Ernie Halter Week: Day 5

My heart is with you: This is the fastest song I have ever written. It's about a long distance relationship. I actually wrote it on a plane. I wanted to write something about being in two places at one time. Those two places are where you are right now and where you want to be. - As a bonus, we conclude the special today with Ernie telling us about the rest of the songs on the album!

Disturbed Blowout Leads To Hospitalization

SCNow.com reports: A bus with crew members from the popular hard-rock band, Disturbed, ran off the side of Interstate 95 in Florence County on Thursday morning after blowing a tire, S.C. Highway Patrol Lance Cpl. Sonny Collins said.

At least eight people were on the bus when it ran off the shoulder and down an embankment near the 156-mile marker in a northbound lane, Collins said.

One person was taken to a local hospital with minor injuries and no band members were on board, bus driver Fred Huffman said. - more on this story

Mini Me Claims Sexual Abuse

TMZ reports: (Mini Me) Verne Troyer is suing Ranae Shrider, his former GF and sex tape partner, alleging she battered the hell out of him.

In the lawsuit, which will be filed in Federal court any moment, Troyer is accusing Shrider of intentional infliction of emotional distress and battery.

Verne's killer lawyer, Ed McPherson, tells TMZ, "When you pick up a 2'8" human being and throw him to the floor, it hurts." - more on this story

Wanna Open For Motley Crue?

5WPR reports: Continuing its commitment to the support of aspiring artists, Guitar Center and Motley Crue announced today the launch of Guitar Center On-Stage – Your Chance To Make Rock History. Guitar Center On-Stage and the world's most notorious rock band will provide one up-and-coming band the ultimate, career-altering opportunity - the chance to open on tour for rock icons, Motley Crue.

Starting today, through September 21 2008, bands across the United States are invited to submit their music at www.makerockhistory.com for a chance to win a prize package that includes an opening slot on Motley Crue's 2009 U.S. tour (dates to be announced at a later date), $25,000 cash, $20,000 in exclusive new gear from Gibson Guitar, management from Tenth St. Entertainment, and a recording deal from Eleven Seven Music, Motley's management and record label.

Guitar Center has engaged FameCast to power the submission site for "Guitar Center On-Stage," using FameCast's proprietary contest management platform to collect and present each band's submissions and rank them using a variety of metrics such as online fan voting and community engagement. A judging panel including Tenth St. Entertainment and Eleven Seven Records will then review the top bands, selecting 30 bands to advance to regional evaluation events held in mid-October at Guitar Center locations in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. After narrowing the list to the top six bands at the regional events, Guitar Center will host a final round of evaluation on November 12, 2008 at Guitar Center Hollywood, where each of the six bands will perform live for members of Motley Crue. One band will be notified via a personal phone call from a member of Motley Crue that they have been chosen as the winner and that the grand prize, which will include going on tour with Motley Crue, is theirs. - more on this story

Snoop Bus Bust, Ratt Lose Member, de la Rocha Returns, Let Be DVD Denied, Ozzy Working on New CD, Late Night Mellencamp, No Lesbian Kiss for Miley and more

antiMusic reports: Thought for the day: Your specially formatted email may look really pretty on your computer, but it probably looks like crap on the receiver's computer. Now let's get on to the quick stories making waves today:

A tour bus carrying Snoop Dogg was pulled over and two people were arrested on marijuana possession charges Thursday a few hours before a concert in Dallas. more

BW&BK has learned that guitarist John Corabi (ex-Motley Crue) has quit Ratt, and that former Quiet Riot guitarist Carlos Cavazo, has joined them.more

One Day As A Lion, the project featuring Zack De La Rocha (vocalist for Rage Against The Machine) and Jon Theodore (former drummer of The Mars Volta), has sold more than 17,000 copies of its eponymous debut EP in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 28 on The Billboard 200 chart. story submitted by HeadbangerNYC.com

Abbeyrd's Beatles Page sent us over this quick news about the rumored Let It Be DVD: The Daily Express and others ran a story Wednesday that pinning the blame for the non-release of the "Let It Be" DVD to Paul and Ringo. We had our doubts about this story and said so in our coverage. We sent out several emails to people who should know about the situation and received this word back exclusively from Apple: "We do have plans to release it some time in the future." more

Sharon Osbourne told Parade: "[Ozzy] 's working on a new album at the same time as doing live shows. He never stops writing music." full interview

John Mellencamp fans should tune-in or TiVo Friday's Tonight Show with Jay Leno. John Mellencamp is a guest and will perform a song from his new album Life Death Love and Freedom, backed by T Bone Burnett who, not so coincidentally, produced the album.

