Black Sabbath Reveal 13 Album Cover in Teaser Video

Track titles include End Of The Beginning, God Is Dead, Epic, Dear Father, Age Of Reason and Methademic. Check out the video here.

Metallica Expand Orion Fest Lineup Including Infectious Grooves Reunion

Metallica have announced additional artists for their 2nd Orion Music + More festival which will now include a reunion of the of bassist Robert Trujillo's previous super-group Infectious Grooves.

Infectious Grooves will original members featuring Mike Muir (Suicidal Tendencies), Robert Trujillo (Metallica), Stephen Perkins (Jane's Addiction), Dean Pleasants (Suicidal Tendencies), and special guest Jim Martin (ex-Faith No More, filling in for original guitarist Adam Siegel).

"To reunite with those guys after 22 years is going to be really special for me. Orion is the perfect place for that to happen...I'm looking forward to it," said Trujillo.

Other lineup additions include Rocket from the Crypt, Vista Chino, Dead Sara, local Detroit favorites Matt Clarke and Calico. They join a lineup that will feature Metallica, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Deftones, The Joy Formidable and more.

The two-day festival is set to take place on June 8th and 9th at Belle Isle in Detroit, MI. more on this story

Gene Simmons Runs Into Jimmy Page

(hennemusic) KISS bassist Gene Simmons has shared a photo and story of running into Led Zeppelin guitar legend Jimmy Page in New York City.

"So, Shannon, Nick and I are sitting at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York," explains Gene. "And Ross Halfin, rock photographer impresario walks over to say hello, having just photographed us in Australia – and who is standing right beside him? Jimmy Page!!!"

"Nick just about had heart palpitations," he continued. "I quickly grabbed my phone and took a photo. And Jimmy, as always, is the consummate gentleman."

"Hail the RiffMaster of them all," saluted Simmons. See the photos here.

Radiohead Frontman Ponders The End Of The Band

(Gibson) Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke muses on a conversation with Paul McCartney in which Sir Paul commented that even The Beatles eventually got tired of being The Beatles in a recent interview with WNYC.

"Were there times when you guys sat there and looked at each other and said, "I think we're done?" he was asked. "I do that frequently. Frequently," Yorke said, before admitting that the rest of the band are more or less waiting on him to be the one to make the call.

Yorke went on to say that it wouldn't be musical differences that would eventually drive the band apart, but "just stresses of life, whatever."

And although Radiohead is still a going concern, Yorke's keeping busy with his new band, Atoms For Peace, who have just released their debut album, Amok. The band features Red Hot Chilli Pepper Flea and Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich. But Radiohead are planning to hit the studio by the end of the year to work on a ninth album and a follow-up to 2011's The King Of Limbs, so hopefully it'll be a while yet before Yorke feels the need to call time on Radiohead's innings. more on this story

Cheap Trick Plan Budokan 35th Anniversary Concert Broadcasts

Cheap Trick will celebrate the 35th anniversary of their Budokan concerts, which spawned an acclaimed album, with bi-coastal concerts which fans across the nation will be able to watch at home.

The first show will take place at the former location of CBGB's in New York City on April 28th, where the band will play the set from their April 28th, 1978 Budokan concert and they will be streaming the concert live online via Livestream.com here.

Two nights later the band will recreate their April 30th, 1978 Budokan concert with a live performance at the El Rey in Los Angeles, CA, which will be broadcast live on AXS TV.

Staind, Megadeth, Evanescence Members To Jam At Special Event

Megadeth's David Ellefson, Evanescence's Troy McLawhorn, Staind's Sal G and Pete Murray and Neil Godfrey of Lo-Pro will be performing together at a benefit event on April 24th.

The all-star jam is part of the release event for the movie "Battlefield of the Mind" and its soundtrack. The film is narrated by Ellefson and was co-produced by Staind frontman Aaron Lewis.

The show will be headlined by Eye Empire which features Corey Lowery (Stuck Mojo /Stereomud /Dark New Day) and B.C. Kochmit (Switched) and Ryan Bennett (Texas Hippie Coalition) and military veteran Donald 'DC' Carpenter (Submersed).

