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Day in Rock Report for 07/27/2017


Today's Day in Rock Stories


Posthumous Gregg Allman Song 'My Only True Friend' Goes Online

(Radio.com) Gregg Allman's posthumous Southern Blood album has been set for release on September 8th. The haunting first single, 'My Only True Friend," almost feels like a warning from the late rocker, who died of health issues in May of 2017.

"You and I both know this river will surely flow to an end, keep me in your heart, keep your soul on the mend," Allman sings. "I hope you're haunted by the music of my soul when I'm gone, please don't fly away and find you a new love, I can't face living this life alone. I can't bear to think this is the end. But, you and I both know the road is my only true friend"

Allman was working on the project with his touring band at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, during the months and weeks leading up to his death. With Don Was producing, the singer tracked the new songs with drummer Steve Potts and bassist Ron Johnson, percussionist Marc Quinones, keyboardist Peter Levin and a horn section featuring saxophonists Jay Collins and Art Edmaiston and trumpeter Marc Franklin. Read more and listen to "My Only True Friend" here.

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Ronnie James Dio Hologram Concert Tour Announced

(hennemusic) A hologram of the late Ronnie James Dio will be featured in an upcoming world concert tour from the metal legend's former bandmates billed as "Dio Returns."

The hologram - created by Eyellusion with the full support of Dio's widow and manager, Wendy - will be seen delivering the singer's actual live vocal recordings mixed with music performed by Dio Disciples, a group of former collaborators including guitarist Craig Goldy, drummer Simon Wright and keyboardist Scott Warren; the band is rounded out by bassist Bjorn Englen and vocalist Tim "Ripper" Owens, with Oni Logan to appear on select dates.

The Dio hologram will perform for the majority of the show, delivering an alternating set list that will feature songs such as "Rainbow In The Dark", "We Rock", "Neon Nights", "King Of Rock & Roll", "Man On The Silver Mountain", "Heaven & Hell", "Holy Diver" and more.

Following its debut at last year's Wacken Open Air festival in Germany, the hologram of the late rocker saw its US debut at the 28th annual Pollstar Awards in Los Angeles, CA on February 2.

The "Dio Returns" production will play more than 80 shows around the globe, with the first series of dates set to begin this fall in Europe, kicking off in Helsinki, Finland on November 30 and a US tour planned for spring 2018.

"Working with Eyellusion over the past year and a half to turn our dream of this tour into a reality has been absolutely incredible," says Wendy Dio. "No one has ever been able to put together a show and tour like this and we like to think of Ronnie smiling down as we continue to find new ways to share his music with all generations of fans. We cannot wait to be able to finally bring this incredible experience to Ronnie's fans around the world." See the dates here.

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Nikki Sixx Recovering From Surgery This Week

(hennemusic) Sixx:AM and former Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx has revealed that he is currently recovering from shoulder surgery that he underwent earlier this week (July 25th).

The rocker previewed the event with a social media post, writing, "Last hour of playing guitar before going into surgery tomorrow to repair my rotator cuff from breaking guitars. IRONIC?"

Sixx updated fans late Tuesday evening with a pair of post-op photos, adding, "Rotator and torn bicep fixed. Doctor did a great job." The shoulder repair comes just three months after the bassist underwent successful hip placement surgery.

Following news last month that he has unofficially retired from touring, Sixx recently announced plans to team up with Heavy Metal magazine to publish a graphic novel of his 2007 memoir, "The Heroin Diaries", this fall in sync with its tenth anniversary this year. Read more here.

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Stone Temple Pilots' 'Core' Expanded For Anniversary Reissue

(hennemusic) Stone Temple Pilots have announced that they will be releasing multiple 25th anniversary deluxe editions of their 1992 debut album, "Core", on September 29 via Rhino Records.

The San Diego, CA band - guitarist Dean DeLeo, bassist Robert DeLeo, drummer Eric Kretz and vocalist Scott Weiland - debuted with "Core" in the fall of 1992 and by the following summer were one of the biggest rock acts on the scene, powered by exhilarating live shows and a string of now-classic songs from the album, remastered here for the very first time.

The 4CD Super Deluxe Edition features a newly-remastered version of the original record, plus more than two hours of unreleased demos and live performances, including the band's performance on "MTV Unplugged." The package also delivers the original album on vinyl and a DVD that contains a 5.1 Surround Sound Mix along with videos for the album's four singles: "Sex Type Thing", "Plush", "Wicked Garden" and "Creep."

