Good morning! Spring must be around the corner! The morning doves are back!… USA vs Canada in Olympic Hockey competition. USA USA USA!!! Sorry to my friends in Nickelback, Art of Dying, Theory of a Deadman, Three Days Grace, Our Lady Peace, Adam Gontier…..I think we have a shot in kicking Canadian butt!…Speaking of, I am going to be listening to a new Three Days Grace tune, which is set for a March 31st single release. Looking forward! And speaking of new music, on the horizon is new stuff from Linkin Park & The Black Keys. And Avenged Sevenfold‘s next single will be “This Means War” coming March 25th …Regarding the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival,although the official lineup won’t be announced until March 31st, the dates and venues have already been unveiled. The trek will kick off on July 5th in San Bernardino, CA, hitting 24 cities in total and wrapping up on Aug 10th in The Woodlands, Texas. Tickets for the 2014 Mayhem Festival go on sale April 5th. See Road Rage. Wish I could spill the beans, but I can’t!....Slash, Alice Cooper, Sammy Hagar, Vince Neil, ex-Guns N’ Roses drummer Matt Sorum and System Of A Down drummer John Dolmayan are among the artists who will perform at Kerry Simon Says Fight MSA, a benefit being held on Feb 27th at the Keep Memory Alive Center in Las Vegas. Proceeds from the event will help with awareness and treatment of the neurological disorder known as multiple system atrophy (MSA), which manifests itself with similar symptoms to Parkinson’s Disease. Event host and celebrity chef Kerry Simon is afflicted with the disorder. Tickets for the event cost $500, and can be purchased through the Keep Memory Alive Center’s website….Speaking of Slash (love him), I wanted to share this interview with him I found on Blabbermouth. U.K.’s Metro recently conducted an interview with the legendary guitarist. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
Metro: What’s the most lucrative song you’ve written?
Slash: It was always about albums rather than singles, but I’d guess “Sweet Child O’ Mine”, because it’s the most covered. There are some really good instrumental versions for the piano or violin, but I’ve been horrified by some muzak versions. I’ve been sitting in a doctor’s office thinking, “That sounds familiar,” and then realizing it’s someone’s interpretation of what I’ve written. That can be a creepy feeling.
Metro: What’s the worst gig you’ve done?
Slash: Guns N’ Roses playing Cowboys Stadium in Dallas in 1989. It was horrific. Everything that could go wrong went wrong and the band didn’t have enough experience to handle it properly. It was a huge disaster in front of 65,000 people. We fell apart on stage. It’s stuck with me ever since.
Metro: What are people’s misconceptions of you?
Slash: That I was limited to the image of me as a crazy loser junkie. People were a little intimidated by that. It was a narrow-minded idea of who I was, but at the same time, I gave that impression during interviews.
Metro: Have you ever had a supernatural experience?
Slash: I’d say I definitely have, but the fact I was high at the time kills the validity of it. There was definitely a handful of ghostly things flying around. (Read the entire interview at Metro)…And this is sad. Talk about the downfall of a person. It’s sad when drugs take over. Former 3 Doors Down bassist Todd Harrell has reportedly been arrested again for driving under the influence, according toTMZ. Harrell was taken into custody on Tuesday (February 18th) in D’Iberville, MS after police found him passed out in his car at a street intersection. D’Iberville police chief Wayne Payne stated, “There were signs of his being impaired. We don’t know what the substance is at the time. We sent the sample on to the crime lab for testing.” The 42-year-old musician was later released on a $1,789 cash bond. Harrell was previously arrested in D’Iberville in July 2012, when he failed to stop at an intersection and crashed into the back of a pick-up truck. He was eventually fined $1,000, given a suspended two-day jail sentence and ordered to rehab. But Harrell is also awaiting trial for vehicular homicide by intoxication, unlawful possession of a controlled substance and other charges as the result of a car crash in Tennessee last April in which Harrell hit the back of another truck with his car, killing the other vehicle’s driver. Harrell reportedly checked himself into rehab shortly after posting bond for that incident. It’s unclear how long he stayed in the program. 3 Doors Down recently completed an acoustic tour, although Harrell has not been performing with the band since the incident last April.
