My Roots

If you live outside the New York City circumference, there is a good chance that The Compulsions is not in your rock & roll vocabulary. Not that they suck, it’s just a simple case of a band that has not had the luxury of venturing out of their backyard. But that may be coming to an end as there is positive label interest in their debut full-length, Beat The Devil.

Fronting the Roxy Gunn Project for only a little over a year now, the band is percolating just under the rock & roll radar. But things are really beginning to kick in. Late last year Roxy was picked to play the part of Michael Pare’ and Diane Lane’s musician daughter in the movie sequel to Street Of Fire, which should premier sometime later this year. The band also contributed both original songs and material written by Jim Steinman, who is most recognized for penning songs for Meatloaf and Bonnie Tyler. It was an exciting time for Roxy and her band, which consists of guitar player Jon Mills, bass player Chris Reject and drummer Ryan J.

Do you ever wonder if professional musicians are really happy? They claim to love their time on the stage but most of the other hours tend to be a series of bus rides, generic dressing rooms, interviews with journalists and lots of sitting around doing nothing. After a while this can become insanely monotonous. But if you listen to Megadeth’s bass player Dave Ellefson talk, you get the impression that life on the road and in the studio is nothing short of total bliss.

Slowly the Syracuse, New York band Brand New Sin has been building a following up and down the East Coast with their unique brand of punk-flavored rock & roll. With original guitar player taking over the lead vocal spot a few years ago and with the addition of new guitar player Tommy Matkowski, BNS is finally seeing all their hard work and hard-headed determination pay off with more touring dates, even more fans and a new CD called United State

You wouldn’t think that a man who plays atomic guitar riffs for Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie would be so "normal"," but that is exactly what John 5 is.

Jack Blades is driving. After talking for a few minutes about his new solo record Rock N Roll Ride, he has to switch to his cell phone and finish our interview as he heads out on an errand.  The Night Ranger front-man is exactly as you would imagine him to be: friendly, energetic, happy. If you thought maybe his stage persona of the hyperactive lead singer running all over the stage, singing and talking fast was just part of the performance – rest assured, Jack Blades has no plans on slowing down anytime soon.

Most know guitarist Steve Morse as the lead guitarist for Deep Purple since 1994, replacing the legendary Ritchie Blackmore. However most recently, Morse has joined forces with ex-Dream Theater drum hero Mike Portnoy, vocalist Casey McPherson, multi-instrumentalist Neal Morse and bass player Dave LaRue to record an eclectic new CD with a band they have dubbed Flying Colors.

For a man who has been out on the concert trail for a number of months, Richard Fortus is feeling surprisingly invigorated. The guitar player for Guns N Roses and The Compulsions, has been rocking across the country but he is finally home in St Louis, happily surrounded by his family and far away from the lights, the fans and the long bus rides.

Jack Russell had the world in the palm of his hand. Then poof – it disappeared before his very eyes and he found himself on the outside looking in. And outside was not a safe place to be. Waking up to the hum of machines and a voice whispering that a friend had died is a cruel reality check. Jack Russell needed to wake up before it was too late.

Probably one of the most popular young bands out there today, Art Of Dying has become the darlings of rock & roll. Last year they traveled the country as part of the Uproar Festival and rode a big kahuna wave right up the charts with their first two singles “Die Trying” and “Get Thru This”. And with their fan base growing larger every day, they are certainly feeling pretty good.