Rock And Blues International by Rock and Blues International

OCTOBER 2021

Rock And Blues International TOMMY CASTRO ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

Crawfish Wallet Kyle Gass Homeshake Scott von Ryper Eddie Vedder Brian May and more!

Rock And Blues International October 2021 Hello Rock And Blues International readers. I hope everybody had a great July. As we’ve been telling you, concert tours are beginning to hit the road. I finally got to get out and see a concert this last month and I’m feeling so much better now. I was really going through a big funk waiting for that to happen. As I reported last month, there are a lot of great concert tours going out on the road now and I want to share those again with you. Among the festivals are the Rebel Rock Festival, Lollapalooza, Aftershock Festival, Utopiafest, 22nd Punk Rock Bowling Festival in Las Vegas, Queensryche, Night Ranger and a whole lot of other bands, not to mention the Louder Than Life Festival with Korn, Metallica, and Judas Priest. Other tours hitting the U.S. and Europe are Styx, Deep Purple with Blue Oyster Cult, Dead and Company, Megadeth with Lamb of God, Alan Parsons Project, Shinedown, Dirty Honey, Black Crowes, Ministry, Deicide, and The Dead Daisies. ShipRocked 2022 has even been announced. There’s going to be a lot of live music hitting the road before the end of the year. Be sure to check out all the tour announcements and ads in this issue. If you’re a publicist and your act doesn’t have a tour announcement in here, then you’re client is really missing out. Don’t leave them by the wayside. And now on to the October issue of Rock And Blues International. In this issue you can read stories about Tommy Castro, Crawfish Wallet, Reid Parsons, Kyle Gass, Homeshake, Scott von Ryper, Eddie Vedder, Brian May, Robbie Williams, Alice Merton, Gift Of Gab, Birdtalker, Heartless Bastards, 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”. Chapter 7 is being presented here this month and we are looking forward to your feedback on it. Read it and than email us back with your thoughts on this. Should we continue it or should we scrap it? 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.

Kevin Wildman Kevin Wildman Editor and Publisher

Rock And Blues International Kevin Wildman Editor and Publisher

Web Address Http://www.rockandbluesinternational.com Mailing Address Box 1162, League City, TX 77573 Phone 281-650-1953

For Advertising email us at rockandbluesinternational@gmail.com or call 281-650-1953 For A Free Subscription email us at rockandblues international@gmail.com and in the subject line put “Sign Me Up Now” October • Rock and Blues International

Contents

VOL. 2 NO. 3

OCTOBER 2021

ISSUE NO. 15

TOMMY CASTRO Tommy Castro talks about his new Alligator Records Release Tommy Castro Presents: A Bluesman Comes To Town - A Blues Odyssey

18 CRAWFISH WALLET

Edoardo Fassio talks about French Blues Band Crawfish Wallet and Their New Release I’m In NOLA

KYLE GASS Kyle Gass talks about his new single, “Vaccinated” and his Kyle Gass Saves The World Tour 2021

34 HOMESHAKE

Homeshake releases his new album Under The Weather

42 42

SCOTT von RYPER Scott von Ryper from Jesus And The Mary Chain shares his new song “Over And Over”

Rock and Blues International • October 2021

Contents

VOL. 2 NO. 3

OCTOBER 2021

ISSUE NO. 15

EDDIE VEDDER Eddie Vedder Unveils New Solo Single “Long Way,” First Single From Forthcoming Album Earthling

60 BRIAN MAY

Brian May Announces Physical Release And New Video For His Classic Single ‘Back To The Light’ from the remastered Back to the Light album

THE BIKER LIMITED EDITION SHORT STORY EMAIL US AND LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK OF THIS ONE AND IF YOU WANT MORE OF THIS SERIES.

In This Issue: 6 18 19 20 24 28 31 32

Tommy Castro Crawfish Wallet (English) Crawfish Wallet (Italian) Reid Parsons Kyle Gass Robbie Williams Dear Rouge Alice Merton

34 38 40 42 46 48 50 52

Homeshake The County Well Birdtalker Scott von Ryper Chelsea Cutler Gift Of Gab Eddie Vedder Heartless Bastards

56 60 70 74 78 80 84

Kali with Gentle Dom Brian May Jinjer Rotted Through Pirosaint Motorhead The Biker

October 2021 • Rock and Blues International

Tommy Castro 6

Rock and Blues International • October 2021

Tommy Castro Releases Ground-Breaking New Blues Opera! Tommy Castro Presents: A Bluesman Came To Town—A Blues Odyssey By Kevin Wildman Alligator Records and Blues sensation Tommy Castro has just released what might be his 19th album, and his best work to date. This Blues album is really extraordinary and takes Tommy into a different realm of the Blues all together. With his new release, Tommy Castro Presents: A Bluesman Came To Town - A Blues Odyssey, he has broken the barrier between Blues and Opera to create what just might be the first Blues Opera. Tommy Castro Presents: A Bluesman Came To Town - A Blues Odyssey is the story of a young country boy who discovers the guitar, blues, and the yearning of hitting the road as a Blues musician. This is truly an odyssey in all sense of the word as Tommy takes us on a trip tracing the journey of this Blues “everyman” through the learning process, into the stars, and back again to his home. This is an extraordinary story and you’ll literally be glued to every note in this new album. Tommy and Grammy-winning producer and songwriter Tom Hambridge wrote the songs for this masterpiece along with contributions from musicians the like of Richard Fleming, Terry Wilson and Ron Alan Cohen. This new album is packed with the great guitarwork and vocals that Tommy is known for and has honed throughout his 30 plus years of touring and performing. But why did Tommy write an

album like this one, which in the past might have been called a “concept album”? In Tommy’s own words: “I try to keep my music fresh by taking different approaches and writing and recording different types of songs. I want to stretch out musically, but I always want the songs to be my most authentic,

higher level than just a Blues Storyteller. We sat down with Tommy to talk about the new album and the process behind it and got an insightful education into the production, the writing and all the thought processes behind the album. It was truly an extraordinary interview as Tommy bares his soul and takes us on a journey that is ever so familiar in the music business. Rock And Blues International: So it looks like we got a lot to talk about on this release. Tommy Castro: That’s good. That’s good. Trying to keep it interesting. Rock And Blues International: Well, it looks like you’ve gone from becoming a storywriter with your previous catalog of work to becoming an author of a Blues Opera.

to remain true to myself and my art. This time, I felt the need to do something I’ve never done before…In telling the story, I’ve tried to touch on the many different styles of music that I love.” And Tommy has definitely accomplished that goal with this new album. It is definitely unlike any Blues album he or anybody else has done before and propels him into an even

Tommy Castro: Well, I guess so. You know, that was the idea. I just thought, well, what am I going to do now after all these years? I needed to come up with some fresh ideas. After having a conversation with a friend of mine, the idea came up. ‘Has anybody ever done a Blues Opera? I don’t think so. You know, that’s a pretty good idea. Let me think about it.’ I ran it by the record label and they didn’t say no. They didn’t say ‘that’s crazy, forget about it’. They were interested, you know… kind of lukewarm about it, but it’s like ‘well, that’s

continued on next page October 2021 • Rock and Blues International

Tommy Castro: There is no name. He is just a character. He has no name. It’s a story. He embodies many Blues artist’s stories. It’s just the story of a thousand bluesmen. You know, I guess I could have called it that. “The story of a thousand blues artists”. Really, whether it was Blues or Rock and Roll or whatever. But in this case, I think it was inspired. Rock And Blues International: I think you hit the nail on the head with it with the title of the album the way it is. Tommy Castro: Yeah, “A Bluesman Came To Town” and that is the story, but we didn’t want this to be... I didn’t want to define him too much because it’s the kind of story that does two things. One, it’s based on sort of ‘a hero’s journey’ format, which is, ‘ “The Odyssey”, “Star Wars”, and a thousand other stories that were written. I kind of wanted to follow that idea. Also, I looked around and I know the story of a lot of Blues artists that came before me. I know a lot of my contemporaries stories, a lot of my friends stories and other people in the business that do what we do and sort of put a little bit of everything into it. I was able to draw from all of those stories that I’ve heard and my own life experience, to be quite frank, a Lot of my own personal story kind of spilled into the subject lines on here as well. Rock And Blues International: A lot of the story lines on here seem quite familiar. I’ve heard a lot of them before. Let’s start at the beginning. Let’s say there is 13 chapters to this Opera. Tell me about “Somewhere.” It starts off with the song “Somewhere”.

Tommy Castro continued from previous page an idea’. Then I went to Tom Hambridge tion of Tom Hambridge, Rich Fleming who I wanted to produce, and I talked to and myself and then at home I did some him about it. He thought it was a really other writing with a couple of other good idea, so I kind of went on with it. I songwriter friends of mine that I work started to develop a storyline and I sent with. I don’t remember exactly how it all this outline to Tom Hambridge and he played out, but it all came together and and one of his guys that he writes with I’m real happy with it. all the time. They got to working on some song starts. They started on some Rock And Blues International: songs and then they brought me in and Well, it sounds great. What is the name we finished up. Probably seven or eight of this bluesman? of the songs on there were a collabora8 Rock and Blues International • October 2021

Tommy Çastro: Well, with “Somewhere” I imagined a young guy that has looked and sees that his life is kind of already laid out in front of him. He’s come up in a rural part of the country. It could be anywhere, but it’s a rural part of the country. He’s working on his family’s farm and he’s got a sweetheart. He’s from a town where he’s known and from a nice family. He works hard and he kind of looks ahead of him and sees himself just living the same life that all of all of the people around him have lived for a long time and he dreams about something else. He dreams about doing something different, going someplace else and although he dreams about it, it doesn’t really feel like it’ll ever change. So that’s the story or summary of “Somewhere’. He’s dreamcontinued on next page

Tommy Castro continued from previous page

ing about these things at night and then “A Bluesman Comes To Town”. It’s the next song. A bluesman comes to town and that changes everything for him. And that really happens. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard this story where a Rock Star comes to town. “I remember when I was a little kid and the Beatles played on television, or saw them on the BBC or saw them on The Ed Sullivan Show here in the United States and from that point on I knew what I wanted to do with my life.” You know, I’ve heard that story so many times and this is kind of like that. But it’s a bluesman came to town and I imagine something like that happened to people in the past. They just got exposed to that sound and then something inside you says, “I have to do that. I don’t know how I’m going to do it, but I have to do that.” And so, of course, he seeks out an elder in his community that is a guitar player. He starts getting lessons from the man. The old guy starts handing down what he knows and he says to him, “man, you’re good. You should get out of this town” and off he goes. That’s all part of the hero’s journey. There’s always a wiseman or somebody like that, that tells the young character in the story that there’s fortune out there for him and he needs to go find it… he needs to go find his fortune, and he starts the journey. Rock And Blues International: And that brings us to the next song, the words of wisdom handed down by a family member or a friend, “Child, Don’t Go.” Tommy Castro: Yes. Yeah, cuz, they’re thinking what!?! You’re gonna do, what? And that is a lot of families’ response. Oh, no, you’re not going out there on the road. It’s okay if you play this guitar around town entertaining folks that you know but we don’t want to see you out there living that life. And for good reason, it’s treacherous out there. It’s dangerous out there and then that also is part of the part of the ‘hero’s journey’ where there’s going to be a challenges and difficulty, and Cyclops he has to conquer. Rock And Blues International: Oh,

yeah, we were all warned by our parents about that. You don’t want to do that as a living. Become a plumber. It’s a responsible job. You’ll make a lot of money doing it. And it’s like, ‘well, I don’t want to hold a plunger. The guitar is my life’. Tommy Castro: Yeah, so his family is trying to get him to stick around. Give up on the idea. But of course, he doesn’t listen. He has to follow his dream and then there’s that fun little tune called “Spread Your Hustle”. Now that was just fun. I wrote that song independently of this album with a friend of mine named Terry Wilson and Terry Wilson is the husband and bassist for Teresa James and the Rhythm Tramps. He also played with Eric Burden for a number of years and just he played with a lot of people. Rock And Blues International: He played with number of people. He’s from Houston. Tommy Castro: Yes, exactly. Yeah! Rock And Blues International: He was in a band called Bloontz here in Houston. He teamed up with Paul Kossoff from Free to start a band called Back Street Crawler. Tommy Castro: Oh, really? I didn’t know that part of the story. He’s got a long story. He’s a good friend of mine. I haven’t heard all of the stories, but I know that he and Tony Braunagel came out here to California together. Rock And Blues International:

Yeah, Tony’s another Houston guy. Some day you’ll have to ask him about his days in England performing with Back Street Crawler. Tommy Castro: Yep. Yeah, those guys are such great, great players and some of my favorite musicians. I’m really happy to know them both, but Terry and I have gotten together and written songs a few times in the past. Rock And Blues International: Well, ask him about his time in England some time. Tommy Castro: I will. Yeah, I will, the next time we get together. I probably will see him more often now, because I live in Southern California now. So he just had an idea. It was one of these things where I was going to be LA and I thought while I’m down there, let’s get together and write something. We’ll visit first off, you know, just hang out a little bit. But usually when him and I get together we get to working on a song. So that’s what we did, something we’ve done before. We were kind of kicking ideas around and he had this idea. At first to me again, I didn’t quite get it. “Spread Your Hustle”. I thought, well, I like the hustle part of it, I get that. I could write a song about hustling, you know, there’s a lot of things that could you could write about in life when you have to hustle to make to make things happen. You know, things are not given to you. You’re not going to get it handed to you. You’re

continued on next page October 2021 • Rock and Blues International

this about that song. Wow, what a groove that band laid down. I went to Nashville and cut these tracks with Tom Hambridge and his “A” list of roots players that he works all the time and was a very first time in my whole career of 18 albums or so that I didn’t use my own band in the studio. I always like to use my own band because I feel like they work hard. They do all the hard work and none of us are getting rich and they like to be involved in the recordings and participate in the creation of the music, so I always have been a guy that used my own band. But in this case, working with Tom, I know that he has a formula that works for him, that creates really great records, and he’s honed it over a period of time. I’ve known him for more like probably 25 years by now. For 20 years at least, we’ve been running into each other. We were on a tour together with BB King, Buddy Guy, Susan Tedeschi and us and we met 1999 or something like that. So, we’ve been talking about doing a record eventually and then I’ve been listening to his work and becoming a fan of a lot of his stuff and it just was a matter of time. I wanted to work with him, but I didn’t want to make him have to work with different musicians that he’s not used to because he seems to have a really, really, good handle on how to make a great record. I didn’t want to move him out of his comfort zone. I wanted him to do what he does best, so I agreed to go down there and cut with those guys. Anyway, long story short, what they did on this track just blew my mind, especially Rob McNally’s, heavy, low note guitar part. That just kills me. Rock And Blues International: Well, the next chapter in the saga is “I Got Burned”, which has to be the story of thousands of musicians out there. Sooner or later someone tends to hold out on paying the band for one reason or another.

Tommy Castro continued from previous page going to have to get out there and make things happen on your own. That’s kind of the story of my life so I can get into that. He was real strong on the idea of “Spread Your Hustle,” like don’t put all your hustling into one small area. You might want to spread it around and diversify. So that was his message. And so we worked on some lyrical ideas and that song started to come along and then I felt like it fit. It fit the story just fine 10 Rock and Blues International • October

because it’s going to be part of this guy’s story. It’s something he’s going to have to do, you know, to move along on his journey. Rock And Blues International: It does. It fits right in line and it’s right in the perfect spot in the lineup of songs here. Tommy Castro: Let me just say 2021

Tommy Castro: Oh, yeah. Before we move on. Let me just mention that’s Deanna Bogart playing saxophone on there, who’s now my life partner. It’s kind of an interesting story in itself. We are now living together and then looking to buy a house down in the Southern California together. Lots of things have happened in that direction. But while we were hanging out and I’m working on these tracks finishing up my album, I wanted a saxophone part on this track, so I just handed it over to her to go into a little studio there in the desert and lay that down. And it fit’s real well. continued on next page

Tommy Castro continued from previous page Rock And Blues International: Congratulations on that. The pandemic actually worked out good for you. Tommy Castro: Well, you know, I think there was ups and downs through the whole thing for a lot of people. It would be better off if it never happened, I think. But there were some interesting things that happened and I’m grateful for that, because it does feel like it was meant to be. We’re quite happy, but anyway, so that’s just another little added thing musically about that track is that the Deanna played saxophone on it. She’s an artist in her own right. She has several albums out. She did some on Blind Pig and a couple of other labels.

Again, we got paid. We were one of the lucky ones, but those kinds of things happen and then that was not any ill intent. It was just bad luck I think. But anyway, there have been promoters out there and club owners that have burnt and just outright refused to pay the band. That’s what that song’s about. But I also wanted a big Blues shuffle It is a blues record and I needed a big ‘shuffle’. I wanted to do a big ‘shuffle’ and it’s a kind of ‘shuffle’ I haven’t done many of. I haven’t done too many like that style. My ‘shuffles” tend to be more like BB King or Buddy Guy or something like that, and this was more, you know, more of a kind of Texas Blues Shuffle. Rock And Blues International: Next up is “Blues Prisoner”, and that’s pretty self-explanatory. Tommy Castro: Yeah, I felt like the record called for a nice minor Blues song

because again, if you listen to my last 18 records, there’s only one minor Blues out of all of them. Typically, I don’t play a lot of minor Blues. It’s just I feel the other little sound on a slow Blues where you’re playing ninth chords and seven cords and things like that. So it’s in the major keys and I don’t do the minor ones very often. But I just felt like its time for me to do… you know, seriously approach the minor Blues. And so we had this idea of “Blues Prison”. I was thinking that maybe as things are starting to go, things could get a little rough. Things are starting to become a challenge to our character that he might feel a little trapped. I don’t know if other people feel like that. I don’t feel like that in a bad way, but I do know that this is... This is what I do. I really couldn’t decide one day to become a different kind of an artist. I couldn’t decide one day to continued on next page

Rock And Blues International: Let’s move on to “I Got Burned”. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard that story. Tommy Castro: Well, it had to be in there. I was always thinking about the challenges that the young man will probably run into. That is one. That hasn’t happened to me much in my career. In fact, I can’t really point to one where I really got burned. Maybe if I could remember every gig we ever did, I’m sure there’s somewhere along the line where it was sketchy or we had to fight for money or something like that, but I definitely know that it does happen and has happened. A lot of times a promoter will depend too much on the success of that show to pay for everything. And if it doesn’t do well, for whatever reason, anything can go wrong and they wind up not having the money for the band. I do remember a festival one time we went to and we did get paid, but there were some other bands that didn’t get paid. And of course, there was the ‘Big Blues Bender’, the very first one that happened. The poor guy put everything he had into it to get that thing started and then the Casino pulled out. The casino in Las Vegas where it was going to have it bailed on in at the last minute, forcing him to find another venue and then the new expenses ate him alive, and he lost everything and he had to struggle to pay some of the bands. October 2021 • Rock and Blues International

smoking a joint behind the bar, which would lead to God knows whatever along the way. Tommy Castro: Exactly, whatever was happening at the time, you wind up in it. Rock And Blues International: And then you can’t say no.

