Late News Update for Saturday March 31st, 2012

Ronnie Montrose tribute show to go ahead

Rockers are getting together to honoured their old mate Ronnie Montrose who sadly passed away earlier this month.

A Concert For Ronnie Montrose
A Celebration of His Life In Music

Sammy Hagar reunites original Montrose band plus Joe Satriani to perform landmark 1st Montrose album!

The Bay Area music community is coming together to produce "A Concert For Ronnie Montrose - A Celebration of His Life In Music" for legendary San Francisco guitarist Ronnie Montrose, who passed away recently from complications from prostate cancer.

It will be held at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco on Friday, April 27.

Tickets are already on sale.

"A Concert For Ronnie Montrose - A Celebration of His Life In Music" will feature the original Montrose lineup (Sammy Hagar, vocals; Bill Church, bass; and Denny Carmassi, drums), performing the landmark first Montrose album, with special guest Joe Satriani on lead guitar. 

The original Gamma lineup (Davey Pattison, vocals; Glenn Letsch, bass; Denny Carmassi, drums) will also be on hand, with special guest Marc Bonilla on lead guitar. There will also be an All-Star band, comprised of many of the great musicians that Ronnie played with over the years. Some of the confirmed artists include: Neal Schon from Journey, Steve Smith formerly also of Journey, members of Tesla, Eric Martin from Mr. Big, Rickie Philips from Styx, Eric Singer from KISS, Tommy Thayer of KISS and Jimmy DeGrasso from Y & T and Alice Cooper.

Ronnie Montrose was born in San Francisco and moved with his family to Colorado when he was two, returning back to his native home when he was 19 years old. In 1969, he started a band with Bill Church called Sawbuck, but that project got sidetracked when Ronnie was hired to do studio work with Van Morrison (Tupelo Honey), Boz Scaggs, Edgar Winter, Herbie Hancock, and others.

In 1973, he formed his own band, Montrose, who recorded two albums together.  The debut Montrose album went platinum and has been called the first American heavy metal album. In 1979, Ronnie formed Gamma, who recorded four albums. Ronnie continued to record through the 1980s and 1990s, and Gamma put out their fifth album in 2005.

This is from Leighsa Montrose, Ronnies beloved wife: 'Ronnie was the kindest man I had ever met. I am honored that he was my husband and best friend as well. We slept together, we woke each morning together and we shared every meal together. We savored every moment that we had together. I am so proud of him for the man he was, which extended far beyond his musical abilities. I am full of joy to have been a part of his life, and I'm so happy that he was a part of mine. I dearly thank all of you for your friendship and love you shared with him. I know it meant everything to him.
All love,
Mrs. Leighsa Montrose

For more details here's a link to purchase tickets:

http://www.theregencyballroom.com/eventdetail.php?id=35415

Sammy Hagar stated, "One of my top priorities this year was a Montrose reunion. Ronnie and I planned to do it in Cabo in October. I am so sad it won't happen, but on April 27th, Joe Satriani, Denny Carmassi, Bill Church and I are going to play the hell out of some Montrose!!!"

Tickets to "A Concert For Ronnie Montrose - A Celebration of His Life In Music" are already on sale.  General admission tickets are $55.00 and VIP Reserved tickets are $175.00. www.AXS.com and www.goldenvoice.com

A portion of the proceeds from the concert will benefit the Ronnie Montrose Fund for San Francisco Bay Area Musicians through www.SweetRelief.org.

www.BamMagazine.com is a media sponsor for the "A Concert For Ronnie Montrose - A Celebration of His Life In Music" benefit concert.

Here is a link to Sammy Hagars Rolling Stone remarks on Ronnie Montrose:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/sammy-hagar-remembers-ronnie-montrose-20120306

There's no doubt in my mind, that Ronnie deserved no less.

The guy was a talent whose playing no doubt has influenced so many.

Here's to you Ronnie, RIP mate.

Night Ranger Summer tour dates revealed

So, there's no new album from Night Ranger this year, to follow 2011's excellent 'Somewhere in California' release, but bassist / vocalist Jack Blades has just released his latest blast entitled 'Rock 'n' Roll Ride' via Frontiers records.

That said, Night Ranger is renowned every year - pretty much without fail - for their US Summer tour dates and this year looks like being no different, with the latest batch of dates revealed running from May through until September ...
At this time they have only revealed twenty dates, but the fact that these run across five months, means there's sure to be plenty more!

Last year was quite different for the band though, as they tagged onto the mega tour with Journey and Foreigner, taking the opening slot which sadly limited them to just over thirty five minutes a night.
Now the following dates will allow the band to get back to headlining again, typically providing a set around ninety minutes long.
Being a long time fan, I can tell you this, I've yet to leave a Night Ranger gig disappointed!

