Wednesday, February 2, 2011

News Update for Wednesday February 2nd, 2011

LEGENDARY GUITARIST BRIAN ROBERTSON SIGNS WITH SPV/STEAMHAMMER

More It's not the first time in the history of rock music that coincidence led to the discovery of hidden treasures: a carrier bag full of music tapes (note: tapes) turned out to be the basis for 'Diamonds and Dirt', the first solo release by Scottish guitarist/composer Brian Robertson, due to be released on March 28th 2011 (Germany: 25 March; US/Canada: April 5th) on SPV/Steamhammer.
"I thrust the bag into my friend Søren's hand and said: 'Why don't you listen to these some time when you're bored. They're a number of my previously unreleased compositions.'"

Søren Lindberg from Sweden happens to be one of former Thin Lizzy/Motörhead guitarist Brian Robertson's closest friends and frequently works as his driver when he has equipment which needs transporting. "He had plenty of time to listen to that pile of tapes in his truck on the way back to Scandinavia," Robertson remembers, "and he called me as soon as he reached Stockholm: 'Brian, there's some brilliant stuff on those tapes. We should make an album of them.'"

Lindberg already had a number of musicians in mind: he enlisted two of his country's most renowned instrumentalists in drummer Ian Haugland (Europe) and bassist Nalley Påhlsson (Treat). Says Robertson: "They're great, the best rhythm section I've played with since Phil Lynott and Brian Downey." Leif Sundin (ex-Michael Schenker Group) was recruited as an additional vocalist, and the amazing Liny Wood joined the fold as backing vocalist. "It wasn't easy to get all these extremely sought-after musicians in one place at the same time, which is why the work on "Diamonds and Dirt" took longer than originally scheduled. But it was important to us to get the best possible line-up, so we preferred to wait until they could all be there."

The result is a superb album at the interface of hard rock with definite blues elements and gritty mainstream, wonderfully melodic and full of excellent guitar arrangements. In terms of compositions, the album presents a number of outstanding Robertson numbers, such as the driving title track, the truly intense "Passion", "Texas Wind" with its wonderfully atmospheric beginning, and the powerful "Devil In My Soul" with its awesome wah-wah guitar solo. The album is rounded off by tracks from Robertson's extremely successful collaboration with Phil Lynott during their Thin Lizzy days in the years 1974 to 1978 and his fellow-countryman Frankie Miller, with whom he recorded "Dancing in the Rain" in 1986, among others.

"I think Phil would be proud of what I've done with those Lizzy songs," says Robertson. "My guitar style is audibly stronger than it was back then when we admittedly still sounded a little wooden." Robertson is referring mainly to "It's Only Money" (originally from the 1974 Thin Lizzy recording 'Nightlife'), which has received in 2011 the very polish it still lacked in the mid-1970s. The yet unreleased Robertson/Lynott co-composition "Blues Boy" and the Lizzy track "Running Back" (off 'Jailbreak', 1976) present Robertson as an impressive instrumentalist.

Coincidentally, the track has been recorded in two versions: "I said to Søren: 'Let's cut it the way I hear that number.' So we tried several interpretations, among them a slower version, which we've also included on the album." The three Frankie Miller numbers, "Mail Box", "Do It Till We Drop (Drop It!)" and "Ain't Got No Money", sound equally accomplished. To keep Miller happy, former Riverdogs frontman, Rob Lamothe, was enlisted to record the latter. "I played the first version to Frankie, but he didn't like my vocals. So we asked Rob to sing the number. Frankie was very pleased with the result."

Rightly so, because the album with its top-notch production courtesy of Robertson, Søren Lindberg and Chris Laney fascinates from the first to the very last note. We can only hope that we will get an opportunity to see this illustrious line-up live on stage. "For organizational reasons, I have my doubts that it will be possible to get these musicians together for a full tour, but who knows: we may always turn up for a number of festival gigs this summer. I'm sure we'd all enjoy that." So would the audience…

Track Listing:
01. Diamonds And Dirt (Brian Robertson)
02. Passion (Brian Robertson)
03. It's Only Money (Phil Lynott)
04. Mail Box (Frankie Miller)
05. Running Back (Phil Lynott)
06. Texas Wind (Brian Robertson)
07. Devil In My Soul (Brian Robertson)
08. Do It Till We Drop (Drop It) (Frankie Miller/Jeff Barry/Brian Robertson)
09. Blues Boy (Brian Robertson/Phil Lynott)
10. That's All...! (Brian Robertson)
11. 10 Miles To Go On A 9 Mile Road (Jim White)
12. Running Back (Phil Lynott) (slow version)
13. Ain't Got No Money (Frankie Miller) (bonus track)

Produced by Chris Laney, Sören Lindberg and Brian Robertson except for "Ain't Got No Money" produced by Sören Lindberg and Brian Robertson.
 
LINE-UP:
Brian Robertson - All Guitars, Lead & Backing Vocals, Keyboards(Bass Guitar and Percussion on "Ain't Got No Money) (Ex-THIN LIZZY, Ex-MOTÖRHEAD, Ex-WILD HORSES)
Ian Haugland - Drums and Percussion (Drummer EUROPE)
Nalley Påhlsson - Bass Guitar & Backing Vocals (Bassplayer THERION and TREAT)
Leif Sundin - Lead Vocals (Ex-singer of MSG)
Liny Wood - Backing Vocals
Rickard Jakobson - Percussion
Chris Antblad - Piano on "Running Back"
Ola Gustafsson - Dobro on "Running Back"(slow version only!)
Rob Lamothe - Lead Vocals on "Ain't Got No Money" (RIVERDOGS)
Ellinor Alm - Backing Vocals on "Ain't Got No Money"
Håkan Persson - Drums on "Ain't Got No Money"

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT
www.myspace.com/spvmusic
www.facebook.com/pages/Brian-Robertson/253521517392

Ex-Bad Company frontman Brian Howe to release new solo E.P. His last recordings?

