Red Hot Chili Peppers Releasing 18 New Songs

The first pair of sides - "Strange Man" on the A-side and "Long Progression" on the B-side - will be released on August 14, 2012. more on this story

Rolling Stones Rep Shoots Down Farewell Show Report

(Gibson) The Rolling Stones have moved quickly to shoot down a rumor which broke overnight that the band would play their last-ever concert at the Glastonbury festival in the U.K. in 2013.

The report in The Mirror in the U.K. quotes "a band insider" as saying, "All four members have agreed that next year is the right time to have one final hurrah and put on the gig of their lives. It's a case of now or never, and obviously Glastonbury is the most important festival on the circuit. Everybody's incredibly excited ... it's a final bow."

However, when The Guardian contacted the band's representatives they were told that not only is the talk of retirement false, but the band isn't even planning to play Glastonbury. more on this story

Hawkwind's John Harrison Dies

Former Hawkwind guitarist Huw Lloyd-Langton issued a statement about the death of John Harrison, a founding member of the group who died in his sleep on May 26, 2012 after a long battle with Huntington disease. He would have been 70 on May 28th.

Huw issued this statement: "John was an integral part of Hawkwind's formation and eventual success. His honest, solid character and playing held the whole thing together in that first year of the group's existence (in more ways than one)! All who worked with him and have followed in his footsteps, i.e. Lemmy :) and all Hawkfans, old & young. Wherever you are owe him big time! May he Rock In Peace wherever he is now!"

Cleopatra Records says John's throbbing and inventive bass parts on the band's self-titled 1970 release laid the foundation for Hawkwind's influential sound, both then and now. After his departure from the band, John also worked successfully as a producer and staff engineer at Village Recorders in Los Angeles. more on this story

Skid Row Refused Rock of Ages Use Of Hit Song

(hennemusic) The Broadway play-turned-movie Rock Of Ages opened this past weekend with disappointing results.

The Tom Cruise flick landed in 3rd place at the box office with ticket sales of just $15.1 million, placing it behind "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted" ($35.5 million) and "Prometheus" ($20.2 million).

One of the songs music fans won't hear in the movie is Skid Row's hit, "I Remember You." Former frontman Sebastian Bach tells Sonic Shocks, "The fact is Snake [Dave Sabo, Skid Row guitarist] and Rachel [Bolan, Skid Row bassist], who have co-writing credits for 'I Remember You', refused to allow it to be in the movie," explains Bach. "[The producers of 'Rock Of Ages'] wanted 'I Remember You' [to be] in the play and the movie, but Snake and Rachel don't like money. [Laughs] They have an aversion to cash. They'd rather not have cash. I don't know why — you can interview them about that — but that is the truth of the matter. The play wanted the [song] and they [Skid Row members] didn't want it in the movie — because money is bad." more on this story

Morrissey Plans North American Tour

Morrissey will be hitting the road this fall for a North American Tour that will include a special one-off with Iggy and The Stooges.

The trek kicks off in Boston on October 5th and ending in Atlantic City on December 8th.

The 33-city tour includes the special date at the Staples Center with special guests Iggy and The Stooges, as well as, his first NYC performance in three years at Radio City Music Hall. more on this story

Layne Staley Songs in New Movie Have Been Heard Before

(Banana 101.5) Contrary to the initial reports, the songs featuring late Alice in Chains singer Layne Staley from the film 'Grassroots' may not be on everyone's radar, but they are definitely not unknown. In fact, one of them was already released in the mid 1990s.

We initially wrote about Paste Magazine's report on the "previously unheard" Staley songs that were set to be included in 'Grassroots,' but now it seems as though that description is not completely accurate.

According to Grunge Report, the two songs that appear in the film are 'It's Coming After' and 'Things You Do.' The former was released on Second Coming's 1994 debut album, ' L.O.V.Evil,' and is well known among Staley enthusiasts. Second Coming featured Staley's bandmates from Alice N' Chains, the band he was in prior to Alice in Chains. More including YouTube videos with the songs.