It will all take place at Whisky A Go Go in Hollywood, CA on April 24, 2013, the same day of the film and soundtrack.

The event will benefit the Boot Campaign which assists wounded military and their families with job placement, mortgage free homes, PTSD counseling, adaptive clothing and so much more. more details about the event, the movie and soundtrack

David Draiman Explains Disturbed Hiatus and His Accidental New Band

(Banana 101.5) David Draiman new band, Device, release their self titled debut album on Tuesday, April 9th and have a packed touring schedule which includes a May 8th stop at Flint's World Famous Machine Shop, which Dave says he's "looking forward to," and a performance at Rock on the Range. Dave called Tony LaBrie earlier today to talk about not only the upcoming show and record, but his currently inactive band as well.

Dave started off by clearing the air about the Disturbed situation, chuckling that the band is on hiatus "Til' whenever." Draiman further explained the reason for the surprising break as a much needed rest for the band's creative process. "when you go the the rigmarole of make a record, tour, make a record, tour — cyclical and assembly line-like — for 12 years, things get a little predictable," said Draiman before summarizing that their routine had made them feel too much like "part of the machine."

Draiman went on to say that the break was need to basically refuel their creative juices, but is also a chance for the fans to step back and realize that, "it's not a situation anymore where you can see Disturbed coming around touring every other summer and get a Disturbed record every other year. That predictability, I think, was starting to hurt us."

"The Device thing came together really accidentally," Draiman says of his latest project, which started as a collaboration with former Filter guitarist and fellow Chicagoan Geno Lenardo for the 'Underworld: Awakening' soundtrack. The track that was born during that session, 'Hunted,' was not included on the soundtrack due to the timing — it would've conflicted with the timetable of Disturbed's single 'Hell' from their B-sides album 'The Lost Children' — so they decided to hold on to it.

Toto Plot 35th Anniversary Tours

(Gibson) Toto, the legendary band made up of legendary session players like the legendary Steve Lukather, will celebrate their 35th anniversary of being legends with a series of European and US dates beginning in May.

Get this: over the course of their career, the members of Toto have appeared on over 5,000 albums. They got together as a band in 1976 and hit the big time in 1978 with Hold The Line, following that up with a nearly decade-long run of hit singles including Rosanna, Africa, 99, I Won't Hold You Back and I'll Be Over You.

Toto has had a few line-up changes over the years but the current touring incarnation includes original members Steve Lukather, David Paich and Steve Porcaro, as well as on-again/off-again vocalist Joseph Williams, vocalists Jenny Douglas-McRae and Mabvuto Carpenter, and bassist Nathan East.

Ah but there's a catch: if you're in the U.K. you'd better plan a trip across the Channel in order to catch this tour. As the band says: "We want to inform everyone that we will unfortunately not be performing in the U.K. on our upcoming European Tour. It was simply not logistically feasible as the proper venue in London was unavailable at the necessary time. We adore all of our fans in the U.K., and will miss seeing you this summer. Rest assured, we will be back in the UK in 2014 and look forward to seeing our loving fans at additional shows on the upcoming summer tour!" more on this story

The White Stripes For Tots

(Gibson) Once upon a time, lullabies were a fairly standard affair, with a few proven classics that worked in getting the kids to sleep but, frankly, didn't rock.

Over the last few years we've seen quite a few lullaby re-imaginings of popular bands (including Def Leppard), and the latest is Rockabye Baby! Lullaby Renditions of The White Stripes.

The album is the second UK release from Rockabye Baby, the first being a selection of Blur songs performed in relaxing child-friendly style. The U.S. catalog features over 50 albums with versions of songs by artists as diverse as The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Coldplay, Bob Marley, Pink Floyd, Madonna, U2 and The Police, all rendered in the relaxing tones of woodblocks and bells rather than cranked Marshalls and screaming Les Pauls.

And yes, of course a soothing version of "Seven Nation Army "is included in the White Stripes album. more on this story

Rush's Geddy Lee Explains His Love of Baseball

(hennemusic) Rush's Geddy Lee sat down with MLB.com to talk about his love of baseball which he showed this week when he threw out the first pitch at the Toronto Blue Jays home opener against the Cleveland Indians.