Tommy Castro continued from previous page become like a Jazz artist or I’m going to become a Pop artist, or I’m going to become a Latin Rock artist. I’m not gonna become a Hip-Hop artist. I couldn’t become a different kind of artist. I really feel that Blues music and me are tied together somehow and if I’m going to play music, it’s going to be Blues. And I am kind of a prisoner in that way. And so I thought that maybe our character would be feeling a little bit of that and that would make a nice part of the story. Like well, you have to accept this, you’re a prisoner of the Blues and that’s it. You’re not getting out. It’s fun to play to. I really enjoy playing on that one. The band sounds great and it was time for me to do a little minor Blues. Rock And Blues International: And then we get to a more serious subject, “I Caught A Break” leading into “Women, Drugs and Alcohol”.

caused more harm and difficulty in most artists lives than anything else. It starts out to be a harmless couple of drinks, drinking beer, having a few shots of liquor, maybe celebrating, having fun and hanging out with friends. And with some people it just progresses and other substances come into the picture and then it can get really, really ugly. It couldn’t be a story like this without that element in there. This is probably another case that I told Tom in my outline of the story. I talked to Tom Hamburg and I said to him ‘so then he gets beaten up pretty badly by women, drugs, and alcohol’, and so he wrote that down, and by God that became the title of the song. It’s one of my favorite tracks on there. I think it’s probably the heaviest track and it rocks. Really, It just rocks and I really enjoy it. It’s got a great hook to it. It’s got a great feel to it. And I could see the guy. I’m listening to the song when I listen back to it and I could picture somebody being in that position.

Tommy Castro: Well yeah, for some people, and I think there’s a higher percentage of artists. That’s just a theory of mine. The creative type people are more susceptible I think, and more at risk falling into that category. It’s not everybody. Some people go through little phases in their lives where they partied a lot, got into a few things and then smartened up and got out of it and then some people struggled with it for years. Anyway, it’s part of the story of our character here. He’s definitely kind of naive growing up in the country and now he’s out there on the road and then there’s all of this…. Now, wait a minute, did we skip over “I Caught A Break”. Rock And Blues International: Yes, We did skip over “I Caught A Break”. Tommy Castro: That’s why it makes sense because he catches a little break and now he’s getting a little fame and of course fame can comes with that attention from the women in the crowd and more people want to give him stuff so they can get next to him. People are buying him drinks and giving him drugs and in all of that stuff starts happening after he experiences a little success. I think so. Anyway, “I Caught A Break”, that’s a fun one. I like that better. There’s that’s straight up my Chuck Berry influence. Rock And Blues International: And then he finally decides to draw the line in his problems with “Draws The Line”. Tommy Castro: He figures out…. Where does he draw the light? He comes out of that mess of women, drugs and alcohol and he realizes that. I like the feeling of the first verse where he’s waking up in a hotel room and the lights are coming through. I know that feeling, I know that feeling and so it paints a picture, the reality of it. The reality of all that fame and fortune. Not only the fame and fortune, but the drugs and the alcohol and all of that stuff, and it’s so fun while its going on at night. But then inevitably the next morning’s going to come along and that that’s when you pay the price. That’s when he starts thinking,

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Tommy Castro: Yeah. There you go. You know, these titles are pretty selfRock And Blues International: I’ve explanatory I guess. There’s not a lot to known dozens of people in that position. say about that except it is one of those… I think probably those three things are Tommy Castro: Only dozens…. the most…. Now of all the dragons and (laughs) Being out there like I have all Cyclops’s and things like that, that you these years, I’m pretty sure I know would have to slay out there on the road, hundreds. I think those are those are the biggest and scariest ones. You know, for some, Rock And Blues International: It’s common in our business for people Well, I was just trying to be nice about it. to get caught up in those traps and C’mon, when we were all kids, we all struggle with those things. And it’s started bands because we wanted to pick probably the thing that this killed more up girls and then that would lead to free artists and ruined more careers and drinks at the bar, which would lead to 12 Rock Rockand andBlues BluesInternational International • August October 2021 2021

continued on next page

Tommy Castro continued from previous page this is all great, this is a lot of fun, but where do I draw the line? Where do I draw the line, you know, and he starts thinking about maybe he has to do something about it. It’s hard to get a story like that into one album. It’s because these things, that part of the story would take years most likely to happen, but you got to put it all into a few songs. It’s kind of tricky, but I think it all works.

Rock And Blues International: And then we’ve got the reprise after “Bring It On Back”, with “Somewhere” again. We’re back to the beginning. Tommy Castro: Yeah. That was an idea that came along later in the project. We’d already cut all the tracks and … and it’s a long story, but I acquired a 1930s National Steel Body acoustic guitar and it belonged to a friend of mine, an artist and a really great player from the Bay Area that we all knew and loved. And anyway, long story short, I have that guitar now and I wanted to use it on the album for one thing and I also thought that it would be a nice way to wrap things up and just change the lyrics a little bit. Rock And Blues International: Well, I’ll tell you this has been an extraordinary story. I have really enjoyed it. I think you have something really

totally different on your hands here with this. It’s an actual cohesive album that really means something. It’s not just12 random songs that you might say, well I wrote two last year, and I wrote three 14 years ago, and we had to come up with four more to put on this. Is a nice cohesive project that really tells the journey of one of your peers, although he might be imaginary. He’s definitely one of your peers. Tommy Castro: Yeah, I think we can all relate to that. An interesting thing is that a lot of Blues fans are musicians. It’s an art form that musicians love. There is so much playing involved, Blues is a kind of music that… It’s like Jazz where there’s a lot of improvisation and an expression and soloing involved. Your average Pop tune or Country song or whatever doesn’t necessarily rely so continued on next page

Rock And Blues International: It really needed to be a double album. Tommy Castro: Yeah, I always wanted to do a double album, but try to get your record label to make one. They just won’t do it. Rock And Blues International: And then finally your character decides he wants to go back home and start his life over with the song, “I Want To Go Home”. Tommy Castro: Yeah, after that, he’s thinking he didn’t set out to become the person he become, and he would really just like to go home and be with his family and his girlfriend and settle down. He had it so good, which of course is the moral of the story. He’s going to realize that the idea is that you’re chasing a dream and there’s some fortune or some treasure at the end. You know, the character always thinks that it’s this and it turns out that isn’t it. What he learns is something that happens to him along the way? It’s an inside job and the real treasure is something that was in him all along. He always had it, and that the journey was necessary for him to come to realize that and to really get it, so now he gets it. He’s getting it and he’s gone. Yeah, this is all lots of fun and this is great, but you know what I had back home, that was better. That’s what I want. So he learns his lesson and that’s the success and the goal that was reached. The treasure was found and it brings the story around, which of course is the last song, which is “Bring It On Back”. October 2021 • Rock and Blues International

Tommy Castro continued from previous page much on the artists or the musicians to solo and express themselves in that way and some musicians love Blues for that. That is one reason that they love Blues I think and a lot of our music fans out there are also players and they probably will be able to relate. Anyway, my intention was to try to give my fans and the Blues audience in general something different from me as I go down the road and continue on. I don’t see me stopping, or ending, or retiring, or anything like that. I might slow down at some point, take a few less gigs, but I want to be like John Lee Hooker and BB King and keep on playing until the end. And so as I go on, I don’t want to bore my fans and I don’t want to bore the music audience with just another record. I think I make good records and I write good songs, and I write with other people. They help me to write good songs and give the fans something good and we try to put a good performance together on an album. We always give it our best shot. But the tricky part is what is it going to be? What are we going to do this time? And just when I thought I was I was running out of ideas, this idea came along. It also helped me to get through this pandemic. You know, it gave me something to focus on because I was like a lot of people, I was pretty sad. A lot of it was… it was pretty dark a lot of the time and we all needed music to help us get through it. There was a Facebook page started by one of the Blues fans that was called, ‘Can’t Stop The Blues’ and they would have people performing from home, and garages and studios and things like that. People were leaning on the music heavily to get through the these times and they have 200 people all on Facebook Live watching a show and chiming in and chatting with each other, going off to get drinks and dancing in their living rooms and things like that. It really reminded me of just how important it is what we do. A lot of times we think it’s a luxury. Music is kind of a luxury item, but it really isn’t? It’s necessary for humans to have this in their lives so I try to continue, to have something that that’s worthwhile to offer. Rock And Blues International: Well, it’s been my life for last 50 years.

Rock And Blues International: Well, I haven’t been with a band since I was a kid, but I’ve challenged myself a little. When I was playing with people, I would do rhythm guitar and now I’ve picked up an acoustic guitar and I’m sitting on a stage all alone. Just me on stage playing, and singing for the first time. I just started that a couple of months ago and its really been a challenge. Tommy Castro: That’s the most challenging thing for me. I don’t do a lot of that, but I want to do. I want to be good at that, but I’ve been spending my life in a band as a band person. I always put all my energy into what I’m going to do there, but I’d love to be a stronger acoustic player and be able to sing and play with confidence. I can do it. I can play and sing songs on an acoustic guitar, but it’s just that’s not my strong suit. And so it is I feel I know what you mean man, but good for you, because that’s the real deal. Rock And Blues International: It’s a little daunting. It’s if I goof up, I can’t blame it on anybody. Tommy Castro: Yeah. Taj Mahal was giving a seminar on a Blues Cruise one time and he said, ‘all you guitar players out there, play your licks on an acoustic guitar, practice them on an acoustic guitar. Then play on electric because that’s when you’re really playing. Rock And Blues International: Absolutely. A lot of times if it sounds fantastic on an acoustic it’s going to sound ten times better when you pull out your favorite electric. Tommy Castro: Yeah. Yeah. We got all the help, you know, tone and gadgets and whatnot. Oh, yeah. Hey, well good for you man. Keep it up. It’s good. It’s good. You’ll just get better. The more you do it, the more you will get better at it. You’ll get more comfortable. Tape yourself. Go back and listen and fix what needs to be fixed. And you’ll just get better at it as you go.

Rock And Blues International: Tommy Castro: I could tell. So are you still playing in bands at the moment? Yeah. Now the only problem I see in this album that you’ve done is what are you Or how are things going down there? 14 Rock and Blues International • October 2021

going to do when you get to the next one? This one is so good. It has such purpose in it and when you sit down in a year, two years, three years, whatever. How are you going to top this one? Because this let me tell you, this thing is just fantastic. I love the subject matter. I love the journey that your character is taking in this Blues Opera. It rings so many bells. It has things happening that I’ve been through or seen, which is amazing to hear now. It’s just fantastic when you can relate to an album like that. Tommy Castro: Oh, that’s fantastic, man. I’m just starting to get some interviews and I haven’t seen many reviews come in yet because it really hasn’t been released yet, but it’s starting. All that kind of stuff is starting to happen. And I’m just sitting here going, ‘Well. I hope they like it’. It took me a minute to warm up to it, because it’s mine and I am super critical of everything I do. So I listened to it and there was a point where I listened to it from from top to bottom, and when that was done, I went ‘it’s good. It’s good, I can breathe now’. Rock And Blues International: It’s more than good. This is, this is unbelievable. It’s unlike any Blues album I have heard in the last decade, especially with a story line that goes through the entire album and tells a story with an actual purpose. Tommy Castro: Oh my god. Wow. Well, thank you man, and I appreciate your help on this and taking the time to write something for us and be sure to help us spread the word little bit. I appreciate it. When you get the chance, I urge all of you Blues aficionados out there to go out and get this album. It truly is an extraordinary story that reflects on so many people in the music business. If you’re not a musician yet and you’re thinking of becoming one, listen to it also. There is a lot you can learn from this release. There is a lesson to be learned here. Yes folks, Tommy Castro has quite possibly made musical history with this album. It just might be the first Blues Opera of it’s kind. If you purchase just one new Blues album in the next couple of months, make sure you pick up Tommy Castro Presents: A Bluesman Came To Town—A Blues Odyssey. It will definitely be well worth your money. It’s definitely worth adding to your music collection. The entire album is full of great Blues moments from the beginning you put it on till the last bar is played.

October 2021 • Rock and Blues International

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October 2021 • Rock and Blues International

Crawfish Wallet: The French Quarter By Edoardo Fassio Bordeaux, a port city located at the Gironde estuary, is one of the French capitals of wine production. In October 2017, the meeting of the eclectic banjoist and multi-instrumentalist Jean-Michel Plassan with Amandine Cabald Roche, a well-trained and sensual vocalist with multiple stylistic experiences, and with trombonist and arranger Gaëtan Martin and double bass player and theater actor Fred Lasnier - both highly involved in the Bordeaux night scene - made for a heady and high quality result, worthy of the region’s food and wine fame. It is the boundless love for New Orleans that made the four meet and keeps them together in the cleverly baptized Crawfish Wallet. Even more than its musical legacy, they go for the Crescent City’s artistic spirit itself for inspiration, however contradictory that spirit may be. Ancient and modern, classic and unpredictable, ordinary and exotic, recognizable and elusive. The band’s ears are tuned to sounds distant in time, the same that are found in I’m in Nola, their second album. The selection opens with the title track, a postmodern gumbo that smells of Charleston and red beans and rice, jambalaya and barbecue, Gene’s po-boys and daiquiris. There are songs that belonged to Hattie McDaniels, Victoria Spivey, Bessie Smith or Trixie Smith, yet the rendering, fresh and original, claims renewed dignity to almost a century of history by sweeping away, together with dust and cobwebs, that reverent shyness, too common to so many imitators. The same treatment is lent to compositions of later eras’ hipsters, such as Harry Connick, Jr, Tom Waits and, most of all, Serge Gainsbourg’s world-weary “Black Trombone”. The combination of banjo, bass and ‘bone conjures a lively and provocative time spinning. Amandine’s singing completes the old-fashioned ensemble with a fun-loving drive; her swinging voice so robust and seductive, she doesn’t need to deny her parallel lives in rock, reggae, nu-soul and hip hop. Roche also provides the percussion - with the washboard, the home-made blues way - and contributes with Gaëtan to the writing of the original tracks. Crawfish Wallet started out as a side experiment; at its inception, all the members were active in other projects, related to the many ages of jazz and improvised music. It is to be assumed that the artistic success will soon draw the wide public’s attention, domestic and international. Once the agenda hid in the wallet gets filled with gig dates, this will inevitably become their main occupation. https://www.crawfishwallet.com/ 18

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Crawfish Wallet: Il quartiere francese By Edoardo Fassio Bordeaux, la città portuale situata sull’estuario della Gironda, è una delle capitali francesi della produzione vinicola. Nell’ottobre 2017, l’incontro dell’eclettico banjoista e polistrumentista Jean-Michel Plassan con due protagonisti della scena notturna bordolese - il trombonista e arrangiatore Gaëtan Martin e il contrabbassista e attore di teatro Fred Lasnier - e con Amandine Cabald Roche, vocalist colta e sensuale dai molteplici trascorsi stilistici, produce un risultato inebriante e di alta qualità, degno della fama enogastronomica della regione. A far ritrovare e tenere insieme i quattro - che hanno deciso furbamente di chiamarsi Crawfish Wallet - è il comune amore per New Orleans. Più ancora della tradizione musicale, è lo stesso spirito artistico della Crescent City a ispirarli. Antico e moderno, classico e imprevedibile, quotidiano ed esotico, riconoscibile e sfuggente. L’orecchio del gruppo è sintonizzato su suoni lontani nel tempo, gli stessi che ritroviamo in I’m in Nola, il loro secondo album. La selezione si apre con la title track, un gumbo postmoderno che profuma di charleston e red beans and rice, jambalaya e barbecue, Gene’s po-boys e daiquiri. Ci sono brani legati a Hattie McDaniels, Victoria Spivey, Bessie Smith o Trixie Smith, eppure l’interpretazione, fresca e originale, riesce a ridare dignità a quasi un secolo di storia spazzando insieme a polvere e ragnatele pure quella riverente timidezza comune a molti imitatori. Lo stesso trattamento avviene anche per le composizioni di hipster di epoche successive, come Harry Connick, Jr, Tom Waits e soprattutto “Black Trombone” di Serge Gainsbourg. L’abbinamento di banjo, basso e trombone opera una sorta di centrifuga del tempo, vivace e provocante. Sull’ensemble amabilmente demodé, si erge il canto di Amandine, uno swing robusto e seducente che non rinnega precedenti esperienze in rock, reggae, nu-soul e hip hop. Roche procura anche le percussioni con l’asse da lavare, alla moda del vecchio blues fatto in casa - e contribuisce con Gaëtan alla scrittura delle tracce originali. Crawfish Wallet è nato come un esperimento collaterale; alla sua nascita, tutti i componenti erano attivi in altri progetti, legati alle molte ere del jazz e della musica improvvisata. C’è da ritenere che il successo artistico non tarderà a richiamare l’attenzione del pubblico, anche internazionale. Se l’agenda contenuta nel “portafoglio di gambero” si riempirà di impegni, diventerà inevitabilmente l’occupazione principale. https://www.crawfishwallet.com/ October 2021 • Rock and Blues International

