Classic Rock News

South By Southwest kicks off Friday and Rock & Roll Hall of Famers The Zombies will be there for several shows, which frontman Colin Blunstone is thrilled about.

“It’s a very exciting place to be, Austin at South by Southwest,” Blunstone tells ABC Audio. “There are bands playing everywhere, in every doorway and every bar.”

And as it turns out, when he says everywhere he means it.

“I remember one of our early ones, I really hope we play back there, it’s someone’s bicycle shop, you know, Fred somebody’s bicycle shop,” he recalls. “And somebody said to me afterwards, ‘What a great name for a club.’ And I said, ‘No, it’s not a club, it’s a bicycle shop. We just play in there amongst the bicycles.’” He adds, “You know you just play in the strangest places and in some ways, it sort of adds to the excitement really.” 

The Zombies will also be celebrating their new documentary, Hung Up On A Dream, which will have its world premiere at the festival on March 12, with another screening on March 17.

“It’s a little bit of everything,” Blunstone says of the doc. “They did follow us, there will be some live playing in it and there is some old video, as well. I’m sure it’ll be great. The people who filmed it are wonderful professionals and made us feel very easy.” (

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U2‘s Adam Clayton is helping his fellow bassists out there. The rocker has teamed up with Fender for their first-ever all-tube bass combo amp in 40 years, dubbed the Adam Clayton ACB 50 Amp. It is described as being perfect “for the studio, club or arena stage.” 

“I’ve worked very hard with Fender on the Adam Clayton ACB 50 Bass Amp and I’m immensely proud of our creation,” Clayton shares. “I always found when I was starting out that it was very hard to find an amp that offered the mid-range distorted sound that I liked. This amp offers it in spades.” He adds, “It’s also very versatile, and if you’re moving around a lot or if you don’t have much space where you practice, then this is the amp for you.”

The amp is made of black textured vinyl, with a chrome panel, chicken head knobs and an aged silver grille cloth. It is available now for almost $2,200.

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Van Morrison is giving fans one more taste of his new record, Moving on Skiffle, before it’s finally released on Friday. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer just shared the new track “Freight Train,” his interpretation of the American folk song written by Elizabeth Cotten in the early 20th century. 

The 23-track Moving on Skiffle is being released as a two-CD set, as a two-LP vinyl package, on cassette and via digital formats. It features a variety of cover tunes reworked by Van, including the already released “Worried Man Blues,” “This Loving Light of Mine” and “Streamline Train.”

Van is set to promote the album with a series of European dates, including March 13, 14 and 15 at The Stables in Milton Keynes, England, and April 6 and 7 at Whitla Hall in Belfast, Ireland. He hits the U.S. in September with a three-night Las Vegas stand at the Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. A complete list of dates can be found at vanmorrison.com.

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E Street Band guitarist Steve Van Zandt, Sam & Dave’s Sam Moore, Darlene Love and Steve Earle have been chosen as the honorees for the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music’s first-ever American Music Honors. 

The inaugural event will take place April 15 at the Pollak Theatre at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey, the home of the Bruce Springsteen Archives. Jon Stewart has been tapped to host the evening.

“American Music Honors aims to celebrate those artists who have demonstrated artistic excellence, creative integrity, and a longstanding commitment to the value of music in our national consciousness,” Robert Santelli, founding executive director of the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music, says. “All of our inaugural honorees are worthy of acknowledgment and appreciation.” 

Springsteen, his wife, Patti Scialfa, and E Street Band member Garry Tallent will serve as presenters, along with Southside Johnny Lyon of Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes. The night will also feature the Disciples of Soul as the house band.

“This event showcases the ‘American Music’ part of our name and mission,” Patrick Leahy, Monmouth University president and board chair of the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music, adds. “By honoring American music greats, such as those named today, and by creating dynamic education and public programs, along with major museum exhibitions, we make valuable contributions to the understanding and importance of American music in our lives.”

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Sir Rod Stewart is paying for a British fan to receive life-changing medical treatment in America.

Sunday Express reports Rod met a 20-year-old fan named Abi Evans, who has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and has lost the ability to walk, at a charity auction. Mayo Clinic describes the condition as a disorder that affects one’s connective tissue.

Evans told the outlet the legendary singer wanted to know about her condition. “I told him … I have a paralyzed stomach and nerve damage in my legs which means I can’t walk, but there was a possibility of treatment abroad that could make me better,” she recalled. 

Evans said Stewart offered to help her obtain the treatment. “He is sending me to get stem cell treatment in America,” she said, adding he said he “is going to help in a number of other ways.”

“I explained how a rare condition like mine hugely benefits from awareness, that leads to advances in research. He understood that and with his profile said he would help,” she explained. Evans said Stewart wants to “make life a bit better for other people with the condition as well.”

