NEWSDESK, 20th May 2010
> SWEDEN ROCK TO HONOUR RONNIE JAMES DIO
From Sweden Rock:
Ronnie James Dio made four appearances at Sweden Rock Festival: twice with his own band Dio, and twice with Heaven & Hell - most recently just last summer. Ronnie always had a keen eye towards Sweden and Sweden Rock, and over the years we developed a good relationship to both him and his wife/manager Wendy.
It was with heavy hearts we woke up Monday morning realising that the news of his passing the day before had not been a bad dream, and that one of the greatest of all time had indeed left us. To honour his memory, we have decided to rename the Zeppelin Stage: this year it will be called Dio Stage. We are also planning a tribute ceremony on one of the main stages. More info on this will follow shortly.
In October, we will gather some of the most prominent Swedish metal musicians for a tribute concert on the Sweden Rock Cruise. The names of the participants will be announced as soon as they have been confirmed.
> MIKE MARTIN 2 OF 5
Fozzy guitarist Mike Martin is set to release his album 2 Of 5 with Digital Nations. The album is packed with hard riffs, ripping guitar solos and soothing melodies, and is mixed by Mike Martin and Shawn Grove (Matchbox 20, Sevendust).
Mike's foundations in Classical, Metal, Jazz, Folk, Rock and World music have allowed him dedicate his career to versatility and culture with the highest respect for art by any means necessary. Perhaps he is best described in the following way: Art with a purpose is a force to be reckoned with!
Mike was approached by Sean Delson in the summer of 2004 on behalf of Rich Ward and Fozzy to take over lead guitar responsibilities. They were in the process of dropping the joke gimmick to become a real band and beginning a world tour to support their record All That Remains featuring guitar solos by Hard Rock and Metal guitar heroes Zakk Wylde, Mark Tremonti and Marty Friedman. They were in need of a real guitar player to do the album justice on the road, and Mike was more than up to the challenge, transcending “touring sideman” status to become a feature of the live shows.
Since then, Mike has toured worldwide with Fozzy and recorded The Duke’s (Ward’s) release on Spitfire Records, My Kung Fu Is Good (released worldwide May 2005). In 2006, Mike played lead guitar for Fozzy on the track 'Metal Gods' for a tribute to Judas Priest CD featuring Motorhead, Vince Neil, Sepultura and Tim "Ripper" Owens among others.
During his tours of duty with Fozzy, Mike seized upon the opportunity to build a project studio at his home so he could begin to produce his solo projects. The first of which was the instrumental album 2 Of 5, originally released the Summer of 2006 independently on Serpa Records, and now available worldwide through Steve Vai's Favored Nations subsidiary, Digital Nations.
“The title is a reference to the Borg character ‘7 of 9’ on Star Trek,” says Mike. “I am the second of five children so I thought it was pretty clever.”
With the new Vai DN partnership, and the critical acclaim and success of the new Fozzy track 'Wormwood', 2010 is poised to be the year Mike gets his band touring properly as well as working on a new solo album set to be released early in 2011.
Track List: 1. 2 of 5, 2. Salute, 3. Lavender, 4. Living the Good Life, 5. Prelude, 6. Epiphany, 7. The Trouser Trout, 8. Infection, 9. Peace Be With You
> RIPPLE EFFECT FORMS RECORD LABEL
Last year, John Rancik (Pope JTE) and Todd Severin (Racer X) of The Ripple Effect music site and radio show were approached with a business proposition that befuddled them as much as it sparked embers of excitement in their creative souls. They were asked if The Ripple Effect would be interested in releasing previously unearthed material from legendary protometal rockers, JPT Scare Band.
After much soul searching, and hours of research, the duo responded with an enthusiastic “yes,” and Ripple Music, the record label, was born. Since then, Ripple Music has amassed a stellar roster of guitar-oriented, rock-based acts that range in style from Roots Americana to psychedelic Proto-metal, and everything in between.
The first release will be hitting the streets on June 22nd, 2010 with JPT Scare Band's Acid Blues is the White Man's Burden. The heavily fuzzed-out blues-based rock outfit has been hailed by Classic Rock Magazine as the “Lost Pioneer” of Heavy Metal. Acid Blues is the White Man’s Burden finds the band at the peak of their form with tracks that span the decades of their musical existence. Acid Blues will be available in deluxe CD digipak, download, and multi-colored double 12" vinyl formats. The vinyl edition will also include two bonus tracks of JPT madness!
