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January 31, 2008
Aerosmith’s Joe Perry In Interview
A fairly lengthy interview with Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry has appeared on the The Pulse magazine web site.
In the interview, Perry talks about performing with his son’s band and how proud and impressed he is with the work of his boys. He has performed a bit with his sons and has plans to do it again next month 
at the Foxwoods casino in Connecticut.
Perry also discusses how Aerosmith got involved with Guitar Hero 3 and about the how the guys behind the Guitar Hero game are actually rock fans who Perry says think a lot like him, and how Guitar Hero is partly an effort to get good music out there for today’s young people.
As you might expect, there is some discussion of Aerosmith, including what the members of the band have been through in recent years, how they have managed to stay together for so long and their plans to work on their new album this year.
On the lighter side, Perry is asked about his famous (or infamous) appearance with American Idol contestant Sanjaya Malakar on the season finale of the popular talent competition last year.
To check out the text of the entire interview check out The Pulse magazine.
In other Aerosmith news, fans may want to check out Tom Hamilton’s interview on Boston’s local Fox station this morning.
Jethro Tull’s 2008 Tour Plans
One of my favorite classic acts from way back, Jethro Tull, have revealed their plans for touring this year. Plans to visit the U.S. appear to be a bit incomplete at the moment but more information is expected to come at some time in the future.
In a cleverly-written missive on the group’s web site, lead man Ian Anderson informs fans that the band will perform two shows in Russia and one in the Ukraine next month and then resume touring on April 6 in the U.K. and work their home country through May before heading out to Germany, Switzerland and the Czech Republic.
Fans here in the U.S. will get a chance starting in August when they have dates scheduled in Connecticut and Colorado with more dates to be announced later.
This year’s shows will be focused on Jethro Tull’s first three albums and fans can expect to hear things like "Serenade To A Cuckoo," "My Sunday Feeling," "Living In The Past," "Bouree" and "A new Day Yesterday."
Anderson said there will also be "a few bits and pieces from a little later," which should give fans a nice variety of music through the band’s long history.
January 29, 2008
Led Zep’s John Paul Jones To Team With Foo Fighters For Grammys
Led Zeppelin bass player John Paul Jones is reportedly planning to join Foo Fighters on the stage during the Grammy Awards next month.
Foo Fighters drummer, Dave Grohl, is said to be quite excited about this development and describes himself as a Led Zeppelin super fan.
You may recall that there were rumors a short while ago claiming that Grohl would be joining Led Zeppelin on an upcoming world tour.
With the success of the O2 show back in December which featured original drummer John Bonham’s son Jason on drums, I thought it was a rather curious rumor and have serious reservations about it.
For more, check out Gigwise.
January 28, 2008
No End To Led Zeppelin Confusion In Sight
Rumors continue to swirl around the possibility of a world tour by Led Zeppelin as new stories surfaced in the media.
According to the the Cleveland Leader, there will be no Led Zeppelin tour this summer. The reports cites a statement from guitarist Jimmy Page regarding Robert Plant’s plans to spend his time on a "parallel project." Page was likely referring to Plant’s plans to tour with Alison Krauss to support their album Rising Sand.
Another report from CBC, reports that Jimmy Page was hinting at the possibility of more from Zeppelin while attending a promotional event in Tokyo, but also made mention of Robert Plant’s tour plans with Alison Krauss and added that Plant would be busy with that until September.
There’s speculation that the tour could kick off when the Plant-Krauss tour wraps up, but that does not seem to leave a whole lot of time for rehearsals in preparation for an event that might be considered one of rock’s most significant in quite some time.
One also might remember that these are not young guys any longer and it is hard to imagine Plant both touring and making time to rehearse with Led Zeppelin. Maybe he’s got more energy than I give him credit for. Who knows?
Nonetheless, I think it makes more sense to expect them to plan for a tour during the summer of 2009, which will allow a lot more time for planning and rehearsals.
Van Halen Back On The Road
Van Halen has started up the 2008 leg of their tour and are poised to rock audiences around the country into early April.
Beginning with Oklahoma City on January 22, the group will then head to the Lone Star State for three dates before heading for venues in the south and then working their way up the east coast to New York and New England.
In other Van Halen News, guitar legend Eddie Van Halen and his son Wolfgang are to appear on the front of Guitar World magazine.
Expected to land on newsstands on February 12, the father and son team will occupy a 12-page spread to talk about their experiences on tour and, quite naturally, the equipment they are using on tour.
January 26, 2008
ZZ Top And Springsteen Booked For Harley Party
When Hardly-Davidson devotees gather this summer in Milwaukee for the motorcycle maker’s 105th Anniversary, they will be treated to the opportunity to take in performances by ZZ Top and "The Boss" himself, Bruce Springsteen.
Residents of the Milwaukee area should be prepared for some exposure to "hog heaven" as Harley riders from all over converge 
for the event that starts on August 17 and wraps up on the 27th.
In addition to Springsteen and ZZ Top, other classic rock acts scheduled for the event are Peter Frampton, Blue Oyster Cult, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts and Foghat.