Canadian guitarist Dave Martone, billed as one of Guitar One Magazine's "top 4 underground shredders in North America", will release his debut album, Clean, through Magna Carta on October 7th. Featured guests on the album include Joe Satriani, Daniel Adair, Greg Howe, Billy Sheehan and Jennifer Batten. more

Tesla drummer Troy Lucketta contacted BW&BK directly today (July 31st) to announce that the band has finished recording their new album and will start mixing it tomorrow with an October release date in mind. more
Miley Cyrus, has come out and said she will not be engaging in some same-sex -underage-dear-god-that's-just-plain-weird smooching with Katy Perry. more
Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan is suing an Illinois filmmaker, alleging his work was sub-par and that he refused to give him the video footage owed him unless he receives more money. more
Mystery Jets have cancelled a number of upcoming festival appearence because frontman Blaine Harrison is ill. more

Britney Spears' father will retain control of her affairs, according to a court order issued in Los Angeles today (July 31). more

Against Me! have released a five-song b-side EP taken from the recording sessions of last year's New Wave. more

Ted Nugent will appear on TV's "Criss Angel Mindfreak" on August 25th Mistakes could often lead to death. Criss attempts to catch an arrow again, only this time it's being shot from a crossbow at a much faster speed. The archer, is special guest Ted Nugent. more

A 40-year-old documentary about Johnny Cash to air on the Public Broadcasting Service shows him in concert and in casual settings. But unlike the 2005 movie "Walk the Line," there's no mention of his well-documented substance abuse. The documentary "Johnny Cash: The Man, His World, His Music" is expected to air Tuesday
- more on this story

Howard Stern Remaking Ramones Movie

NME reports: Howard Stern is set to produce a remake of the 1979 movie 'Rock N Roll High School', it has been revealed.

Stern, who is famous for his shock-jock radio show on Sirius, will work with producer Larry Levinson on the project, reports Variety, and the pair have hired Alex Winter to write the script.

Winter is best known as one half of the duo Bill & Ted from the movies 'Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure' and 'Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey' in which he co-starred with Keanu Reeves. - more on this story

Winehouse Hospitalized for Ecstasy Freak Out?

Hecklerspray reports: Yesterday brought the news that Amy Winehouse had decided to take a stroll to the hospital. It wasn't because she finally realised she was slowly destroying her insides, it was simply down to having a crazy reaction to the medication slowly digesting in her stomach.

It's now surfaced that she's returned to hospital and her ever-suffering father Mitch has told us what caused her freakout. It was indeed an issue with drugs, but not the good kind. Oh no!

Mitch claims that Amy's drink had been spiked with ecstasy, causing the young crooner to react violently. It has to be said, hecklerspray loves hearing that excuse from pretty much every person who is sick after a weekends drinking (why do you think Stu is off?). Of course the seventeen pints of lager and no food didn't make you sick. It was a little white tablet that made you look the village idiot. Again.
- more on this story

Def Leppard Kick Off Second American Tour Leg

Press Here reports: Great Britain's premiere arena rock band, Def Leppard, is ready to rock the second leg of their North American tour, which kicks off this week.

This tour supports the band's newest album, Songs >From The Sparkle Lounge, which debuted at #5 on the Billboard Top 200. The band's 9th studio album contains 11 new songs including "Nine Lives," featuring a groundbreaking collaboration with country music superstar Tim McGraw.

The group's spectacular live shows, filled with powerful melodic rock anthems, have become synonymous with their name and are an institution in the touring industry as they continue to sell out arenas worldwide. Their new single "C'mon C'mon" is currently climbing the Classic Rock and Mainstream charts. - dates

Unwritten Law Releasing DVD

60 Cycle Media reports: SoCal's pop/punk pioneers Unwritten Law are getting ready to release their first ever live album and DVD, Live & Lawless on Suburban Noize Records September 16th.

With nearly 2 million album sold, 5 top 20 singles – 3 of which hit top 10, and one #1, you don't know Unwritten Law until you've seen them live. UL captured one of their trademark killer live performances at the Key Club on Sunset Strip last March. UL blew the roof off the joint with such power-packed rock hits as "Up All Night," "Save Me (Wake Up Call)" and the #1 smash "Seein' Red." While the album features 16 live tracks, the DVD features 22 songs, including an entire five-song acoustic set in the middle of the performance.

