Wednesday, Dec 20, 2017

11 days til retirement.   Yikes!

I knew Dave Grohl has always wanted to be in a skit on SNL.  Apparently he got his wish, but it never made the show, sadly!   This video was the skit that they didn’t have time to air on the show.  Look closely to find Dave.    Meanwhile, Dave holds the record for the musician who has had the most appearances on SNL, a total of 13, both with and without his Foo Fighters. He’s also appeared with Nirvana,  the late Tom Petty  and the Heartbreakers and with Mick Jagger.   And now, Foo Fighters!

Blabbermouth and The Pulse Of Radio report percussionist, M. Shawn “Clown” Crahan says it will be a while before Slipknot records again. In an interview with NME, he gave an estimated timeline and said, “I’ll be in the studio in November 2018.” He followed up about the changes in the band and stated, “It got a little screwed up after All Hope Is Gone, because Paul Gray passed away, so we took time off. Took time with our kids, and toured for a couple of years until it felt right. Then when it felt right, Joey took off.”

Gray died in 2010 from a drug overdose, and Jordison was let go in December 2013, just before Slipknot began recording the last album.

Shawn also said:  “I’ve made people so much f*****g money. Pay for the studio, give me this engineer, give me this producer. It’s just jamming, but I’ve never heard music like this, that we’re doing right now. I’ll be 50 by the time it comes out. I’ll be touring when I’m 50; they’ll throw me a birthday party! So where I’m at these days, I’m like, ‘Maybe make it the last one.’”

Reverb has partnered with Billie Joe Armstrong to have an online garage sale of Green Day items. The frontman will be selling off a lot of gear today (Wednesday, Dec 20th) from his home and studio collections, with guitars, amps, and even a console used throughout the band’s history.

Armstrong said, “I love the character you can see looking at a fretboard that’s been used – you can see where someone played it in clubs, in barns, in churches. We had a guitar come through our store, and you could just see the smoke from the clubs it was played in. It was beautiful.“

One of the items up for sale is the Victoria 35210-T tweed Super amp named Little Vicky. It was used to record the intro to the title track from the band’s American Idiot. Also in Armstrong’s collection is a Brian May guitar that the band picked up during the American Idiot tour to play on its “We Are The Champions” encore.

More than 20 pieces of new and vintage pro audio gear from JingleTown Recording (formerly 880 Studios) in Oakland, which closed this year. According to Armstrong, the last few Green Day albums were recorded on the rig.Other items include:

• – Two Silvertone amps used on Uno… Dos… Tré!
• – Several Gretsch guitars, including a black Brian Setzer Hot Rod model used on the American Idiot tour and a red Anniversary model used on Foxboro Hot Tubs recordings.
• – A Trident Console used on Uno… Dos… Tré! and Revolution Radio.

(Thanks The Pulse Of Radio and Loudwire)

My friends from Sweden, Avatar, released a new video for “The King Wants You.”  The band spend a lot of time this past summer at a studio in Gothenburg, Sweden working on their new album titled, Avatar Country. The 10 new songs, which all have the word “King” in the title, will be released on Jan 12.

Avatar worked with a familiar producer in the studio, Jay Ruston, who also worked with Stone Sour, Anthrax and Steel Panther.

AVATAR COUNTRY Track Listing

Blabbermouth reporting Seattle’s Walking Papers, featuring Jefferson Angell (The Missionary Position), Benjamin Anderson (The Missionary Position), Duff McKagan (Guns N’ Roses, Loaded) and Barrett Martin (Screaming Trees, Mad Season), will release its second album, WP2, on Jan 19, 2018 via Loud & Proud Records.

WP2 is the follow-up to the band’s 2013 critically acclaimed debut album that Rolling Stone called “dark, alternately sensual and sinister.” USA Today said, “Sometimes an album sounds nothing like you expect yet still blows you away… It’s powerful yet nuanced, a kind of rock confident enough in itself that it rarely needs force to make its point.” Consequence Of Sound said, “It’s a record that largely eschews typical hard rock fare, opting instead for a blues rock that slinks and wafts as much as it crunches and blusters. This unlikely dynamic makes Walking Papers a pink slip you’ll actually be happy to get.” VH1 described the band’s sound as “weathered, bluesy and broken in by years of experience. This is hard rock as made by grown-ass men with stories to tell and no one to please but themselves.”

Walking Papers have launched a PledgeMusic campaign for pre-orders.  Fans will find exclusive offers for merchandise, unique items and experiences with the band, and the only place to purchase the song “This Is How It Ends” along with its companion comic book by Angell, graphic novelist Matt Hayward and artist Csaba Master.

Jonathan Davis from Korn hosted a Facebook Live event Monday night.  He announced the launch of SomberOne, #SomberOne   www.somberone.com.  Only 5,000 shirts will be made and each will come with a signed card from Jonathan.  Proceeds will go to charities like Make A  Wish and others TBA.  The shirts are pictured above worn by JD and his wife Deven.

Meanwhile, JD answered fan questions including ones from me and he wished me a happy retirement!    I told him I’d still do interviews with him!  LOL  He will be releasing his solo music next year and will be doing a short tour behind it.  So keep an eye on his Facebook page for info on that.