Not Since Ben & Jerry’s Has Vermont Turned The World On To Something So Exciting - Meet Reid Parsons Some come by it naturally and then again some come by it naturally and add to it. Reid Parsons is the latter. Having attended Harvard and aced its curriculum she also joined Harvard’s “The Nostalgics” an eleven piece soul band comprised of fellow students. If that were not enough, the velvet voiced artist has written over one hundred songs to date. That is just too cool. After graduating Reid moved to Burlington Vermont and immersed herself in the city’s rich and fertile music scene. Soon after arriving Reid took the top prize in the Vermont Advanced Music – The Point FM songwriter’s competition, winning a new guitar and studio time which she used to record her first EP, “Reid Parsons.” Next in 2020, Reid completed the first of two pandemic recording projects, first releasing the aptly named single “Alone” and then in 2021 she recorded and released her newest EP “No. Blood”. The No period is the abbreviation for Northern. “No. Blood” by the way was recorded at Tank Studio in Burlington Vermont. Reid shares, “I recorded “No.Blood” in the studio, but we performed and tracked it live and because of CoVid mixed it all separately. “No.Blood” is more like a time capsule to me than just a musical creation. We were able to capture the feeling I was after, the EP contains a special kind of artistic energy that can be felt both in the studio and live.” Additionally, Reid used her Martin guitar on all the tracks as she is one of their endorsed artists. While in the studio New York City based JRNY (Journey) Entertainment shot a multi-camera “in studio” 4k music video of Reid’s session which included one of her favorite cover tunes by Jason Isbelle, “Cover Me Up” as well as the famous “Ain’t No Sunshine” which clearly reveals the vocal dexterity and velvet delivery of this up and coming artist. You can view those two videos now on You Tube. Reid Parsons is a promising, aspiring, rising, fresh new talent, no doubt about it. When it comes to live performances the Vermonter has performed with such established artists as Dexter Allen, who is as authentic a bluesmen as there is bar none, the incomparable Peterson Brothers out of Austin, Texas and the multiple Grammy® nominated bluesman Mr. Cedric Burnside. Reid recently performed at the noted Red Ant Pants Music Festival and previously performed at Vermont’s Friendly Gathering Music Festival, The Summervale Festival, The Waking Windows Festival, and the famed venue Higher Ground. There is much to be said about this aspiring performer and songwriter’s delivery. Her vocal dexterity combined with a God given velvet voice coupled with her natural creative instincts is what is propelling this young, sophisticated soul forward. Reid harbors a winning combination. Keep your eyes and ears on this artist as she may have something to share with you that pleases your soul. Learn more about Reid at: www.reidreidreid.com 20

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October 2021 • Rock and Blues International

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Rock and Blues International • October 2021

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October 2021 • Rock and Blues International

Kyle Gass: No, not too bad. I’m a homebody anyway. There’s too much great television. I had to catch up with my TV. There’s always a guitar around, and there’s always something to do. Rock And Blues International: What’s your favorite show on TV right now? Kyle Gass: Well, I just finished The White Lotus. That seems to be the show that everybody was watching, so I got sucked up into The White Lotus. Check it out.

Tenacious D’s Kyle Gass Talks About His Upcoming Solo Tour “Kyle Gass Must Save The World Tour 2021 By Kevin Wildman Kyle Gass, who you will probably fondly remember from the band Tenacious D is coming out of his Covid-19 seclusion to reunite with his musical audiences with a new tour. At the present moment, his “Kyle Gass Must Save The World Tour 2021” will kick off at Barley’s Taproom and conclude on October 22nd at The Middle East in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The present schedule for the tour takes him to 17 towns spread out in Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, New York, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Washington DC, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts so far. Additional dates to the tour may be added later. Kyle is on the road celebrating the release of his new single, “Vaccinated,” which is a parody of The Ramones classic hit, “I Wanna Be Sedated.” The new song was also accompanied by a video for the song featuring some of Kyle’s friends, including Jack Black, Amy Lee, John C. Reilly, Steve Lukather, and more. Accompanying Kyle on this tour will be comedian Chris Fairbanks, whom you may remember from his appearances on Comedy Central, TruTV, TBS, Fox and Amazon. Fairbanks latest release The Rescue Cactus Album is available everywhere on 800 Pound Gorilla Records. Rock And Blues International had a chance to sit down with Kyle while the tour was in the early stages of planning and

he gave us a bit of insight into the tour, the new song “Vaccinated”, and what he’s been up to during the pandemic. As one might expect from someone as intense as Kyle Gass, the interview ranges from insightful to somewhat silly at stages. All in all, it was a lot of fun to sit down and talk with Kyle. Face it, it was a blast! Rock And Blues International: So, what is the catalyst for the new tour. What makes you want to break out of seclusion now and get back on the road? Kyle Gass: Well, I haven’t been out in a long time actually, so I just wanted to get our there and perform for the folks. I wanted to see if I could be the leader of a swinging four-piece band. I wanted to see if that would work. It may not. I don’t know, but I’m going to give it a try. In my last band, I had a lot of help in the vocals, but I want to try to sing more. I think it might be just a bad idea, but we’re going to find out. Rock And Blues International: I understand that you’ve been in seclusion on your farm now for a little over a year. Kyle Gass: Yeah, I do go out and get groceries and stuff though. I not totally hold up here. Yeah, we’ve been hanging pretty close, so it’s time. Rock And Blues International: Are you going stir crazy yet?

Rock and Blues International • October 2021

Rock And Blues International: I will, I’ll check it out. I checked out your new song “Vaccinated,” your parody of The Ramones’ “I Wanna Be Sedated” recently. It was cool, I like it. I enjoyed all the different performers that you had guest with you on the video as well, Jack Black, Amy Lee, John C. Reilly, Steve Lukather, and the others. Kyle Gass: Yeah, they all came out. I called in all the favors and then some. They came out… We need more pandemics. Rock And Blues International: We need more pandemics? Kyle Gass: Yeah, we get all the celebrities out for that. It came out good. It’s quite short. Rock And Blues International: It was about two minutes. All of The Ramones songs were pretty short to begin with, so if you’re doing a parody of one of their songs, it can’t help but be short. They were a fun band. So, what made you select “I Wanna Be Sedated”, that one in particular and go in that direction with the song? Kyle Gass: It literally was the syllables. I was just hearing it on the radio, and of course, I’ve heard it for years. With “I Wanna be vaccinated”, the syllables worked out with it and the sense of it was right there and then I thought I was just being original. It wasn’t. After I was done with the song and the video, I googled on to YouTube and there were like five other Ramones parodies with Ramones themes. It was like, ‘wow, I am the most unoriginal guy out here. I swear, I didn’t check it out before. And thank God I didn’t, I probably wouldn’t have done it. I didn’t check that out until I was done and wow, there were so many Ramones parodies. There are so many Ramones parodies and vaccinated videos, it’s crazy. Rock And Blues International: I understand that you’re writing a lot of new songs. Tell me about some of the new continued on next page

Kyle Gass continued from previous page songs. Kyle Gass: Oh God, I wish I was. Who said that? I wish I was. Rock And Blues International: Your publicist said you were. Kyle Gass: My publicist did that? You believe all that stuff. Rock And Blues International: You’re supposed to believe the publicist. Kyle Gass: Oh, my gosh. Rock And Blues International: No, it’s in the manual. You’re always supposed to believe the publicist. Always believe what a publicist tells you… Kyle Gass: No, I mean… it’s my job, so I’m always trying. But yeah, the new songs… There are some new songs that are going to be new to the people just because they’ve been in the chamber for a while. We’re going to put some of them out there. Rock And Blues International: We’ll, tell me about a couple of them. Kyle Gass: There’s one called “Grandpa’s Finger” and that’s a sentimental song about letting your creativity run wild. It’s just about a special relationship with your grandpa. There’s a song called “Penelope” about a girl and it’s just very romantic and it’s a beautiful love song that I wrote. I doubt if anyone wants to hear that one. Rock And Blues International: Give me a couple of lyrics from that one. Kyle Gass: What! Give you a couple of lyrics… (singing) “How could this be, tell me what you’re doing such a long, long way from home…” I mean, c’mon, that’s a start right there. Hold on, let me see if I can play it for you. (He pulls a guitar out and starts playing and singing a bit of it).

Kyle Gass: Let’s see, I’m probably going to pull some songs from my solo stuff and some from Tenacious D and maybe The Trainwreck. The Trainwreck was a side project from the early 2000s. I’ll probably do a couple of songs from that and from the Kyle Gass Band. I’ll probably do some stuff from that as well.

Rock And Blues International: That’s a lovely melody.

Rock And Blues International: So you don’t have a set list yet..

Kyle Gass: Yeah, there won’t be a dry eye in the house. What else are you going to make me do Kevin? I hope you’re happy with yourself. You’re making me play music before noon (laughs). You’ve got the manual, don’t you?

Kyle Gass: No, is that required? I don’t have to do it yet. That’s true. I don’t have a setlist yet. I could write a whole new set. I have over a month before the first gig. I should push myself, shouldn’t I?

Rock And Blues International: Yeah! I’ve got it! Tell me about some of the songs we can expect on the tour.

Rock And Blues International: Yes, you should write some more love songs. I liked that last one.

Kyle Gass: Oh thank you. That was from the heart. That was about a girl I worked with. She was a co-star in a movie I did a few years ago called “Apartment 212”. It was a pretty good little indie horror film. Check it out on your streaming services sometime. The odd thing was I liked her. She was a really good friend, but I didn’t really have a crush on her… I think. Amazon is going to pay me cash money for a collection of love songs for a valentine’s day thing. I was on the set and I thought, she’s pretty cool… let me just write one about her. It came out good. I took some artistic license. It’s funny, because her boyfriend was on the set too and I thought, ‘I’m going to really show this guy up here. I’m going to write a song for his girlfriend.’ He was a musician too. I’m going to write a song better than anything he’s written.

continued on next page October 2021 • Rock and Blues International

Rock And Blues International: And the music isn’t dated. It’s all fresh. So how long has it been since you’ve last been on a tour? Kyle Gass: We actually went on a Tenacious D tour of Europe right up until February of 2020, believe it or not. The pandemic was kind of breaking out. We were kind of in a tour bubble and it started creeping up and we finished up just in time, but then I decided to stay a few extra weeks in Europe and I was touring with a little acoustic trio. And then it started to get really hairy. We were actually in northern Italy at the time and things started getting dicey, so that took us into March. Rock And Blues International: Yeah, Italy got hit really hard with the Covid-19 virus.

Kyle Gass and Steve Lukather

Kyle Gass continued from previous page Rock And Blues International: Well that’s an even better reason to do it. There’s nothing like upstaging the current boyfriend. Kyle Gass: Yeah that’s just the kind of guy I am. That’s how low I am. Rock And Blues International: So, what does Kyle Gass like to do when he’s not playing music or performing. Kyle Gass: Well, I like to go on hikes. Once in a while I get into a golf phase. Right now it’s the music and I’m kind of obsessing on this tour. I get kind of a one-track mind, and even though I might not be working hard on it, it’s a great job. It’s a lot of fun. I always feel I have to work pretty hard on it because it doesn’t come naturally. This is kind of a new thing. Other than that, I just kind of hang out on the stoop in the rocking chair, just kind of watching the grass grow. Rock And Blues International: In the rocking chair? Kyle Gass: Well, I don’t have a rocking chair, but it’s the metaphor, the proverbial rocking chair. Rock And Blues International: Tell me a little bit about the band. Are you taking anybody on the road with you that we might have heard of? Kyle Gass: I’m excited that my two comrades, John Spiker and John Konesky, who I met around 2002 and they were in

Trainwreck, my side band for many years and then they joined the Tenacious D tracking band in 2006 will be along. And then John Spiker, the bassist went on to become our producer and engineer and actually tour manager. So he has just been just an incredible friend and co-conspirator for many years, so I’m taking those guys. And my usual drummer is actually out with a band called All Good Things. They like hit the top of the Rock Charts, so they’re doing pretty good, so he’s out and I had to get a new drummer. I just met him. I’m actually excited to work with him, so it’s a new lineup. I haven’t ever worked with a four-piece. Usually with Tenacious D we’re two-piece or five-piece, and then my other two bands were five-piece, so I’m pairing it down to four this time. I just always want to be The Beatles, so the only way to do it would be a four-piece. Rock And Blues International: Always wanted to be The Beatles… Kyle Gass: Yeah that’s always been my goal. Rock And Blues International: And which Beatle would you be? Kyle Gass: I think I’d be John (Kyle fakes a British accent). He’s kind of the primitive, the sort of clever one. And then the bass player, Mr. Everything… he would be Paul. John would be George, and the new guy would have to be Ringo. We have better equipment. I don’t know why we couldn’t be as good. Rock And Blues International: I don’t know why you couldn’t either. You’ve got some great tunes. Kyle Gass: There you go… great tunes and some great players… We’ve got the way.

Rock and Blues International • October 2021

Kyle Gass: Yeah and I was out there shaking hands and taking selfies. I had never really been through one. It was hard to really feel it at first for a lot of people. It seemed like some kind of new hype. Rock And Blues International: Did you get sick? Kyle Gass: No, I don’t think I got it. Unless I was asymptomatic, I don’t think I got it. Rock And Blues International: Well, the name of the new song is “Vaccinated.” Did you get vaccinated? Kyle Gass: I did, I did. It sounds like a good deal to me unless there’s a tracking device. I don’t know. And even if there is, you’re not going to find me anywhere, and it seems like it’s good if it’s keeping you out of the hospital and keeping you from getting sick. Kevin, did you get one? Rock And Blues International: Yes, I did. Actually I caught Covid and after I recovered, I got the shot. Better late than never. Just imagine… ten years from now you’ll find out that tracking device was in there. So, what else do we need to know about the “Kyle Gass Must Save The World Tour 2021” at this point. Kyle Gass: It’s just going to be probably the most daring, entertaining, musical performance art that they’ve ever seen. I’m going to give it everything I’ve got and if they don’t tap their toes, then I’ve failed. By gum, I’m going to give it all I got. As you can tell, talking with Kyle Gass was a blast. If you get a chance, drop by and catch his act if you can when Kyle Gass brings his “Kyle Gass Must Save The World Tour 2021” to a city near you and be sure to check out his new song, “Vaccinated”.

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Robbie Williams Releases Remastered First Two Multiplatinum Albums On Vinyl For The First Time Remastered and on vinyl for the first time... Life Thru A Lens and I’ve Been Expecting You

OUT TODAY …including special edition colour vinyl Robbie Williams has reissued his first two multi-million selling solo albums Life Thru A Lens and I’ve Been Expecting You on vinyl for the very first time including a special edition white vinyl of ‘Life Thru A Lens’ and aquamarine for ‘I’ve Been Expecting You’ that are available exclusively at https://robbiewilliams.lnk.to/LPreissue. Both titles have been newly mastered at Abbey Road Studios, are pressed on 180 gram heavyweight vinyl and housed in gatefold sleeves, reproducing the original distinctive artwork. Both titles come with Download codes.

