My Roots

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 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.

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.

For Jordan, this is another fountain of youth moment that she hopes to keep drinking from. Having been in the business over thirty years, her bluesy voice and kinetic energy has brought her many highlights: singing with Joe Cocker on The Bodyguard soundtrack, being a judge on Canadian Idol, doing some acting and most notably belting out songs from her heart and her gut.With the S.U.N. album just hitting on February 12, Jordan was hanging out in California creating yet more music.

“It’s going to be a crazy year,” Devon Allman says with a smile as he works on his guitar before his show in New Orleans on New Year’s Eve. Starting the year off with a bang with his bandmates in Royal Southern Brotherhood, Allman has been touring almost non-stop since. But we were able to catch the young blues man on a rare day at home in St Louis, fresh from the Rock Legends Cruise, to talk about his new solo album, which officially premiers tomorrow, February 12.

For over a decade, the Canadian trio Triumph was the darling of its home country, eventually crossing over to break into the American music charts with “Lay It On The Line,” “Never Surrender” and “Somebody’s Out There.” But by 1988, vocalist/guitar player Rik Emmett was feeling the need to leave the band and do something fresh. Venturing out on his own, his first album, Absolutely, was a nice success, spawning the emotional ballad “When A Heart Breaks.”

Craig Chaquico should write a book. The former lead guitar player for Jefferson Starship, who now has a thriving solo career, has lots of great stories; some of which he shared with Glide when he called in to talk with me about his new album Fire Red Moon

If you want to know what it’s like to be young and following your dream in the music business, look no further than Texas-native Tyler Bryant. He is the epitome of youth with a grounded sense of who he is and how he can not only be the best guitar player he can be but be the best person he can be. With a solid foundation of family, friends and mentors, twenty-one year old Bryant has been able to go from wanting to be Elvis while in first grade to actually playing guitar like his idols Stevie Ray Vaughan and Lightnin’ Hopkins. He may be young at heart but his heart has been fermenting in the old blues.

Steve Lukather is feeling good. He answers the phone for our interview with a jovial “Hellllooooo, Darling” and is ready and raring to talk: “Ask me anything. Nothing is taboo.” Actually, what he is really anxious to talk about is his new upcoming solo album Transition, which debuts next week on January 22.

After a nice break for the holidays, MY ROOTS returns this week with something a little different to welcome in the new year. A few months ago, I sat down with the three musicians who make up the core of Slash’s solo band: bass player Todd Kerns, drummer Brent Fitz and newest member Frank Sidoris. But instead of doing an interview the old-fashioned way, we did a sort of round robin that was both serious and fun.