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Day in Rock Report for 06/21/2017


Today's Day in Rock Stories


David Lee Roth Responds To Ex-Van Halen Manager's Tell All

Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth made a rare return to Twitter this week to offer a humorous response to a new tell-all book that was released last week by the band's former manager.

Roth had been absent from the social media site since last fall but suddently reappeared, or rather one of his representatives did on his behalf, following last week's release of Noel E. Monk's memoir from his time as the band's manager "Runnin' With the Devil: A Backstage Pass Into the Wild Times, Loud Rock and the Down and Dirty Truth Behind the Making of Van Halen."

Roth appears to be laughing off the new book with his camp posting the following series of tweets: "In anticipation of inevitable inquiries & questions posed to David Lee Roth in regard to the publication of this 'book'...

"Mr. Roth's responses are as follows: Answer No. 1: Yes Answer No. 2: Probably Answer No. 3: My lawyer says I can't remember. Final response: What a long great trip it's been, stay frosty."

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Foo Fighters Announce New Album And Tour

(hennemusic) The Foo Fighters have announced details for their forthcoming new album, "Concrete And Gold", and also revealed the dates for a fall US tour to launch the project.

Due September 15, the group's ninth release was co-produced by the band and Greg Kurstin (Adele, Kelly Clarkson, Sia) and mixed by Darrell Thorp (Beck, Radiohead).

"I wanted it to be the biggest sounding Foo Fighters record ever," says Dave Grohl. "To make a gigantic rock record but with Greg Kurstin's sense of melody and arrangement� Motorhead's version of Sgt. Pepper� or something like that."

"Concrete And Gold" was recently previewed with the lead single, "Run", which surfaced without notice on June 1. In addition to "Run", the Foo Fighters delivered the live debut of two new songs during a June 16 performance at Iceland's Secret Solstice Festival: "Lah Di Dah" and the full band debut of "The Sky Is A Neighbourhood." Read more here.

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Allman Brothers Reunion Ruled Out By Derek Trucks

Allman Brothers' Derek Trucks has ruled out the idea of the surviving band members reuniting under their name in the wake of the death of Gregg Allman late last month, despite other band continue to perform without key members.

Trucks addressed the idea the remaining band members reuniting in an interview). He said, "You can't have an Allman Brothers gig without an Allman brother. I've heard people try to argue that you can, but I'm not buying it.

"If Duane's not there, Gregg certainly better be there. There are a few bands out there right now that are using names that maybe shouldn't be. That's another discussion." Read more here.

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Pink Floyd Founder's 'Dark Side Of Moon' Gold Record Being Auctioned

One lucky Pink Floyd fan will have opportunity to own a Gold Record for the band's landmark "Dark Side Of The Moon" album that was owned by the late cofounding member Richard Wright.

The RIAA awards Gold Records for albums after they reach sales of 500,000 copies in the U.S. and Wright's award is scheduled to be auctioned on Thursday by Nate D. Sanders Auctions.

Sanders had this to say, "Pink Floyd Memorabilia has been in great demand in recent months. Even the Victoria & Albert Museum in London is hosting a extremely popular retrospective of this iconic band."

Wright's Platinum album for "The Wall" sold in 2005 for over $40,000 and minimum bid for this Gold Record is set for $20,000. Visit the auction page for more details here.

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Chris Cornell Posthumous 'The Promise' Video Released

(hennemusic) Survival Pictures released the official video for Chris Cornell's song, "The Promise", on Tuesday, June 20th to mark World Refugee Day. The tune is the title track to the 2016 film of the same name directed by Terry George and starring Christian Bale, Oscar Isaac and Charlotte Le Bon in a love triangle drama set against the 1914 Armenian genocide.

"The Promise" was Cornell's last release prior to his passing in a Detroit hotel room on May 17 following a Soundgarden show in the city. Directed by Meiert Avis (Audioslave, U2) and Stefan Smith (Madonna, Sting), the clip mixes images of Cornell in the studio with refugees from around the world.

"'The Promise' to me is mainly about paying homage to those we lost in the Armenian Genocide, but it's also about shining a light on more recent atrocities,' Cornell explained at the time of the song's release. "The same methods used in the Armenian Genocide were used to carry out crimes against humanity in Bosnia, Darfur, Rwanda and right now in Syria on multiple fronts, contributing to a massive global refugee crisis." Watch the video and read more here.

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Gene Simmons Announces Tour Dates For Solo Band

KISS star Gene Simmons will be following his rare solo band performances earlier this month by hitting the road for a summer tour of select North American dates.

The Gene Simmons band will be kicking off their summer trek on August 4th in Funner, CA at the Harrah's Resort SoCal The Events Center and concluding on September 23rd and 24th at the Edmonton Expo in Edmonton, AB.

They will take a couple weeks off before they head to Japan for two dates including an appearance at this year's Loud Park Festival. They will be play dates in Buenos Aires, Monterrey and Mexico City before wrapping up their live dates with appearances at the Rhode Island Comic Con and the Austin Wizard World Con in November. See the dates here.

