Michael Monroe has long been at the forefront of breaking music barriers from singing in Hanoi Rocks to his successful solo career. He now returns with his highly anticipated new CD, Sensory Overdrivedue out in the U.S on August 23rd which is produced by Jack Douglas of Aerosmith, John Lennon and Cheap Trick fame.
It’s still hard to believe that almost 30 years have past since Queensryche’s first EP with “Queen of the Reich” and “The Lady Wore Black”. I can remember like it was yesterday purchasing their EP and being blown away by it originality and amazing guitar work. Fast forward a few decades and Queensryche is still making great music with their 13th release Dedicated to Chaos.
You know George. He’s that gravely-voiced madman who sings about bein’ bad and drinkin’ alone. He would like, no, he demands one bourbon, one scotch, and a beer, and screw you if you don’t have it. He’s bad to the bone and has been since he started playing blues standards and his own dirty originals with his band The Destoyers in the mid ’70s.
In May 2002 I was honored to interview a true musical legend, as an artist and as a guitarist, the Kinks’ incomparable Dave Davies. At the time, the six string virtuoso and innovator of the infamously raunchy “You Really Got Me” guitar riff had just released, and was touring the U.S. in support of, his first studio album in nearly twenty years, the imaginative, socially conscious, and critically acclaimed Bug.
The Motor City Mad Man is on the loose and touring the US for his summer I Still Believe tour. While most people are more familiar with Ted for his political candor, music fans know Ted from where it all began, back in 1975 on his first solo CD Ted Nugent.
The Arc Angels, their sole 1992 self-titled international release on Geffen Records, and the epic, incendiary musical maelstrom that they divined in their short lived body of work, ignited fireworks of accolades from both the public and the music industry, further propelling Sexton’s career and renown into the stratosphere to this very day. But personal problems and creative differences among the band’s members forced The Arc Angels’ dissolution in 1994, just as they were only beginning to fulfill their promise.
In October 2002, I was honored to interview Texas singer, songwriter, guitar virtuoso extraordinaire, the incomparable Charlie Sexton. Sexton was, at the time, taking a few hours break from his extensive and very esteemed gig as Bob Dylan’s tour guitarist, which after some three very high profile, prestigious years’ tenure from 1999 to 2002, was coming to an end, due to Charlie’s stellar and in demand forays as a producer. Also getting in the way was writing and crafting his fourth solo album, 2005’s Cruel And Gentle Things.
Charlie Sexton is an extraordinary gifted artist, whose lifetime musical odyssey has profoundly touched, as well as likewise been charted, by the extraordinary circumstances, fate, and people of music legend, legend of which the revered Sexton has often arguably been a part of himself.
Alter Bridge was formed out the fires of Creed in 2004 by Mark Tremonti and Scott Phillips after their relationship with singer Scott Stapp had gone array. The new band hooked up with then ex-Creed bassist Brian Marshall and former Mayfield Four frontman Myles Kennedy and together recorded their first CD; One Day Remains. It went gold in the United States and spawned three singles. In 2007 the band released the critically acclaimed second album, Blackbird, which included the hit singles “Rise Today” and “Watch Over You.”
Rejoining Ted Nugent for his summer 2011 I Still Believe Tour is none other than Derek St Holmes on vocals.
Derek is the original voice on so many of Ted’s classic hits, like “Stranglehold”, “Hey Baby”, “Just What the Dr. Ordered”, and “Dog Eat Dog” to name just a few. He was a member of The Amboy Dukes from 1973 and provided that magic soulful voice to the ground breaking Ted Nugent solo record in 1975. In 1978, Derek headed off for his own solo musical adventure, but again collaborated with Nugent on the Spirit of the Wild CD and tours in 1995-96. Fast forward to 2011, and Derek is now a full-time member of the Nugent Band once again, so buckle up for one hell of high octane All-American rock ‘n’ roll party.
