Good morning Radicals! Feels like winter is finally here in the north east! Brrrrr… Let’s warm up with a bit of music news, shall we?
The nominations for the 61st Annual Grammy Awards were announced on Friday December 7th, with Greta Van Fleet and Ghost leading the pack for the rock genre. Greta Van Fleet picked up a whopping four nominations, for Best New Artist, Best Rock Performance, Best Rock Song and Best Rock Album. The latter was for the band’s From The Fires EP rather than its recently released debut album Anthem Of The Peaceful Army.
Ghost was nominated in Best Rock Song for “Rats” and also made the cut for Best Rock Album for Prequelle. The band previously won the 2016 Grammy for Best Metal Performance for the song “Cirice.” Other rock artists nominated for various prizes include Halestorm, Bring Me The Horizon, Chris Cornell, Alice In Chains, Twenty One Pilots, Weezer and Arctic Monkeys.
Greta Van Fleet’s “Black Smoke Rising” and Bring Me The Horizon’s “Mantra” joined “Rats” in the Best Rock Song category, along with Twenty One Pilots’ “Jumpsuit” and St. Vincent‘s “Masseduction.” Among the other nominees in the Best Rock Album category were Alice In Chains’ Rainier Fog, Fall Out Boy‘s Mania and Weezer’s Pacific Daydream.
The ceremony will be broadcast live on CBS from the Staples Center in Los Angeles on February 10th at 8:00 p.m. ET.
Korn guitarist Brian “Head” Welch told Detroit radio station WRIF in a new interview that the break between 2016’s The Serenity Of Suffering album and the band’s upcoming new LP has been longer than usual for the group — partially due to the death of Deven Davis, the estranged wife of Korn singer Jonathan Davis.
Welch explained, “We’ve taken the biggest break that we have in years, and it was meant to be. Someone’s watching over us, because Jonathan and his tragedy that he’s gone through, he needed time off and he needed to focus on things more. So, yeah, it’s been good, but we can’t wait to get back, man. We’ve got things cooking, so we’re hoping to make some announcements early next year.”
Deven Davis died in August at the age of 39 from an overdose. The former porn actress suffered with sobriety and substance abuse throughout her life. She and Jonathan Davis had two sons together.
Welch added about the writing sessions for Korn’s 13th studio effort, “We have been taking our time — taking a break. A month with the family, a couple of weeks in the studio writing . . . so we’re taking our time, man. And we’re gonna hit it hard the beginning of the year and hopefully get this thing knocked out.”
We asked Welch a while back to tell us the most important thing he would advise young musicians about being in a rock band: “You’ve got to get it in your head and your heart right now that you being this musician, it’s not for you. It’s for the fans. If you want to go out there and play onstage for a living, you are giving your life for your fans. And it’s not about them worshiping you, it’s about you giving a gift to them that they can appreciate. And once you make it about you, you’re gonna start to shake and you’re gonna break down and fall.”
Earlier in the year, Davis — who released his solo album Black Labyrinth this year — said that there were “really good ideas” and “cool grooves” in some of the early material written for Korn’s next album. The singer also shot down as false Internet speculation that the band is using outside writers for material. The new disc is due out in 2019.
Rage Against The Machine bassist Tim Commerford is being sued over an alleged car accident that left the victim with over $65,000 in medical bills. According to The Blast, Alec Chaice claims Commerford was driving next to him as he was riding his motorcycle on the 10 Freeway in Los Angeles on April 24th, 2018 when the bassist changed lanes and crashed into him, causing significant injury.
Chaice underwent lumbar spinal surgery and a nerve root block procedure. He has a six-inch scar on his back as a result. Chaice is suing for his medical expenses, economic loss, damage to property, plus interest and costs.
Commerford has been having a rough time of it as 2018 draws to a close. His wife Aleece Commerford filed for divorce last month, filing documents on November 28th to end the couple’s 17-year marriage. The 50-year-old rocker and his wife were married in 2001 and have two sons together, Xavier and Quentin.
In a 2016 interview with Forbes, Tim stated about his family, “I love being a dad, I love my wife and my kids are amazing to me and I love the challenge of making music and family work. They influence me musically and emotionally.”
In addition to playing in the past with Rage Against The Machine and Audioslave, Commerford is also in Prophets Of Rage, who are reportedly readying their second LP for release in 2019.
Kid Rock has announced that he’s paid off a number of layaway accounts at a Walmart in Nashville, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Saying he was inspired by filmmaker Tyler Perry making a similar gesture last week, Rock paid out $81,000 to settle 350 layaway accounts.
Rock tweeted about his actions, writing, “@tylerperry Great idea! I followed your lead and paid off the layaway at my local Walmart in Nashville. Merry Christmas and God Bless You!”
Walmart manager Tom Meyer stated, “Kudos to Kid Rock for making such a gesture in our community, saying that Rock called the store on Friday morning (December 7th), explained what he wanted to do and later came down to the store to pay off the balances. Customers who came to the store to check on their accounts received cards from Rock stating, “Merry Christmas from your neighbor.”
The singer, whose real name is Robert Ritchie, was removed as Grand Marshal of Nashville’s 2018 Christmas Parade two weeks ago, following backlash over comments he made during a television appearance on Fox & Friends during which he called The View co-host Joy Behar a “bitch.”
Rock remarked, “I apologize for the language, not the sentiment,” later noting that Behar had criticized him along with Ted Nugent and Sarah Palin for visiting Donald Trump at the White House in 2017. But Rock was still replaced as Grand Marshall of the Nashville parade when both city councilman Freddie O’Connell and mayor David Briley suggested that they would not participate if Rock was involved.
Metallica members Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett and James Hetfield helped celebrate the launch of their new whiskey, Blackened, at a rooftop event at Charmaine’s in San Francisco on Thursday night December 6th. Throughout the evening, guests were guided through immersive sensory tasting sessions where they could experience the role the sense play and the music that forged the whiskey.
Dave Pickerell, the acclaimed master distiller and blender behind Blackened, deployed a patent-pending, “sonic-enhancement” process that he called “Black Noise” that actually used Metallica’s music to help “shape the flavor” of the whiskey. Pickerell, who passed away last month, said in an interview before his death that the vibrations from the music helped the liquor pull extra flavors out of its wooden casks.
Metallica’s first-ever spirit was dubbed Blackened after the opening track on the band’s 1988 album . . . And Justice For All. The spirit is a blend of American bourbon, rye, and whiskey. Blackened was rolled out in California, Wisconsin, New York and Florida for a suggested retail price of $43.
Metallica has just started a holiday break from touring but will return for more North American dates in the first quarter of 2019, starting on January 16th at the Forum in Los Angeles where the band will participate in a tribute concert to the late Chris Cornell.
That’s a wrap, have a great day, everyone!
