Classic Rock 93.9

Mark Lanegan passed away February 22, 2022 — two years ago Thursday. Among his many admirers in the music industry is Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan, who was good friends with the late Screaming Trees frontman.

“I met Mark sometime in the mid-’90s,” McKagan tells ABC Audio. “He’s also from the Northwest. We became friends and I started playing on some of his recordings, just as friends. Because we were both sober guys, to be frank.”

With Screaming Trees, Lanegan helped pioneer the grunge sound that would make Seattle and the Pacific Northwest the defining music scene of the early ’90s. He also had a prolific solo career, and sang with Queens of the Stone Age. In 2008, he released a collaborative album with Greg Dulli of The Afghan Whigs under the moniker The Gutter Twins.

McKagan was a fan of all Lanegan’s work and remembers jamming with The Gutter Twins during a benefit concert some years back.

“It went so well,” McKagan shares. “I played rhythm guitar and I sang, I knew all the songs. I’m like, ‘I’m in! What backup do you want me to sing? I’ll sing that one.'”

According to McKagan, that live collaboration almost continued into the studio.

“They’re like, ‘Man, maybe it’s gonna be The Gutter Trio next record, what do you think?'” McKagan recalls. “I’m like, ‘I’m in!’ But we weren’t able to do that.” 

McKagan’s new solo album, Lighthouse, is dedicated in part to Lanegan.

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KISS fans know Paul Stanley can rock out onstage, but music isn’t his only artistic endeavor. Stanley has had a successful art career for years, and he tells ABC Audio it started as an outlet for him when he was going through some hard times.

“I was going through a divorce and my best friend said to me, ‘You need to paint,'” he shares. “And I was taken aback because that wasn’t something I was expecting to hear, but it somehow resonated with me.”

Stanley describes his art as “very cathartic.” While he’s made millions from his work, he never expected it to be so lucrative. In fact, when he first started out he didn’t think he’d show his pieces to anyone.

“I never could have imagined the kind of success I’ve had,” he says. “If credibility comes from being a struggling artist, I guess I’ve given that up.”

Stanley is set to premiere his latest collection with appearances at two Wentworth Gallery locations in Florida: at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood on February 23 and at the Town Center Mall in Boca Raton on February 24.

Included in the collection are some pieces from Stanley’s The Other Side exhibit, which debuted last August at The Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio. 

Of course, his appearances bring out KISS fans who may have previously thought art wasn’t for them, and Stanley is perfectly happy with that.

“I would like to think that I can break down some of those barriers of elitism and snobbism that ultimately intimidate people from experiencing theater or art,” he says. “Good art is what you like. Art is, like everything else, is subjective.”

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Bonnie Raitt is returning to Austin City Limits. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer appears on the Saturday, February 24, episode of the PBS series, performing classic tunes and highlights from her 2022 album, Just Like That… .

Raitt taped the episode back in October and was joined by Nashville-based singer/songwriter Sunny War.

Raitt’s appearance is her first ACL performance in over a decade. She made her ACL debut in 1984 and last appeared on the program in 2012, although she did perform on the 40th anniversary special in 2014. She was also inducted into the ACL Hall of Fame in 2016.

In addition to PBS, fans can catch the episode streaming via PBS.org. 

The ACL performance is a preview of what fans can expect when Raitt hits the road this spring. Her tour kicks off April 26 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. A complete list of dates can be found at bonnieraitt.com.

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Mötley Crüe and Judas Priest are among the hard rockers confirmed for the Louder Than Life festival, taking place September 26-29 in Louisville, Kentucky.

Mötley Crüe will headline Saturday, September 28, while Priest is on the bill for Sunday, September 29.

Slipknot, Korn and a reunited Slayer round out the Louder Than Life headliners, with The Offspring, Anthrax, Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello, Dropkick Murphys, Clutch, Disturbed and Marky Ramone also on the bill.

For the full lineup and all ticket info, visit LouderthanLifeFestival.com.

The festival is one of a handful of dates Mötley Crüe has on the schedule this year, including appearances at Welcome to Rockville in May and Milwaukee’s Summerfest in June. A complete list of dates can be found at motley.com.

Priest, whose new album Invincible Shield drops March 8, will kick off a U.S. tour on April 18 in Wallingford, Connecticut. A complete schedule can be found at judaspriest.com.

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Roger Daltrey has booked his first U.S. show for 2024. The Who frontman is set to headline The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park in San Diego, California, on May 6, with KT Tunstall serving as special guest.

The concert is billed as a one-off show, where fans can expect Daltrey to perform “solo songs, rare cuts and some Who favorites.” He’ll backed by a band that features Frank Simes on guitars, Jon Butto on bass, Loren Gold on keyboards, Scott Devours on drums and Katie Jacoby on violin.

A ticket presale begins Thursday, February 22, at 10 a.m, with the general sale set for Friday, February 23, at 10 a.m. 

The gig is one of only four shows on Daltrey’s schedule this year. The Who is set to perform two Teenage Cancer Trust benefit shows at London’s Royal Albert Hall in March. Daltrey is also headlining the final night of the Teenage Cancer Trust benefits, dubbed Ovation, a Celebration of 24 Years of Gigs for TCT, on March 24, with special guests Robert Plant with Saving Grace, Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, Stereophonics’ Kelly Jones and Paul Weller.

