Month: March 2021

LA hardcore institution Terror link with original guitarist Todd Jones (Nails) to re-record classic songs from their first two LPs, One with the Underdogs and Always the Hard Way.
The post Full Album Stream: Terror – “Trapped in a World” appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

Texas and Mississippi are both lifting their mask mandates and increasing capacity of all businesses and facilities in the states to 100%. This means that social gatherings, including at sports stadiums, concert halls and other large venues, will be allowed in Texas and Mississippi without any restrictions.

Effective March 10, all businesses in Texas will be allowed to open at full capacity for the first time in nearly a year, Gov. Greg Abbott announced. Businesses may still limit capacity or implement additional safety protocols at their own discretion.

“With the medical advancements of vaccines and antibody therapeutic drugs, Texas now has the tools to protect Texans from the virus,” Abbott said after issuing Executive Order GA-34. “We must now do more to restore livelihoods and normalcy for Texans by opening Texas 100%.

“Make no mistake, COVID-19 has not disappeared, but it is clear from the recoveries, vaccinations, reduced hospitalizations, and safe practices that Texans are using that state mandates are no longer needed. Today’s announcement does not abandon safe practices that Texans have mastered over the past year. Instead, it is a reminder that each person has a role to play in their own personal safety and the safety of others. With this executive order, we are ensuring that all businesses and families in Texas have the freedom to determine their own destiny.”

Mississippi on Tuesday issued a separate executive order to lift the state’s mask mandates and give all businesses the green light to reopen at full capacity.

“Starting tomorrow, we are lifting all of our county mask mandates and businesses will be able to operate at full capacity without any state-imposed rules,” Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves wrote on Twitter. “Our hospitalizations and case numbers have plummeted, and the vaccine is being rapidly distributed. It is time!”

More than 3.5 million Texans have so far received at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine, with 1.8 million fully vaccinated. In Mississippi, 14.1% of the state’s residents have had at least one dose, and 7.6% are fully vaccinated.

Iowa and Montana recently lifted statewide mask mandates, while Massachusetts is completely lifting capacity limits on indoor dining, and allowing concert venues to open at 50 percent capacity.

Late last month, Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino said that he was optimistic that large-scale American concerts were closer than ever to returning. He said that “a clear outline to a 75% to 100%” capacity for outdoor U.S. events in 2021 was looking likely to be green-lit.”

Rapino added that the prospect capacity re-opening in the largest U.S. markets with over 75% capacity was “within sight.” He said: “We are seeing… what we’ve been talking about: [fans] are excited to get back to the show as soon as we get the green lights in these markets to open up.”

NEW: Issuing an executive order to lift the mask mandate and open Texas to 100 percent. pic.twitter.com/P4UywmWeuN
— Gov. Greg Abbott (@GovAbbott) March 2, 2021

Starting tomorrow, we are lifting all of our county mask mandates and businesses will be able to operate at full capacity without any state-imposed rules. Our hospitalizations and case numbers have plummeted, and the vaccine is being rapidly distributed. It is time!
— Tate Reeves (@tatereeves) March 2, 2021

Executive orders that interfered with peoples’ lives were the worst, but the only possible, intervention for much of the last year. Now, we are putting our focus towards rapid vaccine distribution. We are getting out of the business of telling people what they can and cannot do.
— Tate Reeves (@tatereeves) March 2, 2021

We’ve been among the 4 or 5 most open states throughout this crisis, and we’ve been rewarded for it with more jobs and economic recovery. That’s not because what we put in place was a light burden. It’s only because the rest of the country was so harsh. That’s good, but…
— Tate Reeves (@tatereeves) March 2, 2021

We need to recognize that none of these orders, in any state, are anything short of unprecedented. They have to end at the earliest possible moment. This is that moment for Mississippi.
— Tate Reeves (@tatereeves) March 2, 2021

One side features the Overrated Special Overdrive and the other side features the Blue Hippo Chorus’ primary mode—with a custom delay time specially suited to Joe’s taste.

A video of ALTER BRIDGE and SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS vocalist Myles Kennedy discussing his new solo single, “In Stride”, and performing it live for the first time at the legendary Fox Theater in Spokane, Washington can be seen below. The track is taken from Kennedy’s sophomore solo album, “The Ides Of March”, which will be released on May 14 via Napalm Records.

During his time at home due to all touring being canceled, Myles created the framework for the song ideas that would make up “The Ides Of March”. He then called up his cohorts from his “Year Of The Tiger” debut — longtime friend and drummer Zia Uddin and bassist/manager Tim Tournier — and the three musicians drove to Florida to record the album with longtime producer Michael “Elvis” Baskette.

From the slide guitar riffs of the album opener “Get Along” to the pensive blues style of closer “Worried Mind”, it is clear that Myles has crafted a formidable follow up to his debut solo album. While “Year Of The Tiger” was more of an acoustic exploration through Myles’s mind, “The Ides Of March” finds him strapping on his electric guitar and pushing himself as a guitarist/songwriter. Tracks like “A Thousand Words”, “Wake Me When It’s Over” and “Moonshot” showcase the diverse musical arrangements that have garnered Myles fans globally across all of his projects. The epic “The Ides Of March” clocks in at over seven minutes, and Myles, Tim and Zia showcase their musical chops on the track.

