It must feel good being Mark Tremonti right about now. Among the 20th century’s most respected guitar players, he is sitting on top of the world with not one but three bands: Creed, Alter Bridge and his new power trio Tremonti. Not bad for a heavy metal loving math nerd who once worked at Chili’s.
Whether you were a kid in the 60’s or the 80’s, you probably at some point caught a TV show about four fun-loving hippyish musicians who were always getting into some kind of hilarious mischief. Known as the Monkee, ith a new solo recording titled Remember, which debuted September 25, Dolenz found some time last month to talk with Glide about his new album, his days in the Monkees and how the upcoming reunion tour will not be a melancholy requiem.
You may have thought that Joe Walsh has led a very exciting life. Rock stars have all the fun, right? But living the rock star life finally takes it’s toll and one day you wake up and realize that life hasn’t been so good after all.
Steve Vai’s brain must be such an interesting place to explore. The music he creates from looking inside swirl around in a universe full of light and spirituality. From discovering keys on a piano at a very young age to falling under the spell of an electric guitar a few years later, Vai has taken transcendental meditation to an all-new arena.
If getting older conjures up images of sitting on a porch swing and remembering what you used to be, then don’t tell the guys in the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Actually, Duran Duran has always been a bit voyeuristic in their musical style. Rising to gigantic heights with 1982’s Rio, they were the musical equivalent of Miami Vice without the more cutting edge of Eurythmics. Young girls loved them. Young boys loved them. Rocker kids didn’t. But thirty years down the fashion runway of music, Duran Duran is still selling out major venues with most of their original line-up still intact.
The angelic voice that launched “Manic Monday” and “Eternal Flame” hasn’t faltered much in the years since the eye-popping heyday of The Bangles. The genuineness of Susanna Hoffs’ vocals on her latest album, Someday, is as sparkling as ever on such tunes as “Picture Me,” “Always Enough” and “Regret.”
Don Dokken is ready for some changes. With the release of his namesake’s latest, and possibly last, album under the Dokken monikor, he is contemplating some new and exciting pursuits; one being a project with guitar phenom Michael Schenker
For a while in the 1990’s, the Smashing Pumpkins had a whirlwind ride, spitting out singles such as “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” and “Zero” that enraptured listeners with a searing dose of alternative corrosiveness from the psyche of frontman Billy Corgan. It touched a nerve and brought the band to the height of fame. Now in 2012, Iha has put together a reflective solo album titled Look To The Sky and last month took a little time while home in New York to call in to talk about his “cool” youth and what inspired him to go back into the studio.
When Poison breaks into “Nothin’ But A Good Time” they could very well be singing the theme song for this summer traveling extravaganza with headliners Def Leppard and the back-in-black-leather Lita Ford. Dubbed the Rock Of Ages tour, these 80’s icons have been kicking up their heels and definitely having a good time rolling across America playing in the heat and humidity of the sheds. “It’s hot and sticky in here,” expressed Bret Michaels happily. “Just the way I like it.”