Buy It Now At https://robbiewilliams.lnk.to/LPreissue Originally released in October 1997, Life Thru A Lens was Robbie’s debut solo album. It entered the chart at number 11 but had to wait almost six months before it reached number one. It eventually spent 147 weeks on the Top 100 and has been certified 8x Platinum by the BPI for UK sales in excess of 2 million copies. It includes the hit singles “Old Before I Die” (No. 2), “Lazy Days” (No. 8), “South Of The Border” (No. 14), “Let Me Entertain You” (No. 3) and “Angels” (No. 4), the latter his biggest selling single to date and voted the best song of the last twentyfive years at the 2005 BRIT Awards. Robbie Williams “Angels” - Link/Embed: https://youtu.be/luwAMFcc2f8 Now certified 10 x Platinum by the BPI, with UK sales in excess of 2.5 million, I’ve Been Expecting You was originally released in October 1998 when it entered the chart at number one. It returned to the summit the following January and once again a month later. It includes the hit singles “Millennium” (No. 1), “No Regrets” (No. 4), “Strong” (No. 4) and “She’s The One” (No. 1). “No Regrets” features backing vocals from Pet Shop Boys’ Neil Tennant and The Divine Comedy’s Neil Hannon, while album track “Win Some Lose Some” includes the ‘Telephone Voice’ of All Saints’ Nicole Appleton. Robbie Williams “Millennium” - Link/Embed: https://youtu.be/xcWOviMI6Lk

Side B 1. One Of God’s Better People 2. Let Me Entertain You 3. Killing Me 4. Clean 5. Baby Girl Window

Life Thru A Lens Side A 1. Lazy Days 2. Life Thru A Lens 3. Ego A Go-Go 4. Angels 5. South of the Border 6. Old Before I Die 28 Rock and Blues International • October

I’ve Been Expecting You Side A 1. Strong 2. No Regrets 3. Millennium 4. Phoenix From The Flames 2021

5. Win Some Lose Some 6. Grace Side B 1. It’s Only Us 2. Heaven From Here 3. Karma Killer 4. She’s The One 5. Man Machine 6. These Dreams

October 2021 • Rock and Blues International

New Music From New Zealand

Thomston Shares New Single “Honeymoon” Listen here at https://stem.ffm.to/-honeymoon Following the recent release of “Magnolia (ft. Zeph)” (https://open.spotify.com/track/6IeY74KULDc4J6Eu6CwJBK?si=4383ff372d2d415e&nd=1), THOMSTON shares his new single ‘Honeymoon,’ a look at the point of a relationship where the heat has started to fade and one is forced to examine the hard truths they were so easily able to overlook once before. ‘Honeymoon’ showcases Thomston and Dylan Nash’s upbeat dance forward production ironically set against the sad realization that the honeymoon period is over. Thomston says, “‘Honeymoon’ (https://open.spotify.com/track/0Bp1hCBkBhqrFqumpNoqkX?si=RTRpQEcITe2Rmdjq-XDLHQ&nd=1) is about losing that all-encompassing head rush at the start of a relationship, and taking a realistic assessment of where you’re at. You start to romanticise everything from the ‘before times’, when your brain was spitting out all the chemicals to make you feel euphoric, untouchable. I loved the idea of taking a really pragmatic look at love, dissecting both some cold honesties and some earnest self reflection.” A “New Zealand art-r&b aesthete,” (The Fader) THOMSTON has honed an intriguing sound of his own with inspiration from Frank Ocean and James Blake and a razor-sharp pen reminiscent of Taylor Swift and Lorde. In 2018, his anthemic single ‘The Heights’ soared to #1 on the Hot NZ Pop Chart leading to an MTV EMA nomination for Best New Zealand Artist, joining the ranks of Lorde, Benee, Kimbra and more. The lyrics “so if I fall, it’ll be cause I jumped and if I jump it’ll be because I’m reaching the heights,” are symbolic of his steady rise to recognition. By 2019, he had been named One To Watch from the likes of Triple J in Australia to KCRW statewise as his follow-up single ‘Acid Rain’ (https://youtu.be/9ju58Kmy-zw) (both self-written and produced) became his most well-received release to date. Since he emerged with his debut record Topograph https://open.spotify.com/album/4p4wYF1OGj7Mm5qPcKIXkT?si=dtiUYqALRL2IlfH6-LPvLw&nd=1) as a teenager, New Zealand’s best kept secret has amassed over 150 million streams worldwide, toured in support of Broods and Billie Eilish, and received acclaim from tastemakers such The Fader, Noisey, NYLON, Pigeons & Planes and COMPLEX among others. Thomston’s sophomore album featuring ‘Honeymoon,’ ‘Magnolia,’ and ‘JPA989’ is set for late 2021. CONNECT WITH THOMSTON…

Instagram @ https://www.instagram.com/thomston/ Twitter @ https://twitter.com/ThomstonMusic Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/thomstonmusic/ YouTube @ https://www.youtube.com/user/thomstonmusic Spotify @ https://open.spotify.com/artist/0VQKssIfRKfSd7IfW3JIP1?si=BC0SJcgzSAiXjiIyW4znXw&nd=1 Rock and Blues International • October 2021

New Music From Canada

Photo by Lindsey Blane

Juno Award Winning Duo Dear Rouge Return With New Single “Fake Fame” Listen and Share: Dear Rouge - “Fake Fame” Stream @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8sjcvhmszo&ab_channel=DearRouge With comeback single “Fake Fame,” Vancouver alternative rock duo Dear Rouge comes roaring back into the spotlight, making short work of calling out the overinflated socialite influencers we see splashed across our social media. Today, the track was premiered via Glide. On the new track, vocalist Danielle spits out “I don’t want your fake fame!” with palpable bitterness, the latter word stretching out like an elastic before snapping into the chanting chorus melody. “Stardom is alluring and fascinating,” said Danielle. “It can also be toxic, destructive, and entrapping. Just before writing this song, I actually deleted all social media f rom my phone. It felt like a small act of rebellion against the anxiety and pressure I felt. In our digital age where anyone can blow up overnight, or one can buy followers and validation, what does notability mean? “Fake Fame” is our attempt to answer to this question. It examines our addiction to technology, social media culture, fast fashion, and the tension between desiring and despising fame.” Dear Rouge’s eagerly anticipated third record is due in early 2022. If there’s one constant in life, it’s this: nothing stays the same. Change is inevitable, for better or for worse—it’s the sinister shadow lurking behind the sunniest day, the silver lining that offsets every cloud. That mutability is something with which the members of Dear Rouge are intimately familiar. Since putting out their debut EP in 2012, Drew and Danielle McTaggart have been on a somewhat breathtaking upward trajectory. That independent release led to another one, and the accolades began to flood in: a B.C.-based radio award, songwriting prizes, a sweet record deal, charting singles, and a 2016 Juno for Breakthrough Group of the Year followed in short order. DEAR ROUGE LINKS WEBSITE @ https://www.dearrouge.com/ FACEBOOK@ https://www.facebook.com/DearRouge/ TWITTER @ https://twitter.com/DearRouge?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor INSTAGRAM @ https://www.instagram.com/dearrouge/?hl=en SOUNDCLOUD @ https://soundcloud.com/dear-rouge October 2021 • Rock and Blues International

New Music From Germany

Alice Merton Shares “Hero” Single + Video and “Island” B-Side

Watch the Music Video for “Hero,” Directed by Anuk Rohde. Both Tracks Out Now via Mom + Pop Music LISTEN & SHARE: Alice Merton - “Hero/Island” Stream @ https://lnk.to/alicemerton-hero-island WATCH & SHARE: Alice Merton - “Hero” YouTube @ https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=4rHFchfrA4s&ab_channel=AliceMerton WATCH & SHARE: Alice Merton - “Vertigo” (Lights Out In The Basement) YouTube @ https://youtu.be/UuB8bfw91GM

LISTEN/WATCH & SHARE: Alice Merton - “Vertigo” Stream @ https://youtu.be/H80R8AI6MsY / Soundcloud @ https:// soundcloud.com/alicemerton/vertigo Now, Alice Merton returns with a two-track single entitled “Hero/Island” (https://lnk.to/alicemerton-hero-island) in addition to a music video for Side-A, “Hero” (https://youtu.be/4rHFchfrA4s), released via Mom + Pop Music. “Everything I felt in the last year was summed up in the first two sentences of the song,” Alice said of “Hero.” “It’s about the conflict of wanting something so bad, but realizing you just don’t have the strength to fight for it anymore. It talks about the discrepancy of wanting to be someone’s everything, and at the same time wishing they meant nothing to you.”

The “Hero” music video was directed by Anuk Rohde, who previously worked with Merton on the video for her stand-out single, “Vertigo.” Alice will also be performing the track live on television at Goldene Henne, Germany’s biggest audience award ceremony gala, on September 17th. Alice Merton has over 616MM+ total global streams, with her breakthrough debut single “No Roots” having nearly 1MM+ creations on TikTok. Merton’s previous TV performances include The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, LIVE! With Kelly and Ryan (x2), The Late Late Show with James Corden, and Good Day NY (x2). Alice Merton had a headline US tour after her debut. She has played major global festivals and also went on tour supporting Vance Joy. Deemed an “Artist You Need To Know” by Rolling Stone, Merton has received press support from Billboard, Stereogum, Line Of Best Fit, and more. Alice Merton - “Hero” Watch the video directed by Anuk Rohde at https://youtu.be/4rHFchfrA4s ALICE MERTON LINKS Website @ https://www.alicemerton.com/ Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/alicemerton/ Twitter @ https://twitter.com/alicemerton?lang=en Soundcloud @ https://soundcloud.com/alicemerton Bandcamp @ https://alicemertonmusic.bandcamp.com/ Instagram @ https://www.instagram.com/alicemerton/?hl=en

She continued, “Island’ acknowledges the struggle and desire to survive together, while ‘Hero’ calls a ceasefire and waves a flag to announce its surrender.” 32 Rock and Blues International • October 2021

YouTube @ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkzn5xgDaXXRi_pvcZ02rQ

October 2021 • Rock and Blues International

New Music From Canada

Homeshake by Salina Ladha

Homeshake Releases New Album Under The Weather Out Now Via Shhoamee/Sinderlyn Under The Weather LISTEN: https://homeshake.ffm.to/undertheweather.opr Toronto-based musician Homeshake, born Peter Sagar, shares his new album Under The Weather. Written in 2019, Under The Weather, is out via SHHOAMKEE/Sinderlyn and is Sagar’s fifth studio album under the Homeshake moniker. The album is an atmospheric, 12-track reflection on life and depression, and documents a long, unrelenting period of sadness for the artist.

installation where fans will have the opportunity to speak directly with Peter on the phone from 12 pm - 2 pm PT. The collection will drop online Tuesday, September 14th at 10 am PT, and at Brain Dead Studios Fairfax, Brain Dead Studios Harajuku, Dover Street Market London, Dover Street Market LA, and Dover Street Market NY shortly following the initial drop.

To coincide with the album’s release, a special line of Under The Weather products will be released in collaboration with LA-based streetwear brand Brain Dead, including an exclusive color vinyl pressing, long-sleeve tshirt, hoodie, hat, and rug. The Brain Dead collection will be exclusively available in-store at Brain Dead Studios Fairfax on Saturday, September 11th, alongside a “Homeshake Hotline”

The album’s release closely follows the Keith Rankin-directed video, “I Know I Know I Know” ( https:// youtu.be/Va_tfmIgZTw ), one of three singles shared in tandem with an animated visual, following “Passenger Seat” ( https://youtu.be/AqYq7noGV8o ), directed by Pete Sharp and “Vacuum” ( https://youtu.be/VQlow5Gvk-8 ), directed by Jordan Speer. Homeshake teamed up with aforementioned Brain

40 34

Rock and Blues International •• November October 2021 2020

Dead Studios, the producer for each of the videos, to create a cohesive visual universe around the record with the animations and forthcoming merchandise. Under The Weather also arrives ahead of Homeshake’s 2022 North American and European tours. Homeshake’s North American tour will begin April 2nd in Edmonton and will continue on across the country for 33 dates, including stops in Brooklyn, Houston, Los Angeles, Chicago and more, before concluding the run May 26th in Detroit. He’ll be joined by UK duo Babeheaven from April 18th through April 27th and Bay Area artist Salami Rose Joe Louis from April 28th through May 26th. The European leg of the tour kicks off on September 14th in Glasgow continued on next page

Homeshake continued from previous page and wraps up in Warsaw on September 29th. Tickets are available here at https://homeshake.net/. To further celebrate the release of Under The Weather, Homeshake also shares a weather forecast app that gets a fan’s location (or lets them input one to get a result for other places), queries OpenWeather’s API to find out the weather they are experiencing, and suggests an appropriate song from the album to accompany their day. You can try it out at https:// homeshake.net/forecast/. Unlike most of us, Peter Sagar — also known as Homeshake — was staying at home a lot, long before the pandemic. Sagar wrote the majority of his fifth studio album, Under the Weather, in 2019, when he was going through a long, unrelenting period of sadness. “I was in a deep, deep depression,” he recalls of that time period now. “Tours were breaking me. It was awful.” Sagar and his partner were living in Montreal and while everyone was out being social, he was inside listening to ambient music, binging Star Trek, and writing songs. (Sound familiar?) “It was a bit of a dark pit,” he says. “That’s kind of what the whole album is about.” Under the Weather follows Sagar’s life and the depression that consumed him in 2019 — after a brief album intro, it jumps right into “Feel Better,” a reflection on attempting to buck up when the weather outside is grim. The album is hazy and moody, the pace slow as syrup, and from beginning to end, a fog falls over every synth and guitar line. In “Inaminit,” Sagar cancels plans when he’s feeling low; the closing track, “Tenterhooks,” sees Sagar’s deliverance into the depths of despair: “Feel myself drying up / feel myself turn into dust,” he sings over a funhouse mirror synth. “Oftentimes when you’re in a dark place, you’re supposed to journal and that helps release the pressure,” Sagar says. “For me, it always found its way into the music.” Capturing the cloudy sound of a depressive funk was no simple feat, especially in the headspace Sagar was in for over a year. For that reason, he decided to enlist his friend, Jerry Paper’s Lucas Nathan, to help with production on the record. Having Nathan contribute helped Sagar dial back some of “dry, pristine digital sound” that defined his fourth studio album, Helium, and add back personal analog touches that drew people to the Homeshake project in the first place. “I didn’t realize how much I missed having a second set of ears. It’s pretty invaluable,” Sagar says. He would send all the of tracks back and forth with Nathan over the course of 2019, which made the process a longer one than he was used to. “There are a lot of things that I probably wouldn’t have done that Lucas did do. I would tend to do a lot of softening of things, a lot of making everything super bassy and gentle. Lucas was aware that sometimes you needed some punch and grit.” To Sagar, those additions made the record what it is — a melodic, honest look at personal emotional struggle.

isolated, alone, and despondent, it has begun to seem eerily prescient. “People will probably think that I made Under the Weather during or about Covid,” Sagar reflects now. “I was just already living my life that way.” For Sagar, the feelings he experienced over the course of that year are far from over — “I’ve been writing about feeling isolated my whole life,” he says — but with age, he has come to understand them better. “I had a fairly clear idea what the album was going to be like based on where I was emotionally at the time,” he says about Under the Weather. “I just try to make music that is honest about how I’m feeling.” Listen to Under The Weather above and find full album details and more about Homeshake below. Stay tuned for more from the artist coming soon. Homeshake Under The Weather SHHOAMKEE/Sinderlyn September 10th, 2021 1. Wake Up! 2. Feel Better 3. Vacuum 4. I Know I Know I Know 5. Inaminit 6. Careful 7. Mindless 8. Spend It 9. Half Asleep After the Movies 10. Passenger Seat 11. Tenterhooks 12. Reboot!

continued on next page

As Sagar releases the record he wrote about feeling October 2021 • Rock and Blues International

Homeshake continued from previous page Upcoming Tour Dates: *Month/Day 4/2 - Edmonton, AB @ Starlite 4/3 - Calgary, AB @ Commonwealth 4/15 - Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall 4/16 - Montreal, QC @ Fairmount Theatre 4/18 - Boston, MA @ Royale+ 4/19 - Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel+ 4/20 - Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts+ 4/22 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club+ 4/23 - Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle+ 4/24 - Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse+ 4/25 - Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge+ 4/27 - New Orleans, LA @ Republic New Orleans+ 4/28 - Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live* 4/29 - Austin, TX @ Hotel Vegas* 4/30 - Dallas, TX @ Studio At The Factory 5/2 - San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger* 5/3 - El Paso, TX @ Lowbrow Palace* 5/4 - Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom 5/6 - San Diego, CA @ Observatory North Park* 5/7 - Las Vegas, NV @ 24 Oxford at Virgin Hotels* 5/8 - Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory* 5/12 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern* 5/13 - San Francisco, CA @ The Regency Ballroom* 5/14 - Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom* 5/16 - Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre* 5/17 - Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile*

Homeshake x Brain Dead Hoodie (green)

5/19 - Boise, ID @ Neurolux* 5/20 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge* 5/21 - Englewood, CO @ Gothic Theatre* 5/23 - Kansas City, MO @ Record Bar* 5/24 - Minneapolis, MN @ The Cedar Cultural Center* 5/25 - Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall* 5/26 - Detroit, MI @ The Majestic Theater* 9/14 9/15 9/16 9/17 9/18 9/20 9/21 9/22 9/23 9/25 9/27 9/28 9/29

Glasgow, UK @ Saint Luke’s Manchester, UK @ Gorilla Leeds, UK @ Belgrave Music Hall London UK @ Electric Brixton Brighton, UK @ Chalk Paris, FR @ Trabendo Köln, DE @ Bumann & SOHN Utrecht, NL @ TivoliVendenburg Antwerpt, BL @ Muziekcentrum Trix Copenhagen, DK @ Vega Berlin, DE @ Festsaal Kreuzberg Poznan, PL @ LAB Warsaw, PL @ Klub Hydrozagadka

* = w/ Salami Rose Joe Louis + = w/ Babeheaven Connect with Homeshake: Twitter https://twitter.com/ HOOMESHAAKE?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pitersugar/ ?hl=en Bandcamp https://homeshake.bandcamp.com/

Homeshake x Brain Dead Sweatshirt (blue) Sinderlyn Vinyl Mockup

Rock and Blues International • October 2021

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Rock and Blues International • February 2021

December 2020 • Rock and Blues International

Floating Records Releases Drink More By The County Line Floating Records is proud to announce the return of the sonic-ally-experimental musical collaboration known as The County Well: Drink More (Release Date: Tuesday, September 21). Drink More follows the success of the release of their debut CD, “Future Country,” and second outing, “A Little Infinity,” which was paired with the creation of a uniquely-crafted infinity lager beer from the Sawtooth Brewery. Don Zimmer is Floating Records co-founder and musician, who both produced and penned most the tracks on Drink More and plays guitar on the album as well. “Drink More” continues the creeds of Freedom and Fun. Having moved to the Wood River Valley of Idaho from Marin County, where The County Well was conceived, Don Zimmer, County Well co-founder, who is also producer, guitarist and songwriter, has continued his creative pursuit of the Tom Waits-Mad Professor-of-theRecording Studio style. Painstakingly recording one track at a time with stalwart musicians from across the country, Zimmer has produced a twelve-song, thirty-two-minute journey across multiple musical genres. Graham Guest, County Well co-founder (of Houston-based group Moses Guest) provides lead vocals, guitar, banjo, pedal steel and keyboard throughout—all while adding significant tone, texture and style to the tracks. Local Idaho heroine Michaela French and Michael Michaela French Don Zimmer Batdorf (One Ton Pig) contribute lead vocals as well. Also featured: on drums, Josh Kelly (Bruce Willis Band); bass, Lyle Evans (Chris LeDoux); horns, Bob Hemenger; violin, Bill Panks; keyboards, Adam Rossi (Jeffrey Halford); local Paul Gregory on guitar, Mark Karan (from Bob Weir’s Ratdog); plus the aforementioned Guest and Zimmer. The uniqueness of The County Well: Drink More comes from the joy of the recording studio and the love of blending voices while keeping the rhythms and grooves tight. Drink More was produced at a time when session work was the only work around. Floating Records is honored to share the captured sounds of these incredibly talented artists.