The first single, “In Stride”, opens with Myles showcasing his slide playing before delivering a lyrical message to “take it all in stride.” The video for “In Stride” marks a return by Stefano Bertelli (who created the recent “Native Son” video for ALTER BRIDGE) and shows an animated Myles as he takes the end of the world in stride.

“Chill out. That pretty much sums it up,” explains Myles about the single. “The lyric paints a picture of a survivalist preparing for an impending zombie apocalypse. It was inspired by the first wave of lockdowns as everyone was buying vast amounts of toilet paper and supplies. I started to ask myself if it might be wise to try and gain some perspective and not overreact… keep calm and carry on.”

“The Ides Of March” track listing:

01. Get Along
02. A Thousand Words
03. In Stride
04. The Ides Of March
05. Wake Me When It’s Over
06. Love Rain Down
07. Tell It Like It Is
08. Moonshot
09. Wanderlust Begins
10. Sifting Through The Fire
11. Worried Mind

In November, Myles told Kylie Olsson about how “The Ides Of March” compares to “Year Of The Tiger”: “It dawned on me last night as I was listening [to the new album], I was, like, ‘You basically made a rock record.’ [Laughs] I don’t know if I went into it with that intention initially. And I feel like it definitely is still a continuation of the overall style that was established for the solo project on ‘Year Of The Tiger’. There’s a fair amount of acoustic instrumentation; there’s a lot of lap steel [guitar]. I love the lap steel; I just love the way you can make it weep — it’s got a very vocal quality. But then I realized there’s just a lot of guitar and a lot more solos — you know, guitar geek stuff that I enjoy.”

A month earlier, Kennedy told Terrie Carr of the Morristown, New Jersey radio station 105.5 WDHA that it was a joy to reconnect with Uddin, Tournier and Baskette for the making of the new LP. “Oh, yeah, it was great,” he said. “It was great, because we actually drove [to the studio in Florida]. So Zia, my drummer, who, we’ve played together for the last 30 years, off and on, since we were in high school. He’s, in my opinion, one of the greatest rock and roll drummers alive; he’s so good, it’s mind-boggling. So we started driving. We left Spokane, with the gear in tow. And then we met Tim about halfway. I think we met somewhere in Tennessee, maybe. Then we after driving to Orlando, we all quarantined. Zia did his drums and then he went home, and then Tim finished up. He hung around for a little while. And then I was there for, I think, seven weeks with Elvis.”

He continued: “It’s a fun environment. We all love each other dearly. I’m serious when I say this: we’re a bunch of middle-aged children. I mean, it’s as if we’ve taken a time machine and we’re in the seventh grade. And the humor is ridiculously silly. I don’t even know how to articulate how ridiculous it gets when you put all of us in a studio together. [Laughs]”

Myles’s tour in support of “Year Of The Tiger” featured music from the album as well as selections from Myles’s work with ALTER BRIDGE, THE MAYFIELD FOUR and SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS.

Photo credit: Chuck Brueckmann

Rob Zombie recently connected with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe to discuss his artistic inspirations and history with WHITE ZOMBIE. Rob also talked about his relationship with Ozzy Osbourne and the unusual first encounter they had together. You can now watch the chat below.

Speaking about Osbourne, Rob said: “Ozzy’s great. I’ve known Ozzy for a long time. We toured together for the first time maybe 20 years ago, but I met him before. The first time I met Ozzy was really weird. I went to his house — I don’t remember why — and that was where I met him, at his house. And I thought, ‘Oh, there’s gonna be a bunch of people. My manager will be there, [Ozzy’s wife] Sharon will be there.’ And it ends up with just me and Ozzy by ourselves; I just met him. And he’s, like, ‘Oh, Rob. I wanna play you my new record.’ So he puts on his new record. I think he’s gonna play one song maybe. He plays the whole album, looking directly at me, singing most of it. And I’m simultaneously thinking, ‘This is awesome,’ and, ‘This is so uncomfortable, I don’t know what to do.'”

Rob’s latest comments come more than a decade after he said that he buried the hatchet with Ozzy over the way two of his bandmembers — bassist Rob “Blasko” Nicholson and drummer Tommy Clufetos — were hired away by Osbourne for Ozzy’s touring band. Nicholson was hired by Ozzy in 2006 while Clufetos left in 2010, leaving Zombie in desperate need of a drummer.

In a 2010 interview with the Artisan News Service, Zombie stated about his musicians being hired away by Ozzy: “I think there’s ways to do things and I think there’s ways to not do things and I think the way they’ve chosen to do things is not how I would do things; I think it’s kind of rude. I mean, if my guys that I have wanna go play with other people, that’s fine; I don’t own them. But I think there’s ways to do things in a respectful way and there’s ways to just be shitty, and I feel that the way things have gone down lately has been pretty shitty… I’m just happy because every time I’ve lost somebody, I’ve gotten somebody ten times better, so I’m thankful for that. So if somebody’s band wants to be made up of my cast-offs, enjoy.”

Zombie and Ozzy have been friends for a long time. They collaborated on a song called “Iron Head” for Zombie’s second solo album, 2001’s “The Sinister Urge”, and Zombie directed a video for Ozzy’s 2001 single “Dreamer”. Zombie has also toured with Ozzy several times.

Legendary Peaceville founder Hammy diagnosed with hereditary dilated cardiomyopathy. Here’s how you can help.
The post Peaceville Founder Paul “Hammy” Halmshaw Terminally Ill, JustGiving Campaign Launched appeared first on Decibel Magazine.