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Friday, December 24, 2010

Update for Friday 24th December, 2010 - Christmas Eve

Hi all, what a crazy time of year indeed!
Sorry for the lack of updates this wekk, but I'm sure you understand, Christmas week and all that, but yesterday Rhonda's, my kids and my Christmas was made all the more special by the arrival of my boy from England, Jonathan and his sweetheart of another half, Sian. :)
With all the chaos of Heathrow airport, it kept looking more and more hit and miss if their flight would take off. The great news is - for them - that it did.
They told us of all the other people at Heathrow still waiting for their flights, even sleeping outside Heathrow's building in the cold ... Terrible!
So much for airlines hospitality! Nice!
Anyway, this is going to have to be brief folks and tomorrow, there will be nothing posted, so I'd like to take this opportunity to wish you and yours an absolutely rockin' Christmas and better still New Year!
Hoping for many that 2011 bring more good things your way if 2010 didn't do it for you.
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, one and all!
Cheers,
Al

Big Country UK tour

Original Big Country vocalist / guitarist Stuart Adamson would've been 51 this year and would've most lightly been looking forward to playing some Christmas shows this year, if he hadn't sadly taken his own life back in 2001 on December 16th. Tragic.
I got to see Big Country around three times live, back in my UK days and OK, they were a bit of an acquired taste for many, but they always put on a great live show.


The remaining band members in honour of Stuart Adamson, are heading out to play six live shows in the UK, three of the six days are in the bands native Scotland though, so not a lot of English dates and sorry Welsh fans, not dates in Wales.
Mike Peters (The Alarm) has taken on Adamson's role in Big Country today and is a worthy replacement if you ask me.
If you're lucky enough to be close to where they are playing, get along and see them, great live act indeed.

Redrocker.com Confirms Autobiography

Sammy Hagar's autobiography is coming your way soon, this from the mans website:

You have all been hearing the rumors and http://www.redrocker.com/ would like to officially confirm that Sammy Hagar is releasing the Autobiography "Red - My Uncensored Life in Rock" on March 15, 2011 through Harper Collins.

In the book Hagar tells readers the outrageous and unbelievable stories of his rise through rock music, detailing his 30 year career starting with Montrose and covering Van Halen, The Wabos, his Solo work and of course Chickenfoot. Lavishing readers with behind-the-scene stories from Van Halen, one of the biggest rock groups in history, Sammy tells of the global stadium tours, private jets, parties, and of course the ups and downs that came with fame and success.

To celebrate the book’s release, Sammy will be making a special appearance at Canadian Music Week doing a special interview on Saturday, 12 March at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto.

The publisher has started taking preorders for the book. Links to options can be found on the Harper Collins website:


We'll keep you posted as the promotional schedule gets confirmed. Stayed tuned to Redrocker.com for the latest schedule.
Official site: www.redrocker.com/

Stan Bush new single now available


Stan Bush whose 'Dream the Dream' album was much welcomed by melodic rock fans around the world, has "Heat of the Battle" now made available for download in iTunes! Check it out! http://tinyurl.com/26jtbhj

For all things Stan Bush go to: http://stanbush.com/

Well folks, that's really it, nothing else much around that I can share.
Take care, be safe and if you're going to have a drink, let someone else drive or crash someone's place for the night! :)
Merry Christmas!

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Interview with vocalist Brian Howe (Ex-Ted Nugent, Bad Company)

Interview with Brian Howe (Ex-Bad Company) - Summer 2010



Yes, I know what you're all thinking, WHAT! Summer 2010 and you're only posting it now?!
Believe me, it's been a crazy year and Brian and I spoke for a while and we had a great chat.
Brian Howe is a great guy, very passionate about about all things Portsmouth Football Club - I know the feeling! - English football and of course his music and a certain part of the world that he stumbled upon a few years back that is beautiful! - ... and where Brian wrote most of  the excellent 'Circus Bar' released earlier this year through Frontiers Records.


He spent time in Bad Company, following a not too long stint with Ted Nugent and then went solo.
Why not? The guy has a great voice, he's written some great material over the years and basically got Bad Company noticed again and back into the charts with their first US hit singles in years including 'If You Needed Somebody,' 'Walk Through Fire' and 'How About That.'  Incidentally, at the time the title track of the 'Holy Water' album hit number one on the AOR charts.
This success also got Bad Company back into playing the big arenas again, so the man's voice certainly hit the spot for many people!

Anyway, without any more of my blabber, here's the interview that Brian and I had back in the summer, enjoy!
Sorry, one last thing, the interview took place during the World Cup finals and of course, we both had something to say about that!

Brian: Hello?

AW: Hello, Brian?

Brian: Yes!

AW: How are you it’s Alun Williams?

Brian: What’s up, what’s going on?

AW: You doing alright?

Brian: I’m doing alright me old son, yep!

AW: Good! Excellent! Well I take it you saw the game yesterday? – England World Cup loss.

Brian: Yes, I saw the game yesterday and I’m gutted. You know …

AW: Yeah, I know … I’m bloody disappointed.

Brian: I don’t know why that guy was put in goal over David James. I don’t understand that decision at all. I just don’t get it. That’s not because I’m a Portsmouth supporter by the way, but David James is without question is the best of them three and why he wasn’t in I just don’t understand. Unless he’s got an injury?!

AW: They’re saying he’s carrying a knee injury, so …

Brian: Oh really?

AW: Yeah, so I’m thinking … How long is that going to keep him out, right?

Brian: Yeah right, let’s hope not long …

AW: Right.

Brian: Let’s hope so …

AW: It was disappointing I mean, I’ll tell you what to be honest, before they started I thought we’re going to do typical England, be complacent, go in there and sit back and they’re going to take advantage of us and everything and then when Gerrard scored I thought, ‘Sweet!’ (Laughs) You know?

Brian: Right and then they just switched off!

AW: Yeah and then they switched off! (Laughs)

Brian: Typical! Just f**king typical!

AW: (Laughs) I know mate!

Brian: Oh God! It’s ridiculous man, but what do you do?

AW: I know. I guess the latest news on Pompey … It’s funny I was looking at The News (Portsmouth newspaper) online and it was a story from a couple of days back and apparently there’s only about 15 players contracted to the club at the moment and only probably only 6 will probably be there at the start, you know? Who knows what will happen with the sale of the club, right old mess isn’t it?

Brian: Yeah, that’s right ….

AW: I know, we’ve had some tough times haven’t we mate! Anyway let’s talk about better things mate (Laughing), let’s talk about the album …

Brian: Yeah, yeah, gotcha, right!