The County Well: Drink More/Track-By-Track “Gifted Spirit” (Vocals: Graham Guest): The short euphoric time between triumph and breaking the law “Hope I Fall” (Vocals: Michaela French): The wonder of love “Jackson” (Vocals: Michaela French): Your favorite road “Wigwam” (Vocals: Michaela French): Partner search “Volume and Speed” (Vocals: Michaela French): When a little rain alters your course “Big Country Love” (Vocals: Michael Batdorf): A plush couch of groove “Shimmy Shake” (Vocals: Graham Guest): She’s a unique person “Drinkin’ And Smokin’ (Vocals: Michaela French): Relationships are hard “Peruvian Lillies” (Vocals: Graham Guest): A comment about your personal garden. “Truck” (Vocals: Michela French and Michael Batdorf): Famous bluegrasser’s belonging disrupts your thought “Wamwig” (Instrumental): More groove “Drink More” (Vocals: Michaela French): Life-altering strategy 38

Rock and Blues International • October 2021

June 2021 • Rock and Blues International 45

Credit: Jeremy Cowart

Birdtalker Are “Taking Control” With Emphatic New Single, Out Now Self-Titled Sophomore Album Out October 8th Via AntiFragile Music Listen to “Taking Control” here at https://youtu.be/O84lL9Z59_M Watch the live performance of “Taking Control” here at https://youtu.be/jNbtanro0ig Pre-order/pre-save Birdtalker here at https://ffm.to/birdtalkeralbum Watch the live performance of “Better Days” here at https://youtu.be/IMQxIjTP7kY Watch the live performance of “Old Sob Story” here at https://youtu.be/117o59qKWrw Watch the live performance of “Tides” here at https://youtu.be/csk9ZHvSt90 Birdtalker online: Website @ https://www.birdtalkermusic.com/ Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/Birdtalker Twitter @ https://twitter.com/birdtalkermusic Instagram @ https://www.instagram.com/birdtalkermusic/?hl=en 40

Rock and Blues International • October 2021

Birdtalker Are “Taking Control” continued from previous page “It’s a silly lil tune about codependence - moving from a place of caring more about how I am perceived to a place where I can rediscover what motivates me and what my instincts are,” the band told The Boot, who featured the track. “I love how the chorus peeks out of the co-dependent headspace by starting with ‘I hope you don’t mind,’ but finishes with ‘I’m taking control of the skin I’m swimming in.’ The bridge plays with timing and it feels like it reveals a bit of hesitation behind the lyrics.” “Taking Control” follows the release of the breezy duet “Tides” ( https://ffm.to/_tides ) and “Old Sob Story” ( https:// youtu.be/kwuWNdDA8V4 ), a rollicking song full of bravado and sass that Rolling Stone called “at times evoking the dramatic flair of the Decemberists’ Colin Meloy, at others the bravado (and glammy tones of Marc Bolan.” Lead single “Better Days” is also out now, a tranquil yet stirring song that finds the quintet reawakening and optimistically looking forward. With their new album, Birdtalker find solid ground and step into their own with their most confident and unrestrained set of songs to date. Fronted by Zack and Dani, along with Brian Seligman (guitar), Jesse Baker (bass), and newcomer Chris Wilson (drums/percussion), Birdtalker explore how to navigate the unknown, embrace uncertainty, and learn to let go. With the unexpected success of their 2017 breakout single “Heavy” ( https:/ /youtu.be/OdrSSRYgfVk )(now over 80 million streams), the band had to write, record, and release their first album with a sense of urgency. The whirlwind debut (which garnered acclaim from Rolling Stone, NPR Music, Billboard, World Cafe, American Songwriter, and Relix among others) led to non-stop touring, festival appearances, and even their debut performance on the world famous Grand Ole Opry. This time around, the group found themselves much more comfortable in their own skin with no deadlines, zero restrictions, and a crystal-clear vision. It allowed them the time and space to be more explorative and curious, which can be heard in the expanded sonic palette across the album and the creative confident songwriting. The band recently spoke with Ditty TV and stated, “This new record was made from a place where urgency and timeline were non-issues. It was strangely aligned for us to hole up, write, and get into the studio to make these songs. The freedom that space provided contributed to a lot of exploration and collaboration with the whole band in a way we had not yet experienced. I think the arrangements are cleverer, the lyrics feel more lived in, and the energy in the performances reflects the joy it was to create.” This fall, Birdtalker will hit the road on an extensive 30+ date nationwide tour in support of their new album. Watch their official tour announce video here at https://youtu.be/ acCk7GPZZGU. Tickets are on sale now. For more information, please visit www.birdtalkermusic.com/tour.

On Tour This Fall 10/01 - Greenville, SC @ Radio Room 10/02 - Charlotte, NC @ Tuck Fest 10/03 - Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle Back Room 10/05 - Richmond, VA @ The Camel 10/06 - Vienna, VA @ Jammin Java

Track Listing: 01) Right On Time 02) I Know 03) Better Days 04) Clear Water 05) Old Sob Story 06) The Dream 07) Taking Control 08) Tides 09) Nothing Ever Stays 10) Dawn 11) Alright 12) Apes In A Daydream 10/07 - Philadelphia, PA @ Milkboy 10/08 - New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge 10/09 - Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Upstairs 10/22 - Aspen, CO @ Wheeler Opera House 10/23 - Denver, CO @ Globe Hall 10/24 - Boulder, CO @ Fox Theatre 10/26 - Salt Lake City, UT @ The State Room 10/28 - Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern 10/29 - Vancouver, BC, Canada @ The Fox Cabaret 10/30 - Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios 11/02 - Sacramento, CA @ Goldfield Trading Post 11/03 - Petaluma, CA @ Mystic Theatre 11/04 - Berkeley, CA @ Cornerstone Berkley 11/05 - Felton, CA @ Felton Music Hall 11/09 - Anaheim, CA @ The Parish at House of Blues Anaheim 11/10 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo 11/11 - San Diego, CA @ Casbah 11/12 - Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar 11/13 - Tucson, AZ @ 191 Toole 11/16 - Waco, TX @ Common Grounds 11/17 - Austin, TX @ Antone’s 11/18 - San Antonio, TX @ Sam’s Burger Joint 11/19 - Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall Upstairs 11/20 - Fort Worth, TX @ Tulips 11/21 - Oklahoma City, OK @ Ponyboy October 2021 • Rock and Blues International 41

Photo Cred: Yana Yatsuk

Scott von Ryper (The Jesus and Mary Chain/Black Ryder) Shares “Over & Over” Dream State Treasure LP Out October 15 Via Tran-si-ent Records/SilverDoor Music PRE-SAVE/PRE-ORDER: Scott von Ryper - Dream State Treasure Pre-Save at https://backl.ink/148038587 / Pre-Order at https://scottvonryper.bandcamp.com/album/dream-state-treasure LISTEN & SHARE: Scott von Ryper - “Over & Over” Stream at https://soundcloud.com/vonryper/over-over/s-CoGhFHFBDD4 / YouTube at https://youtu.be/kMIXynkW4Xk Scott von Ryper (The Jesus and Mary Chain/Black Ryder) makes his solo debut with an LP entitled Dream State Treasure (due October 15 via Tran-si-ent Records and in conjunction with SilverDoor Music), and now he shares its second single, “Over & Over.” 42

Primarily recorded and mixed in his home studio between 2018 - 2020, von Ryper utilized the break from touring and isolation in 2020 to explore sonic themes that he had experimented with early in his career when still recording on a 4-track, but just now producing them on a much grander scale,

Rock and Blues International • October 2021

playing most of the instruments, recording, producing and mixing the majority of the record himself, with additional recording from Los Angeles engineer Norm Block, who also played drums on the record. continued on next page

Scott von Ryper continued from previous page Dream State Treasure TRACKLISTING 01. Over & Over 02. The Devil’s Son 03. Getting on home 04. Goodnight, Goodbye 05. Lucifer 06. Pulse 07. Oh my lord, take my soul 08. Reckoning The title, Dream State Treasure, is partly an acknowledgment of that fact that elements of the album came to von Ryper whilst dreaming. “I recall at least two occasions where I awoke out of a dream and went directly to the studio to record or completely change songs. “Goodnight, Goodbye” was a complete song that came that way, and “The Devil’s Son,” was one where I simply awoke with a clear understanding on how to rearrange & reproduce an existing song that I was struggling with. What I awoke with in my mind was a much slower, more soulful song, and played on piano, not guitar. This reinvented version then formed a sonic bond with two other existing songs, and became the essence of the entire record to me. I honestly think it was the track that made me fully realize that I now had the album I wanted to make.” Scott von Ryper is an Australian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer. He is best known for being a founding member of the Australian duo The Black Ryder, and current guitarist for the iconic Scottish group The Jesus and Mary Chain. von Ryper grew up playing in

various bands in Sydney, Australia in the 1990’s, having some minor success with his first group, signing to EMI at age 19. He later joined the Melbourne originated neo-psychedelia band The Morning After Girls in 2004. The band toured the U.S., U.K., and Japan multiple times over the next few years. In 2007, von Ryper formed The Black Ryder with then partner Aimee Nash, and engineered their debut album, Buy the ticket, take the Ride. The album also featured guest players from bands such as Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Church, and Swervedriver. Released in 2009 through EMI and later through Mexican Summer in the U.S., their debut was included in Rolling Stone Magazine’s Best Albums of 2010,

and also earned them a nomination for Best New Artist. The Black Ryder gained an international fan base very quickly and relocated to the U.S. in 2010 where they released their second LP, The door behind the door, in 2015. In late 2015, von Ryper joined The Jesus and Mary Chain as their touring guitarist, and has been touring globally with the band since. In late 2020, he completed his first solo record, Dream State Treasure, which he recorded, produced and mixed the majority of at his studio in Los Angeles. The album is scheduled for release 15th October 2021 on his own imprint - Transi-ent Records and in conjunction with SilverDoor Music.

SCOTT VON RYPER LINKS Website @ https://scottvonryper.com Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/ScottvonRyper Instagram @ https://www.instagram.com/vonryper/ Twitter @ https://twitter.com/VonRyper YouTube @ https://tellallyourfriendspr.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=63f1674ecdb2a4574b77e600b&id=c9617f19eb&e=28146e6e7b October 2021 • Rock and Blues International

Rock and Blues International

• October 2021

October 2021 • Rock and Blues International

Credit: Nova Rockafeller

Chelsea Cutler Announces Sophomore Album When I Close My Eyes Out October 15th RELEASES NEW SINGLE “CALLING ALL ANGELS” FEAT. QUINN XCII CURRENTLY ON CO-HEADLINE “STAY NEXT TO ME TOUR” WITH QUINN XCII

PRE-SAVE WHEN I CLOSE MY EYES here at https://presave.umusic.com/chelsea-cutler-wicme-pre-save LISTEN TO “CALLING ALL ANGELS” here at https://chelseacutler.lnk.to/CallingAllAngelsPR CHELSEA CUTLER: INSTAGRAM @ https://www.instagram.com/chelseacutler/ TIKTOK @ https://www.tiktok.com/@chelseacutlerofficial?lang=en TWITTER @ https://twitter.com/chelseacutler FACEBOOK @ https://www.facebook.com/chelseacutlermusic/ YOUTUBE @ https://www.youtube.com/c/ChelseaCutler 52 46

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Chelsea Cutler continued from previous page Platinum Certified singer, songwriter, and producer Chelsea Cutler reveals her anxiously awaited sophomore album, When I Close My Eyes, will be released on October 15th—pre-save it now here at https://presave.umusic.com/chelsea-cutler-wicme-pre-save. To celebrate the announcement, Chelsea teams up with friend and fellow “Stay Next To Me” tour mate Quinn XCII on her new single, “Calling All Angels,” out today—listen here at https://chelseacutler.lnk.to/ CallingAllAngelsPR. Chelsea Cutler wrote “Calling All Angels” with Quinn XCII, ayokay, and Hazey Eyes during a writing trip to Newport, RI, where much of the album was written and recorded. The song rides a dreamy bass line and steady cymbals towards a fingersnap-laden hook. Chelsea says, “My mom used to always say, ‘Calling All Angels’ to me as a kid. It always made me think of protection. The song is a well wish to other people.” Quinn XCII chimes in, saying, “Chelsea and I have been collaborating on each other’s projects for years, and I’m always so honored to be a part of her journey. Every time we make a song together, it feels particularly special because it is always effortless and something we feel our fans will always love. I can’t wait to play this together every night on tour the next few weeks.” “Calling All Angels” follows Chelsea’s recently released singles, “You Can Have It” and “Walking Away,” the latter of which was lovingly dubbed the “Jeep Song” by her fans after she teased a short snippet of the track on Instagram months before it was released. Together, the songs have amassed nearly 8 million combined streams to date and have been praised by the likes of Entertainment Tonight, UPROXX, Consequence, HYPEBAE, Ones To Watch, and more. As Chelsea gears up to release When I Close My Eyes, she is currently on her co-headline “Stay Next To Me Tour” with Quinn XCII, which includes two upcoming sold out shows at New York’s iconic Radio City Music Hall on September 17th and 18th. Tickets are on sale now at https://www.chelseacutler.com/. This exciting new chapter follows Chelsea’s critically acclaimed 2020 debut album, How To Be Human, 2021 brent ii EP with Jeremy Zucker, and a slew of widely praised collaborations over the past year, including “Stay Next To Me” with Quinn XCII, “Little Things” with Louis The Child and Quinn XCII, “Crying Over You” with The Band CAMINO, and “Crazier Things” with Noah Kahan. Stay tuned for more new music to come from Chelsea Cutler this fall! Instantly-relatable lyrics and handcrafted lo-fi soundscapes have established Chelsea Cutler as a quiet, yet disruptive, force for popular music. Within two short years, the singer, songwriter, and producer went from bedroom-constructed uploads to 750 million-plus cumulative streams and acclaim from Billboard, The New York Times, E! News, PAPER Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Refinery29, UPROXX, HYPEBAE, L’Officiel, Ones To Watch, and more. In 2017, her breakthrough single “Your Shirt” paved the way for her debut EP, Snow In October. Leaving college shortly after, she hit the road alongside Quinn XCII at the top of 2018 before kicking off a prolific string of releases, including the independently released mixtapes Sleeping with Roses and Sleeping with Roses II, leading to two completely sold-out nationwide headline tours in 2018 and 2019 and appearances at Governors Ball, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, and more. Signing to Republic Records in 2019, she uncovered undeniable chemistry with Jeremy Zucker on the collaborative brent EP, which spawned the platinum single “you were good to me.” Honing her style further, she unveiled her 2020 debut album, How To Be Human, featuring the breakout single “Sad Tonight.” Bringing the new music to fans across the country, she launched the sold-out “How To Be Human Tour” in early 2020, highlighted by two consecutive sellouts at Terminal 5 in New York City. In 2021, she reteamed with Zucker on the brent ii EP and notched another fan favorite anthem with “this is how you fall in love.” Along the way, the

WHEN I CLOSE MY EYES TRACKLIST: “Forever” “Calling All Angels” feat. Quinn XCII “Easy” “Devil On My Shoulder” “When I Close My Eyes” “Walking Away” “Without You” “Under” “Red Flags” “You Can Have It” “If I Hadn’t Met You” “You’re Gonna Miss This” likes of Quinn XCII, Louis The Child, The Band CAMINO, and Noah Kahan all teamed up with her for collaborations. In between, she lit up television with performances on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Late Late Show with James Corden, Late Night with Seth Meyers, Today, and more. Chelsea Cutler kicks off her next chapter of her sophomore album, When I Close My Eyes, with a massive coheadline tour highlighted by two sold-out nights at the legendary Radio City Music Hall and more new music.

October 2021 • Rock and Blues International

Photo credit: Nicole Mago

Gift Of Gab’s Thunderous Posthumous Album Finding Inspiration Somehow Is Released Now via Nature Sounds! Vibrant Animated Video for “Slaughtah Dem (Godly)” Out Now “Gift of Gab flexes his insane technical skills, wrapping up all sorts of internal rhymes in a relentlessly energetic and locked-in delivery.“ – Stereogum “This reminds you that Gift of Gab was still delivering dizzying tongue-twisters up until his very last days.” – BrooklynVegan “The posthumous release from the late Blackalicious MC shows a great talent right on point.” – The Vancouver Sun “a full-force example of Gift of Gab’s lyrical prowess” – The Fader “... an explosive burst of lyrical gymnastics.” HipHopDX 48 Rock and Blues International • October 2021

In remembrance and celebration of the late, revered Oakland-based hip hop icon GIFT OF GAB, Nature Sounds releases his posthumous album FINDING INSPIRATION SOMEHOW today, September 10, 2021. Praised across the media and hip hop community landscape, Gab’s vocal dexterity and lyrical prowess is unsurpassed and, thankfully with a wealth of material recorded, his legacy continues with the release of this album. To herald the album, the latest single “Slaughtah Dem (Godly)” is released with a vibrant animated video that can be seen here. Featuring South American reggae artist Windstrong, the thunderous stomp paves way for Gab’s rapid fire delivery which The Vancouver Sun calls “a massive blast of fat brass continued on next page

Gift Of Gab’s continued from previous page and a dance-hall-meets-Bootsy-Collins chorus hook… Gift of Gab launches into one of his signature rapid-fire challenges to weak MCs.” Rolling Stone calls it “classic Gab destroying emcees, taking all challengers.”

acoustic guitar-led “Breathe In” with smooth harmonies from Omega Rae Brooks, to the atmospheric closing track “Back To The Light” featuring Canadians Justin Brave and Ashleigh Eymann, Gab explores different textures and beats that energize this album.

