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B Sides for 09/02/2014



New Song From Johnny Winter and Aerosmith's Joe Perry Streaming
(hennemusic) Johnny Winter's camp has premiered "Mojo Hand", a new song featuring Aerosmith's Joe Perry that will appear on his forthcoming album, "Step Back."

"If it wasn't for Johnny," says Perry, "I'd never have picked up the guitar." Due September 2, the 13-song collection also includes contributions from Eric Clapton, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, Brian Setzer, Joe Bonamassa, Leslie West and others.

Produced by Paul Nelson, "Step Back" was completed shortly before Winter died on July 16 in his hotel room in Zurich, Switzerland while on tour in Europe at the age of 70.

Winter will be the focus of an all-star tribute concert at B.B. King's in New York City on October 10; details regarding the guest lineup will be announced soon.

Check out the new song and track details for the album here.

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Robert Plant Streaming New Album Online
(hennemusic) Robert Plant is streaming his new album, "lullaby and...The Ceaseless Roar", in advance of its September 5th release in Europe (Sep 8 in the UK and Sep 9 in North America).

The rocker will perform at the iTunes Festival in London on September 8 before introducing the new music to North America on a 7-date theatre tour that begins in New York on September 25.

"lullaby and...The Ceaseless Roar" was recorded at Helium Studios in Wiltshire and Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios in Bath, UK. Plant has teamed up with Genero TV to hold a contest for a fan to create the official video for the album's lead single, "Rainbow."

Check out the album stream here.

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Video From Final KISS and Def Leppard Show Goes Online
(hennemusic) KISS and Def Leppard wrapped up their summer tour at The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in Houston, Texas on Sunday, and video from the show is available.

"The numbers for the US 40th Anniversary Tour say it all!," posted KISS. "42 shows. Over 600,000 fans. Amazing and thank YOU!" The trek, which began June 23 in West Valley City, Utah, saw both acts playing headline sets to fans across North America.

Up next, KISS will perform their first Las Vegas residency this fall. "KISS Rocks Vegas" will see the band play 9 shows at The Joint inside the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino between November 5th and 23rd.

Check out video from the tour closer here.

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Metallica Star Jams With Rodrigo y Gabriela
(hennemusic) Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo joined Rodrigo y Gabriela for the encore of their August 17th show at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, CO, and the duo are sharing pro-shot video of the performance.

During the show the trio played a tribute to Metallica that featured a medley of "Orion", "For Whom The Bell Tolls", "The Frayed Ends Of Sanity" and "Battery."

The Mexican guitar duo of Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero perform a mix of several genres, mostly rooted in latin rhythms. The pair originally teamed up in a Mexico City heavy metal band called Tierra Acida ("Acid Land") in the early 1990s before moving on to develop their own music and style.

The duo have performed Metallica tunes through the years and have featured some of the performances on their live releases. Check out video here.

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Rob Halford On The Conviction Behind Judas Priest's New Album
(hennemusic) Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford discussed the band's approach to making their latest studio album, "Redeemer Of Souls", in a new video segment that has been posted online.

"We're very proud of the records and the songs that we've made and we really treasure everything that we've put together," Halford explians, "so it's very important for us when we make a record like Redeemer Of Souls that it has the same caliber because this has to be a good record for us because there's a lot of self-conviction.

"When we hear it back before it's gone out to the public, we ourselves have to be convinced that we've given as much as we can at this moment and that it's as good as it can get�and then we let it out to the world."

"Redeemer Of Souls" delivered the UK metal legends the first US Top 10 of their career. The project debuted in July at No. 6 on the US Billboard 200 with 33,000 copies sold, surpassing the group's previous chart peak of No 11 with 2008's "Nostradamus."

Check out the video segment with Halford here.

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Status Quo Discuss Unplugged Project
(Classic Rock) Status Quo are to release their first ever unplugged album, Aquostic (Stripped Bare), through Warner Bros on October 20, and Francis Rossi and Rock Parfitt have given Classic Rock an exclusive lowdown on its details.

