Good morning. Gonna turn back into the deep freeze here in NYC and we’re expecting 6-10. (I could do that old joke, ‘yeah, I was expecting that from my boyfriend this weekend!’ but I won’t ;>)….Had a great weekend! Watched both football games (happy with the outcome) and saw 4 of the Oscar nominees for Picture of the Year: 12 Years A Slave, her, Nebraska & Dallas Buyers Club. Loved them all! Have to see Philomena and Captain Phillips next weekend. And I gotta tell ya, they are ALL great. Especially 12 Years A Slave and Dallas Buyers Club (Jared Leto will blow you away with his performance! and Joaquin Phoenix was riveting in her.) Got to see Stone Sour and Pop Evil at Irving Plaza on Saturday night. Pop Evil was amazing. First time I had seen them in a few years and they are really bringing their A game with them! They had the crowd with them the entire time and the place was PACKED like sardines! (Rob Caggiano of Volbeat was in the house checking things out in the balcony!) Pop Evil recently did a remix version of “Trenches,” with DMC (Darryl McDaniels from Run-DMC) which will be used by the ACC during their basketball conference playoffs! But Saturday night, the real deal was in da house and joined the band on stage. Needless to say, the joint went wild! Got to see Stone Sour before the show and it was cool to catch up with the guys (and the lovely Stephanie Taylor!) Loved it when Corey Taylor entered the stage wearing a white suit! (And a TurboNegro t-shirt!) The set was great and Christian Martucci, from NYC, who was standing in for Jim Root, filled those shoes nicely! Good times for sure! Meanwhile, Jim and Clown are working away on Knot music, and will be recording out in California. Stay tuned for updates….Lou Brutus interviewed Stone Sour and Pop Evil in Baltimore on Friday night and he had In This Moment on the hotLine yesterday! Today, I will catch up with Mike Inez of Alice In Chains…. Pulse of Radio reports Shinedown initially planned to release an album of acoustic cover songs this year, but the original 10-song set turned into a six-track EP somewhere along the way. Singer Brent Smith told us the band’s idea of posting videos on YouTube of them recording all 10 songs was what caused the problem: “Some of the artists were cool with letting us put them up, like basically on YouTube, and like show the video of the song being recorded. Some of the artists were cool with the video and some of the artists weren’t cool with the video, and that’s totally their decision. So the first six were approved and good to go and you could show the video with it and everything else, so those are the first six that we’re gonna release.” The four songs left off the EP — which include Bon Jovi‘s “Wanted Dead or Alive” and Adele‘s “Someone Like You” (check it out on YouTube) — will eventually surface without videos on iTunes. Since the project only features Smith and Shinedown guitarist Zach Myers, it will go out under the name Smith & Myers and not Shinedown. The release date for the EP is still to be determined. The selection of cover songs were all chosen by Shinedown fans. Shinedown is now starting work on its fifth studio album. The band recently completed the touring cycle for its fourth effort, Amaryllis, which came out in April 2012. They also plan to do a documentary and a film the making of the next album in LA….Slash & The Conspirators will begin recording their next album out in LA next month. Bassist Todd Kerns has updated his blog with news of about their 3rd album, which follows 2012′s well-received Apocalyptic Love. “So here we are. Like prize fighters training and training for the fight of our lives. Now the big fight is upon us. We are lean. We are mean and we are, most assuredly, fighting machines. I have to admit that conceptually I felt that “Apocalyptic Love” would be a tough act to follow but I can say with all the confidence in the world that we are more than armed and ready. Not only do I feel that the material surpasses “Apocalyptic Love,” I think we are ten times the band we were when that album was recorded. The material on this album is more serious and more fun at the same time which is a tough balance indeed. The songs are sleazier, tougher and more dangerous. Exactly where I feel most comfortable. We are all very excited to unleash the monster upon you as soon as we can.” Expect the album in the fall…..The Used have announced their sixth full-length album, Imaginary Enemy, will be released on April 1st. A somewhat political statement on the band’s official website reads, “We the people, in order to form a more perfect planet, must question the way the world works — and where the world is heading. Some view art as a way of escaping reality; others view art as a mirror reflecting our sometimes sad society; we believe art can be a weapon, used to shape the very world we live in. The Used is proud to present to you, Imaginary Enemy. Love, Bert”….And finally today, congrats are in order for Amy Lee of Evanescence. The 32-year-old Lee revealed the news via a post at her Twitter account on Saturday night (Jan 18th), writing, “Ok, I can’t keep it a secret anymore — I’ve been working on a very special new project for 2014 — A BABY! Josh and I are expecting! I’m so happy!” …Oh and the picture I posted up at the top? Those are the analog 1″ tapes the Foo Fighters are recording as we speak. Be still my racing heart!