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The Dead Daisies To Rock With Full Orchestra At Music Festival

Rock supergroup The Dead Daisies have revealed that they will be playing a special Concert For Freedom with The Gorzow Philharmonic Orchestra with their headline performance at Woodstock Poland on August 3rd.

Guitarist Doug Aldrich had this to say about the special set, "We are very, very, excited to be involved in the Woodstock Festival again this year. We will be performing with a sixty-piece orchestra!! It has been a big dream to do that! The Dead Daisies set list is going to be a one off special in the name of Peace & Freedom just for this show. Can't wait!!"

Woodstock Poland founder and president Jurek Owsiak added, "Woodstock 1969 became an incredible spark which inspired all freedom thinkers of the world to face their biggest challenge yet - striving to achieve freedom, independence, truth, and try to build a true fraternity of people across the globe." Read more here.

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Liam Gallagher Slams Today's Brand Of Rock Stars

(Radio.com) Britpop's prickly elder statesman Liam Gallagher recently lashed out at what he sees as in authenticity in current rock music. The Oasis star feels strongly that today's rock stars care too much about appearances to really make great music.

"I love music as much as anyone," he said in an interview with an Irish radio station, refusing to name names. 'What I see going down is that I'm just 'leave it out mate, you can do better than that'. I can't tell a guitar band from a pop band these days. They've got guitars around their necks, but I don't hear guitars.

"You hear all these bands saying that they're coming back to save guitar music - but I might not be the smartest tool in the shed - but I know you've got to put a guitar on a record to save guitar music, and I don't hear any guitars.

Liam has a theory about why the unnamed rockers wear guitars. 'They've got guitars around their necks because they go with their shoes." Read more here.

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U2 Joshua Tree Tour Delayed Release Of New Album

(Radio.com) U2 bassist Adam Clayton says that the band's decision to celebrate the anniversary of "The Joshua Tree" was one of the reasons for the delayed release of their follow-up to their 2014 album "Songs of Innocence."

He made the revelation in a new interview. He said, "We said, 'We could put this record out this year, or we could celebrate The Joshua Tree and put out the [new] record when all that's done, and then plan a tour around it and all the things that go along with a new album."

"The only spoiler is that The Joshua Tree Tour has been an enormous, runaway success and we just keep adding dates. So the answer to your question is, [Songs of Experience] is ready to go, but at this point, I'm not sure when it's going to go because the tour is still up and running."

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Imagine Dragons Give Super Fan The Surprise Of His Lifetime

(Radio.com) As a super fan of your favorite band, what could be better than them showing up unannounced at your doorstep one day? For Adam Alesch, his life was changed forever when Imagine Dragons showed up at his house in Jacksonville, Florida.

"They banged on the door and I was like, 'Am I dreaming?' because I can see them through there and I was like, 'what's going on?'" Alesch told First Coast News. "I'm in like my underwear and I went and threw pants on real quick and I'm like, 'hey, don't leave!'"

The craziness began when Alesch discovered a hidden message on the cover of one of the band's albums. He used the code as a url, which led him to enter his name and address on a website the band later used to track him down.

The band posted the encounter to social media, writing, "we flew across the country to show up unannounced at the door of a fan who found a secret in our album art � here's what happened when we showed up unannounced across the country at the door of an unsuspecting fan." Check out the crazy journey here.

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Phear Cover Iron Maiden Classic On New EP

Toronto hard rockers Phear are gearing their new EP 'The Curse Lives On' on June 30th which includes the band's take on the classic Iron Maiden epic "Rime Of The Ancient Mariner," which they are previewing.

Frontman Patrick Mulock had this to say about the cover, "Doing our first cover ever, 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner,' I think I'll never forget the first power chord I heard on the guitar. I knew that the 7 string guitars would beef it up a little but BOOM....I just remember smiling and saying, 'That's what I'm talking about.'

He also described some other songs on the 5-track release, which is mix of studio and live recording. "'Dirty Work' was a little departure for us....We had an Alice in Chains feel with the harmonies and I really like how it came out. Live songs....'Don't Scream / Heaven / Regan's Dream,' I remember being very nervous for that show. I literally got home from 10 days in Europe and had to perform in 3 days. But the show went well and after 5 minutes, we got into our flow."

Mulock went on to explain the origins of the band, "Phear was formed in Toronto in 2015. I played in Metal Blade recording artists Eidolon with Glen and Shawn Drover - formerly of Megadeth - from 2001-2004. Prior to that I was in a local outfit called Rampage that had some success in the Toronto area, and for some strange reason, Australia. After a semi-retirement from music (2004- 2014), I had the Rampage boys over to discuss doing it again. Unfortunately, all couldn't commit due to other bands, jobs etc. So, with 2 new members and 3 original rampage members, we formed Phear." Check the trailer for their "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" cover here.

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Nothing More Announce North American Tour

Nothing More have announced that they will be hitting the road this fall for a new North American tour that will feature support from As Lions, My Ticket Home, Hell or Highwater.

The Stories We Tell Ourselves Tour is scheduled to kick off on September 12th in Memphis, TN at the New Daisy Theater and will run until November 11th where is concludes with a show in New Orleans, LA at the House of Blues.