A number of other artists will also share the stage including Daughtry, The Black Crowes, Dierks Bentley, Los Lonely Boys, War, Puddle of Mudd, Gary Allan, Buddy Guy, Blind Melon, Cameo, Dr. John, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and The Crave.
At appears that all the musical acts will be open to all event ticket holders with the exception of the Springsteen show, which will cost fans an additional $40 to attend. An event ticket ($60) will be required in order to purchase a ticket to the Springsteen show.
For more information visit the Harley 105th Anniversary Site.
Worldwide Birthday Bash Planned For Jon Bon Jovi
The goal is to have the world’s biggest birthday celebration and the birthday boy in question is none other than Jon Bon Jovi.
The event is being organized by way of a web site called BonJoviFansRock.com and they are attempting to sign up as many participants as possible before the rocker’s birthday on March 2.
Citing Bon Jovi’s many charitable activities such as his participation in Habitat for Humanity and Oprah’s Angel Network, the organizers hope to enlist a sufficient number of Bon Jovi fans to turn this birthday celebration into a history-making event.
So far the effort has drawn participants from 40 countries and continues to grow.
While Bon Jovi’s plans have him in Philadelphia on March 2, fans from around the globe are being encouraged to get involved and perhaps even end up with a number of different events scheduled for that night around the world.
For more information and to get involved in the celebration, visit BonJoviFansRock.com and check it out.
January 23, 2008
Def Leppard’s New Album Coming In March
U.K. rockers Def Leppard have announced the release date for their most recent album, Songs From The Sparkle Lounge. The date is a meaningful one for Irish and wanna-be Irish folks around the world, Saint Patrick’s Day, March 17.
Unfortunately for fans in the rest of the world, the March 17 date is
only for the U.K. release, but fans in the rest of the world won’t have to wait long since the very next day, March 18, marks the release for them. Both these dates are reported to be tentative and may be changed.
One surprise coming with the new album is that the album’s first single, a song entitled "Nine Lives" will feature a guest performance by country singing star Tim McGraw.
March 27 will mark the date the group plans to hit the road in support of the new album. The tour will start at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, NC.
For more, check out Def Leppard’s web site.
New Journey Frontman Has Come A Long Way
The fact that Journey’s new lead singer, Arnel Pineda, is from the Philippines means he is in for one heck of a commute unless he plans to move to the Unites States, but Pineda’s road to fame is a lot longer and more difficult than an airplane trip from Manila to San Francisco.
Once living on the streets of Manila as a result of serious financial problems following his mother’s death, Pineda was able to work his way back from homelessness and is now on the verge of fame and fortune he could only have dreamed about.
Discovered by Journey guitarist Neal Schon on the wildly popular video sharing site, YouTube, the 40-year old singer almost sabotaged the opportunity to join Journey’s ranks when he dismissed Schon’s e-mail as a hoax. I suspect most of us would have had the same reaction. Who would expect an e-mail from a guitarist from one of the world’s best-known classic rock groups?
On the first of February, Pineda will return to the U.S. to begin working with the group on a new album that might be released as early as this summer. It surely sounds like Journey was only lacking a single important element before being able to begin recording new material: A new singer.
Journey is a classic rock group that certainly appears to have a lot of life left in them. They have toured in recent years and with a new album planned for the summer, they are showing no sign of slowing down.
How Journey’s fans react to the new frontman remains to be seen, or course, but as far as the band is concerned, this guy is the real deal and there’s little doubt he has paid his musical dues, as well as the dues that have been demanded of him just to survive.
For more on Arnel Pineda’s amazing story, check out GMA Network.
January 20, 2008
New Don Henley Interview
Don Henley recently took some time from his schedule to grant another interview and talk about the Eagle’s new album as well as some history of the group and how they ended up where they are today.
There were some interesting things revealed for this piece that I had not seen before. Granted, I am not the biggest Eagles fan in the world but 
I thought the following was quite impressive.
Their latest album, Long Road Out of Eden sold 711,000 copies during the first week of its release. Sure that sounds like an impressive number but what’s interesting to me was that how it compares to a new Britney Spears album which sold only 290,000 copies.
Not only that but Long Road Out of Eden was recently certified platinum seven times over which makes it the best-selling album from a group during all of 2007. It’s very clear that the Eagles are still hot!
Eagles fans may be interested in some of Henley’s comments regarding the group’s history and their off-again-on-again efforts to join together again to work on new music after being apart for a few years and working through legal problems and other obstacles.
There’s also a little bit about how the Eagles first formed after a chance meeting between Henley and Glenn Frey at a Los Angeles club back in early 1970’s when Henley was looking for work.
Towards the end of the interview, Henley talks about the last song on the latest album, which is called “It’s Your World Now,” which he describes as primarily a message for their kids, but also says, “could be construed as a fond farewell - some parting thoughts for our loyal fans as we ride off into the sunset.”
Whether or not that means the Eagles are actually finished this time is something the group does not even seem to know. We’ll have to wait and see.
For the entire interview, check out Canada’s Globe & Mail.