The project was recorded in great secrecy at Rossi's own studio, with regular producer Mike Paxman behind the desk. It includes some 21 songs culled from various stages of the group's lengthy career. The album mixes single hits with album tracks and a handful of its selections have been enhanced by a string section and backing vocalists. The startling cover image (below), which features Parfitt and Rossi in a state of undress - modesty preserved by a pair of strategically placed acoustic guitars - was shot by Canadian rocker and photographer Bryan Adams.

"The new arrangements of most of these songs are vastly different to the ones that Quo fans will already know," claims Parfitt. The rhythm guitarist and vocalist is especially proud of the way that Don't Drive My Car, from 1980's Just Supposin', has been reworked. "It sounds like a cross between St�phane Grappelli [jazz violinist] and Django Reinhardt [jazz guitarist]," he enthuses. "People will be taken aback, and pleasantly so."

Rossi admits that he approached the sessions with cynicism, but the lead guitarist/vocalist's interest snowballed once the band - completed by John 'Rhino' Edwards on bass, Andrew Bown on Keys and drummer Leon Cave, set to work. The first track they experimented upon was And It's Better Now (from the 1973 album, Hello!), and the results were far better than Rossi had expected.

"It made me think, wow! And I went from not wanting to be involved to really, really liking it," he comments. "I've always liked Paper Plane [from the previous year's Piledriver], for example, but what we've done with it is really f***ing nice. To me, the new version of All The Reasons [also Piledriver] is as good as the original, or better. The same with Rain [from Blue For You, 1976], which is a song that I really didn't think would work in such a format. It's a really f***ing great record."

More including a video stream here.

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Asking Alexandria Deliver Mayhem In Moving On Video
(TeamRock Radio) Asking Alexandria have released a new music video for their single Moving On, which is taken from the Yorkshire band's third album From Death To Destiny.

The clip features footage from the band's appearances on the Mayhem Festival tour. Guitarist Ben Bruce says: "For the first time in our careers, we are showcasing ourselves in the most sincere light possible. No drugs, no partying, no script and no bullsh*t. It's just the five of us completely vulnerable.

"No matter what the circumstance, being away from those you love and care about is very difficult and drags you down. Luckily for us, we have incredible fans that love and support us and help us through our toughest times."

Check out the video here.

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Godsmack Star Has Blues On The Side
(TeamRock Radio) Shannon Larkin says he has to restrain himself when playing with his new blues project the Blue Cross Band. The drummer took time out from his day job with Godsmack to form the group, along with Godsmack guitarist Tony Rombola. Ray Cerbone is on vocals and bass is handled by Brian Carpenter.

Larkin tells 94.3 Kilo in Colorado Springs he always keeps his hand in during Godsmack downtime. He says: "Every band I've been in I've always had multiple side projects. I think it's good to play with other musicians. And it's good to play different styles of music as a player. It gets your different chops built up. "Playing in a blues project, it's completely different to playing in a metal band. I have to use restraint that I don't have to use in Godsmack." Shannon also discussed what fans can expect with the Godsmack tour here.

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Agent Release Collecting Scars Video
(Prog) Agent have premiered their new music video for the song Collecting Scars, which is taken from the London-based outfit second album Kingdom Of Fear.

The band, who originally hail from New Zealand, are nominated in the Limelight category of this year's Progressive Music Awards. The ceremony takes place at the Underglobe, beneath Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, in London on September 11.

Agent play Camden's Barfly on October 6 with Voyager and Aeon Zen. They return to New Zealand for a four-date tour at the end of November. Check out the video here.

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Amplifier Premiere New Song Open Up
(Prog) Amplifier have premiered a lyric video for their track Open Up, which is taken from upcoming fifth album Mystoria - due to be released next week via Superball Music.

The band had the following to say about the new track: "Open Up is a song about surprises - and that's a handy word to use when we talk about Mystoria."

Guitarist Sel Balamir recently said: "We've gone back to just trying to write great songs and melodies, and that's where we've decided to stay." They launch a European tour in October, which includes two UK dates alongside Kerbdog and others - one at the Ritz in Manchester on November 15, and the other at the Forum in London on November 16.

Check out the new song here.

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Lostprophets Offshoot No Devotion Release New Video
(TeamRock Radio) Welsh band No Devotion have released a video for the track Eyeshadow. The band consists of former Lostprophets members Mike Lewis, Lee Gaze, Jamie Oliver, Luke Johnson and Stuart Richardson, who are joined by Thursday vocalist Geoff Rickly.