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Former Lynyrd Skynyrd drummer Artimus Pyle has paid tribute to his late bandmate Gary Rossington, who passed away Sunday at the age of 71. Pyle, who replaced original drummer Bob Burns in 1975, tells Rolling Stone that after hearing the news of Rossington’s death he went back and looked at the final texts they sent to each other.

“I’ve already gone back, looked at them, and read the entire thread between Gary and I,” he tells the mag. “And I will cherish these texts for the rest of my life.”

Talking about the band, Pyle shared, “When Bob, Gary and [singer] Ronnie [Van Zant] got together in Bob’s carport on the west side of Jacksonville, Florida, they put something together that went worldwide.” He added, “Everyone will remember Gary as a road dog, trouper, songwriter, and one of the greatest guitar players that ever lived. He just loved being onstage.”

And while Pyle went on to sue members of Lynyrd Skynyrd over a movie about the band’s 1977 plane crash that killed Van Zant, Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines and others, he says he’s ready to put that in the past. Pyle notes, “I don’t want to ever talk about it again — the music business did not kill our love for the music, it never did. Gary’s place in music history is rock solid. Fly on, fly high, our free bird brother.”

Rossington was the final living member of the original Lynyrd Skynyrd, and with his death Pyle is now the only living Lynyrd Skynyrd member inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with the band. “As it turns out, being the last living member of Lynyrd Skynyrd is not all it’s cracked up to be,” Pyle says. “It’s painful, and I’m trying to process it and deal with it.”

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On This Day, March 7, 1975…

David Bowie released his ninth studio album, Young Americans, which was considered a departure from his glam-rock style, focusing more on soul and R&B influences. 

The album, which featured backing vocals by a then-unknown singer named Luther Vandross, debuted in the Billboard 200 top 10 in the U.S. and remained on the chart for 51 weeks.

The album’s second single, “Fame,” became Bowie’s first number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The album’s first single, the title track, peaked at 28 on the chart.

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Red Hot Chili Peppers are headlining the 2023 Sound On Sound festival, taking place September 30 and October 1 in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

The bill also includes Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, Alanis Morissette, Hozier, Lord Huron, Dispatch, Mt. Joy and John Mayer, among others.

Tickets go on sale Thursday, March 9, at noon ET. For the full lineup and all ticket info, visit SoundonSoundCT.com.

Before playing Sound On Sound, Red Hot Chili Peppers will launch a U.S. headlining tour in April in support of their two 2022 albums, Unlimited Love and Return of the Dream Canteen.

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When Peter Gabriel recently announced his new album, i/o, he said he’d be dropping a new song with each full moon. For March’s full moon he’s shared the new track “Playing for Time,” which he wrote and produced.

“’Playing for Time’ is a song that I have been working on for a long time and have performed live, without lyrics, so some people may be familiar with it,” Gabriel shares. “It’s been an important song for me. It’s about time, mortality and memories and the idea that each of us has a planet full of memories which get stashed inside the brain.” 

This is the third track Gabriel has released from i/o, his first new album in 20 years. He’s already shared “The Court (Dark-Side remix)” and “Panopticom.”

So far the album does not have an exact release date but it is expected to come out this year.

And now fans in the U.S. and Canada are going to get to see Gabriel perform his new music this fall. He’s added 12 new North American dates to his i/o – The Tour, kicking off September 8 in Quebec City, Canada. The first U.S. date scheduled is September 14 in Boston, with the tour hitting Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, Seattle and San Francisco before wrapping October 13 in Los Angeles. More U.S. dates are expected to be announced.

Tickets for the North American leg go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. local time. You can find a complete list of dates at petergabriel.com.

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U2 is releasing their new album, Songs of Surrender, on March 17, featuring reworked and rerecorded classics. But fans are anxious for new material from the band, and in an interview with Rolling Stone, guitarist The Edge says they’ve “been busy” working on that.

“Even leading up to the lockdown, we had a lot of interesting stuff, some of which is almost finished,” he says. “We’re kind of spoiled for choice. There’s an embarrassment of riches of new material.”

Bono previously described what they were working on as a “guitar album.” Edge says he thinks it’s time for “a resurgence of interest in guitar,” noting it’s “been in the wilderness for a little while” with regard to streaming music charts. 

“I think it would be wonderful and very welcome for us to make some music that is more driven by guitar. That is the intention,” he says. “That isn’t to say we are turning into AC/DC, but we will find a way to use the instrument in a fresh way as much as possible. It’s still my first love for me as an instrument.”

As for when fans can expect it, Edge says he would love to get it out “as soon as possible,” adding, “we’ve been busy and very inspired creating new stuff.”

Meanwhile, U2 has certainly had quite a career and there are likely plenty of stories to tell, and it sounds like Edge is open to telling them on the big screen.

“I definitely could see that coming at some point. Why not?” he says, when asked if they’d do a biopic. “There’s been some great ones recently. It will have to be the right moment, the right team. But I wouldn’t rule it out.”

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