Rock Report January 30th, 2012

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SHINEDOWN has announced plans to headline this year's eagerly awaited Avalanche Tour. The North American trek gets underway on March 27 in Anaheim, California and then continues through late April, and includes an April 13^th stop at Milwaukee’s Rave. Accompanying SHINEDOWN will be ADELITA'S WAY, NEW MEDICINE, and ART OF DYING. Pre-sale tickets will be available to members of the official SHINEDOWN fan club, beginning January 31. More and more

Los Angeles Times spoke to VAN HALEN singer David Lee Roth and producer John Shanks about the making of the the band's new album, "A Different Kind Of Truth", which will arrive on February 7. Asked about going back and excavating pieces of unrecorded songs, lyrics from old notebooks and half-pursued concepts to build the new VAN HALEN album Roth replied: "It's material that Eddie and I generated, literally, in 1975, 1976 and 1977. Usually fellas in our weight division will kind of gamely — or ironically, wink, wink — try to hail back to it [but] keep a safe, mature distance from it." More and more and more 

Former VAN HALEN bassist Michael Anthony says he's looking forward to hearing the band's new album because it includes material that he recorded with the group before they got signed in the 1970s.  Speaking to the U.K. digital radio station Planet Rock, Anthony said, "They [the current lineup of VAN HALEN] played a show in New York the other week. There was [a] song they played called 'She's The Woman', which is actually a song that was, basically, written before I even joined VAN HALEN." During the same interview, Anthony said he has no plans to go after his former bandmates for songwriting credit on the reworked compositions on the new VAN HALEN album, "A Different Kind of Truth", despite their former policy of crediting all members equally. "I don't want to do anything," he said. "I just let it be." He added, "And, hey, it'll be nice to hear some of those old songs again that I haven't played in a long time." More 

Radio Metal recently conducted an interview with CHICKENFOOT/ex-VAN HALEN singer Sammy Hagar. More and more and more

KCAL Rocks, conducted an interview with IRON MAIDEN drummer Nicko McBrain at the 2012 National Association Of Music Merchants show, and when asked about what is going on with IRON MAIDEN at the moment, Nicko replied, "Well, we're taking some time off. And we're gonna go back out on tour sometime this year. We're not sure yet when.  IRON MAIDEN is touring sometime this year, yeah. I don't think [it will be a world tour this time]. Next year, maybe. But this year, it's just gonna be a little tour — short run." More

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GUNS N' ROSES have update their live itinerary with the announcement of a string of US dates next month, including three intimate New York shows, and a February 19^th show at Chicago’s House of Blues. A pre-sale for tickets will be available January 31st via the band's website. More and more and more 

In a brand new interview with the QMI Agency, AEROSMITH guitarist Joe Perry spoke about the progress of the recording sessions for the band's long-awaited new album, which is tentatively due later this year. When asked about the sound of AEROSMITH's new material, Perry said, "It definitely has a feel like some of the early stuff. We've tried to bring that back. People are always asking for something that sounds like the old stuff, but you can't rewrite 'Mama Kin' or 'Same Old Song And Dance'. All you can do is go in and start from the same place you started when you made those records. So we just went in with (producer) Jack Douglas and we all worked on the record. There's a song or two that the band helped write, and Tom (Hamilton, bass) wrote and Brad (Whitford, guitar) has a track on there. So from that point of view, it's a lot more like an early AEROSMITH record. We were all in the room when we were pulling these songs together and recording them. Every way that we used to make our records, that's what we did to get this to where it is. Right down to what we're doing now, which is going over the tracks and bringing them up to speed. Steven [Tyler] is finishing up the lyrics and we're just going to put the finishing touches on it." More

Aaron Lewis has received two Academy Of Country Music nominations for his debut country single, "Country Boy". Lewis was nominated in the "Vocal Event of the Year" category for the song, along with The Academy Of Country Music Awardswill take place at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 1. More

VELVET REVOLVER reunited with singer Scott Weiland for a one-off performance, drummer Matt Sorum spoke to KCAL Rocks, at the 2012 NAMM show and stated about the experience of playing with Weiland again, "It was cool, man. We hadn't played together in a long time. We soundchecked a few songs. We only played, like, three songs. But it was cool to be on stage and play music again. It was like riding a bike. Everyone had a good time and we raised some money for a really sad situation. John O'Brien passed away and left a pregnant wife and another child. And a lot of people turned out for the show… Amazing turnout.”

He added, "We had a good time. Me and Scott worked out some stuff backstage and had talked, and that was nice. He came up to me and he was real humble and really cool. 'Cause stuff happens when you're out on the road and people are tired and you say s***. Everything is on the Internet now; you can't get away with anything. Being in the music business for as long as I have been, I'm still learning lessons. We were out on the road for 18 months. And we got tired and things happened. There's a lot of pressure. You think you'd always wanna do it differently, but stuff goes the way it's gonna go; I can't explain it. We made some good records [with Scott]. The second record [2007's 'Libertad'] didn't get as much action as the first one [2004's 'Contraband'], but I think it's a cool record, too. I liked a lot of that record, and working with [producer] Brendan O'Brien. The first record, obviously, was a huge success for us."

When asked about whether there is any change of VELVET REVOLVER working with Weiland again, Sorum said, "I don't know… We'll see what happens. [VELVET REVOLVER guitarist] Slash is booked up for about another year [touring in support of his upcoming solo album], so I don't know what's gonna go on with anything, to be honest. We haven't discussed it. . . I don't know… I can't say. It hasn't really been discussed, so I don't wanna speak out of turn."

On the topic of why it's been so hard for VELVET REVOLVER to find a replacement for Weiland, Sorum said, "We were trying [to find a new singer last year], but it didn't work out that way. . . We had Corey Taylor [from SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR coming in and writing songs with us]; it's kind of well known. We did some songs, and it just didn't turn everybody on completely. So we, basically, put the brakes on that. I think I was a little bit excited to get going, but maybe that was more excitement than… I thought it was cool, but Slash wasn't into it. And if we're not all firing on the same cylinders, we don't usually… We respect that, you know." More

Vocalist Jesse Leach, who left KILLSWITCH ENGAGE in 2002, was asked byAustralia's Loud magazine if he has been approached to rejoin the band following the recent exit of his replacement, Howard Jones. "I'm not going to comment," he responded. "Everyone wants to know… I'd rather those guys go through what they've got to go through and whenever they make that decision… They're good friends of mine, so I'm respecting their space at the moment. It's more fun, more mystery, too; you don't have to know everything. These days everybody is on Facebook and tweeting everything that happens. What's happened to the mystery of music and not knowing everything?"

He added, "My viewpoint is to respectfully step back from the situation and support them. Whatever decision they make will be the right one for them and I look forward to what it is." More and more

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GREAT WHITE – the version featuring guitarist Mark Kendall, keyboardit/guitarist Michael Lardie, bassist Scott Snyder, drummer Audie Desbrow and singer Terry Illous (formerly of XYZ) - have announced a stretch of 2012 live dates which include an August 11 stop at the Wisconsin State Fair in West Allis. Ticketing details will be released soon. More 

A new three-minute commercial for MÖTLEY CRÜE’s Las Vegas shows has been posted online.

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QMI Agency recently conducted an interview with vocalist Justin Hawkins of THE DARKNESS. More

Legendary Rock Interviews recently conducted an interview with former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach. More

Jose Mangin, host/producer MTV.com's web-only show "Headbangers Ball", recently conducted an interview with the Italian rock/metal band LACUNA COIL.