Rock Hall Snub Doesn't Bother Rush

Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson has addressed the band's snubbing by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. A bone of contention with fans, Lifeson shrugs it off in an interview.

"Honestly, we really, really don't care about it," Lifeson tells Rolling Stone who's founder was also instrumental in starting the Rock Hall. "It's someone's thing, and they can do whatever they want with it. They can have whomever they like. It's their thing."

"It's a little bit different here in Canada," continues Lifeson. "We've received awards that mean an awful lot more to us than being in the Hall of Fame. We got the Governor General's Performing Arts Award a couple weeks ago. That's really the highest accolade you can get in this country for the performing arts, and it's recognized nationally, and I felt so proud as a Canadian to be in this esteemed group of artists that have been there for the last 20 years." You can read the full interview here.

Cavo Hitting The Road With Evanescence, Chevelle, Halestorm

Cavo have been added to the upcoming Carnival Of Madness Tour with Evanescence, Chevelle, Halestorm and New Medicine.

Kicking off Tuesday, July 31 in Springfield, IL, the 2012 trek will hit major cities across the U.S. including Boston, Baltimore, Atlanta, Detroit, Milwaukee, Chicago and Pittsburgh.

"We're really looking forward to the Carnival of Madness tour this summer," says Evanescence front woman Amy Lee about the upcoming tour. "We love Chevelle and haven't hit the road together in years, and I'm really stoked to finally be playing some shows with Halestorm. Naturally I'm a fan of strong women in music and Lzzy's voice is spectacular." more on this story

The Academy Is Singer William Beckett EP And Tour Coming

Former The Academy Is... singer William Beckett has set a July 17th as the release date for Winds Will Change, the second of three EP's he will release in 2012.

The EP was recorded in Phoenix, AZ and produced with Matt Grabe (A Rocket To The Moon, The Maine).

Following the release, Beckett will join Relient K and Hellogoodbye on a 19-city tour featuring stops in Seattle, San Diego, Austin and Denver. more on this story

Fiona Apple Releases New Album and Kicks Off Tour

Fiona Apple today releases her first album in seven years, The Idler Wheel is wiser / than the Driver of the Screw / and Whipping Cords will serve you more / than Ropes will ever do.

She will also kick off her summer headline tour today at the State Theatre in Ithaca, NY.

The first leg includes performances at The Governors Ball Music Festival on New York City's Randall's Island (6/24) and Nashville's historic Ryman Auditorium (7/13) and wraps up at the Hollywood Palladium in Hollywood, CA (7/29). more on this story

Slipknot's M. Shawn Crahan Plans Apocalyptic Nightmare Journey Events

Slipknot's M. Shawn Crahan aka Clown will soon embarking on his Apocalyptic Nightmare Journey. MSO sent over these details:

His first-ever art book collection of photography, the Apocalyptic Nightmare Journey will be released exclusively through MTV Books beginning June 19 worldwide.

As M. Shawn Crahan prepares to hit the road with Slipknot on June 30 as the headlining act on the Mayhem Festival and the newly announced Knotfest, August 17 and 18, he'll launch a series of book signings/Q&A's in select cities. more on this story

Widespread Panic's Jimmy Herring Releasing New Solo Album

Widespread Panic guitarist Jimmy Herring has set the release date of August 21 for his second solo album, Subject To Change Without Notice. MAD Ink sent over these details:

As the founding member of The Aquarium Rescue Unit, Project Z and Jazz is Dead, in addition to playing with everyone from The Allman Brothers Band, The Grateful Dead to Phil Lesh and Friends, and Bela Fleck, HERRING has made his indelible impact on the music world. He currently serves as the lead guitarist for the very popular American Band, Widespread Panic.

Prior to releasing his first solo outing, Lifeboat, Herring was known for his limitless improvisations, long flowing phrases, and highly charged, yet soulful, lead guitar that drew high praises from a diverse set within the musician community including Chick Corea, John McLaughlin to Dweezil Zappa. Throughout his early career, he plied his skills in multiple musical contexts, ranging from classically song-driven rock to technically demanding jazz fusion. more on this story

Lita Ford Settles Her Differences With Runaways Bandmates

(Classic Rock) Lita Ford has settled her differences with former Runaways Joan Jett and Cherie Currie but that's no guarantee the band will reunite.

