Classic Rock 93.9

Say hello to Elegant Weapons, a new band featuring members of Judas Priest, Pantera and Rainbow.

The group consists of Priest guitarist Richie Faulkner and drummer Scott Travis, Pantera bassist Rex Brown and Rainbow vocalist Ronnie Romero. In a statement, Faulkner describes the sound of Elegant Weapons as “a mix of Jimi Hendrix, Priest, Sabbath, solo Ozzy and Black Label Society.”

We’ll find out exactly what that sounds like when Elegant Weapons drops their debut album, Horns for a Halo, in 2023.

“This record represents for me more of my DNA as a guitar player and a songwriter,” Faulkner says. “Heavy, but moving slightly outside the realms of ‘heavy metal.’ Those roots are obvious, but I wanted to reach in a bit and see what else came out that wasn’t necessarily ‘expected.'”

Faulkner and Travis are currently on the road touring with Priest, while Brown is preparing for Pantera’s upcoming reunion shows, which will feature vocalist Phil Anselmo alongside Black Label Society’s Zakk Wylde and Anthrax‘s Charlie Benante in place of late brothers “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott and Vinnie Paul, respectively.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

A new book about Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp will be published on December 1.

Rock Camp: An Oral History, written by David Fishof, founder of the long-running series of star-studded gatherings, tells the story of the interactive music events through interviews with many of the people who had their rock ‘n’ roll dreams fulfilled by attending one or more of the camps.

Fishof also shares behind-the-scenes tales about how the Rock Camp was founded as well as the challenges he faced to establish the series and to organize the events.

Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp events give music fans and non-professional musicians the chance to interact with, play with and be mentored by a variety of well-known artists. The camps have been held at various locations around the world, including London’s Abbey Road Studios and the Whisky a Go Go club in West Hollywood, California.

Among the many stars who have taken part in Rock Camps are The Who‘s Roger Daltrey, Heart‘s Nancy Wilson, Aerosmith‘s Joe Perry, Jeff Beck and late Cream bassist Jack Bruce.

Rock Camp: An Oral History can be preordered now. All proceeds raised by sales of the book will benefit the Rock and Roll Fantasy Foundation, a charity that supports “emerging musical talents in building their path to success.”

“[Twenty-five-plus] years on I still get such a charge seeing campers on the first day and watching their reaction when they meet their Rock Star counselors and bandmates,” says Fishof in a statement. “It’s really tremendous — and now I get to share their stories with fans around the world.”

A special event celebrating the book will be held on November 16 in New York City before “The Beatles vs. The Stones”-themed edition of Rock Camp.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Jane’s Addiction has missed three dates on their ongoing tour with The Smashing Pumpkins due to an unspecified injury suffered by frontman Perry Farrell.

In a statement posted to Jane’s Twitter, Farrell shares that he sustained the injury during last Wednesday’s show at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, and it has “resulted in my inability to perform.”

“I have since been in pain and discomfort and have been receiving rigorous physio therapy that has done wonders,” Farrell writes.

As a result, Jane’s had to drop off shows in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Toronto over the past week and will also miss upcoming dates in Montreal and Quebec City. They plan to return to the tour for this Saturday’s stop in Cleveland. Our Lady Peace will fill in for Jane’s in the upcoming shows.

“I am filled with sadness and frustration to have to announce this,” Farrell writes. “But I have to mend in order to continue the tour and get back on stage.”

Jane’s launched the tour with the Pumpkins earlier in October. The “Been Caught Stealing” rockers were already down a member due to guitarist Dave Navarro‘s continued battle with long COVID-19. Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen has been filling in for Navarro.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Todd Rundgren is among the well-known music artists taking part in the 2022 edition of the Celebrating David Bowie tribute tour, which kicked off earlier this month and is plotted out through a a November 13 concert in Phoenix.

Rundgren tells ABC Audio that he’s glad that he was able to choose some songs from his favorite era of Bowie’s career, David’s early-’70s period, to perform on the trek.

“I think I was lucky in that I sort of demanded and was granted songs that I thought would work well for me, like ‘Life on Mars?’ and ‘Space Oddity’ and ‘Changes,” Todd notes. “So I got to claim a lot of that early ‘songwriter-ly’ stuff.”

