Pantera bassist Rex Brown was recently interviewed by MetalAssault.com about his involvment with his new band Kill Devil Hill compared to his other projects: "This is it. I'm not doing any Down. This is my devotion right here. There's no side gigs, or anything else that's going on. So this is what it's going to be for the future." more

Although there were rumors and even an alleged comment from singer Zack De La Rocha that Rage Against The Machine would finally make a new studio album this year, guitarist Tom Morello told The Pulse Of Radio that all the band has on its agenda for the rest of 2011 is an appearance at the L.A. Rising festival more

Braid will be playing their first show in seven years at the Metro in Chicago, IL on August 27. more

Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Black Country Communion) will release his long-awaited autobiography, "Deep Purple And Beyond: Scenes From The Life Of A Rock Star", on May 12 via Foruli Publications. The book, co-written with Joel McIver and featuring an introduction by Metallica's Lars Ulrich, will appear in a luxury first edition complete with rare photos and an exclusive 10-inch vinyl EP more

According to Joystiq.com, in an interview with Game Informer, Harmonix's Chris Rigopulos revealed the slate of downloadable content in store for Rock Band this month, which includes tracks from the re-release of two legendary Randy Rhoads era Ozzy Osbourne albums, Diary Of A Madman and Blizzard Of Ozz. more

Jackson Browne schedule performance last night at the State Theater in Minneapolis, MN was postponed until May 29th due to illness.

John Mayall, one of the pioneers of British blues, has announced a 25-date autumn tour of the UK. more

According to the www.theprp.com Emmure, Born of Osiris, iwrestledabearonce and about twelve more bands are going to announce a previously little talked about tour next week more

Call To Preserve has announced dates for their final tour, which will also include Dead Icons and Dynasty. more

Some one sent over this bit of news and link: Inside Hollow featuring Dan Nelson (ex-Anthrax) on vocals have just released video footage of their live performance from their April 16, 2011 show at Port 41 in NYC. The video can be viewed here

On this day in 1956, Elvis Presley scored his first U.S. #1 single and album when "Heartbreak Hotel" went to the top of the charts. His debut album also went to #1.

In the early 1990s, Stone Temple Pilots � not U2, not Nirvana, not Pearl Jam � was the hottest band in the world. STP toppled such mega-bands as Aerosmith and Guns N' Roses on MTV and the Billboard charts. Lead singer Scott Weiland became an iconic front man in the tradition of Mick Jagger, David Bowie, and Robert Plant.

Who Cares, the renewed musical union between legendary Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan and Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi, will release its debut digital single will be release May 6th via Eagle Rock Entertainment. The physical cd/dvd single will be made available in Europe on May 24 through earMUSIC and June 27th in North America via Eagle Rock Entertainment.

JBLZE has added new material like "Achilles' Last Stand," "The Rain Song" and "In the Light," the latter of which Led Zeppelin themselves never performed live.

He writes on his website, "I would just like to say a big thank you for your support and kind words. It is most heart-warming for me to be the recipient of such graciousness and compassion from you all.

The footage mixes Hi-Def material with images from Super 8 tape � Vedder's video gear of choice � to provide a serene Hawaiian backdrop for the ballad.

Wylde recently spoke to Music Radar's Joe Bosso about the decision to cover Sabbath's "Junior's Eyes."

"With me and covers, you know, I'm always going to go for the classic stuff," he said. "Of course, we all love Sabbath � I mean, who doesn't? � so I was just jammin' on the piano, and before you knew it, I was singing and playing 'Junior's Eyes.' I got a piano vamp thing going, and I started singing Ozzy's melody."

Phil X was born in 1966 as Philip Xenidis. He's of Greek descent and the co-founder of the L.A. band Powder. He also has a second band, The Drills. He is used to standing-in: he replaced Rik Emmett in Canadian rockers Triumph for their Edge of Excess album (1993) and tour.

EW.com reports the Nuge will play himself as a Republican candidate for President who seeks Homer's endorsement in "Politically Inept With Homer Simpson."

Hetfield himself said: "I can't turn off the creative part of me, which is �- what a great gift. There's stuff coming out all the time, whether it's in the tuning room, in my hotel room, sitting at home with the acoustic, wherever. The stuff is coming out, and it gets recorded or written down or something, some way, and it'll come out at some point. Whether it's on this album, the next album, who knows?"

Helder continued, "There are bits in there that are heavy and bits that are fast, but in general a lot of the tunes are based on, I suppose, a more traditional way of writing songs. Starting off with chords and lyrics and melody and putting it all together, whereas before we wrote songs differently. This time, when [frontman] Alex [Turner] was writing songs on his own, he tried a different approach, too."

Written by original Doobie Pat Simmons, "Far From Home" recounts the bittersweet moment when a son or daughter leaves home for the first time. The video features footage from Simmons family archive and real life footage of service men and women returning to their families, much of which was submitted by fans.