Summer tour dates announced so far:

5/11: Merriweather Post Pavilion - Columbia, MD
5/12: May Fest on Main - Main Stage - North Myrtle Beach, SC
6/1: Arcadia Creek Festival Place - Kalamazoo, MI
6/2: Community Center - Lenox Village, IL
6/9: City Hall - Gardner, KS
6/15: Thunder Valley Outdoor Amphitheatre - Lincoln, CA
6/16: San Mateo Fairgrounds - San Mateo, CA
6/21: Sonoma-Marin Fair - Petaluma, CA
6/23: Fremont Street Experience - Las Vegas, NV
7/14: Uncle Sam Jam - Woodhaven, MI
7/28: Violet Festival - Pickerington, OH
8/1: Stewart Park - Beaumont, CA
8/4: Potter Park - La Junta, CO
8/9: Leach Amphitheatre - Oshkosh, WI
8/10: Watertown Riverfest - Watertown, WI
8/25: Sierra View Music Festival - Oakdale, CA
9/1: Portsmouth River Days - Portsmouth, OH
9/7: Starlight Theatre - Kansas City, MO
9/14: Tennessee Valley Fair - Knoxville, TN
9/28: Epcot Center - Walt Disney World - Lake Buena Vista, FL

Official band website where you'll find VIP opportunities and much more is:
http://www.nightranger.com/

WIG WAM finally ready to unleash their fourth album "Wall Street"

Frontiers Records is excited to announce the release of Norwegian Glam Rockers WIG WAM newest studio album "Wall Street" on May 18th 2012 in Europe and May 22nd in North America.

Anticipated by the release of the single with the same title "Wall Street", WIG WAM’s forthcoming album will not disappoint the fans, since the band still presents their classic blend of melodies and catchy choruses, blowing your speakers with full blown rock’n roll anthems!

"Our only mission is to ROCK the world!" say singer Glam. "And Wall Street sure is more entertaining than the stock market these days! One thing that will SHOCK the world on this album is that it's containing no fillers. Every song has it's unique universe, the band sounds better than ever and the songs offers everything from the taste of Heavy Metal to classic Wig Wam glamrock".

WIG WAM enjoyed their major breakthrough in 2005 when they presented their single "In My Dreams" to the Eurovision Song contest, beating all rivals and going straight to #1 on the national charts, where it stayed for over 21 weeks and sold platinum.

In 2006 WIG WAM went straight from the road to the studio and recorded their follow up, "Wig Wamania" and the band went immediately back on the road on their WIG WAMANIA TOUR, which hit Japan for the first time.

In 2009 the band released their third studio album "Non Stop Rock'n Roll” the first WIG WAM album to be released simultaneously in whole World.
The Album was a huge success for the band sold to Gold Award in Norway.

"Unlike our previous release "Non Stop Rock'n Roll", when we headed out on tour at the very release date, we will let our audience get to know our new songs before we head out on tour this time" tells Glam. "But there will definitely be a Wall Street Tour coming up, so check our website for more info”.

"Wall Street" will include the following tracks :
Wall Street; OMG! (Wish I Had A Gun); Victory Is Sweet; The Bigger The Better; Bleeding Daylight; Tides Will Turn; Wrong Can Feel So Right; One Million Enemies; Try My Body On; Natural High; Things Money Can't Buy.
The single “Wall Street” is already available for digital purchase on iTunes, Amazon and all fine shops around the world.

Follow this link to buy the song: www.itunes.apple.com/album/wall-street-single/id501841486

The song can also be streamed in full on www.frontiers.it/webradio

Wig Wam Line-up:
Glam: Vocals
Flash: Bass
Teeny: Guitar
Sporty: Drums

Weblinks:
www.wigwam.no
http://www.frontiers.it




AMERICAN HI-FI SIGNS TO GOOMBA MUSIC

March, 2012 – Goomba Music is proud to announce the signing of AMERICAN HI-FI.  The original line-up -- Stacy Jones (singer/guitarist), Drew Parsons (bass), Jamie Arentzen (guitars) and Brian Nolan (drums)—is currently recording their as-yet-untitled new album in Los Angeles, CA with an expected worldwide release date this fall.  It’s being produced by the band and John Fields (Switchfoot, Jimmy Eat World) and recorded at Stacy Jones’ studio, The Deathstar. 
"It feels great to make music with these guys,” exclaims Stacy Jones.  “11 years in, American Hi-Fi is a brotherhood.  We made this record because we feel like the world needs a few more guitar bands.  We are just doing our small part to keep Rock-N-Roll alive!"


Over the course of their 10-year career, American Hi-Fi has sold over 1 million albums thanks to hit singles such as the Top 10 smash “Flavor Of The Weak,” “Another Perfect Day” (which was used as Coca-Cola’s theme for the 2002 Winter Olympics) and “The Art Of Losing,” and they’ve toured the world with artists such as Elvis Costello, Matchbox Twenty, Bon Jovi, Sum 41 and Fall Out Boy. 

Before teaming up as American Hi-Fi, the band members performed as part of various influential bands from the ‘90s Alternative Rock scene, including Veruca Salt and Letters to Cleo, and with Tanya Donelly, Tracy Bonham, Aimee Mann, and Juliana Hatfield individually.  Their songs have been heard on TV shows and commercials such as Coors, Labatt Blue, Verizon, “Boston Public,” “24” and “Dawson’s Creek,” video games including “Guitar Hero 3,” and in movies including “American Pie 2,” “Freaky Friday,” “Van Wilder” and “Superman Returns.”  And Stacy has produced albums at The Deathstar for such artists as The Downtown Fiction, Ingrid Michaelson, Meg & Dia, The Cab, Plain White T’s, Hey Monday and Academy Is… and many others.

Stay tuned for in studio video updates, track listing, tour dates and other news from American Hi-Fi.
 
Official linkswww.americanhi-fi.com
www.facebook.com/americanhifi
www.twitter.com/americanhifi

Follow Goomba Music for all of the latest news:
www.goombamusic.com
https://www.facebook.com/GoombaMusic
https://twitter.com/#!/GOOMBAMUSIC