He adds, “The young David Bowie wrote songs with great changes and words you could identify with.”

Rundgren also is singing a couple songs from a bit later in Bowie’s career — “Young Americans” and “Station to Station” — while admitting he’s not as enamored with much of David’s later work.

Meanwhile, Rundgren reports that he isn’t playing as much guitar on the tour as he initially expected, while pointing out that he’s doing a lot of costume changes during the shows, as is his tour mate Angelo Moore of the band Fishbone.

“It’s up to him and I to kind of … keep things lively [with] costume changes and props and that sort of thing,” he notes.

In addition to Rundgren and Moore, the Celebrating David Bowie tour lineup also features ex-King Crimson singer/guitarist Adrian Belew, Spacehog‘s Royston Langdon and veteran singer/songwriter Jeffrey Gaines.

In addition, guest artists will make appearances at select shows, including Thomas Dolby, who will perform in Annapolis, Maryland, on October 31 and November 1. Visit CelebratingDavidBowie.com for a full list of dates.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Animal Logic, the short-lived band featuring Police drummer Stewart Copeland, acclaimed jazz bassist Stanley Clarke and singer/songwriter Deborah Holland, has reunited and will release its first new music in over 30 years next month.

The group will issue two new singles — “Can I Tell You” and “Ordinary” — on November 18 via all major digital music providers and at Animal Logic’s Bandcamp page.

Animal Logic formed in 1987, released a pair of studio albums — 1989’s self-titled effort and 1991’s Animal Logic II — and mounted a 1989 world tour before breaking up. The group released a few modestly successful singles, including “There’s a Spy (In the House of Love),” which peaked at #92 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In 2013, the trio reunited for a video that features them performing the Holland song “Whipping Boy” at Copeland’s Sacred Grove home studio. Since then, Copeland, Clarke and Holland have collectively continued to work remotely on new music. Copeland also lent his talents to four tracks on Holland’s 2020 solo album, Fine, Thank You!

According to a press statement, “Can I Tell You” boasts West Coast-inspired songwriting and folk-rock influences combined with Copeland and Clarke’s signature rhythms, and features Bela Fleck and the Flecktones member Howard Levy on harmonica.

“Ordinary” is a kinetic, upbeat rock tune that’s similar to the material on Animal Logic’s debut album.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

A new episode of PBS live music series Front and Center featuring a performance by longtime Tom Petty guitarist Mike Campbell and his current band The Dirty Knobs will start airing on select stations this Saturday, October 29.

The program captures Campbell & The Dirty Knobs playing a concert at Brooklyn Bowl in Brooklyn, New York this past March. The show features renditions of songs from the band’s two studio albums as well as some classics from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Petty’s solo releases, including “Refugee,” “You Got Lucky” and “Runnin’ Down a Dream.”

The Front and Center episode, which is part of the series’ 11th season, can also be viewed on the show’s official YouTube channel starting October 29 at midnight ET.

Campbell & The Dirty Knobs are continuing to promote their second album, External Combustion, which was released in March. The group is currently serving as The Who‘s opening act through a November 1 performance at the famed Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.

Mike and his band will also play a special concert on Tuesday, October 25 at The Fillmore in San Francisco to celebrate the forthcoming release of Petty and the Heartbreakers’ Live at The Fillmore 1997 collection. The multiple-format box set, which Campbell co-produced and can be preordered now, features highlights from Petty and the Heartbreakers’ 20-show residency at the historic venue in 1997.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Next month marks the 55th anniversary of The Moody Blues‘ classic 1967 album, Days of Future Passed. To celebrate the milestone, the band’s longtime singer/bassist, John Lodge, will launch a 2023 U.S. tour showcasing a full performance of the record.

Lodge’s Performs Days of Future Passed tour will feature the 77-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer accompanied by his 10,000 Light Years Band and a guest appearance by his friend and current Yes frontman Jon Davison. In addition to the performance of the album, the show will feature renditions of other popular Moody Blues songs that were written by Lodge.

The trek, which will visit a variety of East Coast venues, kicks off February 18 in Lexington, Massachusetts and runs through a March 15 concert in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Tickets and VIP packages can be purchased by visiting JohnLodge.com.

As with Lodge’s recent solo shows, the new concert will also feature a special recording by late Moody Blues drummer Graeme Edge reciting the Days of Future Passed spoken-word piece he wrote, “Late Lament.”