Praised by All Music Guide as “one of the very finest MCs to ever pick up a microphone” and Pitchfork for his “astonishing verbal dexterity and enunciation,” Gift of Gab was best known for being one half of the Bay Area’s celebrated Led by the recently hip-hop duo Blackalicious released singles “Vice Grip” which was part of the influenGIFT OF GAB “Slaughtah Dem (Godly) feat. Windstrong” and “Alchemy,” Finding tial and celebrated crew Inspiration Somehow is a Quannum that included reminder “that Gift of Gab brothers Lyrics Born, Lateef was still delivering dizzying the Truthspeaker, DJ Shadow, tongue-twisters up until his and Lifesavas. A force of very last days nature whose phenomenal (BrooklynVegan).” Recorded lyrical flow was matched by largely during the pandemic, his lyrical speed and precision, the album showcases Gab at Gab was a beloved artist not his formidable best, spitting only within the San Francisco out verses with unmatched Bay Area, but within the dexterity. Drawing on music pantheon that extended features from both his far beyond the rap world. A Oakland-based Solesides/ genial and peaceful soul, he Link/Embed: https://youtu.be/2vj9e8SRGDM Quannum family and other was embraced for not only his artists within this orbit, art but for his heart as well. Finding Inspiration Somehow showcases his skill to create intricate verses around his guests, allowing them to shine as well. From the “You Gon’ Make It In The End” featuring Lateef and Lifesava’s Vursatyl to Joy Valarde’s soulful vocals in “Enter the Dragon” to “The World Without Money” featuring enlightened hip hop artist Sh8peshifter, to the breezy,

Finding Inspiration Somehow is far from the conclusion of Gab’s creative output on this planet. The late artist left behind dozens of tracks he had been working on with both his Quannum family and his brother Chief Xcel in his legendary band Blackalicious. Though his music, Gift of Gab lives on. Gift of Gab’s posthumous album Finding Inspiration Somehow is released today, September 10, 2021 via Nature Sounds and is available to buy/stream at https://naturesoundsmusic.com/ inspiration Track Listing: 01 Intro 02 Slaughtah Dem (Godly) feat. Windstrong 03 Going Farther 04 The Gentrification Song (Remix) 05 You Gon Make It In The End feat. Vursatyl and Lateef The Truthspeaker 06 Vice Grip 07 The World Without Money feat. Sh8peshifter 08 Alchemy 09 Enter The Dragon feat. Joyo Velarde 10 A Weekend In Venice 11 The Idea Of America 12 Breathe In feat. Omega Rae Brooks 13 Back To The Light feat. Justin Brave and Ashleigh Eymann October 2021 • Rock and Blues International 49

Photo Credits: Travis Shinn

Eddie Vedder 50

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Eddie Vedder released a brand-new solo single entitled “Long Way” via Seattle Surf/Republic Records. The song is the first song off Vedder’s forthcoming solo album Earthling. In creating the song, Vedder worked with producer Andrew Watt in their first collaboration together. Vedder’s iconic vocals shine through as Watt’s production drives home the emotions of the track. Vedder also announced the preorder of a special limited-edition 7-inch vinyl featuring “Long Way” and soon to be released song “The Haves.” Pre-Order the special 7-inch vinyl version of “Long Way & “The Haves” here at https:// shop.pearljam.com/products/2021-eddievedder-long-way-7-vinyl-single and here at https://shop.pearljam.com/products/ 2021-eddie-vedder-long-way-7-vinylsingle via Pearl Jam’s Ten Club. Vedder has been busy - recently collaborating with Glen Hansard on eight new compositions for the Flag Day Original Motion Picture Soundtrack— available here at https://flagday.lnk.to/ SoundtrackPR via Seattle Surf & Republic Records. The Soundtrack features noted singer-songwriter Cat Power who contributes three new original songs, along with one cove, and the debut of Olivia Vedder on two tracks. The thirteen-track soundtrack serves as the musical companion to the Cannes Film Festival selected film Flag Day starring and directed by Academy® Award winner Sean Penn and starring his daughter Dylan Penn. Just last month Vedder performed a string of festival dates with Pearl Jam including the Sea.Hear.Now. Festival on September 18th, Ohana Festival on September 26th and again this month during Ohana Festival’s Encore Weekend on October 1st and 2nd. In addition, Vedder also performed a special solo set at Ohana Festival on September 25th. Full tour dates can be found here at www.pearljam.com/tour. Be on the lookout for more Eddie Vedder news soon…

Eddie Vedder Unveils New Solo Single “Long Way,” First Single From Forthcoming Album Earthling PRE-ORDER OF 7-INCH LIMITED-EDITION VINYL OF “LONG WAY” AND SOON TO BE RELEASED SONG “THE HAVES” AVAILABLE NOW Recently Featured On Flag Day Soundtrack Out Now Featuring Single Performed By Olivia Vedder

Listen to “Long Way” here at https://eddievedder.lnk.to/LongWay and view the official lyric video here at https://youtu.be/sHqd5Q7pYo0 October 2021 • Rock and Blues International

Photo Credit: Aaron Conway

Acclaimed rock ’n’ roll band Heartless Bastards release A Beautiful Life today. The band’s sixth studio album and first new music in more than half a decade, A Beautiful Life arrives via Sweet Unknown Records/Thirty Tigers at all DSPs and as a limited edition hand-poured double LP and special merchandise available exclusively from the Sweet Unknown Records Official Store. Heartless Bastards founder Erika Wennerstrom, elated to share the new record, says, “I’m so happy to finally share ‘A Beautiful Life’ with the world. I’m so proud of it. I worked with so many lovely and talented folks making this record. What an honor and privilege it is to have the opportunity to share it with everyone. The album for me is a reminder to stay grateful, and as I type this I’m just sitting here thinking how truly lucky I am.”

Heartless Bastards Share Their First Album In Five Years: A Beautiful Life Heartless Bastards on Tour Now! LISTEN HERE AT https://orcd.co/abeautifullife LISTEN TO “HOW LOW” AT http://smarturl.it/howlow WATCH “HOW LOW” AT https://youtu.be/-JR9R22wlV8 LISTEN TO “PHOTOGRAPH” AT http://smarturl.it/HBPhotograph LISTEN TO “YOU NEVER KNOW” AT http://smarturl.it/YouNeverKnowHB WATCH “YOU NEVER KNOW” AT https://youtu.be/skn-F-jKOuE LISTEN TO “REVOLUTION” AT http://smarturl.it/hbrevolution WATCH “REVOLUTION” AY https://youtu.be/xnReDofsQto

Drawing special attention to the newest single, “Went Around The World,” a very near and dear track, Wennerstrom says, “I have had this idea for years, and it finally came together. I wrote the chorus about 6 years ago the second verse 20 years ago. Each piece kind of told me when it was ready, and I was able to connect the dots over time. The chorus seems fitting. I’ve been touring all over for years, and in my off time, I’ve also traveled and backpacked around. Through all that I was really learning to understand myself, and the world around me. I’ve always loved that saying “Life begins that the edge of your comfort zone”. When I experienced new situations I was getting to know parts of myself I’d never known. She adds, “The “light” in the song is love. We’re all connected to each other no matter what our race, religion, or the country we’re from, male or female, straight or LGBT, but also to our environment, the water that sustains our life, and the different plant and animal species. It’s all family. I care deeply about the state of our environment, but I had gotten so concerned with it that I was in my head carrying the weight of the world. Like “how can I somehow fix this problem?”. I realize I’m no good to anyone, including myself if I don’t take some time to stop and breathe and take care of myself. All we can do is our best. Worrying about things I have no power to control isn’t a good use of energy. These issues are things we have to work on collectively and perhaps to start with, aside from my own individual daily acts, my part can be adding to the convercontinued on next page

OFFICIAL MERCHANDISE AND LIMITED EDITION VINYL HERE AT https://sweetunknownrecords.com/ 52

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Heartless Bastards continued from previous page sation with this album.” A Beautiful Life was heralded with the soulful single, “How Low,” alongside an official music video – directed by documentary filmmakers Sam Wainwright Douglas and David Hartstein. “How Low” was met by instant acclaim, with Rolling Stone declaring it to be “a satisfying summer song — with a deeper message in its lyrics,” further noting how the song’s companion video “juxtaposes the vacuous Instagram life with images of poverty, natural disaster, and ultimately acts of kindness.” “How Low” was followed by “Photograph” and then by “You Never Know,” which was joined by a cinematic and aesthetically pleasing video, complete with a love story, a zebra, and expressive face paint. In late 2020, the band released the first song from the album, “Revolution,” alongside an official music video. A Beautiful Life once again sees Wennerstrom alchemizing her idealism into viscerally potent rock ‘n ‘roll. Co-produced by Wennerstrom and Kevin Ratterman (Strand Of Oaks, Jim James, White Reaper), the album – which follows 2015’s Restless Ones – finds the Austin, TX-based singer-songwriter backed by a powerhouse lineup comprising guitarist Lauren Gurgiolo (Okkervil River), drummer Greggory Clifford (White Denim), multiinstrumentalist Jesse Chandler (Mercury Rev, Midlake), keyboardist Bo Koster (My Morning Jacket), guitarist David Pulkingham (Patty Griffin), and longtime Heartless Bastards bassist Jesse Ebaugh. Though Wennerstrom first considered releasing A Beautiful Life under her own name as the follow-up to her widely praised 2018 solo debut, Sweet Unknown, she ultimately came to view the new album as a continuation of the journey begun on Heartless Bastards’ milestone 2005 debut, Stairs and Elevators. Indeed, with its coalescence of so many eclectic touchstones – from French pop and Celtic folk to space rock, Disney scores, and post-punk – A Beautiful Life stands tall as Heartless Bastards’ most elaborately realized work to date. Songs such as the sprawling, psychedelic epic, “Photograph” and the rambling folk of “The River” (the latter

featuring contributions from such singular musicians as Andrew Bird and Persian setar virtuoso Fared Shafinury) channel Wennerstrom’s nuanced observations into glorious music that incites contemplation, catharsis, and a joyful sense of defiance. “For me music is a gift,” says Wennerstrom. “I do it because I love it, and because it helps me feel more connected to the world. I think we all long for a deep connection, and I hope this record adds to the conversation on how we as a species can stop seeing ourselves as separate. I hope it helps everyone to think about how we can look out for each other, take care of each other, and lift each other up.”

The passionate energy and undeniable musical chemistry of A Beautiful Life inspired Wennerstrom to personally invite a hand-picked band into the Heartless Bastards lineup for their upcoming live schedule, set to get underway September 16 at Stickyz in Little Rock, AR, and then travel through late November. Due to demand in sales, Heartless Bastards at The State Room in Salt Lake City is being moved to The Commonwealth Room. The band recently made its live debut with a sold-out two-night-stand at Austin’s beloved Mohawk Austin, hailed by the continued on next page

CONNECT WITH HEARTLESS BASTARDS: OFFICIAL https://www.theheartlessbastards.com/ FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/heartlessbastards INSTAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/heartlessbastards/ TWITTER https://twitter.com/heartlessbstrds YOUTUBE https://www.youtube.com/c/heartlessbastards/featured October 2021 • Rock and Blues International

Heartless Bastards continued from previous page Austin Chronicle as “front-loaded with fresh, interesting material…If you didn’t know better, you’d think the improbably tight unit had been playing together for five years.” For updates and ticket availability, please visit www.theheartlessbastards.com/ tour. On the new album A Beautiful Life, Heartless Bastards share a wide-eyed and radiant vision for harmonizing a broken world. The Ohio-bred band’s first new music since 2015’s Restless Ones, A Beautiful Life affirms frontwoman Erika Wennerstrom as a songwriter with the power to profoundly influence our state of mind, often by alchemizing her idealism into viscerally potent rock-and-roll songs. With its delicate coalescence of so many eclectic touchstones—French pop and Celtic folk, space rock and symphonic pop, Disney scores and post-punk—the result is an album that immediately lures the listener into a more receptive mindset, one that leads to deeper generosity, greater compassion, and a restored sense of possibility. Co-produced by Wennerstrom and Kevin Ratterman (Strand Of Oaks, Jim James, White Reaper), A Beautiful Life finds Wennerstrom joining forces with the likes of guitarist Lauren Gurgiolo (Okkervil River), drummer Greggory Clifford (White Denim), multi-instrumentalist Jesse Chandler (Mercury Rev, Midlake), keyboardist Bo Koster (My Morning Jacket), guitarist David Pulkingham (Patty Griffin), and longtime Heartless Bastards bassist Jesse Ebaugh. Although she debated releasing A Beautiful Life as a solo effort (as with 2018’s Sweet Unknown), the Austin-based singer/ songwriter ultimately conceived the album as a continuation of the journey begun on the band’s breathlessly acclaimed 2005 debut Stairs and Elevators. “I loved the last iteration of Heartless Bastards so much— they’re like family—but the stars weren’t aligning for us to reconvene on this record,” says Wennerstrom. “As the record came together I realized it’s always been my project, and I was determined to continue forth with that. I had so much faith in these songs and in myself, and in many ways it feels like a rebirth.” Like many timeless songwriters before her, Wennerstrom channels her nuanced observation of the outside world

into music that incites contemplation, catharsis, and a joyful sense of defiance. “It’s so easy to get caught up in the material goals that are prioritized by our society and the every-man-for-himself mentality of late-stage capitalism,” Wennerstrom says of the album’s central themes. “That way of thinking presents a false idea of what a beautiful life is, and I think it’s so important that we as individuals all ask ourselves what it truly means to have a beautiful life.” Throughout A Beautiful Life, Heartless Bastards guide their audience through an unhurried pondering of that very question, an exploration that begins with the soulfully expressed frustration of songs like “How Low.” “It’s becoming harder and harder to choose a simple life; so many people struggle to get ahead so they don’t get left behind,” says Wennerstrom, who names the Jackson 5 as a key inspiration for the track’s jangly R&B grooves. “I believe that a truly elevated, conscious society is one that seeks to lift each other up—one where we work for the common good.” On “You Never Know,” the band brings in elements of Brazilian bossa nova and yé-yé, arriving at a sweetly spirited anthem against jadedness. “As we get older and experience the pain of certain plans not working out, we can build up walls to protect ourselves,” Wennerstrom says. “This song is a reminder to stay open, stay present, and keep taking chances.” One of the most hypnotic moments on A Beautiful Life, “Photograph” unfolds as a sprawling psych-rock epic, speaking to the urgency of unconditional compassion. “There’s an extreme divide that’s developed in our society, but underneath it all I think we all want the same things,” says Wennerstrom. “One of the biggest challenges I’ve dealt with is learning that I can’t control the energy that comes at me, but I can control my reaction, and try to take a compassionate approach with everyone.” And on “Went Around The World,” Heartless Bastards elegantly merge hip-hop beats and high-drama strings in a mesmerizing meditation on the inherent connectedness of all life. “I’ve toured for years and backpacked around in my off time, and through experiencing new situations I’ve gotten to know parts of myself I’d never known,” says Wennerstrom. “It’s reinforced for me that it doesn’t matter what our race or religion is, or whether we’re male or female, straight or LGBTQ—we’re all connected to each other, and to the planet that sustains us. It’s all family.” In the making of Heartless Bastards’ most elaborately realized body of work to

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date, Wennerstrom immersed herself in a highly experimental process that sometimes involved breathing new life into song fragments she’d first created decades ago. “There are little pieces of songs that I’ve had in my head for 20 years, and that finally found their place on this album,” she notes. As she dreamed up A Beautiful Life’s finely detailed yet free-flowing sound, Wennerstrom repeatedly wandered down what she lovingly refers to as rabbit tunnels. “I call them tunnels instead of rabbit holes, because they take me somewhere instead of leaving me stuck,” she says. “I allowed myself to really feel my way through things, trusting that I was going to get to where we needed to go. I never abandoned my vision, and because of that the album became everything I hoped it would be and then some.” After recording some of the basic tracking for A Beautiful Life with Danny Reisch in Austin, Wennerstrom headed to Ratterman’s Invisible Creature studio in Los Angeles, assembling such singular musicians as Andrew Bird and Persian setar virtuoso Fared Shafinury (both of whom contributed to the wildly rambling folk of “The River”). “I made sure to pick people whose style I knew would be a perfect fit for these songs—that way I could tell them, ‘Hey, I just want you to be you,’” she says. As the album took shape, Wennerstrom and her collaborators discovered an undeniable chemistry that led her to invite Clifford and guitarist Gurgiolo into the lineup for Heartless Bastards’ upcoming live shows, marking the start of an exciting new era for the band. For the final track to A Beautiful Life, Heartless Bastards chose a slowburning piece called “The Thinker,” a gently galvanizing plea to “see the beauty in everything.” “There’s a line in that song that sums up the whole album for me: ‘I did it all for love and I’d do it again,’” says Wennerstrom. “For me music is a gift—I do it because I love it, and because it helps me feel more connected to the world. I think we all long for a deep connection, and I hope this record adds to the conversation on how we as a species can stop seeing ourselves as separate. I hope it helps everyone to think about how we can look out for each other, take care of each other, and lift each other up.” TRACKLIST for A BEAUTIFUL LIFE LP: 1.Revolution 2. How Low 3. You Never Know continued on next page

Heartless Bastards continued from previous page 4. When I Was Younger 5. The River 6. Photograph 7. A Beautiful Life 8. Dust 9. Went Around The World 10. It Doesn’t Matter Now 11. The Thinker HEARTLESS BASTARDS TOUR 2021 OCTOBER 1– Philadelphia, PA – World Cafe Live Downstairs 2 – Washington, DC – Union Stage 4 – Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle 5 – Atlanta, GA – Smith’s Olde Bar 7 – Houston, TX – The Heights Theater 8 – Austin, TX – Austin City Limits Festival 9 – Kerrville, TX – Kerrville Folk Festival 29 – New Braunfels, TX – Gruene Hall 30 – Oklahoma City, OK – Tower Theatre 31 – Santa Fe, NM – Tumbleroot Brewery & Distillery NOVEMBER 1 – Tucson, AZ – 191 Toole 3 – Solana Beach, CA – Belly Up Tavern 4 – West Hollywood, CA – Troubadour 5 – San Francisco, CA – The Independent 6 – Oakland, CA – Starline Social Club Ballroom 8 – Sacramento, CA – Harlow’s Restaurant & Nightclub 9 – Arcata, CA – Arcata Theatre Lounge 11 – Eugene, OR – Sessions Music Hall 12 – Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom 13 – Seattle, WA – The Crocodile 14 – Missoula, MT – The Wilma 15 – Bozeman, MT – The ELM 17 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Commonwealth Room 19 – Fort Collins, CO – Aggie Theatre 20 – Denver, CO – Bluebird Theater 21 – Boulder, CO – Fox Theatre 24 – Dallas, TX – The Kessler Theater