AW: Let’s talk about the album. Great job on ‘Circus Bar’ mate, great album, you must be well pleased with it?

Brian: Yeah I am! I’m actually quite over the moon with it! It took a lot of work, but we pulled it out!

AW: Yeah …

Brian: Oh, hold on a minute, I’m just dropping my son off at his Mums, hold on a sec, I’ll be right with you.

AW: Oh right …

Brian: (Talking to his son) Right, they you go mate …, you alright, Michael, you got everything Mike? Oh well done, well done. Pull that gum out for us will you mate would you? There you go mate. You alright? - Exchanges some more with his son …
There we go …

AW: How old’s your boy?

Brian: Twenty four …

AW: (Laughing) I’ve got a stepson back in England who’s twenty two …

Brian: He started his first day of tour management for me last night …

AW: Oh yeah? Kissimmee right?

Brian: He did rather well … Yeah, Kissimmee. He did that and he did alright.

AW: That’s alright isn’t it?

Brian: Yeah, poor boy, he’s alright, good lad …

AW: (Laughing) Poor boy?!

Brian: Yeah, you know … Yeah so Circus Bar, it was a weird whole period because I wasn’t going to make another record right and I was kind of was resigned to the fact that I’d just do live dates and that would be it, you know?

AW: Right.

Brian: No more records, which was fine, I’m quite happy to do my live dates, I quite enjoy doing them you know, but I got this email from a guy called Serifino from Frontiers Records and I’d never heard of them and he said, ‘I’ve always been a big fan of the stuff you did’ and I thought, f**king hell, that’s one in a row! He said, ‘Would you consider making another record?’ I said, ‘No, there’s no way I’m going to make another record.’ He says, ‘I really wish you would, let me give you some money to do it?’ I said, ‘Well, let me think about it …’ I did, I thought about it for a couple of days and I said, ‘Look, what I’m going to do is, let me see if I can still write because I don’t know if I can still write, as I’ve not had to do it in thirteen years. So let me see if I can still write and if I can, then I’ll think about it …’ I wrote a song called … The first song I actually wrote for that record was, ‘What Am I Feeling.’

AW: OK

Brian: So I thought, well I can still write, it might be a bit light but I can still write so maybe I can get a record done. So we put a deal together and I got a new producer because Terry Thomas didn’t seem interested in doing anything, so I sounded out this new guy in Orlando called Brooks Paschal and we met and had a meeting and tried to write a couple of songs which was very successful and so it was like, ‘Yeah, let’s do it, let’s make a record!’ Brooks had his own studio of course, which was great and we made the record! We started writing for it and ended up in Guatemala and writing songs down there … Which was an incredible period because … People don’t believe me when I tell them, that we went down there with no songs and within three days we had six or seven, totally done. Finished!

AW: Really?

Brian: Yeah, from nothing! From absolutely nothing!

AW: Right

Brian: It takes a rare chemistry to do that, so it kind of kicked everything off beautifully and that took all the … I use the word ‘pressure’ but it’s not really pressure, it was like apprehension of if I could still do it you know, because you do get a bit rusty if you’re not in the studio … You kind of forget your mic techniques and how you sing differently, adjusting to the studio against how you do live … How you have to …, but it all sort of came back and it was actually pretty cool.

AW: So you said you did the one song, but you didn’t actually start writing the full album until you got out to Guatemala yeah?

Brian: Yeah, we wrote the bulk of the songs in Guatemala in three days. I had a couple of Bad Company songs that I redid and I had two other songs that I had that they weren’t really finished, so I included those as well, you know? So it’s kind of a little bit of a tapestry but the bulk of the stuff was written in Guatemala and that’s how come the record came to be called the ‘Circus Bar’ because every night after working on this stuff we’d go down to this little bar, that had the best pizza in the world and it’s like an old … Well, it’s like a pub, well it is a pub! It’s a pub / restaurant and it’s real funky and it’s really cool and they have local bands that play you know that play Spanish music and whatever and it’s just really cool. It’s a real archaic building. The rain comes in through the roof during the monsoon and it’s just cool! It’s a really cool place to go! So we’d spend every night in there and that was our social gathering at night and we finished off lyrics in there and worked on stuff and you know, we just had a great time in there. So I was really struggling with a name for the album and after about a week to ten days, I thought …

AW: Why not just call it Circus Bar …?

Brian: Ah, Circus Bar! Why not just call it Circus Bar?! That would be cool and so there it is!

AW: Yeah, that’s cool. So the little place, Lake Atitlan, is that how you pronounce that?

Brian: Yeah, Lake Atitlan – Spells it out!

AW: Yeah I looked it up online and everything and it’s like how did you discover the place in the first place, because you said it’s your favourite place in the whole world …?

Brian: Oh it’s the most beautiful place I’ve ever been to in my life and I’ve been everywhere! I found it initially because I’m a cheap bastard and …. (Laughs) Spirit Airlines out of Fort Lauderdale, they’d just started flying to Guatemala about five years ago and in the first few months of flying there, once every so many weeks, they would do this ridiculous price of like $0.32c roundtrip!

AW: Bloody hell!

Brian: Yeah, into Guatemala city and well … The first time I went, I went to Guatemala city and although it was interesting, I didn’t really like it … It was very smoky and very polluted and very crime ridden shall we say and just dodgy and little too much like Miami for me and you know … So, I went back again after having taken advice of a cab driver and he said, ‘You need to go up to the lakes …’

AW: Right …

Brian: … and have a look around there. He explained it to me beautifully. He said, ‘Guatemala is our New York City, it’s not representative of our country at all. It’s just a city … Sure enough I rented a hotel up on the lakes for my next visit and as soon as I hit the top of the range and looked down on the lake, I was gone! It was like, this is it, this is where I want to be and it is central America of course and it does have it’s downfalls but economically it’s an incredible place to be because the (US) dollar is worth about ten dollars over there.

AW: (Laughs) So, you’re a rich man then?!

Brian: Yeah, I mean suddenly you’re ten times richer and it’s like ‘Wow!’ There’s a lot of Americans that live around the lake. There’s a lot of English.

AW: Really?

Brian: Oh yeah. There’s lots of ex-pat’s gathering in the pub at night and it’s just cool. It’s a beautiful place to go!

AW: Nice touch eh? Yeah I was looking at pictures of the place online and the missus came over and I said check out the pictures of this place where Brian wrote the album and she says, ‘Wow! It’s beautiful! How much would it cost to go there and is it safe?! (Laughing)

Brian: Oh yeah, it’s cheap as nuts, even now. I mean for some reason right now it’s expensive but … From Fort Lauderdale right now, I think it’s about $350 roundtrip …

AW: Bloody hell, that’s changed hasn’t it?

