My Roots

To leave a popular band is a pretty gutsy move. But for guitar player Rob Caggiano, it was the right move. “I shared some of the best times of my life with these guys,” he explained in his official statement in early 2013 upon his departure from Anthrax. “This is an extremely difficult and emotional […]

It’s the early 1970’s and Joe Elliott is a kid in Sheffield listening to some music when he discovers Mott The Hoople, that quirky yet rocking band featuring a curly-haired dynamo named Ian Hunter. And it literally changes his life. Move ahead to 2009 and Elliott, now a famous frontman himself for the British band […]

During football season, every team gets a bye week to rest up and reorganize in preparation for the rest of the season. This is one of those weeks here at MY ROOTS. So as not to leave you in the stands with no one to cheer for, I have prepared for you a little bratwurst […]

It’s two days following the death of Stooges drummer Scott Asheton and James Williamson has a full day of press ahead of him. Our interview had been booked two weeks prior but who knew a tragedy would strike someone close to him. Williamson, however, didn’t want to cancel. “You know, it’s not going to be […]

“I’m a little bit shell-shocked today,” guitarist Andy Summers said with a laugh a few weeks ago when I called him for an afternoon interview. “We’ve been making this insane video till after midnight last night where we were throwing paint all over each other. That was intense. And we did that time and time […]

If you only know Bernie Worrell funking it up with Parliament-Funkadelic, then his new solo CD will certainly surprise you. Titled Elevation, it is a beautiful, zen-like journey via the keys of a baby grand piano. The conception of producer Bill Laswell, together they created an illuminating body of music featuring redefinitions of Coltrane’s “Alabama,” […]

With her youthful charm and lovely voice, she stands in front of a sold out crowd at the Avalon in Hollywood, lightly strumming her acoustic guitar and singing a song about California; although California is a metaphor for a lot of things. For such a young soul, she has a lot on her mind. Blending […]

Getting some props from Ringo Starr is a pretty big deal. The purveyor of peace and love may not have been the best drummer in rock & roll but he was, after all, in the greatest band in musical history. So when he pops up the other day and says Matt Sorum was “the best […]

This past weekend, Benmont Tench, organ/piano/keyboard player for Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, was venturing out on his own to play some shows at one of his favorite haunts, Largo, in Los Angeles. Since his debut solo album was unleashed to the public on February 18, Tench wanted to stretch out the songs’ sea legs […]

If I asked you to name a Styx song, I bet within two seconds you could spout one off: “Renegade,” “Lady,” “Crystal Ball,” “Blue Collar Man,” “Too Much Time On My Hands.” Still touring, still selling out venues large and small, Styx was an iconic band of the 1970’s that remains still relevant in today’s […]

“I’m going to come over to your place and dance naked in the shower.” That is what Moody Blues drummer Graeme Edge joked about doing as soon as the band’s Second annual Moody Blues Cruise returns to port this spring. The only remaining original member in the legendary British band, Edge’s sense of humor is […]

From the swampy opening notes of Damon Fowler’s new CD, Sounds Of Home, you get the feeling that this is going to be good. Not exactly a greenhorn but still fresh enough to be pulling out some exciting new licks, Florida bred Fowler is finally getting the recognition he deserves as his third Blind Pig […]

It’s a quiet night in mid-December and Jake E Lee has been talking a long time. You can hear it in his voice. The vocal chords are becoming just a little tired but the enthusiasm shows no sign of wavering. Jake E Lee is back and every guitar hero worshiper in the modern world is […]

With a springy hit single called “Anybody,” which debuted last year, and snappy killer performances at Lollapalooza and the Voodoo Music Experience, Bad Things have already perked up the ears of music fans who like a little synth- rock mixed into their daily iPod shuffling. Along with the punk “Fool” and the new wave-ish “Caught […]

Have you ever had one of those moments where you see someone new perform and you think, damn, he just kicked ass – and then you have that gnawing feeling that you’ve heard him before? I had one of those moments recently. I’m watching the Kings Of Chaos concert out in LA and Franky Perez […]

Hello 2014, what a great year you are looking to be. And what better way to kick off MY ROOTS than with Steve Stevens, the longtime guitar player for Billy Idol and, more recently, Kings Of Chaos. After thirty years in the business, Stevens is still redefining himself as a musician. In 1999, he released […]

There are three things you need to know about Wild Mick Brown, drummer for both Dokken and Ted Nugent: First, his moniker is not by chance. The man knows how to party wild and there are many, many stories to prove it; most recently his little incident involving a “high speed” chase on a “stolen” […]

Before 2013 goes out with a bang via a big, fun, no-holding-back interview, I decided to spend our column this week taking a moment to reflect back on MY ROOTS this year. With 54 musicians interviewed, this column has been steadily evolving since it’s inception in late 2011 from a fun, simple, jump back in […]

Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know – Pema Chodron When you sit down and have a conversation with Ian Astbury, he is always calm, he is always intelligent, he is always funny. He has a light in his eyes that dances one moment but can darken just […]

On April 10, 2012, the Pennsylvania hard rock band Halestorm released their sophomore album titled The Strange Case Of … Now, what makes this particular piece of information interesting is that it is now December 2013 and that record is still going strong, with another hit single this fall in “Here’s To Us” that features […]