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### EUROPEAN TOUR 2022 JANUARY 24 - Cambridge, UK - Portland Arms 25 - Bristol, UK - Exchange 26 - Leeds, UK - Brudenell Social Club 27 - Glasgow, UK - Mono 28 - Newcastle, UK - Cluny 2 29 - Liverpool, UK - District 30 - Manchester, UK - Deaf Institute FEBRUARY 1 - London, UK - Oslo 2 - Paris, FR - FGO 3 - Brussels, BE - Botanique Rotonde 4 - Amsterdam, NL - Paradiso (Upstairs) 6 - Hamburg, DE - Molotow Skybar 7 - Berlin, DE - Cassiopeia 8 - Munich, DE - Kranhalle 10 - Vienna, AT - Chelsea

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the new moniker for MGMT’s Andrew VanWyngarden, this version of KALI’s song adds a psychedelic and dance-inducing twist to the longing love song. “I’m a huge fan of MGMT so I was stoked when Andrew (Gentle Dom) wanted to remix ‘Lucy,’” KALI says of the remix. “It was super interesting to hear a more experimental take on the structure and instrumentation.” This remix also arrives ahead of KALI performing live with Carwash on September 17th at Baader House in Los Angeles. “Psyched to remix this excellent pop song from Kali. I thought it was fun to repeat the line ‘Lucy, talk to me’” Gentle Dom (aka Andrew VanWyngarden of MGMT) CIRCLES, which Alternative Press called “a window into the emotions as well as the artistry of a precocious young talent” and features the celebrated tracks “Someone to Hold” ( https://youtu.be/9QCYNjK7zo0 ), “I Just Wanna” ( https:// youtu.be/irrQ7eIpPqg ), “Lucy” ( https://youtu.be/ 9faSINARPZA ) and “Back to the Start” ( https://youtu.be/ BfIRCI5xZqo ), marked KALI’s emergence onto the scene after being named an artist to watch in 2021 by NYLON earlier this year. A recognized musical talent from a young age, she plays a majority of the instruments on the project herself, with additional production from Miro Mackie (The Neighbourhood, St. Vincent, Wallows) and Daniel Chae (of Run River North). The EP synthesizes KALI’s own experiences as a teenager, and those of her friends via stories and recorded voicemails, into a cohesive body of work centered around her self-discovery. Listen to Gentle Dom’s remix of “Lucy” and CIRCLES, and stay tuned for more from KALI coming soon.

KALI by Zealand Yancy

KALI TEAMS UP WITH GENTLE DOM FOR REMIX OF “LUCY” DEBUT EP CIRCLES OUT NOW “Lucy” (Gentle Dom Remix) https://kali.ffm.to/lucyremix Circles EP https://kali.ffm.to/circles Today, 16-year-old artist KALI, full name Kali Flanagan, shares a remix of the track “Lucy,” a song off her debut EP CIRCLES, out now via Nettwerk. Remixed by Gentle Dom, 56

Rock and Blues International • October 2021

A prodigy of sorts, KALI grew up playing recitals and covering Beatles songs, taking private lessons with music teachers, going to after-school music programs, and even taking songwriting masterclasses to nourish her passion. In 2017, KALI assembled her first band, Big Wednesday. Intuitive and eager, she taught herself how to use Garageband and began writing and demoing songs that she would later teach her bandmates for their shows. Their relatable and honest indiesurf arrangements drew sweaty, teenage crowds to local venues like The Smell and The Viper Room and would lead her to her now solo work as KALI, whose debut project is out now. ?Connect with KALI: Instagram @ https://www.instagram.com/kaliflanagan/ What the press is saying about KALI: “CIRCLES is, simply, one of the most remarkable debuts you will hear all year” V Magazine “a woozy, irresistible swirl of obtuse guitar riffs straight out of a ’90s alt-rock haze” Billboard “scrappy but jubilant indie rock that’s some of the most exciting we’ve heard lately” NYLON “her timeless songwriting and the emotional depth of her lyrics feel as if they come from an older soul” Pigeons & Planes “Flanagan establishes herself as a bombastic, angelic bringer of dreamy melodies” Kaytranda byXaiver Tera Under The Radar

October 2021 • Rock and Blues International

credit: Robin Parsons

Rock and Blues International • October 2021

August 2021 • Rock and Blues International

Brian May Announces Physical Release And New Video For His Classic Single ‘Back To The Light’ from the remastered Back to the Light album “It has a lot of wishes, a lot of hope, a lot of dreams.” Released on October 22, 2021 Watch and listen here: https://BrianMay.lnk.to/BackToTheLight-Single served as the opener proper to its parent album, introducing Brian to fans as a solo artist and showcasing his commitment to his new role as a powerful, tender and sincere lead vocalist. A Top 20 hit on its single release in November 1992, it would open The Brian May Band’s concerts, drawing audiences in before raising the roof with its optimism-fired grandeur. Retooled for solo purposes, the arrangement skills that Brian applied and nurtured in Queen are put on full-bodied display: crunchy guitars and vocals engage in impassioned conversation, harmonies exult in a fashion that builds bridges from May’s ‘Queen II’ classic “Father To Son” all the way down the years. Between its layers of sound and dramatic melodic sweep, the song stands as a personal yet expansive declaration of determined belief that the light is out there – and a constant promise, perhaps, that this album would accompany (“I’ll be there”) listeners on the long road towards it. Between its warm, hymnal verses and erupting choruses, the song’s search “for a clearer view” maps out that journey in microcosm. As Brian explains, “the song came at a difficult time in my life. It wasn’t a sunshine time. I had to find a place where I could see a signpost to the journey I had to make. So the song is about that. When Brian May was writing songs in the late 1980s, some were taken up for usage in Queen. Others were always destined to be solo songs. One such song is “Back To The Light,” the gloriously cathartic title-track from Brian’s debut solo album, released in 1992 and recently reissued. The track has a physical release on CD and 7” vinyl October 22 coupled with his Freddie Mercury inspired “Nothin’ But Blue,” as well as a special digital release with a bonus “Back To The Light” karaoke version. The release also comes with a brand new video which Brian has revealed will bridge the passage of time between the original release and its current revisiting. “Time traveller” is the only teaser he offers for now. After the overture of “The Dark,” “Back To The Light” 60 Rock and Blues International • October 2021

“It starts very sombre and it talks about night creatures, which are not foxes and badgers, of course. They’re the sort of creatures of your imagination that are biting you and making you feel fearful. So I’m sitting all on my own listening to these cries, and the verses are in that kind of atmosphere. But the choruses are all UP!!!. It’s all, ‘I’m going to find it - get back to the light - this is what I’m looking for - this is what I’m going to find.’” The initial impetus for “Back To The Light” reaches back to 1988, when Brian laid down the first ideas for the song with his beloved guitar tech Brian ‘Jobby’ Zellis and storied producer/mixer/recording engineer Pete Schwier. When it was time to record it for the album, the song developed in part as – like previous single re-release “Resurrection” – a passionate testimony to the restorative powers of friendship and collaboracontinued on next page

Brian May’s ‘Back To The Light’ continued from previous page tion. While Gary Tibbs (Roxy Music, Adam And The Ants) played bass and a quartet of singers (Miriam Stockley, Maggie Ryder, Suzie O’List, Gill O’Donovan) helped punch the harmonies into orbit, the late great rock drummer Cozy Powell helped Brian feel like he was in a band again. “I had the great fortune of having some wonderful people with me when I was going through this, notably Cozy Powell who was the most fantastic support to me emotionally as well as musically. “Cozy was one of those great originals, one of the drummers who defined rock and roll drumming in the early years. His presence was just enormous, full of optimism and hooliganism… I asked a lot of him, you know, ‘Can you do this, can you interpret these pieces?’ And he would say, ‘Right, Brian, I certainly can – let’s go for it!’ Always there, always supportive. He loved what I was doing with the album. He was an amazing boost all through the recording period and you can hear it on ‘Back To The Light’. There’s some fantastic feel – just the sound of his drums is so colossal.” The punch and sensitivity of the result help to push the song above and beyond the specific circumstances hinted at by Brian’s lyrics. While Brian was writing about personal issues, he judiciously blurs the details, helping to protect those involved and effectively enabling listeners to engage more intimately with the song. “Sometimes if you step back a little and make it less specific,” says Brian, “it opens it up to interpretations from other people who are going through similar things. A little bit of generalizing can be good, I think, because it lets people in. People go, ‘Oh, yeah, that’s my life, too. I feel that that connects to me.’ And in this way songs become woven into people’s lives. The physical (CD, 7” white vinyl) and digital single come backed by the luminous guitar version of May’s heartrending “Nothin’ But Blue,” a song written and recorded just before the loss of legendary Queen frontman Freddie Mercury with John Deacon on bass.

Brian says: “At the point when I was in the studio doing this, we hadn’t lost Freddie. I was thinking about him and singing about him. He was in his last days. It hadn’t happened but I had a feeling it was about to happen. Just a couple of days after this Freddie went. And ‘Nothin’ but Blue’ felt like how it was is gonna be. There are little clues in there. There’s a little kind of quote from We Are the Champions that just a few people have recognized. There’s little bits of harmonies and little rhythms which recall things about Freddie. So this track is unashamedly about Freddie. Which is odd because Too Much Love Will Kill You is the one that people thought was about Freddie. No, this is the one, Nothin’ but Blue is Freddie.” Recalling working with John Deacon on the track triggers an equally emotive response from Brian: “John as always did an exquisite job, tasteful bass playing. How nice that John played on this track. I think everybody forgets that, including me! We don’t hear from John much these days, sadly. So it’s an eternal sadness for Roger and me that we lost Freddie, but we also in essence lost John, and after that it was pretty hard to be Queen.” Also available on the digital single is a karaoke version of “Back To The Light.” All songs feature on ‘Back To The Light,’ which entered the album Top 10 on its rerelease in August, a testimony to the special place it holds in the affections of listeners. Fans should also look out for a very special video made to accompany the re-release of the title-track, where Brian as a time traveller revisits the site of a former triumph: a reminder of just how bright and clear the light of his soulful solo adventure continues to shine almost 30 years on down the road. “Back To The Light” is available to buy, download and stream from October 22: https://BrianMay.lnk.to/ BackToTheLight-Single Brian May’s ‘Back to the Light’ remastered reissue is available now on CD, Vinyl, Cassette, digital download and streaming formats and can be ordered here: https:// BrianMay.lnk.to/BackToTheLight

October 2021 • Rock and Blues International

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Jinjer’s New Album Wallflowers Hits the Charts Worldwide! Order the Standout Offering here at https://www.napalmrecordsamerica.com/jinjer [album artist: Giannis Nakos at Remedy Art Design] “JINJER’s most aggressive and melancholy album to date” - REVOLVER US -

“... one of the finest – and most important – metal releases of 2021.” - KERRANG UK-

“Wallflowers is a progressive masterpiece that further cements the fact that JINJER are one of most exciting acts in the current metal scene.” - NEW NOISE US -

“Simultaneously mesmeric and ear-splittingly apocalyptic” - METAL HAMMER UK -

“Never mind the hype, JINJER are obviously brilliant, and Wallflowers is an ambitious and creatively honest modern metal record that we can all believe in.” - BLABBERMOUTH US “This band continues to impress and they deserve all the praise that they can get.” - BANGER TV CANADA -

“JINJER position themselves as one of the most outspoken metal bands on the planet” - Distorted Sound UK “With WALLFLOWERS, the Ukrainian band, who musically buzz around somewhere between metalcore, djent, groove and death metal, goes to the next level.” - METAL HAMMER GER “JINJER present probably one of their most important albums” - metal.de GER continued on next page

Rock and Blues International • October 2021

Jinjer continued from previous page It’s finally here, and transgresses borders of all imagination! Ukrainian modern metal giants JINJER have only just released one of the most anticipated metal albums of the year on August 27, entitled Wallflowers, and are already breaking the charts worldwide with the game-changing fourth offering. Wallflowers, the successor of their critically acclaimed third album Macro, entered both the US Billboard Top New Artist Albums chart and Canada’s Hard Music Albums chart at #1, in addition to landing at #2 on the US Current Hard Music Albums chart and scoring several other top positions. The album is also currently ranked at #7 on the German charts in addition to entering at #5 on the official UK Rock & Metal Album Charts. Wallflowers has also gone on to gather numerous top spots in several other international territories. Eugene on the new album: “Growing creatively has always been a major goal for us. The day JINJER stops reaching for new musical horizons will be our last day as a band. We could have churned out what our peers expected us to do, or produce ‘Pisces’ clones without end, but we’ve never done that and we never will. Instead, we wrote an album whose level of emotions range from the fiercest aggression we’ve ever had, to the most intricate melodies and melancholic vibes you could ever get from our music. We decided to rip apart all possible stylistic boundaries without regard to financial success or competing with our previous albums. Wallflowers is a different kind of album musically and visually. It’s about our identity as a band, as individuals and a clear statement that we are different from most artists… and that it is OK to do your own thing.” Since announcing Wallflowers, the band has graced numerous renowned international magazine covers, booked the biggest stories, sold out countless tour dates and their first two new singles, “Vortex” and “Mediator”, both cracked the multi-million stream mark in no time. The new album not only presents a methodical and premeditated next step in the band’s already imposing

career, but moreover, it mirrors the personal adversities they’ve faced due to the worldwide events of the last year. Wallflowers is not only an upgrade to the progressive groove metal sound that all JINJER fans crave, but also a sonic pressure cooker of technical musicianship, emotional fury and an intense soundtrack befitting the harrowing state of the world today. Hailing from the conflictridden Ukrainian region of Donetsk but now calling Kiev their home base, JINJER truly do not mince words – or riffs – on Wallflowers. Jinjer’s exceptional precision of

JINJER online FACEBOOK @ https://www.facebook.com/JinjerOfficial/ TWITTER @ https://twitter.com/jinjerofficial INSTAGRAM @ https://www.instagram.com/jinjer_official/ HOMEPAGE @ https://jinjer-metal.com/ NAPALM RECORDS @ https://label.napalmrecords.com/jinjer

modern metal paired with tough as nails attitude has earned them a fiercely loyal, rabid fanbase and massive critical acclaim, making JINJER one of the most talked about bands today and garnering them many sold out performances across the globe. Driven by their unmatched work ethic, as soon as they were able, JINJER took to the road in Europe to perform safely and adhering to strict local regulations, providing diehard fans with a much needed oasis during lockdown. In early 2021, as society reached for a light at the end of the tunnel, the band moved forward, announcing plans for international fall 2021 headline tour dates that, within weeks of announcement, already began to sell out. JINJER is: Tatiana Shmayluk - Vocals Roman Ibramkhalilov - Guitars Eugene Abdukhanov - Bass Vlad Ulasevich - Drums

continued on next page October 2021 • Rock and Blues International

Jinjer’s New Album Wallflowers Wallflowers is still available in the following formats: - Deluxe Box (Hand-Numbered Box, Limited Shirt (different sizes available), 7" Black incl. 2 Bonus Tracks, CD Digipak (Sleeve)) - Limited to 1000 Copies (Napalm ONLY) - Righteous Green, Black and White Vinyl (7" White incl. 2 Bonus Tracks, Signed Picture 12" Booklet, Hand-Numbered Gatefold, Alternative Artwork) - Limited to 400 Copies (Napalm ONLY) - SOLD OUT - White Vortex Vinyl - Limited to 500 Copies (Napalm RoW/EU ONLY) - SOLD OUT - Deep Black Vinyl - Colossal Golden Vinyl - Limited to 500 Copies (Napalm NorAm ONLY) - SOLD OUT - MC (White) - Limited to 100 Copies (Napalm ONLY) - SOLD OUT - MC (Smokey Clear) – Limited to 150 Copies (Napalm ONLY) - NorAm SOLD OUT - 1 CD Digipak - 1 CD + Shirt Bundle (Napalm RoW/EU ONLY) - digital album You can find more formats and specials, as well as new merch in the JINJER merch shop here at https://jinjermerch.com/ Wallflowers track listing: 1 Call Me a Symbol 2 Colossus 3 Vortex 4 Disclosure! 5 Copycat 6 Pearls and Swine 7 Sleep of the Righteous 8 Wallflower 9 Dead Hands Feel No Pain 10 As I Boil Ice 11 Mediator

See below for all currently confirmed JINJER tour dates. -Coming To America 2021special guest: SUICIDE SILENCE plus ALL HAIL THE YETI 10/22: Seattle, WA @ El Corazon *SOLD OUT* 10/23: Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theater *SOLD OUT* 10/24: Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theater *SOLD OUT* 10/25: Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theater *SOLD OUT* 10/27: San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore *SOLD OUT* 10/28: Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades *SOLD OUT* 10/29: San Diego, CA @ SOMA 10/30: Los Angeles, CA @ Belasco Theater *SOLD OUT* 10/31: Las Vegas, NV @ House of Blues 11/02: Denver, CO @ Summit *SOLD OUT* 11/04: Lawrence, KS @ Granada Theater 11/05: Lincoln, NE @ Bourbon Theater 11/06: Minneapolis, MN @ The Fillmore Minneapolis

