My Roots Archives - Page 36 of 44

Dennis Dunaway of Original Alice Cooper Band (INTERVIEW)

Leslie Michele Derrough April 29, 2013 No Comments

Dennis Dunaway was there at the beginning and co-wrote some of Alice Cooper's most notable songs, including "I'm Eighteen" and "School's Out". He ran track with pre-Alice Vince Furnier in high school and prodded him to start a band after seeing the great guitar slinger Duane Eddy. And it is Dunaway who is the keeper of the memories, a title that makes him laugh when I call him this during our interview earlier this year. But his stories of days-gone-by belie his denial as they are vividly clear, told with surprising detail and in such a way that the listener is kept spellbound as if the event happened yesterday, as if you were actually there with bass player Dunaway, drummer Neal Smith, guitarists Michael Bruce and Glen Buxton (who passed away in 1997) and ringleader Cooper.

Howard Leese – Formerly of Heart- 2013 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee (INTERVIEW)

Leslie Michele Derrough April 22, 2013 No Comments

They call Howard Leese a lucky man: he has had a brilliant career, playing guitar for Heart from 1975 to 1997; he has played with Paul Rodgers in Bad Company and Rodgers’ solo band for over a decade; he released a great solo album in 2009; has his own signature guitar at PRS; got to see The Doors performing live on the Strip; is currently a member of the new Vegas show Raiding The Rock Vault; and last week was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame with Heart. How much more can one man be blessed with in a career?

Jeff Pilson of Foreigner (INTERVIEW)

Leslie Michele Derrough April 14, 2013 No Comments

There is no one in the music business with more energy and enthusiasm for their job than Jeff Pilson. The man is always happy, always smiling, always involved in something; whether it be traveling around the country as the bass player for Foreigner, producing records for bands like Adler and Kill Devil Hill, or recording his own music with T&N or War & Peace. He never stops. Even though he tells me, “When I’m done at the end of the day, I like to just relax and veg,” he breaks into a big laugh like even he doesn’t believe that ever happens.

Beth Hart Is Rock’s New Blues Queen (INTERVIEW)

Leslie Michele Derrough April 8, 2013 No Comments

It is the voice that turns your head in her direction. Whether it is Jeff Beck, Joe Bonamassa or Slash playing guitar behind her, your attention immediately changes direction and in seconds flat you are enraptured by what is emanating from this woman’s throat. Whether she is belting out the heartbreaking “Sister Heroine” about her dying sister or channeling a raunchy Ray Charles on “Sinner’s Prayer,” Beth Hart has got it.

Michael Sweet of Stryper Strikes Back (INTERVIEW)

Leslie Michele Derrough April 1, 2013 No Comments

Michael Sweet, the voice of Stryper, has made a pretty good living in music all these years. He has recorded solo albums, fronted the legendary band Boston on tour as well as T&N, a unit that features the members of Dokken sans Don. He always appears jovial and comfortable in his faith. Hard knocks have not beaten him down. Not even when he lost his beloved first wife to cancer, on which the anniversary of her passing was also the date of our scheduled interview.

Jay Collins of The Gregg Allman Band (INTERVIEW)

Leslie Michele Derrough March 25, 2013 No Comments

For over the past decade, Jay Collins has been blowing his sax in the Gregg Allman Band. What you may not know is that Collins also has his own group called The Kings County Band and that their latest CD, Rivers Blues & Other People, features Collins not only doing what he does best but singing as well. His voice, tinted with a husky old-timer’s good-time vibe, brings new life to tunes by Bob Dylan and Robert Johnson as well as to foot-tapping originals like “Mighty Mississippi” and “Mary Ann’s.” He is a renaissance man in more ways than one. A master on horns, he has a jazz and blues shaded heart that compliments Allman’s southern blues rock almost perfectly. And his story of how he got this far is not well known.

Shooter Jennings Gets His Own Song On (INTERVIEW)

Leslie Michele Derrough March 18, 2013 No Comments

This is new territory for Jennings. Choosing not to cancel the show because of some unforeseen issues, he headed to the Crescent City after playing SXSW while his band headed on to the next shows in Florida. He has done solo before but never quite like this. It is just him, alone, except for the black guitar he whips into a frenzy during the first half of his set, and an old piano that the venue had on hand.

Jeff Scott Soto Sings For The Aces (INTERVIEW)

Leslie Michele Derrough March 11, 2013 No Comments

If the name Jeff Scott Soto sounds familiar but you can’t quite place what band he played in, all one has to say is Yngwie and it should immediately click. Singing on the Swedish guitar shredder’s first two albums in the mid-80’s prepared him for life on the road and in the heavy metal spotlight. Probably his most lucrative project was Talisman with former Yngwie bandmate, the late Marcel Jacob, who passed away in 2009.

Vivian Campbell of Def Leppard Is No Longer The New Guy (INTERVIEW)

Leslie Michele Derrough March 4, 2013 No Comments

Vivian Campbell who had a good career going even before he joined the British hit-making band, having played with Dio and Whitesnake, is revving up for several new projects on his musical horizon. First, he will be joining his bandmates for a rock & roll residency in Las Vegas, called Viva Hysteria, from March 22 to April 10. Playing the entire Hysteria album in it’s entirety is only part of the show.

Jake Pitts of Black Veil Brides (INTERVIEW)

Leslie Michele Derrough February 25, 2013 No Comments

They are young and wild and free and conquering the world. Stirring up the rock & roll waters with their previous hits “Rebel Love Song,” “Fallen Angels” and “Set The World On Fire,” Black Veil Brides have become the youth gone wild’s inner voice. Although chided for their smudged-up early Motley Crue look, their lyrics have enabled the band to step out of idolization and into a spotlight all their own.

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