Great time yesterday with Jesse Hasek and Brian Vodinh of 10 Years. They, like me, are fans of Fair to Midland, who are currently out on the road with them and Kyng. Wish radio would like them as much as we do. Anyhow, we discussed their new album Minus the Machine, which hits stores Aug 7th. I like what I heard, and Jesse stressed the point that this record should be listened to in it’s entirety. Sort of the way we used to when a new album would come out. You’d get a copy, go home and listen to it all the way through. Sad this doesn’t happen so much anymore. So check it out and appreciate a band who took a risk to leave a major label to do things on their own, with no boundaries, no one looking over their shoulders. They were their only critics, only wanting to make music that moved the limits from what they had done before. That’s the beauty of creativity……Not a whole lot of news today. I discovered yesterday Killswitch Engage won’t have new music out til early 2013. I am sharing this item on the band and returned lead singer Jesse Leach, who is back with the band after 10 years. Alternative Revolt Magazine and the Denver Post Reverb conducted the interview at the first stop of the Trespass America tour in Broomfield, Colorado. Leach discussed returning to KSe, preparing for tour, and he revealed what the band has in store for their next studio release. On how it feels to be back in the band: Jesse: “It feels great, man. Surprisngly, [it was] a natural transition. I think the one thing for me was just learning [former singer] Howard‘s [Jones] material, learning how I was gonna, like, live in the songs and make them my own, and once that happened, it feels natural. It almost feels, in a way, that I hadn’t left, but it is ten years later and we’re all much different people, so it just feels a lot better than it did back then.” On the progress of the songwriting and recording sessions for the band‘s new album: Jesse: “We’ve got two songs completed for our new record and another 12-13 to go that I’m gonna finish up in the fall. . . Thankfully, [they didn’t have any vocals done with Howard] — it was just music; it had no lyrics, no vocals — Howard hadn’t attempted to do anything, so it was a nice, clean slate. [The stuff sounds] fresh, fast, heavy… I couldn’t be more stoked to sing on the record. As a matter of fact, once I signed up to do the audition for those guys, they took me back to Adam‘s [Dutkiewicz, guitar] house and we listened to the record and that totally sold me. When I heard the record, I was like, ‘I’ve gotta sing on this.’” If you’re reading this and you attended the Trespass America tour, please reach out. Maybe you can be on the show with Lou Brutus to give us a hardDrive Concert Report on the show! Email me via the interact link on the tool bar….Loudwire had this update on the status of Randy Blythe of Lamb of God: As the public outcry for the release of Lamb of God frontman Randy Blythe from a Czech prison where he’s being held gets louder and louder, his release now suffers another setback. Blythe, who was recently arrested in the Czech Republic on charges of manslaughter from an alleged incident during a show that resulted in the death of a Czech fan back in 2010, has been sitting in a Czech jail since June 28. WTVR.com in Richmond, Va., has confirmed Blythe will need to return to court yet again, over bail proceedings. Having been in court multiple times throughout the ordeal, reports say Blythe already posted $200,000 in bail but was subsequently formally denied bail by the prosecutor on July 9. At that point, the case was moved from district to municipal court, leaving Blythe jailed until his next court appearance on July 19. So now, due to the local legal system, Blythe will sit in jail for at least three weeks, just trying to post bail. Sources say a panel of judges will be pulled together to review the request to overturn the bail denial and either approve or annul the bail. However, if the bail is revoked, Blythe could possibly be in prison for up to six months. As the metal community and fans around the world continue to rally for Randy from holding supportive vigilsto donating to the legal fund Blythe’s band started, the U.S. Embassy in the Czech Republic released this statement: “The U.S. Embassy provides standard consular services to American citizens in need of assistance. We cannot discuss specific cases due to privacy concerns.” Randy’s wife Cindy was able to visit him this week, and stands by his innocence. Lamb of God released their first official statement last week as well, asking everyone to stay positive. In the meantime, a petition on Blythe’s behalf has been set up at this location…..Happy 63rd to Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler. And RIP to former Deep Purple keyboardist & composer Jon Lord, who passed away yesterday from pancreatic cancer at age 71. It was his innovative sound on songs like Purple’s “Smoke on the Water” & “Hush,” The Kinks’ “You Really Got Me” and others that merged his love of classical and metal music. Lord was also a close friend & neighbor of The Beatles’ George Harrison. They are jammin’ upstairs as we speak!
