Friday, January 7, 2011

News update for Friday January 7th, 2011

Y&T's Phil Kennemore RIP
October 20th, 1953 - January 7th, 2011

(Photo credit to Jill Meniketti from www.meniketti.com/)

Sadly today Friday 7th January, Y&T original bassist / vocalist Phil Kennemore lost his battle with lung cancer.
He had been sick for some time and only just recently Jill and Dave Meniketti had origanized a concert in aid of raising money to help pay off some of the costs of Phil's cancer treatment and to help towards any additional future costs.

I saw Y&T just a couple of times, but have loved their music for years, this is indeed sad news as Phil was a founding member of Y&T alongside Dave Meniketti when they started out originally as Yesterday and Today back in 1974, alongside Leonard Haze (Drums) and Joey Alves (Guitars).

RIP Phil, you will be missed, you were indeed a huge part of the Y&T legacy.

HEAVY METAL GREATS THE RODS RETURN WITH A "VENGEANCE"!



One band that many veteran metal heads feel should have hit the big time was New York's The Rods. Comprised of members David "Rock" Feinstein (guitar/lead vocals), Garry Bordonaro (bass/vocals), and Carl Canedy (drums/vocals), The Rods would go on to open arena shows for such renowned groups as Iron Maiden, Twisted Sister, Judas Priest, Ozzy Osbourne (the 'Blizzard of Oz' tour), the Scorpions, Rainbow (Joe Lynn Turner era), and during the mid '80s, even had a then-unknown Metallica opening a headlining tour for them. Add to it the fact that Feinstein is the cousin of the late, great Ronnie James Dio (both played together in Elf) and Canedy is an acclaimed metal producer (having worked on classic early releases by Megadeth, Anthrax, Overkill, etc.), and it makes it even more baffling why The Rods never got their due.
But this appears to changing quickly, as the trio has signed on with the Niji Entertainment Group, a label that was created by Ronnie James Dio and his wife/manager, Wendy Dio.

The band's seventh release overall (and sixth release overall for Niji) is titled 'Vengeance,' and will be released on March 29, 2011. The release comes hot on the heels of Feinstein's recently-released solo album, 'Bitten by the Beast.'

The first single off 'Vengeance' will be "The Code," which features vocals from none other than Ronnie James Dio (one of the very last songs that Ronnie ever recorded, before his untimely death in May of 2010).

This aforementioned Rods line-up has been rocking and rolling for nearly 30 years, and the group has been officially invited to play SXSW this year in Austin, Texas.

More info and tour dates will be announced soon, so get ready to rock once more with The Rods!

'Vengeance' Track Listing:
1. "RAISE SOME HELL
2. "I JUST WANNA ROCK"
3. "REBELS HIGHWAY"
4. "RIDE FREE OR DIE"
5. "THE CODE" (Featuring Ronnie James Dio)
6. "LIVIN' OUTSIDE THE LAW"
7. "LET IT RIPP"
8. "FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE"
9. "MADMAN"
10. "RUNNIN WILD"
11. "VENGEANCE"

For more information, visit:
http://www.therods.com/

 
Peter Gabriel joins Sudanese War Child's campaign for a peaceful referendum

After producing the string arrangements on ex-Sudanese war child Emmanuel Jal’s “We Want Peace” charity single, music icon Peter Gabriel has joined a host of other celebrity names in raising awareness to ensure the Sudanese referendum on Sunday January 9th remains a peaceful affair.
"I have been horrified at the reports of the potential for civil war in the Sudan after the election," says Gabriel. "Emmanuel Jal is an inspiring and charismatic young musician and, considering most of the fighting in these wars is actually carried out by young people, I believe Emmanuel's impassioned campaign for peace will be much more likely to reach them."

Alongside Peter Gabriel, Jal has gathered further support from the likes of George Clooney, Alicia Keys, Kofi Annan, Jimmy Carter and Richard Branson, all of whom appear in the music video for ‘We Want Peace’, which was directed by Gabriel’s daughter, Anna Gabriel. Annie Lennox and MC Hammer are also supporting Emmanuel's "We Want Peace" campaign via Twitter and Facebook.

Says Emmanuel Jal, “It is a simple concept. If people around the world don't know what is happening in Sudan, their governments will not feel compelled to concern themselves, either. This Sunday, a referendum will take place in my country that will almost inevitably be controversial, causing anything from tension to wide-scale war and genocide... Had the world known that 6 million Jews would die during the Second World War then they would have done something about it. We need to shine as bright a light as possible on Sudan in the coming days so that the impending evil of war simply cannot prevail.”
To view the video for 'We Want Peace' and read more, go to:


Europe embark on February "Balls 'N' Banners" UK tour

Following their knockout performances at 2010’s iTunes and Sonisphere Festivals, Swedish rockers EUROPE will embark on their nationwide “Balls and Banners” UK tour in February 2011. Support on all dates will come from Voodoo Johnson.

Full dates include Glasgow 02 ABC (Feb 17), Birmingham 02 Academy (Feb 18), London 02 Shepherds Bush Empire (Feb 19), Oxford 02 Academy (Feb 21), Bournemouth 02 Academy (Feb 22), Bristol 02 Academy (Feb 23), Manchester Academy 2 (Feb 25), Leeds 02 Academy (Feb 26) and Newcastle 02 Academy (Feb 27). Tickets, priced at £17.50 regionally and at £18 in London, are available from 0844 477 2000, http://www.ticketweb.co.uk/ and www.tixdaq.com/europe-tickets/

Keep up with Europe at: www.europetheband.com/

 
Hi all, just a brief closing note here today, I apologise for some scary looking formatting shown here on the site earlier today, hopefully the site looks a little better tonight after some adjustments!
I did the update at lunchtime from a remote location and ran into some issues on the formatting and basically the site was not playing ball ... Technology, eh?!
 

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