Brian: Yeah, but you can get flights for $39 now and then if you pick the right time of year, you know?

AW: Sure. How many of those volcanoes are still active then?

Brian: None.

AW: Oh really?

Brian: None of those are active. Macaya became active again about three weeks ago and it kind of splattered Guatemala City, but you’re about three hours from there.

AW: Yeah, right.

Brian: Yeah, but you’re also at a decent altitude and the air is just so pure it’s a whole different ball game.

AW: Oh that’s alright then isn’t it?! So, getting back to the album then and Brian Howe gigging and so on …

Brian: Yeah …

AW: So last night was the first date on the tour then, yeah?

Brian: No, no, no … I’m not doing a tour parse, at this point. I’m just doing odd dates. I fly in and fly home and I’ll be home in about half an hour, you know and I drove to this show because it was Kissimmee, but we’ve got Syracuse coming up, we’ve got California and I fly, just fly in, do the show and fly home, so it’s easy, pretty cool. A tour? I mean, I don’t know? I’m being told that there’s a European tour being lined up …. It’s probably going to happen, because the record is …

AW: Taking off isn’t it?

Brian: Yeah, it’s doing well for me, yeah, but we’ll see, because like I say …, people talk and with the economy being like it is right now, it’s tough to do a tour because people don’t want to pay the money and the expense of it has gone up so … The area of me being able to hire the best musicians that I want to hire, it makes life a … A trifle tricky!

AW: Yeah sure, but I guess the interesting thing is, a lot of American bands are actually starting to go to the UK a bit more and play, because the value of the dollar is so weak against the pound and so they can make a few bob (Make some cash) can’t they?

Brian: Umm, I don’t know. I know they were doing that but hasn’t the exchange rate just started to go back the other way now? I don’t know, maybe not?

AW: I think it’s about $1.70 to the pound right now, $1.60 or something, but at one point there it was something like $2 to the pound and when my boy came over here a little while back, a couple of years back he said, ‘This is sweet Al, I can spend loads of dosh (Money),’ so …

Brian: Wow!

AW: Yeah, so he was well chuffed when he came over. Anyway, so the show you did last night, Pat Travers was playing too right?

Brian: Yeah, Pat opened up for us yeah.

AW: Yeah, so that’s a nice touch then isn’t it, as he played on the album too didn’t he?

Brian: Yeah, yeah he did the old bastard! (Laughs). I didn’t get to see him last night which is funny you know, because I got there and he’d just finished and we had a few technical problems so I had to deal with a lot of bullshit last night and I didn’t get to see him after the show, because normally we share a tipple so you know … He’s a good lad.

AW: Yeah I’ve always liked Pat, I must admit even back in the UK when he played on the Crash and Burn tour, went to see him and that was nice.

Brian: Yeah.

AW: So it’s got to be tough to put new songs in a live set I guess, I mean most of the time the crowd just wants to hear a ‘Best of’ set, nine times out of ten …

Brian: Do you know what, you’re the only journalist that’s got the f**king brains to know that, because it’s amazing how I’ve been telling people look I’m not doing … Maybe I’ll do one song from the new album, if I’m lucky because … People are just not interested …

AW: … and it sucks doesn’t it?

Brian: People are telling me, ‘Oh come on man, you’ve got to do the new stuff …’ People just don’t want to hear it … They don’t want to be taught new songs, they want to sing along and have a laugh …

AW: Right …

Brian: … And that’s what I want to do to when I go to a show … You know, unless I’m an absolute, total nut job person like if I wanted to go and see someone like Cat Stevens, I’d love to hear a couple of new songs, but … In my era of music it’s kind of … Two thirds of them are off their face before the show starts … They wanna sing, they wanna shout, they wanna … So just let them do it, it’s easy, it’s great!

AW: Yeah, I guess the only way you can really do it is go to somewhere like Japan where they kind of accept new stuff with open arms don’t they? They tend to don’t they?

Brian: Yeah but I don’t know if that’s true either though because the Japanese just have a history of just sitting there and listening to anything politely and then clapping politely and then stopping and just listening … (Laughing) So I don’t really know if they enjoy hearing new music or whether they just treat every song the same, I don’t know?

AW: I think that might be six of one and half a dozen of the other, because some of the live recordings and some of the DVD live stuff from Japan that I’ve seen, some of it they’re like going out of their minds and then some of it, I don’t know … Did you see the Asia DVD?

Brian: No …

AW: It was like exactly what you’ve just said, they’re all just sitting there and clapping politely … It looked like a conference centre or something, you know?

Brian: Right! Well generally that’s what Japanese audiences do!

AW: Right …

Brian: And it’s very disconcerting as the artist when you go out there and you’re thinking, ‘F**king hell, we’re not winning these people over … You know … Oh my God, we’re dying a death up here and then at the end of the song they go berserk! Then they go to nothing again … It’s very weird and very, very unnerving!

AW: Right, so you’re thinking … Well maybe when you go to Europe, it might be a bit different and you might be able to play a couple more new songs, I mean like you say if the tour comes off right?

Brian: Yeah, well hopefully we’ll do … I’m hoping to do a show in Portsmouth I certainly want to do one in London, ‘cos my mother’s never seen me!

AW: Right …

Brian: You know I don’t think she even believes I do this for a living! (Laughing) I swear to God! She’s always saying to me stuff like, ‘Well you haven’t worked for few weeks have you? You’ll have to get a job. You will, you’ll have to get a job!’ I say, ‘Mum, I’m all right.’ ‘Well, you know we all need money Brian. We all need money.’ I go, ‘Mum, I’m alright, I don’t have to work if I don’t want to …’ ‘Well, people say that but you know …’ It’s like, oh God, I can’t convince her!

AW: (Laughing) It’s that older generation I think mate!

Brian: Yeah, it’s weird.

AW: Yeah, ‘cos my Mum’s just turned 90 actually and we just flew back there for her 90th birthday so …

Brian: Ahh, that’s nice mate …

AW: Yeah, it was good. Anyway, it would be interesting for you then, you’d probably play somewhere like the Wedgwood Rooms then wouldn’t you?

Brian: I’d love to! I would, I’d love to! Actually play Portsmouth Guildhall as it probably holds about as many people as the Wedgwood Rooms right? I mean it holds 1900 people, right?

AW: Well yeah, there you go. It’d be sweet if you were to play Pompey Guildhall wouldn’t it?

