Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Rock News for Wednesday 26th May, 2010

Frontiers Records to release a retrospective album from
TONY HARNELL & THE MERCURY TRAIN


Napoli, May 2010 – Frontiers Records will release on July 2nd in Europe and July 27th in the USA “Round Trip”, the debut album from Tony Harnell & The Mercury Train. This is a very special record: a stripped down, reinvented retrospective of Tony Harnell's past classics originally recorded with his previous bands TNT, Westworld and Starbreaker, with one brand new song “Anywhere But Here” recorded especially for this release.

The idea of re-recording some repertoire classics came about after Tony performed some low key shows in New York in late 2008, with some talented and accomplished musicians that were not part of the Metal/Hard Rock scene. The desire was to breathe new life into the songs with new arrangements, key changes and added parts, it's like listening to songs you know in a whole new way.

Frontiers Records President, Serafino Perugino liked the concept and in Harnell’s own words “The idea was originally based on it being the usual cliché “acoustic” album. Well, for us hard rockers that usually means simply playing the songs pretty much as they were but with acoustic guitars. That’s not exactly what I had in mind. If I was going to do this I was going to have some fun. I wanted to strip things down and see what would happen when musicians outside the hard rock community played my songs. That intrigued me. So, I gave all the guys the original album versions and then pretty much gave them carte blanche to reinterpret the songs. That meant key changes (cause you can’t sing like a banshee when you strip things down, sounds silly), chord changes and even arrangement changes if the mood hit. I also wanted a semi-live vibe. What we ended up with is an album that honors the original songs with a little added spice, color, and above all…fun”.

At the end of 2008 Tony and the other musicians entered the studio for a marathon two-day recording session that was supposed to lead into a whirlwind mixing session and an immediate release. But immediately after the session Tony hit some rather intense personal bumps in the road and production stopped. Months later the album was quickly completed.

“Recording this album was an extremely cathartic experience, allowing me to gently close the door to the past with love and gratitude and regain the pride I rightly deserve to have for these songs and for the years of my life I gave to the various periods when they were written” continues Tony. “This is in no way meant to erase, dismiss or compete with the incredible original recordings of these songs. This is just a little fun reinvention, a way to leave the past behind on my own terms. These are your songs as much as they are mine, some of you, like me, have all kinds of memories attached to them. My lyrics were, are and always will be filled with my experiences, struggles, hopes and dreams and my observations of the world around me. Hopefully you’ll listen to these songs in a new way and hear them with new ears. I know I have”.
“Round Trip” final tracklisting includes:
Somebody Told You; Intuition; Month Of Sundays; Lonely Nights; Shame; Northern Lights; Down To The River To Pray; Satellite; 10K Lovers; Uninvited; Ready To Fly; When I'm Away*; Song For Dianne; Anywhere But Here.
* Bonus track
Hear samples here: www.frontiers.it/default.aspx?tabid=73&cond3=where ItemID=580


The Mercury Train:
Jason Hagen - Acoustic guitar and ukulele
Chris Foley - Electric guitar
Brandon Wilde - Bass and vocals
Brad Gunyon - Drums and percussion
Amy Harnell - Vocals and descant recorder
Special guest: Sandi Saraya on “Shame”
Weblinks:

Night Ranger, yes it's tour time again!

You know, it may be 3 years since Night Ranger's last studio release 'Hole In The Sun' but every summer comes around, it's time for the guys to hit the North American tour trail to show us all, once again, that without any doubt, 'You Can Still Rock In America!"
Rumours last year, were that they were doing plenty of recording at Jack Blades studio but as of yet, nothing has revealed itself. I'd also heard that Jack was recording again with Tommy Shaw for the third Shaw/Blades release, but likewise ..., silence on that as of this time ...
You wait, within a week of me posting this, they'll probably announce a new release of one or the other!
Anyway, I can assure you that a Night Ranger show is always worth checking out. so without further ado, here are those North American tour dates:

June 2010
Jun 05, 10 Kalamazoo Greek Festival Kalamazoo Greek Festival Kalamazoo, MI
Jun 10, 10 Diamond Jo Casino Diamond Jo Casino Dubuque, IA
Jun 11, 10 Riverfest Riverfest Gadsden, AL
Jun 12, 10 Brandt's Harley Davidson Store Brandt's Harley Davidson Store Wabash, IN
Jun 19, 10 Merced County Fair Merced County Fair Merced, CA
Jun 23, 10 Solano County Fair Solano County Fair Vallejo, CA
Jun 24, 10 Summerfest Summerfest Milwaukee WI
Jun 26, 10 DeVent Center DeVent Center Norfolk, NE
July 2010Jul 01, 10 Riverside Park Riverside Park Oshkosh, WI
Jul 02, 10 Frontier Days Festival Frontier Days Festival Arlington Heights, IL
Jul 03, 10 Fort Dodge Soccer Association Fort Dodge Soccer Association Fort Dodge, IA
Jul 09, 10 Rock Dakota Ranch Rock Dakota Ranch Sawyer, ND
Jul 10, 10 Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Maryland Heights, MO
Jul 11, 10 Down by the Riverside Festival Down by the Riverside Festival Rochester, MN
Jul 17, 10 Quake on the Lake Festival Quake on the Lake Festival Waterford, MI
Jul 23, 10 Rock The Park - Harris Park Rock The Park - Harris Park London, ON
Jul 24, 10 Waukesha County Expo Grounds Waukesha County Expo Grounds Waukesha, WI
August 2010
Aug 07, 10 Hideaway Park Hideaway Park Winter Park, CO
Aug 11, 10 B.B. King's Blues Club B.B. King's Blues Club New York, NY
Aug 12, 10 Starland Ballroom Starland Ballroom Sayreville, NJ
Aug 14, 10 Franklin County Fair Franklin County Fair Malone, NY
Aug 17, 10 Mohegan Sun - The Wolf Den Mohegan Sun - The Wolf Den Uncasville, CT
Aug 20, 10 Amphitheatre at Station Square Amphitheatre at Station Square Pittsburgh, PA
Aug 28, 10 Blue Ash Towne Square Blue Ash Towne Square Blue Ash, OH
September 2010
Sep 02, 10 Northwest Missouri State Fair Northwest Missouri State Fair Bethany, MO
Sep 04, 10 Moody Gardens Convention Center Moody Gardens Convention Center Galveston, TX
October 2010
Oct 22, 10 Epcot Center Epcot Center Orlando, FL
More on Night Ranger through their site here: www.nightranger.com/

