Classic Rock 93.9

Steve Albini, the prolific punk rock musician and audio engineer who worked on albums including Nirvana‘s In Utero, has died at age 61.

In a statement to ABC Audio on Wednesday, May 8, Albini’s Chicago recording studio Electrical Audio confirmed that he passed away the night of Tuesday, May 7, of a heart attack.

Known for his strict adherence to the punk rock ethos, Albini opposed taking royalties on albums he engineered, a term he preferred to “producing.”

Albini’s music career began in 1981 with the punk band Big Black. Later in the ’80s, he began engineering albums for other artists, including Pixies‘ 1988 debut Surfer Rosa.

Kurt Cobain, who was a big Pixies fan, wanted Albini to work on Nirvana’s follow-up to their 1991 smash, Nevermind. The result was 1993’s In Utero, which took Nirvana’s sound in a harsher, more dissonant direction.

Albini also engineered albums including The Breeders‘ Pod, PJ Harvey‘s Rid of Me and Bush‘s Razorblade Suitcase. Additionally, he fronted the band Shellac, which is set to release a new album, To All Trains, on May 17.

Outside of music, Albini was an avid poker player and won multiple World Series of Poker bracelets.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell is set to release a new album with his band The Dirty Knobs. 

Vagabonds, Virgins & Misfits, due out June 14, features 11 new songs, with guest appearances by Graham Nash, Lucinda Williams, Chris Stapleton and Campbell’s Heartbreakers bandmate Benmont Tench.

Fans are getting their first taste of the record with the new single “Dare To Dream,” featuring a guest appearance by Nash. 

“‘Dare To Dream’ is a song about longing for hope,” Campbell shares. “Lord knows we need more hope in this wicked world these days. Having Graham Nash sing on it was a dream come true for me.”

You can listen to “Dare To Dream” now via digital outlets and watch the video on YouTube.

Vagabonds, Virgins & Misfits is the third record from Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs, following 2020’s Wreckless Abandon and 2022’s External Combustion. It is available for preorder now.

Here is the track list for Vagabonds, Virgins & Misfits:

“The Greatest”
“Angel Of Mercy”
“Dare To Dream” (feat. Graham Nash)
“Hands Are Tied”
“Hell Or High Water” (feat. Lucinda Williams)
“So Alive”
“Shake These Blues”
“Innocent Man”
“Don’t Wait Up” (feat. Chris Stapleton & Benmont Tench)
“My Old Friends”
“Amanda Lynn”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The Wallflowers have announced a concert featuring a full-album performance of 1996’s Bringing Down the Horse.

The show will take place October 2 in Los Angeles. Along with Bringing Down the Horse, The Wallflowers will cover the 1982 Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers album Long After Dark in its entirety.

For ticket info, visit WallflowersMusic.com.

Bringing Down the Horse was the second Wallflowers album and spawned the hit “One Headlight,” as well as the singles “6th Avenue Heartache,” “The Difference” and “Three Marlenas.”

The Wallflowers’ latest album is 2021’s Exit Wounds, which marked the group’s first full-length release in nine years.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

On This Day, May 8, 1970 …

One month after they broke up, The Beatles released their 12th and final studio album, Let It Be.

Although released after the split, Let It Be was actually recorded before their previous album Abbey Road, which was released in September 1969.

Let It Be spent four weeks at #1 on the Billboard Album chart, thanks to future Beatles classics like the title track, “Get Back,” “The Long and Winding Road” and “Across The Universe.”

A documentary about the making of the album, also called Let It Be, was released to coincide with the album. It featured footage of their infamous concert on the roof of Apple Records, which was their last live performance together. 

A restored version of the film is now streaming on Disney +, the first time it’s been available in over 50 years.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

AC/DC is continuing their 50th anniversary celebration with their next set of limited-edition gold vinyl releases. 

The latest set, dropping June 19, includes Let There Be Rock, If You Want Blood You’ve Got It, ‘74 Jailbreak, Ballbreaker, Stiff Upper Lip and Rock or Bust.

Each gold vinyl, available for preorder now, will come with a 12-by-12 album-specific print and AC/DC 50 artwork.

AC/DC launched their gold vinyl series back in March, with limited-edition gold vinyl copies of Back in Black, Highway to Hell, The Razors Edge, Powerage, For Those About To Rock (We Salute You), High Voltage, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, Who Made Who, which was the 1986 soundtrack to the Stephen King film Maximum Overdrive, and the double live album Live.

AC/DC is getting ready to hit the road on the Power Up tour. It kicks off with a two-night stand in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, on May 17 and 21. So far, no U.S. dates have been announced. 

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

When Rush‘s Geddy Lee was on the book tour for his biography My Effin’ Life last year, there was a lot of talk about whether he and his Rush bandmate Alex Lifeson had planned to make music together again. Well, Lifeson is now offering an update.

