Taylor Hawkins’ son plays “My Hero”; Pearl Jam jams with Johnny Marr and John McEnroe

July 11, 2022 by Classic Rock 93.9

Here’s what’s been happening lately in the world of live rock music:

Shane Hawkins, the son of late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, paid tribute to his father with a cover of the Foos classic “My Hero.” Shane joined the band The Alive to play drums on a live rendition of the song during a July 4 neighborhood party in Laguna Beach, California.

If The Alive sounds familiar to you, that may be because the band’s usual drummer, teenager Kai Neukermans, made headlines when he filled in for Matt Cameron during a Pearl Jam show.

You can watch footage of the “My Hero” performance via TikTok.

Meanwhile, Pearl Jam jammed with The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr on Saturday during the grunge band’s show in London. Marr joined PJ for covers of Neil Young‘s “Throw Your Hatred Down” and The Who‘s “Baba O’Riley.”

Pearl Jam also played in London on Friday and were joined by tennis legend John McEnroe for a rendition of Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World,” as well as by Who touring member Simon Townshend — younger brother of founding Who guitarist Pete Townshend — for a version of Simon’s 1983 solo tune “I Am the Answer.”

Nita Strauss leaves Alice Cooper’s band ahead of fall tour: “I am forever thankful”

July 11, 2022 by Classic Rock 93.9

Nita Strauss is leaving Alice Cooper‘s band.

In a “bittersweet” Instagram post, the guitarist reveals she “will not be joining the Alice Cooper band for the upcoming fall tour” and adds that she’s also canceling her upcoming scheduled solo tour dates.

Strauss didn’t reveal the exact reason for her departure, but she does rule out one explanation in particular.

“I AM NOT PREGNANT!!!” Strauss writes in all caps.

“There is no drama whatsoever and my touring year is still VERY full,” she adds. “In fact, I’m on a flight straight into the next adventure as I post this, and I’ll be on stage again much sooner than you think! But that’s news for another day.”

Strauss first joined Cooper’s band in 2014 and calls her eight years with the group “the experience of a lifetime.” She also thanks Alice and his wife, Sheryl Cooper, as well as his manager, Shep Gordon, and all of the Cooper bandmates, fans and crew.

“I don’t know what the future will hold after this, but I am forever thankful,” Strauss writes.

Outside of her work in Cooper’s band, Strauss released her debut solo album, the instrumental Controlled Chaos, in 2018. Her 2021 solo single “Dead Inside,” which features Disturbed‘s David Draiman, became the first song by a solo female artist to hit #1 on Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart in 32 years.

Ex-Journey frontman Steve Augeri releases new single, “Bated Breath,” from upcoming solo album

July 11, 2022 by Classic Rock 93.9

Former Journey singer Steve Augeri has released a new single titled “Bated Breath,” a track from his forthcoming solo album, Seven Ways ‘Til Sunday.

The heartfelt ballad is available now via digital platforms, while a lyric video for the song has premiered on Augeri’s official YouTube channel.

Augeri, who sang with Journey from 1998 to 2006, co-wrote the music for “Bated Breath” with Craig Pullman and Adam Holland, while the lyrics were co-written with Susan Piazza.

“[W]e knew we were onto something very special because the goal for me was to have the lyrics match or surpass what I felt we had achieved musically,” Steve says about the writing of “Bated Breath.” “Dare I say it, but Susan added the ‘woman’s touch’ and another important perspective to the narrative elevating the song to a whole ‘nother level that would have been unattainable without her input.”

He adds, “I had those all important goosebumps because in my experience writing with the likes of [Journey’s] Jon Cain and Neal Schon, that any less than our very best was no longer good enough. You had to reach for the Moon.”

Seven Ways ‘Til Sunday is due out later this summer. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Augeri said of the record, “I put together an album that I’m super psyched about. More than anything ever, I feel like I’ve found my voice. I don’t think I’ll get the comparisons to Steve Perry. As wonderful a compliment as that is, I feel like I finally found something that sounds like me both writing-wise and performance-wise.”

“Bated Breath” is the second advance track that’s been released from Seven Ways ‘Til Sunday following “If You Want,” which arrived in February.

Meanwhile, check out Steve’s tour schedule at SteveAugeri.com.

Musicians share Hollywood Bowl recollections as the famous venue turns 100

July 11, 2022 by Classic Rock 93.9

One hundred years ago today — July 11, 1922 — the Hollywood Bowl officially opened.