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Eric Clapton and James Taylor are among the artists contributing to a new album celebrating the music of “Mr. Guitar” Chet Atkins.

We Still Can’t Say Good Bye, billed as “a musician’s tribute to Chet Atkins,” features an A-list lineup of artists performing on 15 tracks made famous by Atkins, who passed away in 2001 at the age of 77.

In total, 22 musicians and artists appear on the record. In addition to Clapton and Taylor, guests include Vince Gill, Alison Krauss, Brad Paisley and Tommy Emmanuel.

Clapton appears on two songs on the album, “So Sad (To Watch Good Love Go Bad),” which also features Gill and Bradley Walker, and “Freight Train,” which features several special guests. Taylor teams up with Krauss for one song, “How’s The World Treating You.” 

We Still Can’t Say Good Bye is set to drop April 19.

Atkins has been credited with creating the “Nashville sound,” which helped popularize country music. During his career he was the winner of 14 Grammy Awards, including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He was also inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in the Music Excellence category in 2002.

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The Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan is set to star in an upcoming unscripted series debuting on The CW later in 2024.

The currently untitled show will follow Corgan in his role as the president of the NWA wrestling company. Additionally, it will focus on his life, family and, a press release puts it, his “day job,” which we can only assume refers to the Pumpkins.

“It offers an unprecedented vignette into every dimension of [Corgan’s] world with unparalleled candor,” the release reads.

The series is part of a larger deal between Corgan and The CW to exclusively stream NWA programming.

“The CW has made a big commitment to sports, and they have an incredible top-tier streaming platform,” Corgan says. “The network’s audience represents a very wide swath of American culture — which wrestling has always been a key part of. This partnership gives us the opportunity to reach that audience more readily. We’re excited to get the chance to show there are other voices in professional wrestling.”

“With NWA, there’s honesty, integrity, and a different level of swagger, because it’s coming from the underground,” he continues. “It’s similar to rock ‘n’ roll in this respect. With The CW behind us, we’re pulling NWA into the light where fans can appreciate its authenticity.”

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Foreigner is one of the nominees for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year, and producer Mark Ronson has recruited some celebrity friends to make the case for why they deserve to be inducted.

Ronson, who’s the stepson of Foreigner’s Mick Jones, has shared a for-your-consideration video on Instagram, featuring Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl, Jack Black, Guns N’ Roses’ Slash, Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith and Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme, all sharing their love of the ’70s rock band.

“Everything that made me want to be a record producer came from being in the studio watching Foreigner make records,” Ronson writes. “It’s also kind of crazy that this is the first time they’ve ever been on the ballot for the Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame – after 20 years of eligibility.”

He adds, “Yes, Mick is my stepdad and I love him more than anything. But I’m also a MEGA fan just like Dave, Jack, Slash, Chad and Josh… Enjoy this video and VOTE BABY VOTE!”

“I’ve loved Foreigner since I got their debut record,” Grohl shares in the clip. “There’s one drum riff that I have used in more than a few songs.”

Referring to Foreigner’s #1 song, Homme adds, “You want to know what love is? Love is putting Foreigner in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.” 

The clip ends with Black singing a portion of “Feels Like the First Time” and joking, “Hey, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, open the door! Foreigner’s waiting outside. Let ’em in.”

Fan voting is open until April 26, with inductees to be announced later that month. The ceremony, happening this fall in Cleveland, will stream live on Disney+, followed by a highlights special airing later on ABC.

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It’s Pearl Jam, on ice! Well, sort of.

In a social media post, the grunge rockers have announced the 2024 Pearl Jam Night with the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team. The festivities will take place March 14 and will feature the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs taking on the Flyers at their home arena, the Wells Fargo Center.

Attendees will get a T-shirt featuring the Flyers’ much-memed mascot, Gritty, jumping in front of the Pearl Jam logo, and access to a pregame performance by the PJ tribute band The Ledbetters. They’ll also get to take pictures with the arena’s Pearl Jam banner, which commemorates their many sellouts at the Wells Fargo Center, one of which featured a surprise performance of Ten in its entirety.

A portion of the proceeds will benefit Pearl Jam’s charity organization, the Vitalogy Foundation.

Pearl Jam will play two nights at the Wells Fargo Center in September as part of their upcoming world tour. The trek will support PJ’s upcoming album Dark Matter, due out April 19.

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John Mellencamp, Jackson Browne, Dion Dimucci and Mavis Staples will be honored at the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music’s second annual American Music Honors. 

The awards are handed out to artists “who have demonstrated artistic excellence, creative integrity, and a longstanding commitment to the value of music in our national consciousness.” 

“The Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music is proud to honor these musically, culturally, and politically important artists,” Robert Santelli, founding executive director of the Springsteen Archives, shares. “All four artists—John Mellencamp, Jackson Browne, Mavis Staples, and Dion—have contributed mightily to the American music canon and have demonstrated how the power of song can act as an agent for positive change in our country.”

The event will take place April 24 at the Pollak Theatre at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey, the home of the Bruce Springsteen Archives.

Steven Van Zandt and his band Disciples of Soul will act as house band for the night, with Springsteen, his manager Jon Landau and Darlene Love serving as presenters.

The American Music Honors launched in 2023, with Van Zandt and Love both honored, along with Sam & Dave‘s Sam Moore and Steve Earle.

The event is open to the public, with tickets going on sale March 26.

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