"When I was a kid, we used to watch the [Detroit] Tigers a lot, before we [Toronto] had an MLB team," explains Lee. "So, when I was very young, we watched AL games on TV. Then, I got into music and all sports kind of fell by the wayside."

"When I was on tour in the late 70s, all around the United States," he continues, "musician's hours run a little later than 9-to-5, so I'd be waking up mid-day, ordering some room service and turning the TV on to see what I icould look at – other than sopa operas – while I was having my breakfast.

"Almost always, there was a [Chicago] Cubbie's game on…and so I started watching the Cubs and, after a while, I just really got hooked on the game.

"It's like that – the more exposure you have to baseball, the more you understand the nuances and then I just started getting into it." more on this story

Dave Grohl Reveals His Favorite David Bowie Album

(Gibson) Dave Grohl has revealed that his favorite David Bowie album is … drum roll, please: Let's Dance. As reported by NME.com, the Foo Fighters frontman told BBC6 Music the 1983 Bowie album is especially conducive to "air drumming."

"People will think I'm crazy for this, as there are a lot of Bowie eras and they're all great, but I really like the Let's Dance period," Grohl said. "Because, as a drummer, that's one of the best air drumming albums of all time."

Grohl later added: "I can appreciate technical drumming, sure. But to me there's nothing better than being in a bar full of people dancing and air drumming when none of them know how to play the drums. [Let's Dance] and Back In Black — anyone will air drum to those albums."

Let's Dance remains Bowie' most commercially successful album. The LP is notable for helping launch the career of Stevie Ray Vaughan, who played guitar on several tracks. more on this story

Paul McCartney and Tony Bennett Tribute Phil Ramone

(Gibson) Tributes have been pouring in to one of the most successful record produces of all time, Phil Ramone, who died on March 30, at the age of 79.

The multiple Grammy-winning record producer Phil Ramone worked with some of the biggest names in pop and rock history, including Bono, Ray Charles, Natalie Cole, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Quincy Jones, B.B. King, Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder, Madonna, Sting, Bruce Springsteen and James Taylor.

Gibson Guitar Chairman and CEO Henry Juszkiewicz said: "Phil was a great person and a good friend. He was an exceptional music man from his earliest years when he was a child prodigy. In an industry filled with intensity and ego, Phil stood out as a warm, compassionate, centered and unassuming human being. He loved people and loved the industry. While mostly gentlemanly and low key, you could see his passion and love of music, and his perfectionism in producing and creating it. We have lost a giant."

Paul McCartney said in a statement on his website: "Phil was a great friend of mine for many years. We first worked together when I recorded 'Another Day' in New York at A & R Studios. He was a very sweet man who combined this with expert knowledge of both engineering and production. I'll always remember him as a great friend that I knew, loved and admired over the many years that we worked and played together."

Tony Bennett used Facebook to say: "Phil Ramone was a lovely person and a very gifted musician and producer... it was a joy to have him work with me."

Gloria Estefan tweeted: "Sending prayers & good thoughts 2 the loved ones of our dear friend & colleague, the unequalled Phil Ramone. RIP friend, we will miss u always!"

Julian Lennon tweeted Twitter, saying he was "deeply saddened to hear the news of my dear friend & first-ever producer, Phil Ramone's passing."

Rob Thomas also used Twitter to say: "R.I.P. #PHILRAMONE we have lost one of music's greatest producers. a true pioneer and a great man." more on this story

Steel Panther Release Studio Update

(hennemusic) Steel Panther are sharing their first video update from the recording studio as they work on third full-length album album.

Singer Michael Starr and guitarist Satchel check in from the studio in Sherman Oaks, California where the band has teamed up with producer Jay Ruston (Anthrax, Stone Sour) to record its the album for a September release.

The new project is the follow-up to 2011's "Balls Out" release, which debuted at #540 on the Billboard 200 with opening week sales of 12,000 copies.

Steel Panther recently announced their "Spreading The Disease (S.T.D.) Tour"; the 20-date trek kicks off on April 13 in Orlando, Florida at WJRR's Earthday Birthday.

"What better way to kick off the S.T.D. tour than with a concert to celebrate the Earth's birthday," said bassist Lexxi Foxx. Watch the update here.