Rock and Blues International • October 2021

Get your copy of Wallflowers now at https://smarturl.it/ Wallflowers-NPR

Dive into the exceptional sonic universe of JINJER and re-watch all videos from Wallflowers: “Wallflower” @ https://youtu.be/DYZrO7qcLhU “Mediator” @ https://youtu.be/tMfqGleETyw “Vortex” @ https://youtu.be/AiaOSGZTwtY 11/07: Chicago, IL @ House of Blues *SOLD OUT* 11/09: Cincinnati, OH @ Bogart’s 11/10: Ft. Wayne, IN @ The Clyde 11/11: Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave II 11/13: Grand Rapids, MI @ The Intersection 11/14: Pittsburgh, PA @ Roxian Theater 11/16: Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues 11/17: Detroit, MI @ St. Andrews Hall 11/18: Toronto, ON @ Phoenix 11/19: Montreal, QC @ M Telus 11/20: New Haven, CT @ Toad’s Place 11/21: Boston, MA @ Big Night Live 11/23: Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw *SOLD OUT* 11/24: Philadelphia, PA @ TLA 11/26: Norfolk, VA @ The Norva 11/27: Baltimore, MD @ Baltimore Soundstage *SOLD OUT* 11/28: Charlotte, NC @ Underground *SOLD OUT* 11/30: Orlando, FL @ House of Blues 12/01: Tampa, FL @ Jannus 12/02: Pensacola, FL @ Vinyl 12/03: Atlanta, GA @ Buckhead Theater 12/04: Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl 12/05: New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues 12/07: Houston, TX @ House of Blues 12/08: San Antonio, TX @ Aztec Theater 12/09: Dallas, TX @ House of Blues 12/11: Albuquerque, NM @ El Rey Theater 12/12: Phoenix, AZ @ The Pressroom

March 2021 • Rock and Blues International

Rotted Through Unleashes Horrific Death Metal on New Album, / the_Depths, Available Now! Preview the Carnage that is /the_Depths with “To Stretch… to Tear…” at https://youtu.be/gpH_lGPzdLs Only the New England woods, shrouded in mystery and damned for its infamous witch trials - could inspire the brutal, horrorinfused death metal created by Rotted Through on their debut album, / the_Depths. Macabre. Arousing. Vicious. The three-piece group crafts a labyrinth of sound that leaves the listener with no compass, light or rope. Rotted Through focuses on crafting cohesive, themed records to 74 Rock and Blues International • October 2021

develop their own horror story. Every detail is deliberate. Listeners will find new traps, pitfalls and snakes coiled to strike each time they dare to delve into the catacombs with Rotted Through. It’s not often that the “theme” of a band is equally important as a band’s music, but for Rotted Through, it’s an entire package. continued on next page

Rotted Through continued from previous page “For me, I’m a writer first,” says Goncalves. “I try to create almost lore-level depth to a project. I do countless hours of research about the horror story I want to tell and insist on themes and songs that fit the premise. I wrote this as the pseudo story of an anti-protagonist spiraling further and further down into the most abhorrent content ever created. I wrote the last song, which is also the darkest song, first and then returned to the top, trying to work out just how the hell someone ends up down there.”

structure and opting for an audio voyage, yet kept it grounded with badass grooves. It’s heavy metal Frankenstein: body of death, arms of groove, one leg progressive, the other leg thrash, one tech eye and a horrific rotted through face. My style is to separate vocal patterns. I treat each voice as its own vocalist. In keeping with the theme of descent, the lead vocals start as high-end screeching and by the end of the record, they’re mic engulfing bellows.” /the_Depths track listing: 1. Infinite_depths 2. What Does / B / Keep In The Freezer? 3. Tor.ist 4. The Silk_en Road

5. .human Experiments 6. Vile_encryption 7. “Foul Enough to Eat” 8. To Stretch… to Tear… 9. /red/room 10. That Which Is Abysmal Rotted Through online: Armando Imbro - Guitars Paris Russell - Guitars, Bass Guitar, Synthesizer, Drum Midi Mike Goncalves - Vocals Rotted Through online: https://rottedthrough.com www.facebook.com/rottedthrough/ www.instagram.com/rottedthrough/ https://twitter.com/rottedthrough

Guitars/bassist/drummer Russell adds, “I couldn’t even give you a band we sound like. What’s weird is the themes give us our own little unique style, so what the hell would you call that…themed death metal?” /the_Depths, out now, is available now at https://rottedthrough.bandcamp.com/ releases and via Spotify. For a preview of the carnage that is /the_Depths, check out the video for the first single, “To Stretch… to Tear…” at https://youtu.be/gpH_lGPzdLs Although Rotted Through may sound like a stampede of zombies, in reality it is merely three longtime friends from New England. In classic heavy metal-kid style, the original duo of Goncalves and guitarist Armando Imbro met in a mosh pit in their early teens. Imbro later introduced his friend Paris Russell, but Goncalves was not immediately sold. “I tried to avoid him at first,” Goncalves laughs. “Paris was an alternative school kid, classic delinquent. Mondo assured me he wouldn’t stab or rob us, so we picked him up and right away he fit like a glove. We’ve played together ever since, through lineup changes, different band names and concepts, even a hiatus or two, it’s been us three from the beginning.” Beginning as a thrash metal band, Rotted Through eventually morphed into the techno-death, horror-groove collective they are today. “We’re fast paced, big on tension and release, and we like complex rhythms,” Imbro says. “I like to use a lot of tails and runs to spice- up riffs and Paris does weird timing stuff a lot, it’s cool.” Goncalves adds, “Musically, the guys killed it by somehow making the album super progressive, ditching traditional song October 2021 • Rock and Blues International

Rock and Blues International • July 2021

June 2021 • Rock and Blues International

Know Thyself is available now digitally at http:// pirosaint.bandcamp.com and via all streaming services. Physical CDs will be available November 21. Pre-orders are available via PIROSAINT’s Bandcamp page AT https://pirosaint.com/merch. Know Thyself track listing: 1. Better you than me 2. Bleed 3. Know thyself 4. The debt 5. Juanzer 6. Awaken my conscience 7. Everyday’s war 8. Faster than before 9. Tonight 10. A new yesterday 11. Pirosaint Know Thyself’s vocal tracks were recorded by Eduardo Vidal and Andrés Valdivieso in Santiago, Chile. All guitar solos were recorded at Oily Sounds Studios by Ignacio Orellana and Angel Thorne Music CO LLC by Rob Thorne in Bethel, CT, except “Everyday’s war,” recorded by Regisson Silva in Sao Paulo, Brazil, at his home studio.

New York Thrashers Pirosaint Release Long-Awaited Debut Know Thyself Watch Lyric Videos “The Debt” at https://youtu.be/WZJrbl434wE and “Everyday’s War” at https://youtu.be/sxncs6AxH9w New York thrashers PIROSAINT have released a new fulllength album, Know Thyself. “This work has taken a lot longer that we have expected but we are more than happy with what we have accomplished,” says drummer Ignacio Orellana. “This band has a long untold history because of its roots but we know that once we have an opportunity to show it live, we will deliver the metal goods. That’s what we are about.” To celebrate the release, the band has debuted lyric video for two tracks, “The Debt” and “Everyday’s War,” on its official YouTube page at https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=WZJrbl434wE&ab_channel=Pirosaint. Know Thyself was recorded between 2013-2016 and 20202021 at Oily Sounds Studios NYC by Ignacio Orellana and is made up of new compositions, previously unreleased tracks and a special bonus for fans following PIROSAINT since their beginnings in 1989. Originally based in Santiago, Chile, PIROSAINT joined a small but powerful and enthusiastic local heavy metal scene with bands such as Necrosis, Massacre and Criminal. After releasing two demos in 1992 and 1994, the band issued an EP called New God in 1997. Know Thyself, PIROSAINT’s long-waited debut full-length, marks the band’s second active decade.

Rock and Blues International

• October 2021

All lyrics were written by Gonzalo Rodriguez and Ignacio Orellana. All music was written by PIROSAINT except “The Debt” and “Faster than before’ by Gonzalo Rodriguez, Alfredo Vicencio and Ignacio Orellana, and “Pirosaint” by Gonzalo Rodriguez, Fransua Tapia, Paolo Maugart and Ignacio Orellana. Cover art was created by Claudio Bergamin. Outside of PIROSAINT, Orellana is a mainstay of the metal scene, spending countless hours behind the lens shooting bands of all levels in New York City and beyond. PIROSAINT is: Gonzalo Rodriguez - Vocals Bill Smith - Guitars Ron Buckner - Bass Ignacio Orellana - Drums PIROSAINT online: https://pirosaint.com/ www.facebook.com/pirosaint www.instagram.com/pirosaint/

September 2021 • Rock and Blues International

Updated - MOTÖRHEAD: “Everything Louder Forever” - The Definitive Collection of Their Loudest Ever Songs

Rock and Blues International

• October 2021

Deluxe 4LP Foldout Edition Plus 2LP and 2CD Formats to Be Released on October 29 via BMG Records Watch a New Video For “We Are Motörhead” Plus Preorders & Exclusive Merch Bundles Here – https://motorhead.lnk.to/elfpr MOTÖRHEAD...a life force, an energy, an attitude and the loudest, meanest, dirtiest music to smash the 20th and 21st centuries. With a bastard sound comprising an unholy synergy of rock, punk and heavy metal, MOTÖRHEAD comes coated in relentless, ear-curdling power. They were life-changing for millions, carrying a spirit and approach to life and music which proudly said, “Honey, we’re hoo-oome and don’t bother cleaning because we’re here to enjoy ourselves!” The ‘off’ switch was never employed in the MOTÖRHEAD lust for life, and they became legends as a result. Leading the charge for their entire 40 year career was the cultural icon Ian ‘Lemmy’ Kilmister, who swashbuckled around stages, streets and overseas like a glorious Mad Max pirate truthsayer, roaring for the good and screaming at the wankers. With his propulsive sound and lyrical might leading the charge, MOTÖRHEAD released 22 studio albums over those four decades, amassing chart topping records worldwide, a Grammy award and racking up around 20 million sales. Their hit song “Ace Of Spades” became MOTÖRHEAD’s anthem, perfectly capturing their attitude for millions, and punching giant holes in stereos worldwide to this day. Nothing was harder, nothing was faster, nothing packed more raw attitude and certainly nothing was louder, making MOTÖRHEAD a cultural elixir that was regularly imbibed across all genre lines. Don’t take our word for it, look around any heavy metal, punk or alternative gig, and you’ll see the indomitable warpig logo and MOTÖRHEAD gothic script on a t-shirt, a jacket, even an arm or leg or back

(MOTÖRHEAD tattoos are everywhere), all sitting on the bodies of rockers, metalheads, punks, bikers, rebels, outcasts, freethinkers and even athletes all around the world. Yeah, that’s right, MOTÖRHEAD’s cultural reach remains virtually peerless to this very day (the one you’re living right now as you read this), and it continues to span fans young and old, igniting their adrenaline and giving them both entertainment and identity. This collection is the definitive assembly of MOTÖRHEAD songs which have created this cultural phenomenon, and represents the first time all eras of the band’s recorded history have been represented in one place. And we feel that if in this mad, mad world we’re living in, some aliens decide to drop by your house for tea and demand an explanation as to, “what the fuck is this ‘MOTÖRHEAD’ that we keep hearing and feeling bits of in our extra-terrestrial houses millions of miles away,” you could happily play Everything Louder Forever and know that the question will be thoroughly answered. Buy two copies though, because you know they won’t leave without taking one themselves! Or something like that anyway… Everything Louder Forever will be released October 29 via BMG Records. See below for full details of the Everything Louder Forever and be sure to visit www.iMotorhead.com for news and updates! 2CD & 4LP track listing: Overkill We Are Motörhead Snaggletooth

Rock It Orgasmatron Brotherhood Of Man In The Name Of Tragedy Bomber Sacrifice The Thousand Names Of God Love For Sale Killed By Death I’m So Bad (Baby I Don’t Care) Smiling Like A Killer Sharpshooter Queen Of The Damned Keys To The Kingdom Cradle To The Grave Lost Johnny The Game Ace Of Spades Burner Stone Dead Forever Bad Woman Just Cos You Got The Power Stay Out Of Jail No Class I Am The Sword The Chase Is Better Than The Catch God Save The Queen R.A.M.O.N.E.S. Iron Fist Rock Out Dirty Love Shine Overnight Sensation On Your Feet Or On Your Knees I Ain’t No Nice Guy Sucker 1916 Choking On Your Screams Motörhead

Also available as 2CD, 2LP, 4LP, digital download, streaming and 360 Reality Audio.

October 2021 • Rock and Blues International

Rock and Blues International • September 2021

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The Biker, The Blues, And The Largest Beer Stein In The World Every once in a while you come across a really cool story about farmers finding another way to improvise and hold on. Well this story is way cool, trust me I’ve been there and you are going to dig this to the max. Two people, Woody and Minnie, were farming the land near a small town in Pennsylvania named Venango. The money from farming could be better so they decided to turn the barn into a brewery and a pub. After all they had some really fertile farming land and they knew they could raise some nice barley hops. So that is what they did. Friends came from all over the area to be a part of the transformation and soon they were pumping some class A beers. That led to hosting some first class blues and man were the locals eating it up or should I say drinking it up. Now these two folks just couldn’t stop there and soon the old silo was turned into a beer stein you could see for miles and miles. Oh and by the way you can take your pitcher of beer up on top and that is way cool. Right now they are getting ready for a get together, FYI - get together in Pennsylvania slang means big ass party. This one will be open to everyone. But I am getting ahead of myself. Ok so I was scooting down the road (off of route 90 just south of Erie you exit onto 6N into Edinboro and then hook a right and travel to Venango). So there I was coming up on a sign in the middle of nowhere that read Sprague Farm & Brew Works so of course as any good gentleman on the road would do I stopped to support the local industry. Not that my shovel’s rigid frame was telling my kidneys to take a break, oh no I am much too young for that but then again it was a relatively good idea just the same. So up the driveway I went and that was my first peek at the monstrous beer stein silo, so cool, so very, very cool. Next I noticed the expansive fields that stretched out behind what appeared to be a converted barn and I wondered well where is the brewery? A friendly voice said come in we’re not quite open but the beer is cold. Now there’s a pleasant greeting if there ever was one. Once inside I noticed down on the far end a guy was unloading amps and drums. I was curious and before I could review the line up of beers a warm smile and a stretched out arm said here try one of these which I did. OMG it was smooth, nice color, but I was curious how the rest of this place was laid out and what was going to happen later that day. So I made my way across the restaurant floor and ended up down by the band stand. The man unloading the trailer was Jake Banta of Jake’s Blues. He was another farmer that found another way to make his living and it would include blues rock. So we shook hands and before I knew it another beer had found its way to me. I had to smile because no one had even asked me for a debit or credit card yet. I told Jake that I was writing for a Rock and Blues publication based in Houston Texas and he immediately said then you will want to grab a place on this end of the bar which I did of course. People were beginning to come in, working class folks who were all smiles giving shout outs to Jake and the folks that worked there. The band fired up and I was totally blown away. Another round came my way and they still didn’t ask for payment although this brew was darker than the other two but equally just as good. Soon the dance floor was jam packed and even though my view was a bit obstructed I didn’t care as I was right in the middle of it all. Good tunes, good beer, good people you kidding me? This was a good time. I needed a bit of air so picked up my glass and the barmaid filled it continued on next page

Rock and Blues International • October 2021

The Biker, The Blues, And The Largest Beer Stein In The World - continued before I left the table. I smiled, thanked her, and off I went to get a bit of fresh air. Once outside that huge beer stein was lit up and I could see people climbing the built in ladder to the top. Not one to shy away from adventure I went to the top as well. The fall air was pleasant and the moon was bright enough to reveal the fields just before the tree line of the woods. People were chit chatting about all sorts of things none of which were political in nature or demeaning in any way. Then I went down the ladder and back inside. At this time the waitress offered me a menu and it was time for sure. I ordered bar food and didn’t expect too much of it but when it came oh man it was good. Another beer, more music, and lots of smiles. Earlier in the day four ladies were selling brats and consuming beers at the same time. The gal third from the left was trying to out drink the gal on the far right but looking back I am not too sure who beat who. Later that afternoon once the outdoor concession shut down the four of them came inside and joined their neighbors on the dance floor. In a world so torn apart these days it’s good to fall into a place where that doesn’t air, where the music, the beer, and good friends just kick back. Now back to yours truly - the band took a break and Jake came over and asked how I liked it and I said are you kidding me this is terrific. I asked him if he toured and he said he used to but that’s just too much of a grind besides everything I want is close to home. After he walked away someone sitting close to where I was

said that the man draws a crowd of thousands one night a year in Erie Pa, many have named it Jake night. It’s always been said that the blues is universal and it is and every once in a while you get a chance to feel the roots of where it all comes from and this was one of those experiences. The well known Mississippi bluesman Dexter Allen told me a few months back that he was born in Mississippi, raised in Mississippi, and will undoubtedly remain near the family farm. Here I am in Western Pennsylvania and I am witnessing it first hand. The blues as a genre enjoys a number of sub-genres but the blues is blues no matter how you slice it and that is what allows all of us to relate to it so well. It’s the feeling you get and in this case as you travel the United States it’s the people that attend events like these that are real down to earth folks. Here I am in the middle of nowhere really and some folks traveled as many as fifty miles to be here, you got to love that for sure. In all that we see and hear that’s not positive it does your heart good to be with folks that are out to celebrate life with their friends and meet new friends. Two farmers trying to figure out how to make it all work out come up with an idea of raising a brewer’s crop, getting licensed to brew, and then build a world class cool place for folks to meet. A good ending or should I say a good beginning for two imaginative and gutsy people. Oh and one last thing to note - no one told me the alcohol content of the beer but you’ll have to ask them to find out. Blues, my bike, and America - rock on! www.spraguefarm.com October 2021 • Rock and Blues International 85