Limited to 15,000 copies worldwide, the 4CD set is packaged in a richly detailed 12x12 hardcover book with rare and unseen photographs from the era. Fans can pre-order a limited edition bundle of the "Core: Super Deluxe Edition" at stonetemplepilots.com which includes a bonus replica 7" vinyl single of "Plush" that was originally released in the UK in 1993; the exclusive bundle is limited to 1,000 copies.

A 2CD Deluxe Version contains a newly-remastered version of the original album expanded with rare b-sides and previously unreleased demos. A single disc remaster of the original album will be available, as well. See track details here.

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Iron Maiden Frontman Bruce Dickinson Announce Memoir

(hennemusic) Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson has announced that his memoir "What Does This Button Do?" will be published on October 19 via HarperCollins.

Following a stint with UK rockers Samson, Dickinson joined Iron Maiden in 1981, and made his first appearance with the group on record with the release of their third album, 1982's "The Number Of The Beast."

35 years and more than a dozen studio albums and countless world tours later, Dickinson has emerged as rock's true renaissance man, engaged in off stage activities as an airline pilot and captain, an aviation entrepreneur, a beer brewer, motivational speaker, film scriptwriter, twice-published novelist, radio presenter, TV actor and a world-class fencer.

In "What Does This Button Do?", Dickinson - a man who famously never gives interviews about his personal life - shares, for the first time, the most fascinating recollections, including his years with Iron Maiden, the early days, his childhood within the eccentric British school system, going solo, realizing his dream of flying jumbo jets and his recent battle with tongue cancer. Read more here.

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Singled Out: Black Satellite's Valkyrie

Rising rock duo Black Satellite just released their debut album "Endless" on July 7th and to celebrate we asked them to tell us about their single "Valkyrie." Here is the story:

I was reading this one book in March 2016. On the last page of the last chapter I read a sentence with the word "Valkyrie." I was immediately drawn to it. I kind of like to pick words based on the way they sound; whether it's the hard consonant that interests me or the overall number of syllables. The next month we were driving back to NYC in the rain after spending the weekend with family in Pennsylvania. I opened up the little note I keep in my phone for all my song ideas. And there it was, the word "Valkyrie" staring back at me.

I glanced out the window at the gloomy weather and began thinking about how the word could be applied as an analogy for my life. It made me think about how everyone tends to fear death at one point in their life or another. It made me remember when I was six years old and first learned I was going to die. And that's a lot to take in�I am going to die. We end up spending most of our lives figuring out how to be okay with that. We try to stuff them with fulfilling experiences so we can "die happily" and "have no regrets."

"Valkyrie" became a way for me to take control of that fear by externalizing it. As the Valkyrie, I could then decide who dies and who lives. It felt much more comfortable imagining what it was like on the flip side of things. Some of the lyrics also allude to the fact that recording the song itself has somehow immortalized me just into the thing I was writing about. By some strange logic I ended up creating this eternal parallel loop.

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

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Yes Add Steve Howe's son Dylan To Band's Tour Lineup

Yes have announced that Steve Howe's son Dylan will be joining drummer Alan White in the band's rhythm section for this summer's North American Yestival tour.

The twin drumming harkens back to the legendary group's early 90s Union Tour which featured two drummers playing simultaneously. White had this to say, "It's a pleasure for me to welcome Dylan Howe to the YES stage.

"I've known Dylan for most of his life and I'm proud to think I've helped to be an inspiration in his musical journey. I'm very much looking forward to performing with him this summer for the upcoming Yes tour." Read more here.

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Metallica Release Live 'Motorbreath' Video

(hennemusic) Metallica performed their 1983 thrash metal classic, "Motorbreath", at Parc Jean-Drapeau in Montreal, Quebec on July 19th, and the group are sharing professional footage from the concert.

The tune appeared on the band's debut album, "Kill 'Em All", which didn't appear on the US Billboard 200 chart until three years later, where it peaked at No. 66 on its way to eventually selling 3 million copies Stateside.

The Montreal stop was one of three Canadian dates this month on Metallica's WorldWired tour in support of their latest album, "Hardwired�To Self-Destruct."

Following the Montreal appearance, Metallica are now enjoying a two-week break before returning to live action at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA on July 29 to begin the final three-week series of dates on their North American summer stadium run.

