Short N Sweet today as I have to head to the airport for VEGAS, baby! And thanks to Pulse of Radio for letting me snatch these stories for ya!….Stone Sour has tapped Johnny Chow as its live bassist for the band’s upcoming tour behind its new album, House Of Gold And Bones. Chow has formerly played with metal acts Soulfly, Cavalera Conspiracy and Fireball Ministry, and replaces Shawn Economaki, who bowed out of the band earlier this year for personal reasons…..Shinedown frontman Brent Smith has revealed in a new segment of the “Beacon Moment” video interview series that it was the theme song to the ’70s TV show The Dukes Of Hazzard that inspired him to become a musician himself. According to Loudwire, Smith explained, “I was about four years old and I had a love for the television show The Dukes Of Hazzard. The funny thing was that I loved the theme song so much that my grandmother got me a 45 of just the Waylon Jennings song.” Smith continued, “I would play it just over and over and over and over again, and honestly I knew pretty much from that moment that I wanted to be a singer. It’s funny cause I would tell my parents, ‘I want to do what the man’s doing, like on the song.’ And they were like, ‘Oh, you want to be a guitar player or be in a band?’ and I was like, ‘No, I’m gonna be a singer.’”….Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl has collaborated with his daughter Violet on a T-shirt design for the popular Nickelodeon children’s show Yo Gabba Gabba. The shirt features three characters from the series drawn and colored by Violet against a white backdrop. A faintly visible character with an emo haircut and devil horns hovers above them — possibly added by Violet’s dad. The shirt is part of a new clothing line from the show featuring designs from the Flaming Lips‘ Wayne Coyne, Devo‘s Mark Mothersbaugh, actor Jack Black and others. See the Grohls’ design at http://tinyurl.com/9ja37nu (Loudwire)….Metallica has collaborated with the Vans shoe company to create new shoes honoring the 30th anniversary of the band’s 1983 debut album, Kill ‘Em All. The Kill ‘Em All pack will consist of both the Vans Slip On and Sk8 Hi, with each shoe — available in red, white and black — dressed in the hand and hammer design used for the cover art. Originally issued on July 25th, 1983 through Megaforce Records, Kill ‘Em All has sold more than three million copies. Photos of the shoes can be seen at http://tinyurl.com/d249kwl (Blabbermouth)….Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi has been named the greatest heavy metal guitarist of all time in a new survey posted by Gibson Guitars. According to Classic Rock, the list of the top 10 metal axemen also includes Metallica‘s James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett, late Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Randy Rhoads and others. Gibson said about Iommi, “Tony’s dark, distinct guitar textures in Black Sabbath helped spearhead the heavy metal movement. ‘Iron Man’ and ‘Paranoid’ boast some of the most memorable riffs of all time, with crushingly heavy choruses. His playing is immortalized through the generations of bands that have followed.”
GIBSON’S GREATEST HEAVY METAL GUITARISTS:
1. Tony Iommi – Black Sabbath
2. Kirk Hammett & James Hetfield – Metallica
3. Randy Rhoads – Ozzy Osbourne band
4. John Petrucci – Dream Theater
5. Dimebag Darrell – Pantera
6. Eddie Van Halen – Van Halen
7. Zakk Wylde – Ozzy Osbourne, Black Label Society
8. Adam Jones – Tool
9. Dave Murray & Adrian Smith – Iron Maiden
10. George Lynch – Dokken, Lynch Mob
Happy 42nd today to Rob Zombie’s wife Sheri Moon Zombie. See you in Vegas!