Brian: It would, even though it’s a complete shit box! (Both laughing)

AW: I don’t know mate, you know it’s funny, I saw so many … You know a lot of people say it’s a dump, but I saw so many great acts there when I was younger you know, but …

Brian: Yeah …

AW: … or else you have to go down the road to you know where to see gigs and stuff …

Brian: Well, I’m obviously a little bit older than you because I used to go and see shows at South Parade Pier …

AW: Yeah, I saw shows there too …

Brian: It was either there or Kimballs.

AW: Kimballs? I don’t remember Kimballs?

Brian: Kimballs was in Osbourne Road, it was where the casino is now.

AW: OK, OK.

Brian: That used to be a live music venue and I saw … Funnily enough, I saw Black Cat Bones play there with Simon Kirke playing drums (Laughs) and Paul Kossoff was playing guitar. I saw America there … It was a real underground f**king venue, you know? So it was either that or South Parade Pier where I saw everybody! I saw Humble Pie, the Edgar Broughton Band, I saw Bowie, you name it I saw everybody at South Parade Pier.

AW: Right, right …

Brian: But then it got burned down by …

AW: The Who …

Brian: Yeah, well actually it was (Ken) Russell’s film crew burned it down, which funnily enough I mentioned on the second verse of ‘My Town’ on Circus Bar …

AW: Yeah, ‘My Town,’ I was going to say it was a nice touch on the album, nice references to Pompey on ‘My Town’ and then ‘Little George Street’ …

Brian: Yeah …

AW: And I was going to say to you, I know Little George Street is just round the corner from New Road but I don’t know much history on it, was it just a personal thing with you or was it a drinking club or something? (Laughing)

Brian: Yeah … Well, that’s where I was born!

AW: Oh you were actually born in Little George Street, OK!

Brian: Well, I was actually born in St. Mary’s hospital but I spent the first 19 years of my life, living in Little George Street but there’s always … Well I wrote that thing when I was a kid …

AW: There you go …

Brian: And I’ve never really had the chance to do anything with it and I thought f**k it, I’ll stick it on the record you know …

AW: Well it’s just like a little pub sing along thing … (Laughing) It’s funny you know, because my old band was playing in the old Salutation one night and you actually walked in and it was just around the time when you’d just joined Ted (Nugent) and I mean … How was it fronting the Ted Nugent band? That must’ve been interesting mate?

Brian: Erm, that was like a baptism! It was like having to learn my craft, real quick and you had to learn, real, real quick that there was certainly no room for silliness, no drinking and certainly no drugs …

AW: No, not with Ted!

Brian: Which luckily I was never into anyway … I was never into drugs, but I used to like a tipple you know …

AW: Right …

Brian: But with Ted it was a very, very, very strict rule that if you’re late, you’re fired! If you’re drunk, you’re fired! If you’re caught doing anything stupid, you’re fired and I’m thinking, ‘Hang on, this cat’s got the reputation of a madman and he’s running this thing like the army!

AW: Yeah …

Brian: And that’s how he does it, but it’s really good and one day he pulled me aside and he said, ‘Brian, I want to talk to ya. You’ve got the potential to go all the way, but if you want to have a long career, do it my way!’ And I said, ‘Alright, what is that?’ He says, ’Exactly that. Don’t drink before a show, don’t get f**ked up, don’t be stupid, don’t do drugs and keep yourself in reasonable shape so when you hit the stage, you can do a reasonable job.’ So I thought, well that doesn’t seem like a terribly demanding way of life and yet I’ve seen so many people completely get it wrong and I’m sure you have, you know?

AW: Yeah …

Brian: They go onstage f**king drunk and pull off a miserable show you know and it’s just basics …

AW: Yeah, it’s pretty sad mate, but it’s like how many times can you piss on your fans right, you know? Anyway …
Nice touch as well on the album sleeve notes, to the ex-Bad Company well I guess they are still Bad Company guys … That was very professional mate. The little comments at the bottom there …

Brian: Well there are still some issues but ..., it’s like you know, that’s enough guys … I wish you nothing but the best …

AW: Right …

Brian: Go and have a hit, write a good album and enjoy your lives! Let it go. I’m just going out and doing what I do. I was the singer in Bad Company for 10 years. There’s no reason why my name shouldn’t be associated with that name, you know?

AW: Right!

Brian: It’s weird, it’s just really weird?! Very strange you know? Oh, did you hear that … You know Paul is no longer with the Queen scenario right?

AW: Yeah, I heard about that. I mean they did the ‘Cosmos Rocks’ right which I dunno, did you hear it?

Brian: No I haven’t heard it no.

AW: It was a bit of an oddball album to be honest ..

Brian: Was it?

AW: Yeah, I mean I saw them live, which was kind of nice because to be honest with you I’ve seen Paul Rodgers live like a number of times over here and saw him back in England as well before I left a couple of times and I thought he was very good …, but I never got to see Queen with Freddie which was probably one of my biggest regrets …

Brian: Oh I did, I got to see them once in Southampton …, sadly at the Gaumont …

AW: Yeah I saw Paul Rodgers with Queen up here at the Palace of Auburn Hills and it was very good. I really enjoyed it and of course I wasn’t expecting him to sound like Freddie Mercury and I’d heard the CD beforehand, the live CD that they released and you know, I wasn’t expecting it to be that way and so I accepted it for what it was, but then when it comes to writing new material then I guess you’ve got something completely different there right?

Brian: Right, right …

AW: Different style altogether … But the other thing I was going to say was I saw your thing, your piece on … I don’t know if you do your own Facebook or not Brian, but …

Brian: I do, yeah, yeah …

AW: Yeah? I saw your note on there about Robert Hart (Ex Bad Company vocalist after Brian) and the Ex-Bad Company line up and I mean I know that Mick Ralphs, Dave Cowell and even Jaz Locerie who were even playing with Paul Rodgers there a bit …

Brian: Well hold on there! I’m unaware of this, so … There are two Brian Howe sites, but one of them is fake … and I don’t know who does it …

AW: Oh, OK …

Brian: The one … There’s one guy around apparently that has a picture of ‘Circus Bar’

AW: Yeah, that’s posted on there.

Brian: OK, well that’s nothing to do with me!

AW: Aha!

Brian: That’s some guy who I think actually, I don’t know who it is, I’m actually trying to get it all traced … He watches my Facebook site like a hawk …

AW: OK

Brian: And he copies some of the stuff that’s on mine and puts it straight on there and this guy is in Detroit somewhere …

AW: Really?!

Brian: Yeah.

AW: Well that’s interesting.

Brian: So what did it say about Robert Hart, ‘cos that wasn’t me.