She buried the hatchet after dinner dates with each ex-bandmate, putting to an end years of feuding and legal action.

Ford recently experience a lifestyle turnaround after ending a marriage she described as "like Ike and Tina Turner." She's put it behind her by working on new album Living Like a Runaway, which she hopes will help dull the memories of 2009 release Wicked Wonderland, made in partnership with ex-husband Jim Gillette.

Now she reveals she's gone further and made things right with Jett and Currie. more on this story

Mike Keneally Completes Collaborative Album With XTC Frontman

(Gibson) Multi-instrumentalist Mike Keneally has wrapped up work on Wing Beat Fantastic, an album featuring a number of songs written with XTC frontman Andy Partridge. "It's done," Keneally says. "Finally. It's done. Mastered, packaged, the lot. The release date is July 24 but we'll make it available for pre-order before then."

In an interview with Chicago Music Magazine recently, Keneally described Wing Beat Fantastic as "almost like a pop album for me. It's more accessible than my stuff that's normally melodic. It's rocking, but it's also very direct. I'm also including a group of other songs that I wrote on my own. Its my own boundaries that I'm trying to break whenever I do anything."

Aside from playing guitar in the live incarnation of Dethklok and keys in Joe Satriani's band, Keneally's musical resume includes guitar and keys in Steve Vai's band, Dream Theater vocalist James LaBrie's Mullmuzzler, and a tour as Frank Zappa's final "stunt guitarist" on Zappa's last tour in 1988. more on this story

Caravan's For Girls Who Grow Plump In The Night 40th Anniversary Tour

Caravan will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of one of their landmark albums with 10-date UK tour early next year.

The tour kicks off on 8th January 2013 at the prestigious Queen Elizabeth Hall, at London's Southbank Centre.

The tour will see Caravan celebrate the 40th Anniversary of what many critics regard to be one of the most influential British prog albums of all time; 1973's "For Girls Who Grow Plump In The Night". more on this story

The Treatment Releasing Album Ahead of KISS and Motley Crue Tour

The Treatment will release their debut album, This Might Hurt on July 17, 2012, a few days before embarking on their first North American tour where they will be supporting KISS and Motley Crue.

Since the release of the album outside of North America, the band has done extensive touring in the UK and Europe—supporting Alice Cooper, Motorhead, Steel Panther, and Thin Lizzy.

The band is appearing this month at UK's Download festival, Belgium's Grasspop Festival, Germany's Reload Festival, and Switzerland's Earshaker Days Festival. more on this story

The Trews Announce North American Live Dates

The Trews will be returning to North America for a handful of summer dates in July to support their fourth full-length studio album, Hope & Ruin.

The Trews begin their mini-tour on July 18 at their familiar haunt, Artpark in Lewiston, where they've played multiple times to packed crowds in the thousands.

The quartet then head west to Wisconsin and Chicago before heading back east to Philadelphia, Asbury Park and finally up to New Hampshire to close out on July 27. more on this story

Johnny A Launches American Guitarist TV,

(Gibson) Johnny A. has launched American Guitarist TV, a new YouTube channel where he shares his expertise, answers fan questions and gives viewers an insight into his creative process.

In preparation for his next album (due in February), Johnny A. is currently expanding his studio with legendary studio designer John Storyk, studio designer at Walters-Storyk Design Group and designer of Jimi Hendrix's Electric Lady Studio, with completion expected by the end of August.

Recently, Johnny A. sat in with fellow Gibson signature artist Joe Bonamassa at the Casino Ballroom in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, to perform "Look Over Yonders Wall." Fan-filmed footage of the performance is here.

White Wizzard, Icarus Witch and Widow Tour

White Wizzard will be hitting the road this summer for a North American tour which will kick off on August 9th in Kansas City, Missouri.

The band will be joined on the two-week 'North American Assault' tour by fellow heavy metal bands Icarus Witch and Widow.