“Ged and I try to get together once a week,” Lifeson tells ABC Audio. “I mean, we’re really, really good friends. We’re best friends.” He adds, “I go over to his place. We have a little setup. He’s got a music room, and we just play together and have fun.”

But in news that will be disappointing to Rush fans, Lifeson says they “are not talking about doing anything beyond that.” Though he does note, “Who knows what the future brings?”

Lifeson says he and Geddy are at the point in their lives where they have other interests, and for Lifeson that includes his new guitar and amplifier brand Lerxst, which recently introduced the Lerxst By-Tor pedal, the OMEGA signature amplifier and the Limelight guitar.

“I kind of consolidated all the things that I learned into one package and wanted to see that come to life,” he says of his products, noting the amp and pedal “makes the guitar sing in different ways.”

As for the guitar, which was inspired by Lifeson’s mid-’80s Hentor Sportscaster, Lifeson says it was particularly important to him that it was “super comfortable to play on.” 

“You know, guitars are such a personal expression,” he says. “It’s like a paintbrush. You know, you give the same paintbrush to two painters, they’ll paint differently with it. And, that’s the important thing of these guitars”

He adds, “They’re really solid, good, easy to play platform at any level.”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Beatles fans are getting another preview of the documentary Let It Be before it premieres Wednesday, May 8, on Disney+.

The latest clip revolves around Ringo Starr, showing him joking around in the studio working on “Octopus’s Garden” with George Harrison and more.

Originally released in April 1970, Let It Be takes Beatles fans inside the studio as they recorded their album Let It Be and includes footage from their January 1969 Apple Corps rooftop concert. It was released one month after The Beatles officially broke up.

The film hasn’t been available for more than 50 years. In an interview with Rolling Stone, the film’s original director, Michael Lindsay-Hogg, describes the journey of the picture as “a long and winding road,” a reference to the Let It Be track, noting that since it came out a month after The Beatles broke up, people weren’t excited to see it.

“It disappeared, and no one really cared if it came out again, because there were no Beatles anymore,” he says. “There were four people, but they weren’t Beatles anymore.”

The association with The Beatles’ breakup led many to form negative opinions of the movie without even seeing it, but Lindsay-Hogg is excited that it’s getting a new chance to win over audiences.

“Sometimes things go your way in life, and sometimes they don’t. But I got very lucky twice with this,” he says. “I did it originally, and then I got beat, but then it comes out again. So that’s a good conclusion to that story.”

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The Rolling Stones bring their ’24 Hackney Diamonds tour to Glendale, Arizona, on Tuesday, May 7, and the city is welcoming them with open arms. In fact, the band revealed on their Instagram that Glendale has renamed a street in their honor.

“If you’re in Glendale AZ for the Stones show tonight be sure to head to Satisfaction Way!” they share. “The city has ceremonially renamed a portion of 95th Avenue in Westgate Entertainment District in honour of the Rolling Stones being the first act ever to bring three separate stadium tours to State Farm Stadium and Glendale!”

The Stones previously played the stadium in 2019 and 2006. 

And that’s not all. In honor of their tour stop, Glendale’s Mayor Jerry Weiers also proclaimed May 7 “Ruby Tuesday,” after the band’s 1967 song.

The Stones kicked off their tour on April 28 in Houston, Texas, with dates set to run through July 17 in Santa Clara, California. A complete list of shows can be found at rollingstones.com.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

In news that’s certainly not sad but definitely is true, Kelly Clarkson has covered a Metallica song.

The pop star and inaugural American Idol winner put her spin on the Black Album cut “Sad But True” during the Kellyoke segment on her talk show, The Kelly Clarkson Show.

Clarkson’s rendition began as a piano ballad before rocking out to the song’s signature guitar riff. Following the performance, Clarkson noted that one of her producers, Megan Barry, is a “hardcore Metallica fan” who’s seen them live seven times.

“We all love Metallica here,” Clarkson continued. “I never thought I’d sing Metallica on daytime television, I’m just gonna be real with you. But we’re doing it and we did it and it was awesome.”

Metallica also posted Clarkson’s cover on their Instagram.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Graham Nash is extending his time on the road. The two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer just announced a set of fall dates for his An Evening of Songs & Stories tour. 

The new shows, featuring special guest Judy Collins on select dates, kick off September 28 and 29 in Collingswood, New Jersey, with Nash playing New York’s famed Carnegie Hall on October 1. The trek will run through October 26 in Vienna, Virginia.

Tickets for all shows go on sale Friday, May 10.

The news comes as Nash is expected to make an appearance at a special Crosby, Stills & Nash tribute concert taking place May 13 at Carnegie Hall. The Music of Crosby Stills & Nash will also feature Todd Rundgren, Iron & Wine, Rickie Lee Jones, Grace Potter, Yola, Shawn Colvin, Real Estate and Neal Francis.

Nash is also set to kick off a summer leg of his An Evening of Songs & Stories tour on August 3 in Boulder, Colorado. A complete list of dates can be found at grahamnash.com.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.