The Los Angeles amphitheater has gone on to become one of the world’s most iconic venues. It’s hosted countless concerts and many famous live albums have been recorded there, including notable ones from The Beatles and The Doors.

ABC Audio chatted with a few well-known artists about their own experiences performing at the historic venue.

Steve Miller, who has played the Hollywood Bowl multiple times, says, “[I]t feels iconic when you get there and you look out…It kind of feels like the ’40s or the ’20s in California…It has a real traditional feel to it, so it’s special for that reason.”

Country-rock pioneer Richie Furay recalls that his old band Buffalo Springfield played a particularly exciting show there early in the group’s career, opening for The Rolling Stones in 1966.

“I mean, we didn’t even have a record contract. That’s how new it was for us,” Furay remembers. “I think we were playing maybe at [the famous LA-area club] the Whisky a Go Go, and…that’s all we were doing…And here, all of a sudden, man, the management got us on that show. So…it was pretty cool.”

Furay adds that performing at the Hollywood Bowl was “like going onto the Grand Ole Opry stage or [playing] Carnegie Hall…It was a ‘wow’ experience.”

Jim Messina, meanwhile, will be teaming up with his old musical partner Kenny Loggins for two reunion shows at the Hollywood Bowl this Friday and Saturday. The concerts will mark the duo’s first performances at the venue in 50 years.

“It’s a wonderful venue to play at,” says Messina. “And it’s in our alma mater, being up in Hollywood, where we both started out our careers.”

Billy Joel plays Detroit — with Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott as surprise guest

July 11, 2022 by Classic Rock 93.9

Billy Joel pulled into Detroit’s Comerica Park on Saturday, with a little help from surprise guest Joe Elliott.

The Detroit Free Press reports the Piano Man was an hour into his show when the Def Leppard lead singer — in town for his band’s own Comerica Park show on Sunday — took the stage for a rendition of his band’s 1988 smash “Pour Some Sugar on Me,” backed by Joel’s eight-piece band.

It marked an encore performance for the two, who played the song together during Billy’s appearance at Boston’s Fenway Park back in 2018.

Besides his vast collection of hits, 73-year-old Billy’s Motor City stop — his first since 2014 — featured several Motown covers, including Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard it Through the Grapevine” and Martha & the Vandellas‘ “Dancing in the Streets,” the latter of which Billy slipped into his own 1993 hit, “River of Dreams.”

Van Halen’s David Lee Roth debuts new solo song “Pointing at the Moon”

July 11, 2022 by Classic Rock 93.9

David Lee Roth has premiered a new solo song titled “Pointing at the Moon,” which you can check out now at the longtime Van Halen singer’s official YouTube channel.

Accompanying the acoustic-based, Americana-flavored tune is a new abstract painting by Roth bearing the same name, which he also posted on his official website and social media pages. No information about the song has been revealed.

The track begins with a solo piano intro, followed by a strummed acoustic guitar as Roth sings the enigmatic first verse, “From the mildew to the barbecue, you came through from the classroom to the tomb/ Moment of truth now, your bags are packed/ With lies you can go forward, but you cannot go back.”

“Pointing at the Moon” doesn’t appear to be available yet via any major digital music providers. The song is the first solo tune Roth has debuted since December 2021, when he premiered a video on his YouTube channel along with an acoustic-based song called “One Piece Thermo-Molded Country Plastic Chair,” which he dedicated “to all who are affected by and recovering from the Kentucky tornadoes.”

Roth has been relatively quiet since canceling a series of Las Vegas residency shows in January because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Diamond Dave had announced in an October 2021 interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he was planning to retire after the residency.

Santana postpones six more shows following Carlos Santana’s onstage collapse last week

July 10, 2022 by Classic Rock 93.9

Following Carlos Santana‘s onstage collapse last Tuesday during a show in the Detroit suburb of Clarkston, Michigan, his band immediately postponed a concert the following night in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania, and now the group has postponed six additional performances.

The affected shows, which will be rescheduled, were to have taken place on June 8 in Noblesville, Indiana; June 9 in Cincinnati; July 10 in Milwaukee as part of the city’s Summerfest event; July 12 in Rogers, Arkansas; July 15 in Dallas, Texas; and July 16 in the Houston suburb of The Woodlands, Texas.

Carlos’ illness during the Clarkston show has been reported as “serious heat exhaustion and dehydration,” and the guitar legend’s manager, Michael Vrionis, explains in a statement that the concerts are being postponed “out of an abundance of caution for the artist’s health.”