The California band will cross the northern US border again next month for shows in Vancouver, BC on August 14 and the trek's final date in Edmonton, AB on August 16. Watch the video here.

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Blink-182's Mark Hoppus Selling 'All the Small Things' For Kids

(Radio.com) Blink-182 fans will have the opportunity to own pieces of Blink-182 history and help children. Mark Hoppus and his wife Skye met on the set of the music video for Blink's "All the Small Things."

Now the couple are auctioning off many of the small things (and big things as well) from their Beverly Hills' home, with proceeds going to Children's Hospital Los Angeles.

While their home is undergoing renovations, the Hoppus family is selling pieces that will no longer fit with the new design. Items ranging from watches, vases and chandeliers to a rare "Hi My Name Is Mark" skate deck. Read more here.

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Linkin Park Producer Tributes Chester Bennington

(Radio.com) The death of Chester Bennington at age 41 has inspired a myriad of tributes from around the rock world. Don Gilmore, who produced Linkin Park's debut Hybrid Theory and sophomore record Meterora, spoke to Billboard about Bennington's music and legacy.

Gilmore remembered meeting Bennington in a studio before he officially joined Linkin Park. "I was just like, 'Oh my god, this is really special,'" Gilmore recalled. "I'd never really heard somebody sing that incredibly just in a little crappy rehearsal room. He wasn't really singing like that on the demos, and I just felt like, if he can sing like this in the studio, then we might have a chance of doing something."

Gilmore added that Linkin Park might have sounded totally different had they not selected Bennington as their singer. "Not to take anything away from the guys or anything, but they might have been looking for a different kind of singer. Then they found this guy from Arizona, and he could go into the rock world in such a way that maybe wasn't exactly their cup of tea," Gilmore said. "I think that they wanted to be more like Incubus or something like that, but once Chester got his voice down on tape it was so undeniable, I was just like, 'You guys, people are going to freak out over this. This guy, there's nothing like this.' It was pretty obvious. I don't think I had to sell them very hard on it, and Chester loved to sing like that." Read more here.

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George Thorogood On His First Solo Album and Covers

Veteran rocker George Thorogood has had a long and successful career with The Destroyers and is now gearing up to release his very first solo album "Party Of One" on August 4th.

Gibson caught up with Thorogood to discuss the new effort and he explained the reasoning behind releasing a solo album after all these years, "Well, we needed to put something out that we hadn't done yet! (Laughs) We did pretty much everything else. We did several live records, some anthologies and best of records, so we figured, what's left? I've actually been meaning to do this for years, and I've been putting it off."

He also explained how he picked the cover songs that are featured on the record, "Well, we got halfway through recordings, and I was about ready to hang it up and say, 'This is not a good idea.' Then, we started picking songs by artists that had influenced me along the way, when I was first getting started-- John Lee Hooker, Johnny Cash, even the Rolling Stones. With the Stones, Brian Jones is the first person I ever heard play slide guitar. So, one by one we continued picking songs. That made it a little easier, but it is not an easy thing to do, because there might be 200 Hank Williams songs, but can you play any of them? Can you play them well? Is it a song that too many people have already covered?" Read the full interview here.

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Final Art Pepper West Coast Sessions Volumes Announced

Omnivore Recordings have announced that they will be releasing the final installment in the Art Pepper's Legendary "West Coast Sessions!" Volumes series with Jack Sheldon and Shelly Manne records on September 29th. We were sent the following details:

In 1977 Art Pepper made a comeback following some time off from recording. In 1979, the Japanese came calling in the form of a small record label, Yupiteru, later known as Atlas. They wanted Art to record for them. By then, Art was under exclusive contract to Fantasy/Galaxy Records and could not record as a leader.

However, in a scheme suggested by his wife, Laurie Pepper, Art could be a "sideman." He could in turn choose the "leaders." He recorded six albums for Atlas with six terrific "leaders." The concept became the six-volume "West Coast Sessions!" series. Volume 1 featured Sonny Stitt; Volume 2, Pete Jolly; Volume 3, Lee Konitz; and Volume 4, Bill Watrous. Those volumes were reissued in expanded editions by Omnivore Recordings beginning in 2016.

On September 29, 2017, the final two "West Coast Sessions!" volumes will be available as CDs and Digital. Volume 5 features trumpeter Jack Sheldon, and Volume 6 features drummer Shelly Mann. The CD reissues also include photos and new liner notes from Laurie Pepper. Read more here.

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