Stone was referred to the band by Slash, according to a statement. "This guy's got pipes," said bassist Chip Z'Nuff, citing that "his show is over the top - you're going to get a great show - like a mini Woodstock without the mud." Adler added, "He's doing a fabulous job, we're very pleased with him."

When we started the writing process for menace, we were really trying to nail an aggressive fist pumping type of rock tune, and to be more specific we wanted to nail that vibe of Guns N' Roses and Iron Maiden glory era rock and give that a modern twist.

The music really is what starts the writing process; usually a simple guitar riff then we build the bed of the music on top of that. Lyrics come last, right after the melody lines.

Lyrically the song came out of the simple idea of anger. It's a warning from the songs protagonist character, to just don't underestimate him. He's a loose canon. Then the song shifts into a welcome to the hell you brought on yourself when you pushed him to far.

The breakdown/solo section is quite fun too, inspired by Rising Force era Yngwie Malmsteen, taking his diminished ideas and applying them to some fretboard tapping madness. Trying to tie the music as closely as possible to the protagonists mentality, which is borderline insanity.

Starting Monday, May 9, Late Night will celebrate the reggae legend on the 30th anniversary of his death. Performers will include Bob's son Ziggy Marley (Monday), Chris Cornell (Tuesday), Jennifer Hudson (Wednesday), Jakob Dylan (Thursday) and Lenny Kravitz (Friday). Each will play a Marley tune and Ziggy also will chat with Fallon about his father's legacy.

The so-called Gallagher tweet read: "So we can finally announce details about Noel's solo release. Single release date: 22.08.2011. Album release date: 12.09.2011."

Two years earlier, Buffalo Springfield had come together a bit haphazardly. With their most recent band (led by Rick James!) having just fallen apart, guitarist Neil Young and bassist Bruce Palmer traveled to Los Angeles to see if they could find singer-guitarist Stephen Stills � whom Young had met in 1965. Unable to find him, the pair were about to leave for San Francisco when they got stuck in traffic on Sunset Boulevard. Stills and his friend and bandmate Richie Furay were stuck at the same intersection, and recognized Young's car � a black 1953 Pontiac hearse. Thanks to a quick U-turn by Furay, the four musicians met up and decided to start a band.

The breakdown of most influential players in the history of the modern drumkit was compiled by Rhythm Magazine, and features 50 rock or metal musicians in its ranks alongside founding fathers including Buddy Rich, Gene Krupa and Ronnie Verrell � who played Animal in The Muppets.

But his wife-to-be just laughed at him � and he recently returned to front the promising classic metal upstarts.

VH1 Storytellers: Death Cab For Cutie: "This is the first time I've played a show or felt a time appropriate to tell our stories," explained Death Cab for Cutie lead singer Ben Gibbard while stepping onto the "VH1 Storytellers" stage on April 20th.

"I do agree [that the group is a true guitar-driven band] because that was the initial idea of Whitesnake�until Jon Lord asked to come on board," Coverdale told Guitar International. "There is no way that I could ignore that Jon's left hand with Deep Purple contributed to that huge (expletive) sound of Purple's identity. That's where I kind of backpedaled and made keyboards a featured instrument. It was never part of the original plan. The blueprint for Whitesnake was the Allman Brothers' first LP, where the organ is more of a rhythm part, and Duane Allman's immense guitar is upfront. That was to be the structure of Whitesnake, like an orchestral blues band."

"James, man, I think you kicked that song's ass," said Steven Tyler. "The way you worked the audience, I think you're 'ready for Freddie' [Mercury]."

For the retro track, James chose 1970's "Without You" by Harry Nilsson. In the 'mentor session' early in the week, the song's lyrics connected in a big way with Durbin, and the singer needed to step out of the studio to collect himself. "By the time I actually started listening to the lyrics," said James, "I broke down. Why I'm here is to make a better life for my family, but every time [fiance] Heidi and [2-year old] Hunter come to visit and they have to leave, I have to let them go."

Part III will be on gray vinyl and will feature a recently re-recorded version of "Onward To Battle," a track that originally appeared on the band's self-released debut album, "At One With The Shadows."

Commented drummer Steve Smith; "These songs are intense, atmospheric, sinister and climactic, which is very exciting. Like past material the speed and energy is there, but there is now a much bigger focus on dynamics, mood, and raw emotion, which is revealing new dimensions of the band previously unheard of and resulting in some huge sounding songs. Like the last album there will also be a number of guest appearances which we are very excited about. This album is definitely shaping up to be our most powerful, focused and diverse yet."

Written by Norwegian guitarist Jon Larsen and released on Norway's Zonic Entertainment (a label that features exclusively dedicated Frank Zappa inspired music). Along with Tommy Mars, 'Willie Nickerson's Egg' also features the talents of Zappa alumnus Arthur Barrow.