AW: OK, well he was posting on there, ‘Is there anyone out there that’s heard of this other ex-Bad Company band calling themselves ex-Bad Company or something … I’m not at my computer right now actually …

Brian: Right, right …

AW: And it’s actually saying that on there and a number of people have put on there bad things like, ‘Oh no, I didn’t like Robert Hart’ and a number of people have put ‘I think it’s great’ and you know, ‘Do you know who’s involved in it?’ and that was the question and I was thinking, you if ….

Brian: Really?

AW: And you know the funny thing is Brian, now you tell me this, that it’s not you, because I’m thinking, because of your involvement in Bad Company and obviously everything that’s gone down – And obviously there’s still communication that goes back and forth – I’m sure you you’d know more about this …

Brian: Yeah, that’s right …

AW: And that’s why I’m thinking to myself … I mean you probably knew about the … I trying to think of the other band that was doing it and what they called themselves …

Brian: ‘Ex-Com’ they were called ‘Ex-Com’ …

AW: Yeah right …

Brian: And they went out as Mick Ralphs Bad Company …

AW: Yeah, that’s right but …

Brian: Yeah, but it all got shut down … Paul shut them all down …

AW: Yeah, I know, I heard that … And then Mick went on and joined up and went on tour with Bad Company! (Laughing) It was an ultimatum I think, wasn’t it? You come on tour with us, because you can’t do that! Right? You can go out with your own band or something, but …
Anyway mate … Well I don’t have too many more questions for you mate, but it’s smashing to talk to you Brian!

Brian: Yeah it’s lovely, nice to hear from you.

AW: But yeah, come up to Detroit some time mate, play a show in Detroit it would be good to see you.

Brian: I was in Detroit actually just two weeks ago, just changing planes of course, but I was up in Detroit there for about three hours, just changing planes, changing flights coming back from …. A show we did in Bangor, Maine! Played in Bangor, Maine!

AW: There you go!

Brian: Yeah, that was a cool little gig but … I think we are coming up that way in the summer at some point, I’ll have to let you know.

AW: Yeah, yeah, I mean please do … Excellent!

Brian: No problem. Absolutely no problem! Well if you go back to Pompey, give ‘em my love! Of course there’s nowhere left that I used to go to. The Salutations gone, all the pubs I used to know have been demolished!

AW: Yeah, we used to play down on Fratton Road, what’s it called …? What’s the one by St. Mary’s church there? We used to play in there.

Brian: The Museum Gardens or do you mean the Contented Pig?

AW: The Contented Pig, that’s it! We used to play in the Contented Pig me and my mates.

Brian: Well my very first gig, my very first band ever, we would rehearse behind the Contented Pig in those two little rehearsal rooms they had at the back there?

AW: Yeah

Brian: It was four quid for like a five hour session!

AW: (Laughing) You can’t odds (Beat) it can you?

Brian: Oh it was f**king brilliant! We spent ages in there, slogging and slogging, slogging away, trying to learn shit. It was funny as f**k! F**king great little place, but that’s closed now I think, The Contented Pig?

AW: You know what, last time we over there (Back home), I wasn’t over that way, ‘cos my old Mum lives in Emsworth so we were basically just staying around that area and that neck of the woods and I never got to catch up with any of my old mates at all the last time we went back. It was a bloody fleeting visit you know, but anyway …

Brian: Yeah, yeah, I know … Well take care mate, I’ll speak to you later.

AW: Yeah, take care Brian.

Brian: I’ll see you on Facebook, if you’re on there. My Facebook, the real one, is Facebook/BrianHowe01

AW: OK, I’ll drop you a note, after we hang up, alright?

Brian: Yeah, yeah, no problem. I’ve got to check out that other geezer too and see what he’s up to and what he’s f**king writing! I’ve got no idea what he’s up to! (Laughing) F**king thanks for setting me up on that one, ‘cos I don’t want to get caught up in a f**king Robert Hart discussion! That’s bullshit!

AW: (Laughing) I hear you mate, I hear you!

Brian: Alright Al, nice to speak to ya. Take care mate.

AW: Yep, you too, cheers mate! Bye.

Brian: Cheers. Bye.


It really was a great chat that we had and I can let you know that Brian shared this morning that basically, all the recording of his next album is complete and just need mixing down and the various finishing touches.
He's also gone so far as to say, 'It sounds great and better than Circus Bar!'
Oh boy, I gave 'Circus Bar' five out of five in my review, this one sounds like I'm going to have to be imaginative! LOL!
Hope you all enjoyed the interview.
Cheers,
Al


Brian's official site is: www.brianhowe.com/ 

Rock News for Wednesday 22nd December, 2010

Hi all, sorry for not getting anything posted for you yesterday ... Wrapped up things in the other job for the year, so didn't finish there until later than planned ... Isn't that always the way?!
Anyway, I WILL have something else - Besides todays news here - posted on the site later today, so check back in a while ...
Meantime, here's the latest for you!
Cheers, Al

Uriah Heep - New album on the way, US tour plans and UK festival soon!

Well, Uriah Heep have certainly been busy bees indeed over the past few years, not forgetting the 'Celebration' - 40th Anniversary Best of re-recordings release - of their 40th Anniversary!
It seems since the release of their seriously excellent 'Wake the Sleeper' album in 2008, it's like the band have got a completely new lease of life and things just seem to go up and up for the band!

The release earlier this year as well of 'Celebration' which included some great re-recordings of many of their best loved tracks, plus two news songs, was a great album too.

I can reveal that the band will enter the studio in January, to start recording their next album and that the band will be headlining the Great British Rock and Blues Festival at Skegness on the weekend of Friday 28th, Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th January.
Not too many details on the festival at this point, except that it will also feature: The Quireboys, 'Monsters of British Rock band' (Feat. Micky Moody - guitar, slide guitar, vocals, Neil Murray - bass, Laurie Wisefield - guitar, vocals, Harry James - drums, vocals, Chris Ousey - lead vocals and Michael Bramwell – keyboards), Girlschool, Dr. Feelgood, The Heavy Metal Kids and more.

I am also aware that the band has set aside dates in their calendar for a return US Tour in June 2011!
I for one, am seriously hoping they hit Detroit this time! ;-)

Mick Box band leader and founding member also wanted me to pass on this Christmas message to the fans:

"To all of our fans out there, the band wish you a brilliant Xmas and a New Year full of wonderous things!
‘Appy days!"