Lostprophets were left in limbo following Ian Watkins' convictions over child sex charges, which saw the former frontman jailed for 35 years.

With the band's name tarnished, the remaining members decided to start a new project and recruited Rickly, who said his new band members deserved another chance.

Along with the new track, the band have announced a North American tour. They'll be supporting Neon Trees on some dates and headlining a number of shows. The tour starts on September 29 in Bakersfield, California.

Watch the video here.

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Engineers Release Fight Or Flight Video
(Prog) Engineers have released a video for Fight Or Flight - a track taken from their new album Always Returning. The band - Mark Peters, Matthew Linley and Ulrich Schnauss - launched their fourth album earlier this month via Kscope, and frontman Peters reveals he's growing more confident in his songwriting ability.

He tells Prog: "Over the past 10 years, I feel I've got better at translating what's happening in my head to what comes out of my mouth - with a bit less bullsh*t.

"I always used to worry about everything having to make sense, whereas now I don't care. I approach songwriting in a stream-of-consciousness way, where I try to trust the first thing I do."

Watch the video here.

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Classic Lou Reed Interview Gets Animated
(Radio.com) The latest installment of Radio.com's Minimation is taken from a 1989 interview with Lou Reed, discussing his then-new album New York and the song "Dime Store Mystery."

Lou Reed got his groove back on 1989's New York; the album saw him return to a raw guitar, bass and drums approach, and he was rewarded with his best reviews in years, not to mention a pretty big radio hit ("Dirty Blvd.")..

And then there was "Dime Story Mystery." In this 1989 interview Reed reveals that the beginning of the song was inspired by the hot-button film of the era, Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ, but also by the death of Andy Warhol, the original manager-producer of Reed's former band, the Velvet Underground.

The beloved New York poet passed away last year, and surely fans wouldn't agree with his sentiment about "throwing away" his time. From 1967's The Velvet Underground and Nico to his final album, 2011's Lulu (a surprising collaboration with Metallica), Reed's uncompromising artistry paved a path for generations of left-field and outsider artists for decades to come.

Watch the episode here.

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Singled Out: April Kry's Beauty Queen.
Today rising country star April Kry tells us about her single "Beauty Queen". (Also be sure to check out the feature about April in the current issue of Country Weekly, which hit newsstands yesterday 9/1.) Here is the story:

The song Beauty Queen is simply about any small town girl who ever wanted more, who one day stopped, looked around and said to herself, "I gotta get outta this place." In the same vein as the film The Last Picture Show, the central character finds herself stuck, wanting to break free of the past and a life she sees as a dead end road. It's homage to those with big dreams, for those who won't take no for an answer and for those who aren't afraid of change. Most people fear change, and let's face it, change is scary, but that's what makes life so interesting to me. Beauty Queen also touches on the old adage that looks can be deceiving. Most things in life are an illusion, and looks are definitely one of those things. I feel that there is way too much emphasis put on physical perfection in our society. Almost every picture that we see now has been photo shopped and it has given young girls a warped sense of what they should look like; intelligence, integrity and personal achievement are where the emphasis should lie. This song speaks to that when the main character says "There's more beneath the surface of this beauty queen, don't let my looks deceive you, I wear a dagger up my sleeve." Now, she's not REALLY wearing a dagger up her sleeve, the dagger is a meant to stand for her intelligence, which is the key to a better life for her.

Empowerment is a reoccurring theme in many of my songs. I understand that so many of us feel lost and alone at times, feeling helpless to change the situations that we are in. I would like to be a voice for young girls who feel they have none, and I would like my songs to resonate with people and to touch them in some small way. Art in whatever form it may take is a tool for self-expression. I am blessed to be able to express myself through song�

I loved singing this song because it took me out of my comfort zone. I'm basically a very shy, sweet person, and Beauty Queen is about a girl who is manipulative, deceitful and very outspoken (not exactly me!). But that's one of the things that I love most about singing and performing, it allows me to expose a different side of myself, to pretend, to play dress up if you will. I am a girl after all!

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

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