White Wizzard mainman and bassist Jon Leon comments: "White Wizzard is excited to be doing an East Coast tour with the great bands Icarus Witch and Widow - both are fantastic and we think it is a fantastic bill. Come out if you want to see three bands doing traditional heavy metal and have a blast... See you there!" more on this story

B Sides

Singled Out: The Overseer

Today The Overseer's drummer Abishai Collingsworth and singer Anthony Rivera tells us about the song "Amend" from their brand new album "We Search, We Dig," which was released by Solid State today. Here is the story:

Abishai- "I think we can all agree that this is our favorite song on the record. I feel the dynamics in this song are very well-rounded and can appeal to many listeners. The writing process for this song was similar to how we write most of our songs. Darren demoed the song out on GarageBand and presented it to us at a practice. Once we had an outline for the song, we had a pretty clear vision of where we wanted to go with it. Me and Brad sat down to write the patterns where the kick and bass match up at the beginning. I honestly wasn't sold on the intro at first until the vocals were set. It really brought life and intensity to the song. We jammed this song for months until I had the drums set. I really like to break the guitar riffs down and write a drum line that will compliment them. We pre-proed the song in Joplin, MO with ZombieLife Studios and producer Jerrod Naff. There, I could really sit back and listen to the song as a whole and ended up changing a couple drum fills and adding accents where the guitars hit. Once you record what you've written, you can take a step back and see how everything lines up. In pre-pro, we changed and added things we realized didn't hit as well as we thought. We tried many different melodies before we settled on the choruses you hear now. The song came together really well and were super stoked on the changes we've made to it and hope you will be too!"

Anthony- "For the most part, I will have lyrics already written for each song we write. For this song I wanted to to try something different. I waited until the music was complete to see how the song made me feel when I heard it. When I got the song I knew exactly what I wanted to write about and the way it made me feel. Amend is a very emotional and intense song that is based around many marriages falling apart in our generation. I feel that we live in a generation that gives up too easily and takes marriage very lightly. Many of us come from broken homes and that needs to change. The lyric "You gave your heart, till death do us part" hits me really hard. No one is perfect and marriage is a battle, but we vow to be together till death, that man shouldn't break that bond. This song gives hope that true love can mend a marriage. Once I have my screaming parts written, Darren and I will get together to write out melodies. He will read what I have lyrically and then write what he gets from the meaning of the song for the choruses, etc. I think it brings out more diversity having another band member bring their ideas to the meaning of the song."

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and learn more about the album right here!

Aerosmith Release Backstage Video

(hennemusic) Aerosmith kicked off their Global Warming tour this past Saturday night in Minneapolis.

The Boston rockers return to the road for a summer tour with Cheap Trick, while also promoting their new single, "Legendary Child."

Aerosmith have released backstage video from opening night; fans can see the guys comparing wardrobes and having a laugh just moments before taking the stage to play a sold-out Target Center. Watch the video here.

Wolves At The Gate Release Dead Man Video

Wolves At The Gate have released a new music video for their new song "Dead Man."

The track comes from the band's upcoming full-length Captors set for release on July 3rd via Solid State Records.

The debut full-length is the follow-up to the band's independently released EP We Are The Ones. Watch the video.

Twin Atlantic Giving Away EP

Twin Atlantic are celebrating their tour supporting Blink-182 by giving away a free EP.

The EP features tracks from their sold-out show at Glasgow's O2 Academy and a special acoustic performance of previous single ' Make A Beast Of Myself' as well as 'Crashland'.

Fans can get their free download by visiting the band's Facebook page here and following to links to 'Twin Atlantic Live EP'.

Currently in the middle of supporting Blink-182 at their UK arena shows, the Scottish rockers have also recently announced a 10 date jaunt around the UK this autumn. more on this story

Metallica Share Sonisphere Helsinki Footage

(hennemusic) Metallica continue to share concert footage from their 2012 European Summer Vacation tour.

The band played the Sonisphere festival in Helsinki, Finland on June 4. Metallica are now sharing some footage from the event.

The footage includes video of the pre-show meet and greet and "The Shortest Straw" from the concert. Watch it here.