Lodge has been working on the Days of Future Passed show with his longtime musical director and keyboardist Alan Hewitt, who he’s also collaborating with for his new studio album.

Like the album, the new concert will center on the story of “a day in the life of an everyday man.” The performance will recreate the record’s orchestral parts while adding a modern feel.

“[A]s I looked back to the past, I realised that I also wanted to look forwards to the Future,” Lodge says of the tour. “My hope is that in this show, and album, you will get to revisit 1967, but at the same time, see how this album has grown with me, and with you.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Bono is sorry he forced U2‘s 2014 album, Songs of Innocence, onto your iTunes.

In an excerpt from his upcoming memoir Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story, published via TheGuardian.com, Bono issues a “mea culpa” over the whole incident.

“I take full responsibility,” he writes.

For those who don’t recall, U2 released Songs of Innocence by automatically uploading the album onto the library of every single iTunes user across the world, all for free. The strategy wasn’t exactly a hit with users, who criticized U2 for inserting the record into their library without their consent, while other artists and critics felt offering the album for free “devalued” the music.

In Surrender, Bono explains how he pitched the idea to Apple CEO Tim Cook by suggesting that the tech giant pay U2 for the album and then “give it away free, as a gift to people.”

“‘Like when Netflix buys the movie and gives it away to subscribers,'” Bono recalls saying. When asked about the iTunes users who maybe aren’t U2 fans, he replied, “It’s their choice whether they want to listen to it.”

“What was the worst that could happen?” Bono remembers thinking. “It would be like junk mail…Like taking our bottle of milk and leaving it on the doorstep of every house in the neighborhood.”

Eight years later, Bono now admits, “We didn’t just put our bottle of milk at the door but in every fridge in every house in town.”

“In some cases we poured it on to the good people’s cornflakes,” he writes. “And some people like to pour their own milk. And others are lactose intolerant.”

“I’d thought if we could just put our music within reach of people, they might choose to reach out toward it,” he adds. “Not quite.”

Surrender arrives November 1.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Red Hot Chili Peppers have earned a Billboard chart rarity with their new album, Return of the Dream Canteen.

The latest effort from the “Californication” rockers — and their second of 2022 — sold 56,000 copies in its debut frame, making it the best-selling record of the week. Having already led the Top Album Sales ranking earlier this year with April’s Unlimited Love, the Peppers are the first rock band in 17 years to have earned two #1-selling records in the span of 12 months.

The last rock band to accomplish that feat was System of a Down, who earned two #1 albums in 2005 with Mezmerize and Hypnotize. Those two records remain the most recent System of a Down albums.

On the Billboard 200, which also incorporates streaming data into its ranking along with traditional album sales, Return of the Dream Canteen debuts at #3 with a total of 63,000 equivalent album units. Unlimited Love debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Carlos Santana has revealed plans to relaunch his Carlos by Carlos Santana line of women’s footwear in November.

To reintroduce the brand, the guitar legend has teamed up with veteran shoe executives, Gary Rich and Rick Gelber — who both previously worked with Santana on his footwear line — for a new partnership under the company name Jubilation LLC.

The line will offer feature a lifestyle collection including casual shoes, dress shoes, boots and fashion sneakers that feature leather from Brazil and Italy. The footwear will sell for a retail price ranging between $100 and $250.

Sales of the footwear will benefit The Milagro Foundation, which was established by Santana and his family to provide financial assistance to various community-based charities concerned with the well-being of underprivileged children.

The line will be available to purchase exclusively at CarlosShoes.com.

“It is an honor to partner with Gary and Rick to bring radiance, elegance, and style back to the forefront of the brand, while at the same time making a difference in the lives of children through the Milagro Foundation,” says Carlos. “We know that these shoes will inspire and compliment the confidence and light within every woman wearing them.”

Adds Rich, “From our first meeting back in 2000, we connected with Carlos and created instant synergy and great energy. It’s fitting today that the three of us join forces again to form this partnership and relaunch the brand back into the marketplace.”

Santana also notes, “It is a blessing to be a blessing. Women who wear our shoes are self-aware, self-confident, and know how to embrace their individuality and have fun. We invite you all to dance through life with us.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.