Mick Box
URIAH HEEP

Meantime Uriah Heep also have the 'Uriah Heep - Official Bootleg Volume 2 – Live in Budapest, Hungary 2010'  released very soon.
Here's the artwork for that:


A Very Merry Christmas to you and the band too Mick, from Chambers of Rock!

John Waite's 'Rough and Tumble' release to be supported by Live dates


In January, Frontiers records will release the new album 'Rough and Tumble' from British rocker, John Waite. This follows his live album, 'In Real Time,' that was release back in May of this year, also through Frontiers (At least in Europe).

In additional news, for US fans that never managed to track down a copy of John's live album, it's seems the budget 'Extended Versions' series of releases has now included the 'In Real Time' release, in their own 'Extended Versions' format, with the exact same track listing. The bonus here of course, is depending where you go you can pick this up for anywhere from $3.99 and up!
I saw it in Borders for $5.99 yesterday.

That tracklisting is:
1. Change
2. Back On My Feet Again
3. In Dreams
4. Every Time I Think Of You
5. Band Intro
6. Prelude
7. New York City Girl
8. Best Of What I Got
9. Missing You
10. Head First
11. Rock And Roll
12. When I See You Smile
Never an artist to shy from touring, John Waite has already lined up some 2011 dates.
Starting with a couple of odd dates here and there in January and February, it seems a string of dates will follow, starting in March 2011.
Dates so far - Based on his MySpace site:
January 2011
Jan 15th - Centennial Park, Ft. Myers, FL

February 2011
Feb 12th Boomtown CasinoHarvey, LA

March 2011
Mar 2nd BB KingsNew York, NY
Mar 4 Showcase Live!Foxboro, MA
Mar 5 Boynton’s Tap RoomManchester, New Hampshire, US

April 2011
Apr 8 Admiral TheatreBremerton, WA
Apr 9 Edmonds Center for the ArtsEdmonds, WA
Apr 15 Hamilton Fine Arts CenterSussex, WI
Apr 21 De Kade (main hall)Zaandam, Noord holl, NETHERLANDS
Apr 22 De PulUden, Noord Brab, NETHERLANDS
Apr 23 The Rock TempleKerkrade, Limburg, NETHERLANDS
Apr 25 The ClunyNewcastle Upon Tyne, Newcastle, UNITED KINGDOM
Apr 26 ROGERTHORPE MANOR HOTELPontefract, Yorkshire, UNITED KINGDOM
Apr 27 GRAND THEATRE lancasterLancaster (UK), Lankashire, UNITED KINGDOM

June 2011Jun 14 Soaring Eagle CasinoMt Pleasant, MI

Since John Waite's new website is not up and running, it seems the best place for info is:


TEN to come back with a vengeance with the new album 'Stormwarning!'


Frontiers Records is pleased to announce the release of TEN’s ninth all original studio album entitled “Stormwarning” on February 18th 2011 in Europe and February the 15th in North America.

Turmoil is a word that could well describe what life has been like in the TEN camp over the past few years. Going through several line-up changes and a self imposed exiles from the scene, TEN for many seemed to be a name that wrote glorious pages in the darkest period of Melodic Hard Rock, failing to keep the flame alive when the momentum was raising again.

Still, TEN singer and principal songwriter, Gary Hughes knew he had another ace up his sleeve and decided to play it safe. For the new album “Stormwarning” he wanted first to have the right line-up and he enlisted the services of Neil Fraser on lead guitars and Mark Sumner on bass, in addition to long-time members John Helliwell on guitar and Paul Hodson on keyboards.

Then the masterful Mark Zonder (Fates Warning) guested to take care of all the drum duties and Gary made sure that none other than Dennis Ward (Pink Cream 69 and producer of Angra, Place Vendome, Sunstorm, Edenbridge among others) would mix and produce the album. Finally he made contact with the original designer of the “Spellbound” and “Babylon” covers, the renowned Spanish fantasy artist Luis Royo, to recreate the perfect graphics for the new album.

In the summer 2010 with all the groundwork done, TEN finally started the recording of “Stormwarning” an album that, like the name itself tells, is an inspiration for tales of glory, war, and death and of course love. Any rock fan who digs the sound that Rainbow carved out with “Difficult to Cure” or that Whitesnake brought to success with “1987” and that Gary Moore exalted with albums like “Final Frontier” or “Run For Cover” needs to have this record in their collection. And even for the well acquainted, TEN re-ignite memories of “The Name of The Rose” and “Spellbound”.

“Stormwarning” tracklisting includes:
Endless Symphony; Centre Of My Universe; Kingdom Come; Book Of Secrets; Stormwarning; Invisible; Love Song; The Hourglass And The Landslide; Destiny; The Wave.

The radio edit version of “Endless Symphony” can exclusively be listened in full in streaming on the Frontiers Web radio. Tune in at: www.frontiers.it/webradio


TEN:
Gary Hughes - Vocals, Guitars, Backing Vocals
John Halliwell - Guitars, Acoustic Guitars
Neil Fraser - Guitars, Lead Guitars
Paul Hodson - Keyboards and Synthesisers, Programming
Mark Sumner - Bass Guitars
With Mark Zonder: Drums and Percussion
Produced by Dennis Ward

Frontiers Records is pleased to announce - Scheepers
His self titled solo debut

Ralf Scheepers has built himself quite a reputation for being one of the finest German Heavy Metal singers. With a career spanning three decades (he debuted with Tyran’ Pace’s “Eye to Eye” album in 1983), Scheepers sung on true Power Metal manifesto releases such as Gamma Ray’s first three albums, before starting Primal Fear in 1997, with Mat Sinner.


His voice is high-pitched and tenor-esque and his abilities were often compared to some of the finest Hard Rock and Heavy Metal singers ever (from Rob Halford to Ronnie James Dio and Ian Gillan). Both Helloween and Judas Priest considered him as their possible next lead singer.

Over the years Ralf wrote and collected a few tracks that did not fit exactly in the Primal Fear concept. As often happens, he had just been waiting for the right chance to present itself and that happened when himself, his buddy Mat Sinner and Frontiers Records President Serafino Perugino sat together and discussed plans for the future in… 2007!
Over three years later and the results are finally here and in Scheepers’ words “I’m really proud of the result!”

Ralf Scheepers’ artistic intention was to please the existing Primal Fear fan base, but he also wanted to add some surprises and include as much variation as he could in the recording. So he went ahead and covered one of his own favourite - but untypical Judas Priest songs “Before the Dawn” and for the first time, Ralf played all instruments on a song, except the fantastic guitar solos added by Victor Smolski (Rage). “Compassion” is another special track with a very positive vibe, recorded only with acoustic instruments. Two of the songs were composed with former Primal Fear guitarist Stefan Leibing, while Gamma Ray’s Kai Hansen added guitar on “The Pain Of The Accused”. Halford’s Metal Mike played lead-guitar on the album opener “Locked In The Dungeon”. One more highlight is the vocal duet with Tim “Ripper” Owens on “Remission Of Sin”.


