slinky grooves, sleek subversive lyrics, and infectious hits. Fagen’s The Nightfly Live was performed live by The Steely Dan Band.
1. Rikki Don’t Lose That Number
2. Night by Night
3. Any Major Dude Will Tell You
4. Barrytown
5. East St. Louis Toodle-Oo
1. Parker’s Band
2. Through with Buzz
3. Pretzel Logic
4. With a Gun
5. Charlie Freak
6. Monkey in Your Soul
(Sometimes you just want to get away and what better way to do it than by bike. It’s the people you meet and the things you see along the way that add to the experience of being up on two wheels. This was a doozy of a trip as all the factors fell into place to make it one great but harmless adventure, well sort of) The shot below left is a look at the Great Smoky Mountains near Athens Tennessee. Now getting to this spot is another story. You see you scoot on I-75 until you come to 411 and then you attempt and I want to emphasis the word attempt to navigate by verbal instruction. You see the two people that gave me directions kind of spaced on the landmarks. It went like this, “Ok now you turn your bike so that the back end is facing the BP gas station. Now you look across the road and you will see another road, take it.” Well there wasn’t a road across the street just this red brick building. I told him the situation and then I was asked which BP station I was at and that’s when he figured out which one I was sitting at. So we started over. Ok
leave the station and turn right and go until you come to this big white sign that announces a church up that road, turn there.” After a while I was asked if I saw it and I said no and gave him a landmark. He responded, “Oh you missed it so do a U Turn and watch for it on your left.” Well I did but the sign wasn’t big and neither was the church. But I finally got through a twisting maze of connecting roads and came up another hill to their driveway. Absolutely beautiful country and the place I was going to be staying at was top shelf. A three story 500k three year old home with a back deck view to die for as you could see three mountain ranges from the table on their upper deck. Very low humidity, about 80 maybe, and almost always a slight breeze blowing out of the west. I stayed for a day and then moved on to find my way up I-75 through Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland finally heading into Northwestern Pa. I found my way into a town named Edinboro Pa and stopped at a place named Fat Willies. Friendly place, their day business is made up of locals this time of year when the college is out for the summer and of course it was June so there you have it. The jukebox was set to keep playing country music and an older man maybe in his 70s shouted out “man doesn’t anyone play good ole rock and roll anymore?” Well that was my cue and off to the machine I went. The track I chose was “Smooth” by Santana and not only did he like it but the bartender, Ally, did as well. He responded with “now that’s more like it”. So when I went back to my seat and sat down I passed a five to the Ally behind the bar and asked if she would play some music for us and
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did she ever. I was deeply surprised when she lit the place up with Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way”. Who doesn’t like this tune and she was right on target because the place livened right up. When you are working day business you have to keep in mind that everyone there can go home and watch the same stuff and drink for less so when a good looking gal knows the numbers to punch up it certainly helps business. In a short while maybe four beers later I left that cute thing and the ice cold Stella and headed east on 6N until I reached an old country road and headed up into the thick of it. The scenery was reminiscent of a Norman Rockwell painting with its tall trees and the winding country road. Very cool. At the top of the road was a house sitting way back into the woods. (see home on left) This house is really cool. At the very top is reading room and you go up a spiral staircase to get to it. On the main floor is an octagon shaped living room with great sound opportunities as the music travels without getting trapped in corners, way cool. So I settled in and once again took in the silence of the moment. The next day I had a guide and so we caged it to a town named Saegertown and to a place named Hitchy’s. We arrived at about 10:45 am and they opened at 11. Now let me tell you something - once their front door was open and the open for business light went on this place got busy fast. You wouldn’t think that a small town bar would have such a big selection of food on their menu but this place did and let me tell you the Habanero Mango wings kicked ass. Not too spicy but not those retarded little wings most retailers try to pawn off as wings. So to me they kicked ass. The place is also home to some damn good southern rock and blues featuring a regional band named The Roadhouse Rockers. On top of that the place hosts such events as bike night and bike weekend sometimes getting up to 185 bikes. People this is in a small town and they got it working big time. Way to go! (above outside entertainment - nice crowd) Ok so we ate up and moved along. Next stop a town named Waterford whose big claim to fame is George Washington who really did sleep there. I don’t know who with but that’s probably another story for another day. Well we made it to a place named The Pour House which has been around for more years than only a few people can remember. That’s a real person standing out in front of the place. I don’t know if the guy’s name is George
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but he sure dresses like the old boy if nothing else. Really nice folks there and once you get them going they tell some very entertaining stories for sure. If you ever go up this way The Pour House is a good, friendly small town pub. Now the next place makes you scratch your head. A strip joint in the middle of nowhere, I kid you not. It must work because they tell me it has been there for years. I mean can you imagine driving along a state highway and out of nowhere you see this humongous adult playground. Whip me, beat me make me write bad checks this place is interesting as hell. But as luck would have it we could not stop because it was early in the day and they were not open. It’s just as well I only would have stayed a month or two until the newness would have worn off or then again maybe not. I am telling you Kandy’s is nestled in the middle of nowhere. There’s no huge population centers close by - maybe the closest of about 95,000 is twenty miles away. I am telling you being up on two wheels looking for everything America is cool - I think Forest had it right, “Life is like a box of chocolates you never know what you are going to get.” Well after this we made our way back to the remote nature farm (not the same kind of nature farm as I just wrote about) but a really cool place none the less. When we got there a rooster was crowing in the middle of the afternoon which was odd but the rooster didn’t think so. The friendly resident doggie cleared the sidewalk for us and the rooster that had been pecking people was gone. The weather changed and we were there just in time to be out of the rain as it was really coming down. In the morning I packed up and off again to head back west and then south. The early morning drive going west on 6N to 90 was a true delight. Smooth road and cool enough for a sweatshirt but not so much that you needed your leathers. Sun was coming up and a white tail female deer stood by the roadside checking out the scooter as I flew by. Got to 90 and headed what was labeled as west but really you are going south too. Made it back to I-75 and on down back through Alabama and then on in to Tennessee again. Back at the house in the hills and it was just as enjoyable the second time around. The next day called for a combination bike and car show and my host and his lovely wife took their bike over in support of the event. I packed up, thank them and made tracks for ports unknown. Life is good. Bikes, beer, friendships and the open road, hard to beat. Wait! Add a hand rolled cigar to that and 15 year old single malt scotch. Ok last thing for sure - add a girl hitching a ride on a long dark desert highway. Later…..
