Good morning Radicals! Hope all you Dads out there had an amazing Father’s Day! There are a few Dad’s on the hardDriveRadio team, which means we have some damn good jokes! Like this one: A son asked his Father, “Why is there a Father’s Day, but no Son day?” The Dad replied, “There’s a Sunday every week!”
You know you laughed… anywho, on to the music news!
Dave Grohl, Ozzy Osbourne, Trent Reznor, Robert Plant and many more are among 600 artists who have written an open letter to Congress urging them to help save more than 1,000 independent music venues in the United States facing permanent closure due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) posted the letter on Thursday (June 18th). Other signatories on the list included Billie Eilish, Coldplay, Shinedown, Neil Young, Billy Joel, Lady Gaga, Beartooth, Alter Bridge, Halestorm, Ministry, Motionless In White, Alice Cooper, David Crosby, the Lumineers and scores of others.
An excerpt from the letter said, “We are asking you to support NIVA’s request for assistance so these beloved venues can reopen when it’s safe and welcome us and our fans back in. The collapse of this crucial element in the music industry’s ecosystem would be devastating.”
The letter continued, “Independent venues give artists their start, often as the first stage most of us have played on. These venues were the first to close and will be the last to reopen . . . if the shutdown lasts six months and there’s no federal assistance, they will never reopen again.”
Foos drummer Taylor Hawkins told us a while back that small shows are some of his favorites: “I really enjoy it. I love playing in clubs and I love doing stuff like that. I really do and I always will. And I don’t know if it’s because it kind of takes me back to my, you know, my youth, kind of, you know, being in my teens and playing in people’s garages and it’s the same exact s*** I did when I was 16, you know.”
Earlier in the month, NIVA conducted a survey which found that nearly all of independent music venues may be forced to close their doors for good due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Republican-controlled Senate has shown no appetite for further federal assistance of any kind, despite the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Halestorm singer Lzzy Hale spoke to Offstage With DWP about her band’s insistence on performing completely live, without the aid of backing tracks. Hale said, “We do it more selfishly, not necessarily as a statement. But it has kind of become this interesting statement.”
Hale continued, “I’m not a fan of when I find out my favorite bands do that . . . I’m not knocking anybody who does it — you do you. But for us, that’s just not our M.O. ”
She added, “Also, if we weren’t actually playing, we would just get worse as musicians. We’ve been to shows where somebody’s computer went down — the tracks are no longer there — and then they don’t play anymore. And we’re, like, ‘Can’t you just plug the instruments in?'”
In recent years, more and more bands have been given a pass for using backing tracks, drum triggers and other assorted technology that makes concerts more synthetic but also more consistent.
Halestorm has been off the road due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the band recently announced the launch of its #RoadieStrong campaign, aimed at providing essential financial assistance to road crews all over the world.
Alice In Chains guitarist and singer Jerry Cantrell will be the subject of a longform interview in the next episode of Gibson TV’s Icons series. Cantrell will sit down to discuss his love of songwriting, the formation of Alice In Chains, as well as his 30-plus years in music.
The Cantrell episode of the new Icons series, which features some of the most acclaimed artists, producers and music business pioneers working today, will be released in July.
Cantrell told us that when Alice In Chains first started out in Seattle, the band didn’t fit the scene at the time: “We were just like kids out of the South End, f**king rock heads, you know, so we didn’t fit in with that. We just kinda were on our own, which was fine by us. We always had the attitude like — not belligerently — but, you know, if you don’t dig us, then f**k you, basically. You know, it’s like, that’s cool.”
Earlier this year, Cantrell returned to the studio to continue working on a new solo album, his first since 2002’s Degradation Trip. Alice In Chains released its sixth studio LP, Rainier Fog, in August 2018.
Kurt Cobain’s guitar from Nirvana’s iconic MTV Unplugged performance sold at auction Saturday (June 20th) for a record $6 million. The previous record was $3.95 million for a Black Stratocaster owned by Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour.
Pre-auction bids on the 1959 Martin D-18E reached $1 million even before bidding officially opened Saturday at Julien’s Auctions in Beverly Hills. The guitar, which had been modified for the left-handed Cobain, received seven bids total, including the winning one.
The guitar also came with its original hard-shell case, a half-used pack of Martin guitar strings, three picks, and a “suede ‘stash’ bag” decorated with a small silver spoon, fork, and knife.
The winner of the guitar was Peter Freedman, who told Spin after the auction that he intended to tour the guitar around the world “to lobby governments to start proper funding for mental health, medical, wages lost, all the stuff that’s gone. This is my life. This is my industry. We’re going to raise awareness and raise money.”
Other Nirvana MTV Unplugged performance items included in the same Julien’s Auctions lot included Curt Kirkwood’s handwritten lyric sheet to the Meat Puppets’ “Oh, Me,” a typed setlist from the gig, typed-out lyrics for David Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold the World” and Meat Puppets’ “Lake of Fire,” and a letter to Cobain from Nirvana’s management company, dated nine days before the Unplugged performance, outlining potential songs for the gig.
After its 1992 debut LP returned to the Billboard and iTunes charts last week, Rage Against The Machine‘s music has seen a 62 percent spike in streaming in the past seven days.
The group’s music was streamed over 11 million times in the last week, with the song “Killing In The Name” accounting for 2.4 million of those streams alone. That put the song at Number Three on Billboard‘s Hard Rock Digital Songs Chart. Another tune, “Bulls on Parade,” has been streamed 1.4 million times in the same period.
Some of the surge could be attributed to a Twitter fight between Rage guitarist Tom Morello and a fan who questioned the band’s politics. The tweet went viral, garnering more than 150,000 interactions.
Rage’s surge in streaming comes at the same time as heightened unrest and calls for change in the U.S. Morello told us a while back that change always comes from the bottom up: “As someone who’s worked for a United States senator, I realize that there are inherent, fundamental flaws to the system, where power and profit are inextricably linked, that makes it very difficult for anyone in that sort of position to effect real progressive change. Real change, I believe, always comes from below.”
Several other artists, including N.W.A., Kendrick Lamar and Beyoncé, have also experienced spikes in streaming as nationwide protests rage on.
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Former Of Mice & Men singer Austin Carlile has denied sexual assault accusations made against him last week. Carlile shared a statement on Instagram in which he took accountability for his actions, saying he “acted like a jerk,” but firmly denied the accusations.
Carlile wrote, “In my younger years, I absolutely was not the best person, but I have never physically abused, preyed upon, forced myself upon, or drugged any woman. These accusations are false and defamatory.”
The singer continued, “All women deserve to feel safe, supported, and heard, but these unjust attacks upon my family and accusations against me, are decades-old claims that are unfounded.”
One of the accusers, Caitlin Stiffler, posted a lengthy statement on Facebook on June 9th in which she detailed the allegations and called out Alternative Press for squashing an article that would have included over 15 different stories regarding Carlile’s behavior. The publication said it did not have enough corroboration at the time.
Stiffler wrote, “(Carlile) not only raped girls, probably more than anyone even knows about, he was a predator seeking out underage girls by using his position in the music industry to do so.” Her account was corroborated by her husband, who said he organized the women who were interviewed by Alternative Press.
Of Mice And Men, which Carlile exited at the end of 2016, issued its own statement denying any involvement in shelving the article.
That’s a wrap! Have a great Monday everyone!
