Heard a TON of new stuff yesterday! Was completely BLOWN AWAY by new music from Mark Tremonti, 3 songs from his forthcoming solo debut, “All I Was.” His backing band are the guys from Submersed and Brain Phillips of Creed/Alter Bridge. The music is so heavy, so metal, so NOT like anything’s he’s done for Creed or Alter Bridge. It’s unreal. I am stoked for him and for you when you hear it for the first time too! Speaking of Alter Bridge, I spoke with Myles Kennedy yesterday for about a half hour and we talked about everything from the fantastic job AB did on their “Live @ Wembley” DVD, to the music and tour he’s about to embark on with Slash. There are certain driven people in this business, Myles, Mark and Slash are three of them. (I would add Rob Zombie, Shawn Crahan and Corey Taylor to this list as well.)…I also heard three tracks from Hellyeah‘s “Band of Brothers” album (the boys will stop by the hardDrive Studios on Apr 16) and first single from the new Redline Chemistry album. Nick Raskulinecz produced and the first song is called “Unspoken.” These boys from Kansas City have definitely raised the bar on this one under Nick’s guidance. Cool thing to note: the drums used on these sessions were the drums Neil Peart of Rush used when he recorded the first Rush album Nick produced for them (I forgot the title. Nick also produced the new Rush album too.) Nick is a busy boy! I believe he is also getting ready to begin work with the Deftones (to be released this fall.) Redline chose Nick because they loved the last Deftones’ record done by Nick. Anyhow, we know what Nick is up to for the summer/fall! Look for Redline Chemistry’s album in September….Godsmack‘s live album (with the bonus 4 cover songs) is called “Live & Inspired” and it will be out May 15th…Powerman 5000 have posted the first dates on their 20th Anniversary Tour. See Road Rage….Taproot have posted their new video for “No Surrender” on Vevo. And Marilyn Manson‘s new video for “No Reflection” (warning: don’t watch if you just ate) is also online….Congrats to these bands’ album debuts: Shinedown‘s “Amaryllis” debuted at # 4 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Charts. The Used “Vulnerable” came in at # 8, while My Darkest Days inched into the Top 30 at Number 29 with “Sick & Twisted Affair.”….P.O.D. is offering fans a free download of a new song called “Eyez” featuring Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed. Find it now on P.O.D.’s website. ….Good news to report on Shifty Shellshock (Seth Binzer) of Crazy Town. He emerged from his coma on Tuesday and hopefully he will be seeking rehab help….Happy 46th today to Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready and Happy 6-0 to friend of hardDriveRadio, George Cappellini.
