Good morning Radicals! Let;s see what’s kickin’ in the world of rock and roll:
Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins told Music Week in a new interview that he believes frontman Dave Grohl would have still launched the Foos even if Grohl was still drumming for Nirvana.
Speaking about his own desire to make solo records, Hawkins explained, “I have to write songs, I have to make records. I guarantee you, if for some crazy reason Kurt Cobain wouldn’t have died so early and Nirvana was still a band now, Dave would still be doing the same thing. There would be a Foo Fighters; it wouldn’t be as popular because he’d be busy in Nirvana all the time, but he has to do it.”
Foo Fighters began as a solo project for Grohl, who wrote and played everything on the first album himself. He told us a while back how the end of Nirvana finally pushed him to do it: “I always have played guitar and have always written music on my own and would just make demo tapes and record in my basement studio for fun, and was horribly embarrassed with my voice and never really confident with my playing. After Nirvana was finished I thought, you know, I’m too young to become a studio session drummer, I might as well go try my hand at actually singing and playing guitar. And it worked out.”
Hawkins also told Music Week, “In Foo Fighters, my job is to just play drums. And sort of along the lines of what the Grohlmeister wants, and he gives me room to move, but he knows what he wants, they’re his songs, and obviously he knows how to play the drums, so he knows how the f**king drums should go . . . But when I get a moment outside the Foo Fighters, I have to get these songs out of me. I just like the creative process of writing songs, I like singing!”
Hawkins recently released Get The Money, the latest LP from his side project, The Coattail Riders. Foo Fighters are reportedly working on a follow-up to 2017’s Concrete And Gold for release next year.
Alter Bridge‘s Mark Tremonti has been named “Guitarist of the Decade” by the readers of Guitar World magazine.
Tremonti said in a statement, “I can’t express with words how grateful, humbled, and honored I am for this recognition! Many of the other guitarists on this list continue to inspire me and I’m so proud to be considered one of their peers. Thank you to all that made this possible, I am forever grateful!”
Tremonti has been at the forefront of guitar-driven hard rock over the course of a 20-year career that has encompassed 14 albums with three different bands: Creed, his own self-named solo act and Alter Bridge, whose latest LP Walk The Sky came out in October.
Tremonti told us that Alter Bridge wants to keep moving forward with each record it makes: “I think we work hard to put out records that in some way or shape or another outperform the one we previously did. I think that’s the only thing we can try to do, is become better artists with every record.”
Alter Bridge recently announced the first 2020 U.S. leg of the Walk The Sky tour. The band will play a kick-off date in Lake Charles, Louisiana on January 31st before jumping on board the ShipRocked cruise as co-headliner alongside Halestorm. The rest of the trek resumes on February 8th in Nashville.
Skillet will return to the road in North America this winter in support of its 10th studio album, Victorious, which arrived in August. The headlining trek will kick off on February 6th in Wichita, Kansas and run through March 14th in Norfolk, Virginia. Support on the tour will come from From Ashes To New and Ledger, the latter of which features Skillet drummer Jen Ledger.
Skillet is fresh off back-to-back fall 2019 co-headline North American tours with Sevendust and Alter Bridge, respectively. The band just wrapped a sold-out headline tour of Europe as well. The current single from Victorious, titled “Legendary,” reached Number Seven on the rock radio chart last week and was still climbing.
Frontman John Cooper said, “The whole band is excited to play new music and meet with the fans on the Victorious tour . . . We wanted this tour to be very fan-focused so we went to our fans to build out the set list and added two VIP experiences, a Q&A, and a (meet and gree), so there’s something for everyone.”
Cooper told us a while back that he enjoys seeing Skillet fans bringing their kids to the band’s shows: “It’s very cool to go to a concert and just see a dad with his 12-year-old son, and they’re both rocking out to Skillet because their dad bought our first record when he was in high school or whatever. You go to a Bon Jovi show or a Nickelback show, Aerosmith, that’s what you see — you see generations of fans. And Skillet is still, you know, quite young, but we have those generations. I think that that’s really awesome.”
The fan pre-sale is going on now, while the public on-sale is slated for Friday (December 6th at 10:00 a.m. local time. You can check the Road Rage page for the full list of stops.
A new video appears to support a recent theory about the identity of Slipknot‘s newest member — the percussionist nicknamed “Tortilla Man” by fans since the band has refused to divulge his identity.
A fan YouTube channel called Slipknot News uploaded video footage on Tuesday (December 3rd) of the band arriving at the airport in Mexico ahead of their ill-fated appearance at this past weekend’s Knotfest Meets Forcefest festival.
Seen in the clip are most of the Slipknot members, including one individual who bears an uncanny resemblance to the multi-instrumentalist Michael Pfaff. Pfaff played keyboards with Slipknot’s Shawn “Clown” Crahan in the band Dirty Little Rabbits and was first floated as the musician under the “Tortilla Man” mask in August.
Pfaff was apparently introduced to Crahan years ago by Slipknot DJ Sid Wilson. Pfaff has a similar build and height as “Tortilla Man,” and Reddit users have found that Pfaff’s family members are following “#tortillaman” and other hashtags on social media related to the newest member of Slipknot.
Crahan refused to reveal the identity of the band’s mysterious new ninth member in an interview with Kerrang! magazine, saying it was “nobody’s f**king business.” The musician joined Slipknot seven months ago, when he was first featured in the video for the single “Unsainted.” Slipknot’s previous percussionist, Chris Fehn, was dismissed from the band earlier this year and sued them in March.
Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan has released a new video for the song “Cold Outside.” The clip addresses the growing homeless crisis facing the U.S. and its arrival on “Giving Tuesday” (December 3rd) coincided with a Propeller campaign that benefits Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission.
The video was designed to help raise awareness and support during the holiday season for the Mission and their work to provide emergency care and long-term recovery services to homeless people in the greater Seattle area.
McKagan explained, “In my early days, I was in similar situations, so I know what it’s like to not have anyone to turn to and sometimes need a helping hand to get back on my feet. I know many know others in need and I am hoping that, if we come together, we can help make a real difference.”
McKagan has given much of his own time to this campaign and has donated memorabilia as part of the Propeller campaign with all proceeds going to Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission.
“Cold Outside” was featured on McKagan’s recently released solo LP, Tenderness. The LP was produced by and features recent Grammy winner Shooter Jennings.
Jack White and Jack Black have at last shared their first collaboration. White’s Third Man Records has released a limited-edition seven-inch vinyl single featuring a song called “Don’t Blow It, Kage” by Tenacious D, Black’s duo with Kyle Gass. The track was produced by White — who also cameos on the song — during a session at his Third Man studio in Nashville earlier this year.
Comedian/actor/ writer Brian Posehn will release his new comedy/metal album, Grandpa Metal, on February 14th, 2020. The disc will feature guest appearances from Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil, Slipknot singer Corey Taylor, Fall Out Boy frontman Patrick Stump and guitarist Joe Trohman, plus members of Anthrax, Slayer, Dokken, Testament, Machine Head and many more. Posehn said about the project, “The intention was just to make a funny metal/comedy record for people who like both of those things.”
Finally, we want to wish a Happy Birthday today to Life of Agony singer Mina Caputo and Rival Sons bassist David Beste! Have a wonderful day!