Yes, Brian Howe who released the excellent 'Circus Bar' last year to some great reviews all over the place - Including a 5/5 review here:  http://chambersofrock.blogspot.com/2010/03/brian-howe-circus-bar-cd-review.html - is about to release a follow up 5 track E.P., entitled 'Emotions' through his own label Howe's Business.
The E.P. will be four new tracks and a remastered version of his Christmas single, appropriately entitled 'Christmas'.
That, incidentally is still available here:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/christmas-single/id405625209
The E.P. is currently, finishing being mastered and it should be released within the next two months and be available through iTunes.

On a sad note though, Brian told me this morning, that this will most likely be his last recorded work, a big part of that is tied in wih the familiar story for so many musicians, that so many people are not prepared to pay for new releases and download so much material illegally, so who ends up paying the studio costs without much in return? The artist(s)!

Here's hoping that Brian's fans will all get behind this new E.P. release, through iTunes and show him enough support, that he won't call time on recording, after all both 'Circus Bar' and the 'Christmas' releases, were great sounding and show that Brian Howe is sounding as good, if not better than he did with Bad Company!
Brian isn't quitting the music scene though, he just plans to focus on more live work.
More info when available.
Brian's Facebook page is:
www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=607475916&ref=ts
Official website: www.brianhowe.com/


It's official! Chickenfoot are indeed back in the studio!


This just in from over at the Chickenfoot website ....
Yes, as you may have heard, Chad, Joe, Mikey and Sammy are back in the studio this week working through material for the second Chickenfoot album.
It's only been a few days, but things are going great and you can count on more updates in the future!

In case you hadn't caught it elsewhere, here's a few links of the guys commenting on the new album:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDSfTaxwnEA - Mike Anthony at N.A.M.M.
www.bryanreesman.com/blog/2010/05/29/joe-satriani-talks-solo-album-new-chickenfoot-songs-politics/
- Joe 'Satch' Satriani interview
One with Sammy too: www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/exclusive-sammy-hagar-on-recording-chickenfoots-new-album-361917
Official band site: www.chickenfoot.us/


ESCAPE MUSIC ANNOUNCES NEW ROB MORATTI ALBUM IN THE WORKS

As originally posted here earlier this week, Canadian band Saga announced the departure of Rob Moratti from the band and original singer Michael Sadler's return.
I also shared that Rob Moratti was planning a solo album, so here you go ... Read on! 

Escape Music is pleased to announce the forthcoming album titled “Victory” from the much loved and
talented former Saga vocalist Rob Moratti, the album is being recorded as we speak and will be mixed by
Richard Chycki (Rush, Aerosmith, Gotthard, Mick Jagger, Pink, Skillet).
The release date shall be announced shortly!!

The players on the album are....
Rob Moratti - Lead Vocals and Background vocals.
Christian Wolff - Lead Guitars, Rythm guitars and Keyboards.
Reb Beach - Lead Guitars (Winger / Whitesnake)
Tony Franklin – Bass (Blue Murder / The Firm)
Fredrik Bergh – Keyboards
Brian Doerner - Drums (SAGA)

Produced by - Rob Moratti
Mixed by - Richard Chycki
Weblinks: www.escape-music.com/ and www.robmoratti.net/


Richard Marx lines up solo and duo live dates


Singer / songwriter Richard Marx, who generally does not play too many live shows, has lined up some solo and duo shows in the US over the next two months, prior to travelling to the UK for five live dates there.
The duo shows I'm guessing with be with his long time collaborator Matt Scannell.
The show details are as follows:

Fri Feb 11, 2011 - 7:30 PM - South Orange, NJ
DUO Show
South Orange Performing Arts Center


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Sat Feb 12, 2011 - 8:00 PM - Easton, MD
DUO Show
Avalon Theatre

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Sun Feb 13, 2011 - 7:00 PM - Cleveland, OH
DUO Show
Playhouse Square

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Thu Mar 10, 2011 - 8:00 PM - Tucson, AZ
Solo Acoustic
Rialto Theatre

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Fri Mar 11, 2011 - 7:00 PM - Mesa, AZ
Richard Marx Solo Acoustic Show
Mesa Arts Center

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Sat Mar 12, 2011 - 7:00 PM - Las Vegas, NV
Solo Acoustic
Orleans Casino

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Sun Mar 13, 2011 - 7:00 PM - Las Vegas, NV
Solo Acoustic
Orleans Casino

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Wed May 25, 2011 - 7:30 PM - Glasgow, UK
Richard Marx - Solo Acoustic
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall

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Thu May 26, 2011 - 7:30 PM - Birmingham UK
Richard Marx - Solo Acoustic
Birmingham Symphony Hall

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Sat May 28, 2011 - 7:30 PM - Liverpool, UK
Richard Marx - Solo Acoustic
Liverpool Philharmonic

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Sun May 29, 2011 - 7:30 PM - Bristol, UK
Richard Marx - Solo Acoustic
Bristol Colston Hall

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Tue May 31, 2011 - 7:30 PM - London, UK
Richard Marx Show
LONDON ROYAL ALBERT HALL
 
Richard Marx' last recorded work was the single he had co-written with Trey Bruce and Mark Holman called “Your Moment” back in December, 2010, that had already been featured on NBC’s “The Biggest Loser” as well as in a promo for the current season of “American Idol.”
The song, recorded by Mark Holman, is now available on iTunes. Check it out!
For more details go to:
www.richardmarx.com/

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