Also coming in June, Ripple Music is proud to unleash a split 7” single between retro-blues rockers Stone Axe and stoner cretins Mighty High. The single coincides with Stone Axe’s summer West Coast tour, with some dates in support of legendary rockers, St. Vitus.
July 13th sees two more Ripple Music releases hit the streets. Vancouver's beloved modern rock/prog alienists, Fen, join Ripple Music to release their fourth album, Trails Out of Gloom. This is an epic album of haunting and beautiful songs in the Tool/Porcupine Tree/Incubus vein with stunning melodies and textural brilliance. Trails comes in deluxe CD digipak and digital download formats.
Following this, award-winning singer/songwriter, Kevin Beadles, will release You Can't Argue With Water, a debut album of impeccably-crafted Americana, highlighted by thought provoking and poetic lyrics. Available in CD digipak and digital formats.
Ripple Music is also thrilled to announce the re-release of the 1972 lost protometal classic, Let Me In, from Poobah. Featuring the guitar wizardry of Jim Gustafson, Poobah has milled about in the same circles as classic rock icons Hawkwind, Blue Cheer, and Iron Butterfly. This deluxe re-issue comes in jewel case CD, digital download, and multi-colored double 12" vinyl formats with never-before-heard bonus tracks from "lost tapes" of the Let Me In recording sessions.
> NEW AVENGED SEVENFOLD SINGLE ON iTUNES
The new Avenged Sevenfold single 'Nightmare' is now available on iTunes.
Click here to find out more...
> NEW TERRA NOVA
Dutch melodic Rockers Terra Nova will release their anticipated new album Come Alive on July 2nd in Europe and July 27th in the USA. Come Alive is the band’s 5th original studio album and their first full length release over the last five years.
Terra Nova started the work for the recording of the new album in 2008. Their vision was to go back and recreate the exciting sound of their debut album Livin’ It Up, a milestone record which captured the sheer joie de vivre of the eighties AOR and melodic rock and catapulted Terra Nova into the vanguard of the genre, both in Europe and Japan.
With this in mind Terra Nova reunited in the original line-up with Fred Hendrix on lead vocals and guitar, Ron Hendrix on keyboards, Gesuino Derosas on lead guitars, Lars Beuving on drums and the additional musician Eric Coenen (who played on the band’s third and fourth record) on bass guitar.
"The new songs are very much in the line of Livin' It Up," states Fred Hendrix, “fresh and pumping, but with a little blink to the modern sound and styles. Our aim was to please our earliest fans but also the new generation of melodic rock fans and we have tried to combine old and new styles and sounds. This album was a real joy to record with all the original members of our first album!”
Terra Nova debuted in 1996 with the amazing Livin’ It Up, a record that marked the end of a long musical era for the two Hendrix brothers, the band’s founding members. No second album syndrome caught Terra Nova and Break Away was released in 1997 to major critical acclaim and even bigger success in Japan, leading to a major tour of the Far East in 1998. At the end of 1999, after the release of their third album, Make My Day, persistent problems with their Dutch record company saw the band reach the end of their patience and the end of the road.
Six years after, Frontiers Records pulled Fred Hendrix away from his solo projects and commissioned a new album. For the thousands of fans who remembered Terra Nova’s three nineties’ releases this was truly something to celebrate and the come-back album Escape was received warmly by the critics and fans.
Come Alive is now set to restore the faith in true melodic rock!
Track listing includes: Come Alive; Fighting Yourself; Holy Grail; Here Comes The Night; Those Eyes; Under Pressure; Do Or Die; Who Can You Count On; My Own Way; The Final Curtain
http://www.myspace.com/terranova2
> INTIMATE JOAN JETT GIG
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts will perform an intimate concert at the legendary London punk rock concert venue The 100 Club on Monday June 14th.
Tickets go on sale Thursday May 20th at 10am on a strictly first come, first serve basis. The tickets are priced £20.00, and will be available by calling the following box office number - 08700 603 777 or from http://www.seetickets.com/.
The 100 Club concert will be Joan Jett’s first intimate UK club performance in 20 years. Fans will get a chance to experience the music from one of rock music’s best loved icons, known to millions for her milestone rock anthems 'I Love Rock N’ Roll', 'Crimson and Clover', 'Bad Reputation', 'Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)', and the seminal Runaways rock and roll classic 'Cherry Bomb'.
The 100 Club concert dovetails the forthcoming August UK cinema release of the Runaways biopic The Runaways starring Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett and Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie.