Rolling Stones Have Official 50th Anniversary Vodka

(hennemusic) The Rolling Stones have teamed up with Crystal Head Vodka to mark the band's 50th anniversary. The pair have created an exclusive, limited edition Rolling Stones 50th Anniversary Gift Set.

"It is a huge honor and recognition of our high quality product to have Crystal Head designated as the officially authorized vodka for The Rolling Stones 50th Anniversary Worldwide celebration," says founder Dan Aykroyd, former Saturday Night Live star and Blues Brother.

"Together with Bravado, the band's licensing company, we have created the ultimate gift package for Stones fans and their families. There has never been a greater Father's Day gift, Halloween decoration or Christmas present. Next month we will release exclusive photos and information about packaging, pricing and special premiums included." more on this story

Fat History Month Go Soph With Bad History Month

Exploding in Sound Records sent over word that they have released Fat History Month's sophomore album, Bad History Month. They sent over these details:

The second single from the effort "Bald History Month" is available for streaming here. "Bad History Month," the title-track and first single was recently premiered on BrooklynVegan. The songs serves as a welcome introduction to their idiosyncratic approach that lies somewhere between the slack riffing of Pavement and meditative noodling of Modest Mouse. The soft-to-loud dynamics make the most of vibrant guitars and feverish drumming to establish a tone all of their own. Amid the emotive vocal swells, the charming desperation to the lyrics outwits your favorite poet. Recorded by Dan Angel and James Ryskalchick and Mark Fede at The Sex Dungeon in Philadelphia from April-June 2012, and finished and mixed by Mark Fede at Bobby Hobby's Lobby in Boston July 2012-January 2013. The production illuminates with brilliant layering to highlight the deep underlying melodies.

Fat History Month share their thoughts on the record: "Another heady conceptual brew from everyone's favorite nonalcoholic joke band that takes itself way too seriously. In case you didn't notice, the last one was a comedy album. This one is a tragedy.

Bad History not only means more songs about your Horrible Family, but it also refers to a feeling of ridiculously overblown and pathetic self-hatred, as in the case of that famous cowboy who, after falling off his horse, couldn't help feeling that in a previous life, he had been the first human to kill and eat a Neanderthal, an act which singled him out as the real life root cause of Original Sin, which has been borne throughout the ages by all of humanity ever since. more on this story

Billy Gibbons, Warren Haynes On Rock Hall Inductee Albert King's Legacy

(Radio.com) This year's Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction class features a group of artists who are (mostly) well-known to anyone with a passing familiarity with the last few decades of popular music : Rush, Heart, Public Enemy, Randy Newman and Donna Summer.

However, bluesman Albert King, who is also being inducted, doesn't have the name recognition of those artists, even though he was a huge influence on generations of guitarists including Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan. That may change with his upcoming Rock Hall induction, and also with the reissue of his classic album, 1967′s Born Under A Bad Sign. It was his first album for legendary soul music label, Stax Records, and the label's house band – Booker T. & The MGs, along with Isaac Hayes – was the backing band.

Warren Haynes of the Allman Brothers Band and Gov't Mule told Radio.com that that album was an important crossover moment.

"The Born Under A Bad Sign record was revolutionary," he said. "They were trying to take Albert's music to a wider audience. They got Booker T & The MGs to be the [backing] band. They were targeting more of a rock and roll crowd, and a soul music crowd, to take the blues to people who thought they didn't like the blues. Born Under a Bad Sign turned a lot of people on, not just to Albert King, but to blues in general."

Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top concurs in regards to Born Under A Bad Sign: "The backing that was provided to him by the Stax musicians, that raised the bar and Albert had this platform where all he had to do was walk in and play. It was just the best." more on this story

Singled Out: Soilwork

Today Soilwork singer Björn "Speed" Strid and drummer Dirk Verbeuren tell us about 'Rise Above The Sentiment' from their new double album, "The Living Infinite". Here is the story:

Dirk: This is one of the songs on "The Living Infinite" that we arranged as a band. Speed wrote the riffs and basic structure and sent us all a demo. Shortly before heading to the studio, we hit the rehearsal space and played through the song a number of times, adding ideas as we went along. The bass guitar/kick drum pattern variations in the chorus were something our bassist Ola suggested, adding a good amount of bottom-end groove in the process. David and Sylvain refined some of the guitar parts and I added the fast double kicks and blasts in the lead section which somehow reminded me of a more Swedish-sounding Scarve riff, with those off-beat accents. I can't recall if Speed had all of his vocal lines figured out yet at that time- but either way, he delivered yet another one of his majestic choruses that get stuck in your head for days. We selected "Rise Above The Sentiment" as the first video off of "The Living Infinite" and gave director Sune Eskelinen a bunch of studio footage. He came back to us with the dancing grandpa, a nice counterpoint to the typically dead serious videos that tend to prevail in this genre of music. All in all, this is bound to become a classic Soilwork track if you ask me!

Speed: I'm trying to remember if I actually had the chorus in my head first or if I just started working on the riffage. I just wanted to make a real simple intro with a soaring melody over it. I remember I started working on the song at a very early stage of the songwriting process for "The Living Infinite". Once I put the melody on top of the riff it had a pretty old school Soilwork feel to it, slightly nostalgic but also an updated feel to it. As far as I can remember, I finished up the song once I came back to Sweden in the summer last year. I had a really nice flow of inspiration sitting in my house by the water with my windows open, watching the sea glowing. The lyrical theme has a pretty classic "comeback" feel to it, to rise once again, to let go of old things and traumatic experiences which I've unfortunately experienced the latest years. I wanted it to be a positive anthem with a hopeful feel to it. It's about the feeling of reaching a point that you strongly believe that you're never gonna be able to shake. The mind can play incredible tricks on you and suddenly you find yourself, out of nowhere reaching that point that you thought was an impossible quest. However, I'm somewhat of an anti "new age" guy, I strongly believe that you need to let yourself feeling down and let the anxiety take over and ride it like a wave, instead of denying that feeling and forcing positive thoughts on yourself. Otherwise they will always come back. I see a lot of "you put yourself in that situation, it's your own fault, stop feeling sorry for yourself. Everybody has the same chance in life" etc on Facebook for example. It does sickens me. I'm not saying that feeling sorry for yourself is gonna make things better but people tend to abuse that term just as much as there are people acting like the world owes them something. Both are equally irritating. The lyric is also bringing up issues with these elements and views.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and check out the video here. The band is currently on tour, find out where you can see them here. And finally Björn is the cofounder of Elegy Guitarworks and they will be giving away a guitar once their Facebook page hits 2,500 likes. Check that out right here!

Arlen Roth Explains The Importance of The Blues

(Gibson) Arlen Roth explains why the Blues is so important in the latest column for Gibson.com. Here is an excerpt: I know I've written blogs in the past about having "roots" to your playing, and what it means to many players and their histories, but it's the blues roots that to me, really have the most meaning. This is especially true for those of us who enjoy playing American "roots"-based music, and that of course, stretches around the world, especially when it comes to the guitar!

The first thing to realize is that the blues is basically at the "root" of almost all American and Western music. The aspects of the I-IV-V changes, the 12-bar blues and the "call and response" way of phrasing both vocally as well as instrumentally is what instantly sets it apart from many other culture's musical languages.

I have found that since I grew up loving both blues as well as country music simultaneously, I really didn't see nor hear any great divide between the two. In many respects old country was really "white blues" and the influence of black blues musicians was so easily absorbed by the whites who may've been physically segregated from the blacks, but who still picked up on what they created with their musical language.

If you listen to the great Jimmie Rodgers, Roy Acuff or any of the other early, early country stars it's easy to see the blend of blues and country that made this sound so universal. The I-IV-V was still the preferred chord progression, but also the "ragtime" progressions started to take hold as well.

This was equally prevalent in black as well as white music, and took hold in the "Roaring '20s" when Jazz also started to become a true American phenomenon. If you look at it, Jazz is really the ultimate hybrid of all these styles, and the earliest forms were structured so much like blues as well as country, and seem to just "take it all in" in a musical, as well as cultural sense!

As guitarists, the blues is really the perfect root to have.