Additional guest appearances include Sander Gommans (ex After Forever), Snowy Shaw (King Diamond, Therion) and Scheepers Primal Fear band mates Magnus Karlsson, Alex Beyrodt and Mat Sinner! The album was mixed and mastered by Achim Koehler and produced by Mat Sinner.

“Scheepers” final tracklisting includes:
Locked in the Dungeon; Remission of Sin; Cyberfreak; The Fall; Doomsday; Saints of The Rock; Before the Dawn; Back on the Track; Dynasty; The Pain of the Accused; Play with the Fire; Compassion. The song “Remission of Sin” can exclusively be listened in full in streaming on the Frontiers Web radio. Tune in at: www.frontiers.it/webradio

Weblinks:

Musicians:
Ralf Scheepers: Lead & Backing Vocals; Acoustic Guitar; Keyboards; FX Sounds
Tim “Ripper” Owens: Lead Vocals on “Remission of Sin”
Magnus Karlsson: Lead Guitars; Guitars; Banjo; Accordion; Keyboards
Sander Gommans: Lead Guitar, Guitars
Mike Chlasciak, Alex Beyrodt; Kai Hansen; Victor Smolski: Lead Guitars
Mat Sinner: Bass, Keyboards
Snowy Shaw: Drums

Whitesnake shares new album cover artwork with the world

Well, it all seems a little strange that the band are doing this, but David Coverdale and his current Whitesnake band, seem to be letting information out in piece meal fashion!
They have already teased with the announcement of some European, Russian and UK tour dates for 2011 and now they are sharing, 'just' their new forthcoming album cover artwork ..., nothing more ...
Hopefully Frontiers or Whitesnake will stop the teasing and share a little more.

Interesting choice of title, as it's exactly the same as the last Tesla album ... 'Forever More.'
Mind you, if it's anywhere near as good as Tesla's release, then I for one will be very happy!
Mr Coverdale, I sincerely hope the pipes are doing good! :)

Send Deep Purple Christmas E-Cards

This December, EMI Catalogue launched its "With Love From Me To You" Christmas e-card campaign. Go green with your Christmas cards this year by sending your friends and family an e-card, featuring some of the year's best releases as well as more classic tracks, including Iron Maiden's "El Dorado", Deep Purple's "Black Night" (in the "Classic Rock" card) and Megadeth's "Hangar 18" (from the "EMI Sessions" card). Plus, enter a great competition to win a huge bundle of prizes including some great limited-edition box sets.

With seven e-card designs to choose from all based on some of EMI's classic genres, each e-card features a choice of eight tracks — from John Lennon to Daft Punk, from Tinie Tempah to Wizzard. Users can also personalize their e-card by including a message to their loved ones.

Everyone that enters the e-card competition will have the chance to win a massive bundle of prizes including a limited edition John Lennon signature box set, an Apple Records box set, a The Beatles stereo box set as well as loads more great prizes.
For more information, visit http://www.withlovefrommetoyou.co.uk/

Monday, December 20, 2010

Line of Fire - Momentum album review

Line of Fire – Momentum album review
Released on: Tribunal Records. Release date: Available now.


OK, right off the bat I am guilty of really not knowing much about these guys Line of Fire at all, except that they are US based and signed to Tribunal Records!?
It turns out that it’s been five years since the bands last release so, you’d imagine after having five years to mess around with new material, they should have pulled together something pretty good, right?
Well, in response to that my answer would be, yes they certainly have! – Although I never heard the previous release.

Well, it turns out that it wasn’t that they couldn’t think of anything to write, they possibly had it all written, who knows, but instead it was down to getting some personal (Health issues) and personnel (Line up changes) matters addressed that the band has been away.

The band it seems is based around vocalist Shawn Pelata (Killwhitneydead) and guitarist Nikki Dimage, who have recently been joined by new guitarist. Thomas Clark (Jonin) and I guess they used other sessions musicians to help wrap the rest up. – Not too much in on that from the Tribunal website, press release.

Anyway, it’s a good album, of that there is no doubt and perhaps being named after a Journey track – Don’t know if they were or not, just guessing … - gives an indication of the sound they were looking for, although the press release references Boston too, which is fully valid, as I’ll point out in the review as we go on.
One last thing, there are some great and I mean GREAT songs on here, that if they’d had a big budget production behind, could have made the overall album, huge!

Opener ‘It Takes Time’ certainly reminds me of Journey and possibly a little 38 Special from the opening chords.

The vocals are sooooo Journey like in terms of Steve Perry, plus the phrasing on harmonies, yet the lead guitar style is really not 100% Neal Schon like though, some of the changes and structure of the song too are very Journey and in other spots, I’m reminded of 38 Special again. It’s a very good up tempo track indeed.

With ‘Obsession’ next, the intro and some of the chord progression almost reminds me British rockers Praying Mantis at times, but the deft keyboards touches place it more in true AOR territory. Fairly straightforward pop rocker overall with some punchy chords. Nice harmony guitar part!

‘Give Me All’ almost has me thinking of a punchier Dire Straights type track, but then it takes a different track and the key phrasing that the chorus is sung in, is interesting sounded a little odd at first, but it’s OK.
To a degree you could almost take it as a pre-production Van Halen type track.
There! I bet that’s thrown you, huh?!

OK, if you don’t think ‘I’ll Be the One Tonight’ sounds like Boston, then there’s something wrong with you!
Song structure, harmonies and sound is Boston throughout! I really love this track! Great job guys!

‘I Belong’ once again has echoes of Boston meets Journey about it and is once more very catchy indeed, but there’s just something about the overall production that is just missing the last piece of the jigsaw.
There is absolutely no doubting these guys’ musical abilities, they are a slick act, this is good material for sure.
Something I really need to stress here though is my comparisons really are not meant to knock any act, in any way, they are simply there to perhaps guide folks that like myself before, really knew little or nothing of a specific act before. Believe me, I wish some of the material I used to play in bands would get anything like that!

These guys almost remind me in places musically of Talon another band with a great deal of potential and ‘The Fire Never Dies’ keeps the band on track and Shawn Pelata’s vocals are very impressive …
Any Journey wannabe bands, should listen to this guy!
The guitar work here is again very classy too..