A message from 'Luke' - That's Steve Lukather for those who didn't know!

This update posted at Luke's site yesterday ...

Good morning LA and beyond...

Steve Lukather: "It was an awesome weekend at the SPUD 40th. SO many great old friends and some amazing playing.
I was stoked to have such great people jammin with me in the true spirit of the Baked Potato: Steve Weingart, Tal Wilkenfeld and Vinnie Colaiuta.



Now I am waiting to OK mixes from MAC and I am VERY excited about finishing the album project, just did a KILLER photo session with Ash Newell and they came out great. I look OK for an old guy. Hahaha.
The way he shoots is really not the same old same so the whole presentation is gonna be cool, I think anyway. You guys be the judge.



It all comes out in September and the the tour starts in November. LOTS goin on...

In pre-production for Toto and that is gonna be cool, gigs are already sold out and the general vibe is great. I think people will be happy with the set list. A few surprises but there are still the obligatory tunes we have to do. Promoters are now ASKING what tunes they want to hear. THAT is a new one but we knew that goin in. We are playing enough old album cuts to keep everyone happy considering we have a 90 minute limit in most cases, especially festivals. Our OWN shows we can stretch a bit but even then we only have 9 days of rehearsal now and all new people so we cant just go off the map often cause people dont know all the songs. Hell *I* dont know all the songs. Hahaha, I have homework too.



I am off for a run. It has been now a little over 7 months sonce I stopped smoking and boozin and I feel great. I really dont miss it at all or I guess I would still do it. I think I will check out this decade without those vices. Maybe if I make it to 60 I will have some champagne, or not but for now, I am pushing straight ahead feeling great and working out and trying to look my best and I am playing/practicing and singing better than I have in many years and still working on ALL of it. I wanna be the best I can be for you guys and mostly for ME. "Personal best" sort of a vibe ya know. Only my shrink knows how insane I really am. hahaha



Hope everyone has a nice day and I will be back.



Peace and love, Luke."

Styx gets 'Regenerated!' - Details of forthcoming 'Regeneration - Volume 1' Announced

STYX Regeneration, Volume 1
STYX is putting the finishing touches on the soon-to-be-released "Regeneration, Volume 1". Produced by the band and their long-time studio/live sound engineer Gary Loizzo, "Regeneration, Volume 1" contains six re-recorded versions of STYX classics, and one brand new song, "Difference In the World" (which is also available as a free MP3 download via http://www.styxworld.com/). The six classic tracks are "Grand Illusion," "Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)," "Lorelei," "Sing for the Day," "Crystal Ball" and "Come Sail Away."

In a recent interview with Doug Fox of the Daily Herald in Salt Lake City, UT, James "JY" Young said "We're in the ultimate, final-polishing stages of it." Look for the complete interview with Doug coming soon.

In addition to the CD, the band also plans to make "Regeneration, Volume 1" available on vinyl.
Additional information will be passed along as it becomes available. Keep an eye out for a sneak-peek of the album cover coming soon.


Remember also that Styx will will joining up with both Foreigner and Kansas for the 'United in Rock tour' Details on that here:
or here 

Canadian rockers Triumph may play the UK in 2011 ...

Well, who knows .... Bassist / Keyboards man Mike Levine told Classic Rock magazine that next year will be 30 years since the band last played the UK.
The band are currently doing loads of press to promote current release, 'Triumph Greatest Hits - Remixed' - Which sounds great by the way! - and so maybe we can all twist the guys arms to come out and play some more!

Triumph are currently looking at their touring options for 2011 – and the band may decide to play at least one UK date. Mike Levine went on to say to Classic Rock magazine:

“Next year is the 30th anniversary of our last show over there,” Mike Levine told Classic Rock.
“We did a gig in Port Vale (the Heavy Metal Holocaust Festival, 1981). So, if we do tour, then very high up on our list of priorities will be a return. It’s been long enough.”
The closest Triumph got to the UK in recent years was when they played the Sweden Rock festival in 2008.
However, fans of the Canadian band should not yet get too hopeful.
“Working out a touring schedule is very tough, because all three of us (Levine, guitarist/vocalist Rik Emmett and drummer/vocalist Gil Moore) have such busy and separate lives.
“So this year is out of the question, and trying to do this next year is dependent on making it all fit into individual commitments.”

Here's hoping, I must say when I spoke to Gil Moore last weekend ..., I wasn't convinced it will happen.
Rik Emmett had told me 2 years back that the band were looking at lining up a big summer tour through 2009, but that didn't happen, so I guess we'll see.
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