He adds, “Doctor’s have recommended that Mr. Santana gets rest to recuperate fully.” Carlos will turn 75 on July 20

Santana is scheduled to resume touring on July 23 with a performance at the California Mid-State Fair in Paso Robles, California.

“Carlos is doing well and is anxious to be back on stage soon. He just needs rest,” Vrionis says. “Santana profoundly regrets…these postponements of his upcoming performances; but, his health is our number one concern. He is looking forward to seeing all of his fans very soon.”

Tickets purchased for the postponed concerts will be honored for the rescheduled dates. Visit Santana.com to check out all of the band’s confirmed shows.

Neil Young says new album with Crazy Horse due out later this year

July 8, 2022 by Classic Rock 93.9

Neil Young has revealed that he just finished making a new studio album with Crazy Horse that he co-produced with Rick Rubin.

In a message posted Thursday on his Neil Young Archives website, the 76-year-old folk-rock legend explains that he’d like to release the album immediately, “but it won’t be out until later in this year,” because it will take some time for the vinyl to be manufactured.

“Listeners want vinyl for its quality and it’s worth waiting for,” he says, adding that some tracks from the album will be made available one at a time in advance leading up to the record’s release.

“With this recording, something special is happening and we know we have a good one,” Young enthuses about the new project. “It’s too early to say any more because in this world things come and go so fast. But real magic lasts and we think we have it.”

The as-yet-untitled album is a follow-up to Barn, which Young and Crazy Horse recorded in June 2021 and released in December.

“It’s the same band, Crazy Horse, but the music is unlike Barn, our last offering,” Neil writes. “Music lives!!!!! Two records made in one year!!!!!!!”

Collective Soul announces new album, ’Vibrating’

July 8, 2022 by Classic Rock 93.9

Collective Soul has announced a new album called Vibrating.

The 11th studio effort from the “Shine” rockers will arrive August 12. The first single titled “All Our Pieces” is available now via digital outlets. You can watch its accompanying lyric video streaming now on YouTube.

“Our fans have been waiting for Vibrating for almost three years now, and I can’t wait for them to hear it,” says frontman Ed Roland. “They’re excited because both [2015’s] See What You Started and [2019’s] Blood set such a high standard for where we’re going as a band, and it’s only going to continue getting better with Vibrating. I really do believe that.”

Before Vibrating drops, Collective Soul will launch a U.S. co-headlining tour with Switchfoot July 15 in Gary, Indiana.

Here’s the Vibrating track list:

“Cut the Cord”
“Reason”
“All Our Pieces”
“Take”
“Undone”
“Rule No. 1”
“A Conversation With”
“Just Looking Around”
“Back Again”
“Where Do I Go”

Blondie releases rare 1980 demo as advance track from upcoming ‘Against the Odds’ box set

July 8, 2022 by Classic Rock 93.9

Blondie has released a rare demo of a song called “I Love You Honey, Give Me a Beer” that was recorded in 1980 and that will be featured on the band’s expansive forthcoming box set, Blondie: Against the Odds 1974-1982, which is due out August 26.

The track, which is available now via digital formats, is an early version of “Go Through It,” a country-flavored tune that appeared on the band’s hit 1980 album, Autoamerican.

As previously reported, Against the Odds focuses on the influential New Wave band’s original heyday and is fully authorized by the group.

The retrospective, which can be preordered now, will be available in multiple formats and configurations, including an eight-CD set and a super deluxe collectors’ edition that features 10 12-inch vinyl LPs, a 10-inch LP and a 7-inch vinyl single.

The vinyl box set features 124 tracks, 36 of which are previously unreleased. The collection contains remastered versions of Blondie’s first six studio albums — 1976’s Blondie, 1977’s Plastic Letters, 1978’s Parallel Lines, 1979’s Eat to the Beat, Autoamerican and 1982’s The Hunter — and four LPs of outtakes, demos, remixes, alternate versions, home recordings and other rarities.

The 10-inch disc features additional rarities from 1974 and ’75, while the vinyl single boasts a cover of The Doors‘ “Moonlight Drive” and a demo of the song “Mr. Sightseer.”

The box set also includes extensive liner notes and track-by-track commentary from Blondie’s Debbie Harry, Chris Stein and Clem Burke, and from former members Jimmy Destri, Nigel Harrison, Frank Infante and Gary Valentine.

Blondie: Against the Odds also will be available as a four-LP package, a three-CD set and digitally.

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