‘I’m Crying For You’ is another great track, kind of power ballad territory to be honest, in a very classy way. Good stuff!

Next track ‘In the Stone,’ is a medium paced easy rocker, with some tasty guitar licks midway through, but for me perhaps is the least hook worthy track here and to a degree ‘Undone’ does the same for me, not really as strong with the hooks as the first two thirds of the album. There’s nothing wrong with the tracks musically, but simply the fact that these guys have so many hooks in the rest of the songs, tends to make these two just a little less. Everything else on here simply glows otherwise.

I really do like next track, ‘Ghost in your Heart,’ which is very reminiscent of say Journey, no bad thing at all to these ears!

Final track is a very interesting cover of Dokken’s ‘Breaking the Chains,’ performed in a completely different form, in the shape of a ballad and these guys really have something with how they’ve done it. I like it! Very melancholy!

Overall, an album that sadly didn’t get my attention when I first received it - Sorry guys! - simply because at the time I was so committed to addressing other things, but it’s an album that I really like. Now I’m trying to catch up with some of the ones that ‘got away,’ if you will …

Rating: 3.75 out of 5

The band’s MySpace page seems to be the best way to keep up with these guys:

Brief Rock News Update for Monday 20th December, 2010

 Hi all, well, not too much new stuff to share with you on this Monday morning, a reissue of an album which is probably my least favourite Dio fronted Black Sabbath release ... A surprise solo release and a metal Christmas message!
Hope you have a good week folks and for those of you stuck in airports in Europe due to the snow, especially London Heathrow, my thoughts are seriously with you.
With Christmas almost upon us, it couldn't be a worse time, I'm also hopeful it sorts itself out and the snow eases in the UK, as my boy Jonathan is headed over to stay with us - Hopefully! - over Christmas!
Cheers, Al 

BLACK SABBATH - 2CD 'DEHUMANIZER'
SPECIAL EDITION
- WITH FIVE RARE LIVE TRACKS -
RELEASE DATE: 7TH FEBRUARY 2011


Originally released in 1992, 'Dehumanizer' was the first Black Sabbath album to feature the vocals of the late, great Ronnie James Dio since 1981's 'Mob Rules'. With a line-up completed by founder members Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler, and drumming duties carried out by Vinny Appice, 'Dehumanizer' is arguably one of Sabbath's heaviest albums.

This edition is expanded with the single edit of 'Master Of Insanity', an alternate version of 'Letters From Earth' that originally appeared as the b-side to the 'TV Crimes' single, and a version of 'Time Machine' originally recorded for the soundtrack to the movie Wayne's World. In addition, the set also includes five rare live tracks from Florida's Sundome recorded at the beginning of the Dehumanizer tour in July 1992, including a previously unreleased live version of 'Master Of Insanity'.

The set includes liner notes from Metal Hammer's Dom Lawson, based on new interviews with Tony Iommi.

Tracklistings:
Disc One (Original Album 1992)
1. Computer God
2. After All (The Dead)
3. TV Crimes
4. Letters From Earth
5. Master of Insanity
6. Time Machine
7. Sins of the Father
8. Too Late
9. I
10. Buried Alive

Disc Two (Bonus Tracks)
1. Master Of Insanity (Single Edit)
2. Letters From Earth (B-Side Version)
3. Time Machine (Wayne's World Version)

Live at The Sundome,Tampa, Florida 25th July 1992:
4. Children Of The Sea
5. Die Young
6. TV Crimes
7. Master Of Insanity
8. Neon Knights


Gary Barden to release solo album 'Rock 'n' Roll My Soul'


It seems lead vocalist Gary Barden is not content to release albums with rock guitar legend Michael Schenker, as he has lined up a covers tribute release of his own, to be released through German label Inakustic on January 11th, 2011.
Press details on the release via MVD Entertainment, are as follows:

The voice of the Michael Schenker Group pays tribute to his idols!The English singer and songwriter Gary Barden is famous as a singer in the Michael Schenker Group, as well as for his collaborations with Michael Schenker. Together they have penned several of the greatest songs made since the 80s, with Schenker composing the music and Barden providing the lyrics. 'Rock 'n' Roll My Soul' shows a very different side of Gary Barden.

Rock 'n' Roll My Soul reflects the emotions and impressions which Gary Barden soaked up in his youth. Gary Barden on Rock 'n' Roll My Soul: 'My love for these songs will never die. Enjoy these songs from a long bygone, but truly wonderful, time. You will hear how broad my musical influences are. There are a few surprises in store.'

Full track listing:
•Oh Well
•I'm Just a Singer
•Never Before
•When A Blind Man Cries
•Let's Work Together
•Why Did You Do It
•I'm a Man
•Stay With Me
•Travellin' Band
•The Long and Winding Road
•Zeit macht nur vor dem Teufel halt
•Rock 'n' Roll My Soul


A Merry Metal Christmas message from Saxon's Biff Byford

This message for Saxon fans posted over at Saxon's official site, including news that the band have parted ways with label, SPV and also of an interesting reference to meeting Lady GaGa!
This from the band's frontman and founding member:

Hi,

Just want to wish all our fans around the world a Happy Christmas and a great New Year !

Just an update on what's been happening on planet Saxon ... We've been working hard on the new album, a big thank you to everyone at Hard Rock Hell who came to the show. We were stuck in the snow a day before the show so I went out and bought a 4x4 truck from the local garage so we could get there (that's dedication for you !). Unfortunately 2 days later the clutch went...

So I spent a cold lonely 3hrs on the A1 waiting for the AA man to turn up !

Got passes to see Lady Gaga for my daughter but she couldn't go so I went with our agent, Steve .. As we walked back stage we met the manager of heavy metal DJ Lady Starlight and a couple of members of the support act Semi-Precious Weapons and they invited us back to the dressing room for a drink. As we drained our glasses we said thanks and say hello to Lady Gaga from us The show was great, we went off to the back stage bar for another drink. Suddenly Lady Starlight came in and said that Lady Gaga would like to meet us, then we had a fantastic 50 mins with Miss Gaga who is a massive heavy rock fan and Saxon fan talking everything rock.
She's a great lady and it was a great privilege to meet her. I think she's put a picture on her twitter. Just Google Biff and Gaga and it'll come up.

(Photo courtesy of www.saxon747.com)

Looking forward to the cruise and off back to Australia again in February and may have to do some recording over there on our days off ( no rest for the wicked ) and the new World tour starts in Greece.

We're not on SPV anymore and we're talking to different record companies around the world. It's important we find the right one for the band.
Keep the faith,
 
Biff Byford
For all things Saxon: http://www.saxon747.com/