Nothing More have also announced appearances at several music festivals this fall including the Revolution Rock Fest, Riot Fest Chicago, Sonic Boom, Louder Than Life and Aftershock.

The band is launching the tour in support of their forthcoming album "The Stories We Tell Ourselves". See all of the dates here.

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Hogan's Goat Streaming New Single 'Pennymade'

Nashville heavy rockers Hogan's Goat are offering fans another preview of their forthcoming self-titled debut album with the stream of the new single "Pennymade"

Frontman John Salmon had this to say about the track, "Pennymade is one of the more straightforward tracks from the album. It illustrates our Rock N' Roll flavor, while keeping pace with some of the heavier songs. That's just my two cents."

The song is second single from the self-produced album which is set to be released on July 18thh and was mixed by Alex Gilson and Nathan Zensen and mastered by Tommy Dorsey. Stream the song here.

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Korn, Shinedown, Stone Sour Lead Rise Above Fest Lineup

Seether have announced the details for their 5th Annual Rise Above Fest, which will be taking place on Saturday, July 22nd and Sunday, July 23rd at Darling's Waterfront Park in Bangor, Maine .

Billed as the largest suicide awareness event in the world, the festival will include performers including Korn, Shinedown, Stone Sour, Skillet, Halestorm, Falling in Reverse, and more.

"I started this festival as a tribute to anyone who has lost someone. If this festival does something to help one person reconsider the tragic choice of suicide, then it will be the greatest success of my career," said Seether's Shaun Morgan. Find more details here.

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Rock And Roll Hall of Fame Going International

(Radio.com) The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is set to expand to Japan in September. The new Tokyo location will launch this fall with a small-scale exhibit and will grow from there.

Since opening its doors in Cleveland, Ohio in 1995, over 10 million visitors have traveled visited the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The museum holds everything from Elvis and Beatles exhibits to Kurt Cobain's guitar and gloves worn by Iggy Pop.

"Japan is the second-largest music market in the world, making it the perfect place for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's first international expansion," Hall of Fame President and CEO Greg Harris said in a statement. Read more here.

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Singled Out: Willamena's When You Close Your Eyes

Kalamazoo, MI's Willamena just released their new EP "Strong Enough To Last" and to celebrate we asked Chad Hendrickson (guitarist and principal songwriter to tell us about the song "When You Close Your Eyes". Here is the story:

To me this tune is a pop rock tune taking a somewhat 80's sound with a theme of meditation and I'm still not quite sure how we were able to do this! Luck I think, experience maybe and the drive to want to do this I guess. But I dig it and I hope people like it too.

This tune was written in two phases in Florida where I lived for a couple years. I think I wrote this on a real piece crap guitar that I just loved at the time. Some kind of Harmony I think. It was buzzy, didn't stay in tune well at all and was hard to play. Perfect for forcing me to keep it simple! First I landed on three chords that felt very basic but I liked the possible melodic motion there. I work with an Olympus WS-700M hand help recording device as it is small and easy to use and I can grab ideas quickly on this device. I captured the progression and the basic verse lyrics.

As I was running late for an engagement I had to stop writing the lyrics and I jumped in the shower where the pre-chorus and chorus jumped into my head! So I carefully ran out of the shower (with shampoo in my hair!) and finished the song�including the bridge too. The whole basic tune was written in roughly two hours or less after I landed on the basic feel of the song.

I was writing for Lucas Ross's voice trying to find the elements that made our biggest single such a success (a tune called "The Other Side of Loneliness") and I landed on "When You Close Your Eyes." I wanted the vocals to be dynamic, showing range and emotion (something Luke Ross is GREAT at!) and I wanted the lyrics to have meaning (which to me they are somewhat of a meditation-type feeling to me). All the best tunes are normally written quickly and they kinda write themselves if you can just get out of the way to let the tune come out. Having written songs for quite a while now I feel like we are getting to a place where we can mold a tune better without forcing something and that was the case here.

From there I headed to MI and Luke and I started putting the final version and harmonies together. We grilled steak and ate asparagus (if someone accused us of also drinking a lot of beer when we did this they would be right!) and came up with the final lyrics, the feel and the overall direction of the tune. The guitar parts came from playing with my Les Paul (Lester) through my 15-watt Fender Woody Pro Junior with my Boss delay pedal (1/4 note delay). We recorded the guitars mostly in Kalamazoo and I cleaned up a few things in Franklin, TN where I live now. The key treatments came from our good friend and old band mate Dylan Nau at his studio in Minnesota and the vibe of working with Dylan again was great. Last, producer/engineer Cameron Webb helped us to find the final vibe/version from what we sent him and he knocked it out of the park. I am VERY glad we are able to send digital tracks around as our team is scattered and we take advantage of technology when we can.

To me this tune melds the best that is Willamena. Kind of a rootsy pop rock tune that melds 80s rock with a slight folk feel too that feels modern to me. The lyrics are wheelhouse Willamena as we always strive to have lyrics that have weight to them. I feel like this is a compelling tune that is poppy in all the right ways but still rocks and is a guitar-driven tune. Thanks for your time everyone!

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

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