"After over a decade long relationship with UL, its amazing how things have come full circle," says Kevin Zinger, founder SRH/ Suburban Noize. "When SRH first started they were one of the most consistent live bands. In the early 90s, UL along with Pennywise, Sublime and Offspring were permanent fixtures in the San Diego scene. UL went out into the world to become one of the leaders of a whole generation of pop/punk music. We went from promoting shows to starting a label and clothing company, and somehow we remained friends and stayed in touch. Now we're working together on a new record and the next chapter. It's an honor and pleasure to have our friends UL on our label and work together in this capacity." - more on this story

Over 100 Bands To Rock The Bayou

PR reports: At what point does a music festival with a lineup of 40 bands and celebrated headliners decide enough is not enough? If you're the organizers of the Rock The Bayou Music Festival you can never have enough rock, apparently. The festival has announced its latest lineup, one that is becoming almost as legendary as some of the performers headlining.

Now more than 100 bands will take three stages during the four day Rock The Bayou festival in Houston this Labor Day holiday. "It's insane," says Judy Sultan, Public Relations Director for the event.

Word of this Houston Labor Day Weekend music extravaganza has spread beyond the far reaches of the continental United States, drawing fans from countries as far away as Japan, Denmark and Venezuela, and states as distant as Alaska. All told, Rock The Bayou tickets have been sold in eight countries and 29 states, making Houston a top destination for music lovers come Labor Day. - more on this story

Senses Fail To Tour

Charm School reports: Senses Fail today announces the dates for their upcoming fall headlining tour. The 38-date trek begins October 8 in Richmond, VA - just one day after the October 7 release of Life Is Not A Waiting Room (Vagrant), their third full-length and follow up to 2006's Still Searching.

A special ticket presale for the tour begins Friday, August 1 at 1pm local time through Ducat King and includes the option of pre-ordering the new album for just $8. Several more album pre-orders will be announced in the coming weeks.

Brian McTernan (Hot Water Music, Thrice) produced Life Is Not A Waiting Room at his Salad Days studio in Baltimore, MD. Senses Fail singer James "Buddy" Nielsen, guitarists Garrett Zablocki and Heath Saraceno, and drummer Dan Trapp were joined on all twelve tracks by bassist Jason Black (Hot Water Music, The Draft). - more on this story

Major Label Advertises It's Own Demise

Larry LeBlanc reports: There are reasons why corporate sites shouldn't carry outside advertising. One is that a marketer can't completely control its message; it is sharing the stage with outsiders who can hijack the space.

To prove this simple premise, booking agent Bruce Houghton, pres. Of Skyline Music in Portland, Oregon placed the following ad via Google AdWords on the front page of the Columbia Records website on July 29, 2008. It reads:

Major Labels Are Obsolete
R.I.P. or learn and thrive.
Music. Tech. The New Music Business
Hypebot.com

Within a day, for $3.37 in click through fees, 6,417 people visiting Columbia Records flagship site read the message that the company was obsolete. Obviously, Columbia's web masters were asleep at the switch.

To view a snapshot of the account page, go - here

New Tour Plans and CD Details Unearthed

Action PR reports: Unearth has completed work on its new album. Entitled The March, the record is scheduled to drop on October 14 via Metal Blade Records. In advance of The March's release, Unearth will launch a U.S. headlining tour, which will kick off on October 1 in Baltimore, MD. The scheduled four week, 26 city tour will feature support from Protest the Hero, The Acacia Strain, Whitechapel and Gwen Stacy.

"In accordance with UNEARTH's continuing commitment to provide fans with "the most mayhem for your dollar," we are proud to announce our upcoming U.S. tour!" states Unearth's Buz McGrath. "We will be debuting a couple of new songs from "The March" for your sonic consumption, so come on out and lose your head! Everyone in UNEARTH is super pumped to get back on the road and meet some new people – see you soon!"

On August 1, Unearth will make a special main stage appearance at the 2008 Wacken Open Air Festival. "Wacken" is the largest exclusively metal music festival in the world and will see Unearth share the stage with Iron Maiden, At the Gates, Carcass and more. - more on this story

Wait there is more!

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Subscribe to Day in Rock Report by Email

Add the Day in Rock to your site/blog/Myspace

Read Day In Rock Reports From Other Days

Submit news or a press release to the Day In Rock report